Getty DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 23: Isaiah Livers #4 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with his teammates against the Florida Gators during the second half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 23, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
With neither team having allowed an opponent to score more than 58 points in the March Madness tournament so far, the Michigan Wolverines and Texas Tech Red Raiders meet up in a defensive-minded sweet 16 showdown. Michigan and Texas Tech are two of the hotter teams in the tournament, with both having handily won both of their first matchups to go along with playing very good basketball leading into the tournament.
Two of the best defensive teams in the nation, both Michigan and Texas Tech allow less than 60 points per game on the season while limiting opponents to shooting below 40% from the field. While points should be tough to come by in the matchup, Texas Tech does come in with arguably the best offensive talent on either side in Jarrett Culver, who will likely be the key to the game.
#2 Michigan Wolverines vs #3 Texas Tech Red Raiders Betting Line
(Betting Line & Total courtesy of Oddsshark.com)
Betting Line/Point Total
- Michigan Wolverines vs Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Thursday, March 28th – 9:49 pm ET
- Point Spread: Michigan Wolverines (-2)
- Point Total: 126
Michigan vs Texas Tech March Madness Bracket Projection & Picks
Michigan started off their tournament run on the back of two convincing victories over Montana and then, more impressively, the red-hot Florida Gators. In both wins, the Wolverines showed off the elite defense that powered them to a second seed in the tournament and played especially strong in the second half of both affairs. Ignas Brazdeikis has been streaky but looked great in the first round matchup while Jordan Poole came alive in an impressive performance against the Gators strong defensive unit.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech has shown off a similarly dominant defense that stifled Northern Kentucky before holding a Buffalo team that dropped 91 points in the first round to just 58 in the round of 32. Texas Tech has been a vaunted defensive group all year, but the lockdown effort against the fifth highest scoring team in the NCAA was the icing on the cake. With the win, Texas Tech sent a message that they were serious tournament contenders with a defense capable of stifling even the best offenses in the nation.
Both Texas Tech and Michigan match up very poorly with one another and baskets should be fairly tough to come by. Although Michigan possesses a bit of a more well-rounded offensive attack, Texas Tech has the games’ most polished offensive talent in Jarrett Culver. In a game in which points should be incredibly tough to come by, Texas Tech will need their (likely) NBA lottery pick to showcase the offensive skills that have him going so high in most NBA mock drafts.
Expect a low scoring affair and although Texas Tech should most likely win outright, take them with the points because this is March and you can never be too safe. The under may also be in play here considering the defenses but often times matchups between two defensive teams for some reason end up going over (I have absolutely no stats to back this up, just more of an observation from personal experience so take that for what you will).