Michigan 73, Memphis 61

[recap] [box score]

My first impression of Trey Burke, Michigan's freshman point guard, was not a particularly good one. He gave up an early bucket to Joe Jackson, and I thought he could be in for a long afternoon against the talented Memphis sophomore.

Burke caught my attention, though, by working around Jackson for a short jumper on the other end. From that point forward, it was hard to find something about Burke's play to criticize.

There are not many freshmen playing in their fourth college game who would handle the frenetic pressure of a team as long and athletic as Memphis better than Burke did. He safely transported the ball across mid-court and took the early offense when it was there, pulling the ball out and setting up the halfcourt sets more often than not. He looked for his own shot often enough to qualify as a real scoring threat, but never forced it.