x
Breaking News
More () »

Michigan basketball now preps for Houston, early NCAAs star Rob Gray

Houston guard Rob Gray had the biggest individual scoring display of the NCAA tournament's first day with a whopping 39 points.

Michigan didn't have much time to break it down, but minutes before it took the floor for warmups on Thursday night, the Wolverines' next opponent was putting on a show.

Houston guard Rob Gray had the biggest individual scoring display of the NCAA tournament's first day with a whopping 39 points.

No two bigger than his final layup with less than 2 seconds to play as the No. 6 seed Cougars advanced with a 67-65 win over No. 11 San Diego State. Houston and Michigan will tangle Saturday night (9:40 p.m., TBS) for a spot in the West regional semifinals.

"We're all very relieved (to advance)," Michigan big man Moritz Wagner said after the third-seeded Wolverines dispatched No. 14 Montana, 61-47. "It's a beautiful thing that we're (going to) Saturday.

"We're going to figure it out somehow."

Michigan (29-7) had an awkward victory on Thursday against Montana, as the Wolverines started the game out in a 10-0 hole and never really found a rhythm offensively in what turned out to be a 14-point victory.

Still, for a team that went through an 11-day layoff after the Big Ten tournament, a win's a win. Especially in the NCAA tournament.

Houston (27-8) had a similar experience earlier in the night as Gray, a 6-foot-1 senior from Forest City, N.C., put the team on his back to score 58.2 percent of his team's points for the night.

Gray shot 12 of 25 from the floor. The rest of the team combined to go 10 of 34 as Houston saw a double-digit first-half lead fade away as it shot 28.6 percent in the second half.

The final minute was a flurry, resulting in Gray's driving layup for the win. But the Cougars weren't without their issues either.

"There's a lot of ways you have to win games and a lot of times you just have to do it from the seat of your pants," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said Thursday. " We didn't go into this game thinking this, offensively, was what we would have to do.

"I've always thought the hardest game (in the tournament) is the first one. ... The difference tonight was we had Rob Gray and they didn't."

Gray's big day pushed Houston to its first NCAA tournament victory since 1984 as the Cougars are back in the tourney for the first time since 2010.

Of his 12 made shots, four were 3-pointers, but he was also 11 of 15 from the foul line.

The former junior college transfer was the star of the day. His final bucket tied Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes' school record for points in a tournament (set back in 1968). Hayes was in attendance to witness the game.

"Ever since I've been at U of H, Elvin's had nothing but love," Gray said. "He gives me great confidence. ... For him to be in my corner and support me so much wins a lot.

"But I will say: I should've beat him. I missed four free throws."

Saturday's matchup will feature Gray and Michigan's defensive stalwart at point guard, Zavier Simpson, who was limited to just 4 first-half minutes on Thursday because of foul trouble.

But it'll also feature two of the top defenses in the country as U-M finished Thursday night No. 3 overall in adjusted defensive efficiency while Houston was No. 15.

Overall, Michigan and Houston have met three times. U-M holds a 2-1 record. Saturday's game will be the first between the two schools since 1968.

The winner gets a ticket to Los Angeles for next Thursday's regional semifinals.

And U-M knows two things have to happen if it wants to see next week: The offense has to improve and someone has to stop Rob Gray.

"I was focused on (Montana), but I saw (Gray) had (almost) 40 so he's got to be a good player," Simpson said. "So we'll make sure we're locked in, recover and get back to the drawing board (Friday)."

Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickBaumgardner.

Before You Leave, Check This Out