The Maui Invitational got one of the two semifinals matchups it was hoping for.
No. 13 Michigan barely hung on Monday night to advance to a meeting with Arizona State, the first time Bill Frieder has faced his former team since leaving Ann Arbor for the desert.Utah, however, threw a wrench into the plans for tonight's other game with an upset of No. 11 Indiana. The Utes will play No. 7 Maryland.
One out of two ain't bad.
Michigan beat Tulane 75-73, but the Wolverines seemed ready to coast in the opening round, taking a 60-45 lead with 13:32 to play. They were still up 65-51 with 10:55 left, but the Green Wave went on a 17-0 run.
"We looked totally in control there and the lack of scoring caused critical lapses on the defensive end," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "I'm happy we're in the winners' bracket. I don't know if we deserve to be, but I'm happy we're in it."
Arizona State got there with a 103-73 thrashing of Texas A&M as Mario Bennett missed just one of 13 shots from the field in scoring 27 points.
Now all eyes will focus on Frieder, the man who left Michigan days before the 1989 NCAA tournament, and Fisher, the man tabbed to succeed him who led the Wolverines to the national championship that year and two title games since.
Today's schedule also has Indiana against Chaminade and Tulane meeting Texas A&M in the consolation bracket.
Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, the two remaining members of the Fab Five, came up big for Michigan, which played all five freshmen who comprise this year's heralded recruiting class.
Jackson finished with 19 points, including a layup with 3:23 to play that ended Michigan's 7:32 scoreless drought. King had 16 points, including two smooth drives that gave Michigan its next-to-last and final leads of the game, the latter 72-70 with 1:07 left.
Arizona St. 103, Texas A&M 73
Isaac Burton added 17 points for Arizona State, which had six players in double figures, including Marcel Capers with 10 points and seven assists. Joe Wilbert had 16 points to lead the Aggies.
No. 7 Maryland 95, Chaminade 67
Joe Smith scored 26 points to lead the Terrapins, who blew the game open with a 32-7 run after the Silverswords closed to 59-50 with 11:41 to play. Jermaine Sutton led the Silverswords, the tournament host and only non-Division I school in the eight-team field, with 15 points.