Michigan Head Coach Has Been on Lookout for UC San Diego
Thursday will mark the first ever appearance of UC San Diego in the March Madness tournament. The Big West Champion Tritons have apparently been on Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May’s mind all year. During a recent interview, May admitted that he’s had eyes on the Tritons before the season even began. In the offseason he made a list of teams to study, and the Tritons were on it. He described the difficulty UC San Diego will present and gave the team and head coach Eric Olen huge praise during a recent appearance on the ‘Inside Michigan Basketball‘ radio show.
“To do what they’ve done just doesn’t happen in the first year of being eligible, and obviously coach Olen has been there for a long time, and he’s built the program, so they’re on a very sound foundation. But they’re one of the best teams in the country at turning you over. They never turn it over. They have a bunch of proficient D-II transfers, mostly from the West Coast and New Zealand… they’re very unorthodox, they keep you off balance… For whatever reason, we’re a fifth seed with 12 Quad 1 wins … and we get dropped to a five, but I think they’re under seeded, so it’s one of those things where both happened.”
Michigan is clearly on the lookout for the Tritons and have had them on their radar all season. Clearly the success that Eric Olen has had leading UC San Diego to back-to-back winning seasons has caught the attention of the whole NCAA, and for good reason. The Tritons are described as playing a very similar style to the Warrior’s offense with a lot of switching and high pace of play. They’re a rather small team without any rotational players about 6-foot 8, shoot a lot of threes, and rely on their elite defense and high turnover ability to outpace opponents. The margin for error against a team like UCSD is slim to none.
By The Numbers:
UC San Diego Michigan
46.5% Field Goals 47.4%
36.5% 3 pointers 34.0%
74.1% Free Throws 72.7%
33.6 Rebounds 38.6
15.7 Assists 16.3
9.9 Steals 5.7
2.1 Blocks 3.6
Michigan Wolverines Very Aware of How Good UC San Diego Is
Danny Wolf, junior center for the Michigan Wolverines admitted that they’re definitely not taking their mid-major opponent lightly.
“They’re playing with house money, nothing to lose… Nobody really expects much from you, and everybody wants to see you win. Coach May made a great point, it was like when you’re at a mid-major, it becomes a de facto home game for you wherever you are; fans love to see the upset. We have to give respect to UCSD, but once the game starts, we just gotta really focus on ourselves and not overlook anyone.”
Dusty May flatly stating that their first-round opponent is under seeded is a huge compliment. Michigan is one of the most recognizable universities in in the country, whereas UC San Diego is only starting to make waves. The fact that the mid-major team is now in the national spotlight and getting more attention than it ever has speaks to just how far the squad and program have come.
They only transferred to the Division 1 level a few years ago and hold a 30-4 overall record on top of their first Big West title to go along with a trip to the Big Dance. They did all of that and more in the very first year of being eligible for postseason play. On top of their impressive and dominant run through the Big West tournament, they rank second in the NCAA in scoring margin and first in the nation in steals per game.
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