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Auburn vs. Michigan: Tigers open as favorite for Sweet 16 matchup
By Mark Kern
Published:
Auburn advanced to the Sweet 16 on Saturday after taking care of business against Creighton, winning by a score of 82-70. The Tigers were down by 2 points at the half but outscored the Blue Jays 47-33 in the 2nd half to pull away for the win.
The Tigers picked up a huge boost from the bench, as freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford led the team with 23 points. Chad Baker-Mazara had 17 points, while Denver Jones also finished with 15. Auburn did a great job of taking care of the ball with only 7 turnovers vs. the Bluejays.
Up next for the Tigers is a game against Michigan, who knocked off another SEC team in Texas A&M, 91-79. Auburn had to deal with a 7-footer in Ryan Kalkbrenner for Creighton, but the Wolverines start 2 in Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin.
With the matchup already out, that means Vegas already has the spread out in the game, and the Tigers opened as a 9.5-point favorite per FanDuel. They were favored by 8.5 points against Creighton and were able to cover that number, but the line vs. Michigan has already dropped to Auburn -7.5. As for the Final Four odds, Auburn remains the favorite to win the South Region at -160 ahead of Iowa State (+420) and Michigan State (+500).
The Tigers have not been playing their best basketball as of late, as they had lost 3 of their last 4 games entering the NCAA Tournament. They also came out lethargic in the first-round win against Alabama State, but put together a really good game on Saturday. Creighton was on fire early, as the Blue Jays were 9-of-14 from the 3-point line in the first half, but the Tigers’ defense held them to 3-of-13 in the second half.
Michigan knocked off Texas A&M, but it wasn’t easy. The Wolverines trailed by double-digits early in the second half before closing the game on a 25-9 run to pull away for the win. Roddy Gayle Jr. had been in a scoring slump for Michigan but exploded by scoring 26 points to lead the team. He scored 10 points in a row in the second half which helped the Wolverines close the gap and get the lead.
