The inconsistent fourth-seeded Michigan Wolverines put their prodigious talents on display Saturday afternoon in a 78-53 dismantling of the fifth-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams.

VCU has caused chaos in tournaments past because of their frenetic "Havoc" defense, which involves non-stop full-court pressure and a seemingly endless wave of fresh bodies throughout the game. Saturday, however, they ran into a Wolverines team full of capable ball-handlers and shooters.

Sophomore Trey Burke, who had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big Ten this season was the nightmare matchup for VCU's style of play. The Rams did force Burke into seven turnovers, but he made up for it by scoring 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting while adding seven assists. 

Michigan also received freshman Mitch McGary's finest performance of the season. The big man was active from the opening tip until the final whistle, putting up 21 points and 14 rebounds. He was 10-of-11 from the field and VCU did not have any answer for him.

Tim Hardaway Jr., whose NBA father was watching from the stands, scored 14 points while draining three of his five 3-pointers. Glenn Robinson III, another Wolverine with NBA pedigree, matched Hardaway's 14 points in a different manner. Robinson didn't hit any 3-pointers, but knocked down 7-of-10 shots from inside the arc.

VCU entered the matchup as the 11th best team in the nation in terms of points per game (78), but Michigan's amped up defense exceeded even VCU's intensity. The Wolverines held VCU to just 39.7 percent shooting and 53 points, 25 below their average. Juvonte Reddic led the Rams with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, but his contributions were limited to the points column.

Treveon Graham was next on the scoring list for VCU with 11 points. VCU's highly touted bench only scored 10 points between two players; Briante Weber had eight points and Melvin Johnson scored two. 

Tags: march madness