You wouldn't expect a game between a number eight seed and a number nine seed to provide the largest margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament thus far, but that's exactly what happened today, as the Michigan Wolverines crushed the Tennessee Volunteers this afternoon by a score of 75-45.
This feat was made more amazing by the fact that the Wolverines didn't score a single point from the free throw line. The Wolverines only attempted one free throw on the afternoon, and it was missed by forward Jordan Morgan.
The Volunteers had a lead in this one as late as the five-minute mark of the first half, when they led the Wolverines by a score of 23-22. However, over the last 25 minutes of play, the Wolverines outscored Tennessee 53-22, including blasting the Volunteers by a 42-16 margin in the second half.
The Wolverines had five players that scored in double figures, led by Zack Novak's 14 points. Novak also pulled down 10 rebounds in the victory. Stu Douglass, Tim Hardaway, Jr., and Matt Vogrich each contributed 11 points as well.
For Tennessee, forward Tobias Harris has 19 of the Volunteers' 45 points, and nobody else on the Tennessee team scored more than six. One has to wonder what role the uncertainty surrounding current Volunteers' coach Bruce Pearl had on the team's performance today.
The Wolverines will move on to a likely second-round match-up against the Duke Blue Devils, unless the Hampton Pirates can pull off a monumental upset. With the war of words that's gone on this week between Duke graduate Grant Hill and Michigan alumni Jalen Rose, it might be one of the more interesting match-ups of the Round of 32.