After a couple of upsets in our current all-time tournament, Michigan's Fab 5 put on one of the most dominant, impressive showings in the history of the Value Add Basketball Game.
The Vols first three shots of the game were blocked by Chris Webber (2) and Jalen Rose to spur the most impressive defensive opening with a 15-0 Michigan run in the first 10 possessions of the game. Every trip during the stretch for Tennessee's 2023 team was a one-and-done, a miss and Michigan rebound, while Webber and Juwan Howard grabbed offensive rebounds at the other end to keep possessions alive.
Michigan just dominated getting to the hoop, with 27 two-pointers made to only 16 for Tennessee.
With only 13 possessions left in the game Michigan led 55-37 - on pace to hold the Vols below 50 points for the game. Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler finally hit 3-pointers to spur a little more scoring down the stretch, but it was still a comfortable and impressive 73-55 win in a game in which we only favored Michigan's 1993 team by 7 points.
Webber had the more impressive double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Howard had 10 and 13 and added 4 four steals.
The blowout win sends the 6-seed Michigan 1993 team to this tournament's Elite 8 against the 3-seed 1966 Western Kentucky team. The other Elite 8 game in the lower bracket features two surprises with the 10-seed Colorado 2021 team against the team that admittedly seems to have been way under seeded as the 18-seed Kansas 2022 National Champs who were down just because of a narrow win in their opening two games before this 32-team tournament..
| Pos | Tennessee 2023 | Pts | 3pt | 2pt | FT | Att | Reb | Stl | Blk | Fl | Hts | Season Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-PG | Zakai Zeigler | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5'9 | 10.7 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 5.4 Ast |
| 2-SG | Santiago Vescovi | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 | 12.5 Pts, 4.6 Reb, 3.1 Ast |
| 3-SF | Tyreke Key | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 | 8.2 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| 4-PF | Julian Phillips | 12 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'8 | NBA, 8.3 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 1.4 Ast |
| 5-C | Olivier Nkamhoua | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6'8 | 10.8 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 2.0 Ast |
| 1-PG | Jahmai Mashack | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6'4 | 4.7 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 1.5 Ast |
| 2-SG | Josiah-Jordan James | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6'6 | 10.0 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 1.8 Ast |
| 3-SF | Jonas Aidoo | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6'11 | 5.1 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 0.9 Ast |
| Vols Totals | 55 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 34 | 6 | 5 | 12 | |||
| Pos | Michigan 1993 | Pts | 3pt | 2pt | FT | Att | Reb | Stl | Blk | Fl | Hts | Season Actual |
| 1-PG | Jimmy King | 14 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6'2 | 10.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 3.1 Ast |
| 2-SG | Jalen Rose | 11 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6'3 | 15.4 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 3.9 Ast |
| 3-SF | Ray Jackson | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6'3 | 9.0 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 2.2 Ast |
| 4-PF | Chris Webber | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6'7 | 19.2 Pts, 10.1 Reb, 2.5 Ast |
| 5-C | Juwan Howard | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6'8 | 14.6 Pts, 7.4 Reb, 1.9 Ast |
| 3-SF | Rob Pelinka | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'1 | 4.3 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 1.0 Ast |
| 5-C | Eric Riley | 10 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6'0 | 5.6 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast |
| Wolverines Totals | 73 | 5 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 43 | 8 | 8 | 14 |
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