Michigan vs Saint Louis: High-Scoring Showdown

0:00On March 20, Michigan men's basketball faces St. Louis and the NCAA tournament round of 32, this Saturday at the Keybank Center in Buffalo. Tipoff is at 12-10pm, Eastern Time on CBS, with the winner heading to the sweet 16 in Chicago. St. Louis crushed Georgia by up to 40 points in their opener, showing off their explosive style. St. Louis runs one of the fastest teams in the country, with a top 50 offense and defense. They shoot lights out from everywhere, leading the nation an effective field goal percentage on both ends. No player over 6-10, but they spread the floor with unselfish play and quick possessions averaging just 15.2 seconds. The Billikins coach, Josh Shirts and Michigan's Dusty May are close friends with matching philosophies. Both push fast, free-flowing ball, based on concepts, not rigid plays. It's all about high-efficiency shots, spacing and reading defenses like a jazz improv session.

1:00Key guys to watch include guard Trey Greene, a sharp shooter hitting nearly half his threes. Robbie Avilla, the 6-foot-10 center and 8-10 player of the year, handles point forward duties with post-ups, threes over 40% and slick. Passing. Wings like Quentin Jones and Amari McCotry bring defense, rebounding and downhill drives. Same Lewis goes deep with the 9-man rotation and 6 players draining at least 36% from deep. Michigan's bigs could test their size inside, but expect the high scoring battle of tempo and smarts either way.