Michigan rolls past Howard 101-81 in first round of March Madness

Morez Johnson Jr. had 21 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect shooting night, and No. 1 seed Michigan rode a second-half surge to a 101-81 victory over 16th-seeded Howard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

Towering center Aday Mara had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for a Wolverines team that set the Big Ten regular-season record with 19 conference victories. Johnson shot 8 of 8 from the field as Michigan (32-3) moved within one win of matching a program record set in 2017-18.

Top-seeded teams improved to 160-2 against No. 16 seeds, with Duke outlasting Siena earlier in the day.

Michigan advances to play the ninth-seeded Saint Louis (28-5).

Cam Gillus and Bryce Harris scored 21 points each, and Cedrick Taylor had 19 points and six rebounds for Howard (24-11). The Bison were playing two days after their 86-83 win over UMBC in the First Four at Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday — the program's first March Madness victory in six appearances.

Michigan's depth and relentless, come-from-anywhere attacking style eventually overwhelmed Howard — though it took the Wolverines a while to get rolling. Howard's 46 points in the first half were the third-most by a 16 seed against a 1 seed in tournament history —and the most since Florida A&M scored 52 in a 96-76 loss to Kentucky in 2004.

After the Bison cut the lead to 50-48 on Ose Okojie's drive into the paint 14 seconds into the second half, Michigan began to pull away, eventually building a 77-59 edge on Roddy Gayle Jr.'s 3-pointer 7:30 into the period.

Howard's 3-point shooting went cold. After hitting 11 of their first 17 attempts, the Bison finished 14 of 29.

Once the Wolverines opened a 20-plus-point lead, the crowd in Buffalo was more interested in watching the double-box broadcast on the scoreboard and cheering on the final minute of VCU's 82-78 win over North Carolina.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness