Michigan Wolverines play the Howard Bison in first round of NCAA Tournament

Michigan Wolverines play the Howard Bison in first round of NCAA Tournament The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines play the Howard Bison in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament By The Associated Press March 18, 2026, 4:43 AM Howard Bison (24-10, 13-3 MEAC) vs. Michigan Wolverines (31-3, 21-2 Big Ten) Buffalo, New York; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wolverines -31.5; over/under is 151.5 BOTTOM LINE: No. 3 Michigan and Howard play in the NCAA Tournament opening round. The Wolverines have gone 21-2 against Big Ten teams, with a 10-1 record in non-conference play. Michigan leads the Big Ten with 86.8 points and is shooting 50.5%. The Bison are 13-3 against MEAC opponents. Howard leads the MEAC scoring 77.7 points per game while shooting 45.9%. Michigan averages 9.1 made 3-pointers per game, 3.3 more made shots than the 5.8 per game Howard allows. Howard has shot at a 45.9% rate from the field this season, 7.5 percentage points greater than the 38.4% shooting opponents of Michigan have averaged. TOP PERFORMERS: Yaxel Lendeborg is scoring 14.6 points per game and averaging 7.0 rebounds for the Wolverines. Trey McKenney is averaging 1.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. Popular Reads Additional images recovered from cameras at Nancy Guthrie's home: Sources Mar 13, 7:40 PM Iran live updates: Iran confirms death of security chief Ali Larijani 38 minutes ago Trump calls Strait of Hormuz 'something that we don't need' Mar 15, 9:09 PM Cam Gillus is averaging 10.6 points, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals for the Bison. Cedric Taylor III is averaging 17.6 points over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Wolverines: 8-2, averaging 77.3 points, 32.0 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 4.5 steals and 5.3 blocks per game while shooting 49.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.1 points per game. Bison: 9-1, averaging 84.3 points, 33.0 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.8 points. _...