Ohio and Michigan square off in second round of NCAA Tournament

Mar 16, 2012 - 3:41 PM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - The Ohio University Bobcats challenge the Michigan Wolverines in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament this evening from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Both teams have enjoyed impressive runs through the 2011-12 campaign, with Ohio going 27-7 and Michigan 24-9. The Bobcats are coming off their sixth Mid- American Conference Tournament title since 1983, and they earned a No. 13 seed in this event. As for the Wolverines, they won a share of the Big Ten Conference's regular-season crown, their first since 1986, and they were rewarded with the fourth seed in the Midwest Region.

The winner of this bout, which is only the fourth all-time between the two teams (UM leads, 3-0), will face the victor in tonight's South Florida/Temple matchup on Sunday in the third round.

Ohio is appearing in its 13th NCAA Tournament, and the team has a 5-13 record all-time. The Bobcats' best finish in the event was in 1964 when they reached the regional finals, losing ironically enough to Michigan, 69-57. Ohio's 27 wins this season set a new single-season school mark, surpassing the 25 set by the 1993-94 team.

Michigan is making its 22nd appearance in the Big Dance (43-21, 36-17 when factoring in NCAA sanctions), and the team has one national championship to its credit (1989). The Wolverines have reached the Final Four a total of six times, and they own a 14-3 mark in their first games of the tourney over the years.

The Bobcats boast just two players who average double digits in the scoring column, as D.J. Cooper (14.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.7 apg) and Walter Offutt (11.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg) consistently put their best foot forward in an attempt to keep their team on the right track. Three others net at least 8.9 ppg, helping the Bobcats put up 70.7 ppg in hitting 42.9 percent of their total shots, which includes a 33.8 percent effort from three-point range. At the defensive end, Ohio yields 62.4 ppg, with foes connecting on 41.2 percent of their field goal attempts, which includes a dismal 29.6 percent showing on three-point tries. The Bobcats are just about even in terms of rebounding margin, but they goad the opposition into nearly 18 giveaways per outing, laying claim to a +4.5 turnover differential.

Michigan too has a pair of double-digit scorers in the form of Trey Burke (14.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.6 apg) and Tim Hardaway, Jr. (14.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg), but have four others who net an average of at least 7.3 ppg, helping the Wolverines post 66.5 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of 45.6 percent overall and 35.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Maize and Blue are being narrowly outrebounded on average (-1.0), but they routinely win the turnover battle (+1.7). As a result of that latter stat, and the fact that opponents convert just 42.6 percent of their total shots, which includes a 34.4 percent showing from downtown, Michigan permits a mere 61.4 ppg, which is one of the better yields in the Big Ten this year.