No. 5 seed Michigan men’s basketball (27-9) plays top-seeded Auburn Friday at 9:39 p.m. on CBS for a chance to advance to the Elite 8. It will mark the first time the schools have played each other in men’s basketball, but the Wolverines and Tigers (30-5) have a connection.
Michigan point guard Tre Donaldson spent two seasons at Auburn before transferring last offseason. He played in 67 games and made ten starts averaging 6.7 points per contest for the Tigers.
Michigan basketball readies for sweet 16 matchup against Auburn
The Big Ten is arguably the toughest conference in the country, but the selection committee didn’t give the Wolverines much credit for winning the tournament. Over the past few weeks, Michigan has demanded respect with its play and is on a five-game winning streak.
Michigan head coach Dusty May and center Vladislav Goldin reached the final four with FAU in the 2022-23 season, so they’re familiar with surprising people in March. May said blocking out the noise is important.
“A big part of it is simply minimizing distractions,” May said at a press conference Thursday. “The tickets, the fans, the people coming from everywhere just wanting to be a part of it. And it’s all healthy, I mean we want to share this experience with as many people that we love and care about. But there’s also an element of, we have to focus on the work, we have to focus on what we’ve done to get us to this point.
“… We’re not supposed to be here, so we’re not content just being one of 16. We’re not content competing for an elite eight. We feel like we can compete with anyone in the country, so why would we come here and just be complacent and content that we’re here? Let’s keep our head down, focused on the work and see where it takes us, and hopefully we look up in a couple weeks and we’re really proud of what we did in the rearview mirror.”
Auburn won the regular season SEC title before losing to Tennessee in the semifinals of the conference tournament. So far in the NCAA tournament, the Tigers have beaten No. 16 seed Alabama State and No. 9 seed Creighton. Senior forward Johni Broome is one of the best players in the country and leads Auburn with 18.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
May said the Wolverines have to make Broome uncomfortable.
“Yeah I mean I think we’re all aware of how lethal he is on the block and getting to where he wants to get to and drawing fouls,” May said of Broome. “He’s added a three-point shot, and he’s a very good passer and he kind of quarterbacks their offense, so he’s a challenge on a number of levels.
“… He’s a good basketball player. He’s always been a guy that just produced, he’s been effective even before anyone knew who he was. He was getting double-doubles every night against high level players. We just gotta make everything tough. We gotta challenge his catches, we gotta push him off a step or two, just make life difficult for him.”
Donaldson faces former team
For Donaldson, Friday is a chance to show his former team what they had on the bench. In Michigan’s two NCAA tournament wins, Donaldson is averaging ten points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. As a former Tiger, Donaldson said he’s helped with scouting.
“I mean, I was there for two years so I know how it operates. I know how everything runs,” Donaldson said. “When you’re around people for so long you catch on to what they do for sure, so I’ve definitely tried to help as much as I can with that aspect just to give us our best chance to win.”
Donaldson’s uncle, Duke, played football at Auburn. Although the family has ties to the Tigers, Donaldson said his uncle “will be cheering for Michigan”.
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