Michigan basketball wakes up in 2nd half to beat Colorado State, 75-63, in NCAA tournament INDIANAPOLIS — The chant erupted with 68 seconds remaining. It echoed from all corners of Gainbridge Fieldhouse — "Let's go Blue! Let's go Blue!" — as smatterings of maize and blue supporters banded together in appreciation of the remarkable turnaround Michigan basketball authored. Seven days ago, the Wolverines took the floor in the same building for another lunchtime matinee in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. They controlled that game for 30 minutes before capitulating in a very public, very jaw-dropping collapse that threatened their NCAA tournament chances. But coach Juwan Howard and his team were given a second chance,returning return to Indianapolis as an 11-seed in the South Region against sixth-seeded Colorado State. They had one more game to prove five months of turbulence during the 2021-22 season — which began with Michigan ranked in the top 10 and included a five-game suspension for Howard — wouldn’t be defined by abject underachievement. The Wolverines flipped the script from last week's collapse against Indiana to erase a 15-point deficit to Colorado State with a smothering, come-from-behind 75-63 win. Michigan heads to the Round of 32, where it will face the winner of No. 3 Tennessee and No. 14 Longwood. An overwhelming surge of defensive pressure induced the Rams into six turnovers and paltry 29% shooting in the second half as U-M snapped back to life. Hunter Dickinson (21 points and six rebounds) headlined four players in double figures for Michigan, which shot 60% from the field in the final 20 minutes and made 12 of 14 free throws to down the Rams. Eli Brooks scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to stabilize the Wolverines alongside true freshman Frankie Collins (14 points, six rebounds). "Being down 15, we could have easily just said, 'You know what? It's time to pack it in,'" Howard said. "But we are not built that way. That's not what the Michigan culture is all about. We are going to compete till the end. I respect the resilience that they showed." Such resolve was vital on an afternoon that began bleakly for Michigan, which entered as a small betting favorite. A slew of self-inflicted errors ravaged U-M's offense in the first half as players adjusted to the absence of point guard DeVante' Jones, who was sidelined with a concussion. Too many possessions ended with Dickinson or Brooks improvising with the shot clock nearing expiry, and the Wolverines turned the ball over four times in the span of 2:22 near the midway point of the half.