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Michigan bests South Dakota State to move on in NCAA opener

Mar 22, 2013 - 3:49 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range to push Michigan past South Dakota State, 71-56, in an NCAA Tournament South Region second round game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Glenn Robinson III also scored 21 points and shot 8-of-9 from the floor to go along with six rebounds for the fourth-seeded Wolverines (27-7), who avenged a second-round defeat to Ohio one year ago and advanced to Saturday's third round to face Virginia Commonwealth.

Mitch McGary scored 13 points and grabbed nine boards, while Trey Burke had just six points but dished out seven assists.

Burke survived a scare after he hit the floor hard trying to grab a rebound midway through the second half and was taken to the locker room, though he quickly returned to the action.

"You know, that's why I trust my teammates," Burke said of his off performance. "Not just Tim but Glenn and Mitch, everyone played a really well game and like he said shots just weren't falling tonight."

Brayden Carlson had 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the 13th- seeded Jackrabbits (25-10), who made their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing the Summit League title. Tony Fiegen and Jordan Dykstra supplied 12 points each, with Dykstra adding nine rebounds in defeat.

Nate Wolters, South Dakota State's leading scorer and the team's only senior, struggled and had just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting, though he came up with six assists and five rebounds in his final collegiate contest.

"Yeah, I don't think it really sank in yet but, I mean, yeah, it was an unbelievable experience playing for coach and having these group of guys," Wolters said of his college career coming to an end. "It's been a blessing for me. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

With 11 minutes remaining in the contest, Burke battled for a rebound on a missed SDSU 3-pointer and fell to the ground awkwardly as he appeared to hit his upper torso and elbow on the floor. After going to the locker room and briefly missing the action, Burke appeared back on the court nearly 1 1/2 minutes later.

Following Burke's mishap, Carlson brought the Jackrabbits within 49-43 at the 10:35 mark. The absence seemed to spark the Wolverines, as Nik Stauskas then had a three-point play which kicked off an 8-0 Michigan spurt -- which also included a jumper and 3-pointer from Hardaway -- to increase the margin to 14 points.

Dykstra's jumper with just under five minutes to play briefly stopped the bleeding to make it a 63-52 contest, but the Wolverines once again utilized a quick, 8-0 swing to make it 69-52 with 2:21 remaining, all but ending SDSU's chances of an upset.

"There are other games that we haven't shot well this year, but this was one we needed to if we were going to win," South Dakota State coach Scott Nagy said. "We could have gotten away with it with some other teams but not with Michigan."

After Michigan held a four-point lead to open the second half, Robinson caught fire, accounting for the team's first 11 points to give Michigan a 41-30 edge three-plus minutes in. All but two of his points came from behind the arc during the impressive run.

South Dakota State jumped out to a 16-10 lead just about 9 1/2 minutes into the contest, though Michigan took control with an 11-0 spurt which Hardaway capped with a trey to make it 21-16 with 4:51 left in the first half.

Michigan led at the break 30-26, but Carlson nailed a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give the Jackrabbits some momentum after an exciting 20 minutes of play. Both teams' stud point guards were held in check, as Burke had two points on 0-of-7 shooting, while Wolters had four points on 2-of-8 shooting.

Game Notes

Michigan owns a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series with SDSU, with the last matchup coming in 1988 ... Michigan's three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is its longest streak since appearing in five-straight from 1992-96 ... The Jackrabbits made the tournament last year for the first time as a Division I program ... Burke was held to single-digits for the first time this season.