No. 5 seed Michigan holds off UC San Diego 68-65 in March Madness nailbiter

By Canadian Press on March 20, 2025.

DENVER (AP) — Vladislav Goldin and Michigan proved a bit too much for UC San Diego when the Russian center scored 14 points Thursday night and the fifth-seeded Wolverines overcame Tyler McGhie’s 25 points to escape with a 68-65 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

McGhie’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer with 7-footer Danny Wolf in his face hit the back iron and the Wolverines and their fans finally exhaled.

Michigan advanced to face fourth-seeded Texas A&M in the South Region. The Aggies turned away Yale 80-71 at Ball Arena earlier in the evening.

McGhie’s bucket with 2:29 left gave the 12th-seeded Tritons their only lead at 65-63. Tre Donaldson, who was on the Auburn team that was upset by Yale in last year’s NCAA Tournament, responded with a 3-pointer to restore Michigan’s lead.

Goldin, who picked up his fourth foul at the 8:25 mark, grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with 19.3 seconds left. He sank both to make it 68-65.

The Tritons (30-5), who moved up from Division II in 2020, won the Big West regular-season and tournament titles and earned the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid in their first season of Division I eligibility.

The Tritons brought the nation’s longest winning streak into March Madness, having won 15 straight since their last loss on Jan. 18.

But the Big Dance, the big stage, the bright lights — not to mention coach Dusty May’s talented Wolverines (26-9), who made an unlikely run to the Big 10 Tournament title, looked like they would be too much for the Tritons.

UC San Diego settled in, however, after a slow start and put a scare into Michigan.

The Tritons didn’t score for more than five minutes to start the game — they didn’t even get a shot off for more than two minutes. Michigan reeled off the first 10 points before McGhie drove to the hoop and scored UC San Diego’s first basket at the 14:55 mark.

Goldin’s three-point play with 1.8 seconds left sent Michigan into halftime with a 41-27 lead and he opened the second half with a free throw for a 15-point cushion.

He picked up his fourth foul at the 8:25 mark and wouldn’t score again until the final seconds.

The NCAA required UC San Diego to wait five years to be eligible for March Madness following its move to Division I. Coach Eric Olen built the team with help from the transfer portal by bringing in three D-II stars — guards Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, McGhie and Hayden Gray.

Tait-Jones averaged 19.5 points but was held to seven by Michigan.

Remember him?

Two years ago, Goldin was a key player on FAU’s Final Four team. When Michigan fired coach Juwan Howard and hired May away from FAU a year ago, the new coach brought his old center with him to Ann Arbor.

Together, they orchestrated the Wolverines’ turnaround from an 8-24 campaign in Howard’s final season to finish second in the Big Ten before dispatching Purdue, Maryland and Wisconsin in the conference tournament.

Missed call

Will Tschetter’s 3-pointer that made it 59-49 shouldn’t have counted because he was out of bounds when he caught the pass. The officials missed it.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Arnie Stapleton, The Associated Press

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