Predicting final score of Michigan basketball vs. UC San Diego in NCAA Tournament

The first round of the NCAA Tournament is set to tip on Thursday afternoon. Michigan men's basketball fans will have to wait quite a while to watch their Wolverines. Michigan won't play until 10 pm ET in Denver, and it won't be an easy task. The fifth-seeded Wolverines will take on No. 12 seed UC San Diego which went 30-4 this season.

The Tritons are rolling on a 15-game win streak and UC San Diego plays some great defense. UC San Diego gives up the sixth-fewest points per game and its also eighth in the country forcing 15.9 turnovers per game. The Wolverines are 336th in the country turning it over 14.3 times per game.

UC San Diego has four players who average over 10 points games and it also has four players who average nearly 30 minutes per game. Depth could become an issue for the Tritons playing in The Mile High.

Michigan turned a corner in the Big Ten Tournament with improved guard play and 3-point shooting. With the Wolverines' size advantage and elite bigs with Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, Michigan could cruise to a first-round win if it takes care of the basketball. Don't play into the Tritons' hands with bad passes, Tre Donaldson continues his hot play, and the Wolverines should see Roud 2.

Trent's final score: Michigan 74, UC San Diego 61