Michigan basketball pulls away to beat UNLV, 74-61, advances to Roman Main Event championship

No. 4 Michigan Wolverines basketball pulled away in the second half to beat UNLV in the Roman Main Event, 74-61. The Maize and Blue will play Arizona Sunday evening in the championship game.

Here is a recap of how the game unfolded.

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First Half

UNLV fifth-year senior forward Royce Hamm Jr. got the scoring going with a baseline jumper at the 18:16 mark, before Michigan sophomore center Hunter Dickinson answered with a two of his own to tie it up.

Dickinson got going early, hitting two jumpers and notching an assist to a cutting senior forward Brandon Johns Jr. at the 13:48 mark to give the Maize and Blue a 10-9 lead at the media timeout with 13:34 left in the first half.

Brooks nailed a three off an inbounds pass, with the assist to fifth-year senior guard DeVante’ Jones to give Michigan a four-point lead, before UNLV senior guard Bryce Hamilton drained a three of his own. Two possessions later, freshman forward Moussa Diabate got a steal and took it coast to coast for an emphatic slam to give the Wolverines a 15-11 edge with 12:30 to go.

But the game continued to go back and forth, with UNLV freshman guard Keson Gilbert making a jumper and junior forward Donovan Williams laying it in to tie the game at 15-15 before the media break at 11:18.

Michigan went on a 6-0 run from there. Diabate scored on two straight jump hooks, before freshman guard Kobe Bufkin was fouled on a layup and hit both free throws to give the Wolverines a 21-15 edge with 9:02 to go. Hamm went to the bench with his second foul.

The Maize and Blue opened up their largest lead to that point, 28-20 at the 6:28 mark after a 5-0 run fueled by a Jones triple and a Diabate layup. UNLV senior guard Jordan McCabe hit a three in transition to cut it within five, 28-23 with 5:48 to go, before Michigan head man Juwan Howard called timeout. The Runnin’ Rebels hit 12 of their first 20 attempts from the field (60 percent).

UNLV went under a ball screen on Brooks, who made the Runnin’ Rebels play with his second three-pointer of the contest to give the Wolverines a 33-23 lead with 3:33 before halftime. UNLV called timeout.

Michigan’s largest lead of the half, 35-23, came at the 2:57 mark, but UNLV came roaring back with a 9-0 run, with Hamilton responsible for seven of the points. The Wolverines had three turnovers and attempted just one shot in the last three minutes of the half.

Hamilton finished the half with nine points, while Brooks led all scorers with 10 points. Michigan held a 35-32 advantage at the break.

Second Half

Hamilton didn’t cool off in the halftime locker room, draining a three on the first possession, before Johns answered with an and-one dunk.

After some back-and-forth play, Hamilton tied it at 40-40 with a step-back two along the baseline, before Houstan hit a three and Johns had a layup off a cut to bring it to 45-40 at 16:30.

Michigan held a 49-45 edge at the media timeout with 13:55 to play, following a dunk by Dickinson that put him in double figures.

Brooks drained a corner three with just over 12:30 to play, marking a 7-0 Michigan run to take a 54-45 lead, its largest of the second half to that point. That gave him 15 on the night.

UNLV missed six-straight shots and Michigan missed three, with the score remaining 54-45 at the media timeout with 10:30 left.

Michigan opened up a 58-47 lead after two made free throws from sophomore forward Terrance Williams II, before UNLV fifth-year senior guard Michael Nuga hit a three to trim the deficit. Diabate hit a long two-pointer to make it 60-50 with 7:33 to play.

Brooks made his fourth triple of the night at the 6:27 mark, but Williams hit a rebuttal triple to make it 63-54 with just over six minutes to play. After forcing a turnover, Williams hit a long two to pull the Runnin’ Rebels within seven.

Hamm made one of two free throws to cut it to 63-57 with 4:26 to play.

At the media timeout with 2:22 left, Michigan had a 67-59 edge, with Dickinson, who was fouled before play stopped, making one free throw to extend the edge to 68-59.

The Runnin’ Rebels ran out of gas offensively, missing three-straight shots before fouling Brooks, who made two free throws to give the Maize and Blue a 70-59 lead and solidify the win.

Diabate hit two free throws with under three seconds to go, capping the 74-61 victory. He finished with 14 points, while Brooks led the way with a game-high 22. Hamilton had 21 points for the Runnin’ Rebels.