. . . Michigan blitzed through the Big Ten tournament after finishing the regular season strong. Few teams in the country ended their pre-NCAA runs as hot as Michigan. But few teams also dealt with the long layoff. Beilein and company have done everything possible to keep the rust off, though at this point in the year, no one really knows how it all looks until the ball is tipped. “When you play four games (in four days) in Madison Square Garden on that stage, you gain a lot of experience for everybody else,” Beilein said. “I can remember the first time when I was at Canisius, I had no idea of a lot of the things you go through. But we’ve got a routine, we’ve got our practices set. I told the guys ‘we’re in Kansas, we’ll take those boys out and get them a nice Kansas steak when we’re there.’ “We want to win each day. Win every day. (Monday) was light, we lifted weights, watched video. We won that. Now we have to win (the next) practice.”
As far as Montana goes, Beilein's impressed. The Grizzlies are, by KenPom standards, the highest-rated 14-seed in this tournament. After watching tape, Beilein said during his radio show appearance Monday that Montana's style of play reminded him a bit of Nebraska's.
Guards Ahmaad Rorie and Michael Oguine can get into the lane, create in traffic and are strong shooters from outside (both average better than 15 points per game and shoot better than 34 percent from 3). But the Grizzlies' interior, anchored by 6-8, 253-pounder Jamar Akoh, has Beilein especially curious.
"They’ve got two really good guards who can get where they want to get to. But they’ve got a much better inside game," Beilein said. "One’s a senior (Fabijan Krslovic), one’s a redshirt junior. Both fourth year players. Great bodies on them and they just put the ball in the basket. The guards get downhill. This will be a tough team (to defend).”
On top of that, Montana feasts on the ability to create turnovers and hit the offensive glass. Michigan is one of the best teams in America at not turning the ball over (No. 2 nationally) and limiting offensive rebounds (No. 25 nationally). It'll be somewhat of a clash of styles, but Beilein's bracing for a good game. “My team knows this. This time of year, everybody’s pretty good," he said. "Sometimes you might catch some team that’s not that good but just played well for three or four days. This team didn’t get lucky. “This team is good.”
