Martin,Vols looking to stop second-seeded Wolverines

INDIANAPOLIS - Cuonzo Martin feels as if he’s spent his whole life getting to know Glenn Robinson III.

Now the Tennessee coach must figure out how to beat the Michigan star tonight.

“I’m happy for him and it will be fun playing against him,” Martin said Thursday. “Of course, we’d like to get the win, but I’m happy to see where he’s come, how far he’s come as a basketball player. He’s a great kid.”

For Martin, this is not just another basketball game.

It’s a reunion of sorts and in his adopted home state of Indiana.

Martin, 42, and Robinson’s father, Glenn, 41, were roommates at Purdue. After college, the ex-teammates stayed in touch and have traded stories about the younger Robinson’s early life, even the times Robinson brought his newborn son to Martin’s apartment back in 1994. So when the younger Robinson emerged as a budding prep star, of course Martin wanted him to come to Tennessee.

Instead, Robinson, 20, went north and wound up in a regional semifinal showdown against one of his favorite college coaches.

“He’s a great family friend. I know my mom and grandma are close with him and his family,” Robinson III said. “Great guy, and it’s just funny how things work out.”

Three years ago, Martin left surging Missouri State to take over a Tennessee program reeling from an NCAA investigation.

Despite showing steady improvement, Martin’s job appeared to be in jeopardy as recently as mid-February.Anxious fans wondered how long Martin’s rebuilding project would take, if Martin was the right guy to complete the task and if the Volunteers (24-12) had the right players to make any sort of NCAA Tournament noise - if they even got in.

Conventional wisdom suggested Tennessee would go out early.

But Martin, a cancer survivor, proved the doubters wrong. He rallied his team for three consecutive victories, winning by margins of 13, 19 and 20 points, and earning a chance to cross paths with the Robinsons one more time. It’s no surprise to those who know Martin best.

“He’s really good at getting the best out of people,” Minnesota Timberwolves forward Robbie Hummel said, who was tutored by Martin at Purdue. “That’s what he excels at. Our freshman year, he was great at teaching us how to be successful early.”

But tonight’s challenge may be the Volunteers’ toughest since their March 15 loss to SEC champion Florida.

A year ago, Michigan helped Robinson get to its first Final Four since the Fab Five - something his father and Martin never achieved at Purdue.

Since turning down a chance to enter the NBA Draft, the younger Robinson has not disappointed. He helped propel the Wolverines (27-8) to their first outright Big Ten title in 28 years, led them to their first Big Ten Tournament title game since 1998 and now has second-seeded Michigan within two wins of back-to-back Final Fours.

Martin has kept track along the way.

Beating the 11th-seeded Volunteers would send Michigan into a Sunday contest against either eighth-seeded Kentucky or fourth-seeded Louisville, the last two national champs.

Coach John Beilein knows it won’t be easy.

“I don’t know Cuonzo very much. I do know he played with Glenn Robinson Jr. and knowing that he comes from the Gene Keady/Matt Painter type of background, I know they’re going to guard,” Beilein said. “As they build their program, they’re going to build it off their defense.”

Michigan has relied primarily this season on a strong offense, which finished second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (47.5), third in scoring (74.0) and has three double-digit scorers including Big Ten player of the year Nik Stauskas at 17.4 and Robinson at 13.1.

The Volunteers, however, have limited opponents to 61.4 points, 41 percent shooting and have held 11 consecutive opponents to fewer than 70 points. Five of those teams couldn’t even top 50.

If Martin’s team can duplicate that effort today, the Volunteers would play in a regional championship for only the second time in school history.

Not so sweet

Tennessee is 1-5 all-time in the regional semifinals, with its only victory coming in 2010 against Ohio State when Bruce Pearl was the Volunteers’ coach. The Vols lost to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

YEAR OPPONENT SCORE 1967 Dayton L, 53-52 1981 Virginia L, 62-48 2000 North Carolina L, 74-69 2007 Ohio State L, 85-84 2008 Louisville L, 79-60 2010 Ohio State W, 76-73 SOURCE Tennessee Media Relations

Sports, Pages 21 on 03/28/2014

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