‘A mindset thing’: Michigan’s defense responds in second half to advance to Elite Eight

CHICAGO — The play won’t make most highlight reels, and — if this Michigan team can keep on rolling — it’s likely nobody will remember it ever happened.

But one moment early in the second half of the Wolverines’ 90-77 win over Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen played a significant role in Michigan shutting down the Crimson Tide.

With 17:10 left in Friday’s game, Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell had an open three in the corner. Wrightsell squared his shoulders, elevated and released — and there was Elliot Cadeau. Flying in from the elbow, Cadeau got more than a fingertip on Wrightsell’s lead-taking 3-pointer, sending it past the Crimson Tide’s bench and letting his momentum take him past them, too.

It was just one of many tells that the Wolverines were going to win this game on their defense, as they have for most of their historic season. For Michigan coach Dusty May, it’s a play that stood out to him when it happened, and one that stayed in his head even after the final buzzer.

“There were two or three plays that jumped out in my mind, right when they happened, I thought, ‘That’s going to have a lasting impact on this game,’ ” Dusty May said postgame. “It was Elliot’s blocked three on Wrightsell, and Roddy blocked another one. When that happens, as shooters, when you get one or two (shots) blocked, you start looking around instead of focusing on what you need to be looking at. I do think that had an effect on their shooting, especially the last eight or ten minutes.”

Alabama’s proclivity toward the 3-point shot has been well documented all season, and it was no different against the Wolverines. The Crimson Tide shot 47 threes at a 29.8% clip, going 9-for-24 in the first half and 5-for-23 in the second half.

But the shotmaking that put them in front early didn’t show up when it mattered.

Michigan limited Alabama around the perimeter and pulled away as a result. Defensive moments like Cadeau’s block spurred the Wolverines’ defense and took the wind out of the Crimson Tide’s sails.

“A guy not really known for his ability to shot block,” Roddy Gayle Jr. said, a grin stretching across his face. “Being able to block shots, and especially a jump shot at that, definitely allows us to rally over that. I think that’s probably his first blocked jump shot of his career. It’s just a funny moment.”