DENVER (AP) — Michigan is going back to the Sweet 16 a year after a 24-loss season, using Roddy Gayle’s surge and a surprising advantage on the boards to trounce Texas A&M 91-79 on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament.
Gayle scored 21 of his season-high 26 points in the second half to help the restocked Wolverines overcome a 10-point deficit and advance to Atlanta to face Auburn in the South Region.
They got there by beating the Aggies at their own game.
No. 4 seed Texas A&M entered the day as the nation’s top offensive rebounding team, but the fifth-seeded Wolverines pulled down 16 offensive boards to the Aggies’ 15 and they outrebounded them 48-39 overall.
“Just a mindset,” said Michigan center Vladislav Goldin, who followed coach Dusty May over from FAU a year ago. “If we know what they do, we will have to adjust it and have the same physicality.”
Goldin had 23 points and 12 rebounds as Michigan (27-9) overcame another big day for Pharrel Payne. The big man led Texas A&M with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, but he was shut out after his basket put the Aggies ahead 65-61 with 9:59 left.
“It’s hard to shut someone down completely, and he’s obviously a great player,” Goldin said. “And we just decided we would have to make him finish tough shots, we would have to put (pressure) on him every single time and basically hope he’s going to miss because sometimes that’s all you can do.”
In two NCAA games at Ball Arena, Payne scored 51 points on 20-of-25 shooting and pulled down 15 rebounds. He had five boards on Saturday, including just one off the defensive glass.
“I don’t think we finished at the rim at the rate we need to, and I think we fouled way too much,” said Aggies coach Buzz Williams, who was trying to take a third school to the Sweet 16 after successful runs at Marquette and Virginia Tech.
“We are dependent on shooting more balls from the field and from the free-throw line. And so to allow them in the bonus so quickly both halves goes against us,” Williams said. “And then we are reliant completely on extra shots from offensive rebounds, and we are reliant and dependent on only allowing the opponent one shot. We did not do as well as our averages up until today from a defensive rebound perspective or an offensive rebound perspective.”
The Wolverines, who made a surprising run to the Big Ten tournament title, won for the fifth time in nine days. The Aggies (23-11) were playing for just the second time in nine days, but they were the ones who looked exhausted at elevation by game's end.
The Aggies missed eight of their last nine shots and the Wolverines closed on a 9-0 run after two free throws by Zhuric Phelps pulled Texas A&M to 82-79 with 1:29 remaining.
“It’s an amazing feeling, especially all that we’ve been through,” Gayle said. “I feel like we’re clicking at the right time, especially how we were able to finish the Big Ten Tournament. I just feel like we have a great team chemistry right now.”
Two years ago, Goldin was a key player on FAU's Final Four team. When Michigan fired coach Juwan Howard and hired May a year ago, the new coach brought his old center with him to Ann Arbor.
Together, they orchestrated the Wolverines’ turnaround from an 8-24 campaign in Howard’s final season to finish second in the Big Ten, followed by a conference tournament title and highlighted by another March Madness run.
“I think it’s great,” Goldin said of the duo’s journey. “That’s why I’m here. I’ve said this the whole season long. I chose to be here because of the relationship we built together, and that’s something that I personally take pride of, that we were able to build that type of relationship, and I’m happy to be his player.”
After the Wolverines closed to 67-66, Wade Taylor IV replied with a deep 3-pointer for the Aggies. He spun, put his fingers to his lips and motioned the Michigan fans to “shhh!” as the teams retreated to their benches for the 8-minute mark timeout.
It was the Aggies who were quiet after that, however, as they were outscored 25-9 after play resumed.
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Michigan center Vladislav Goldin, right, blocks a shot by Texas A&M forward Henry Coleman III, left, during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/John Leyba)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
Trump told reporters he was not aware that the sensitive information had been shared, 2 1/2 hours after it was reported.
The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.
It was not immediately clear if the specifics of the military operation were classified, but they often are and at the least are kept secure to protect service members and operational security. The U.S. has conducted airstrikes against the Houthis since the militant group began targeting commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in November 2023.
Just two hours after Goldberg received the details of the attack on March 15, the U.S. began launching a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The National Security Council said in a statement that it was looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain in the Signal group chat.
Trump told reporters, “I don’t know anything about it. You’re telling me about it for the first time.” He added that The Atlantic was “not much of a magazine.”
Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, but it is not classified and can be hacked. Privacy and tech experts say the popular end-to-end encrypted messaging and voice call app is more secure than conventional texting.
The sharing of sensitive information comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office has just announced a crackdown on leaks of sensitive information, including the potential use of polygraphs on defense personnel to determine how reporters have received information.
Sean Parnell, a spokesman for Hegseth, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why the defense secretary posted war operational plans on an unclassified app.
The breach in protocol was swiftly condemned by Democratic lawmakers. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for a full investigation.
“This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a floor speech Monday afternoon.
“If true, this story represents one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a statement.
He said American lives are “on the line. The carelessness shown by Trump’s Cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately.”
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that he was “horrified” by the reports.
Himes said if a lower-ranking official “did what is described here, they would likely lose their clearance and be subject to criminal investigation. The American people deserve answers,” which he said he planned to get at Wednesday’s previously scheduled committee hearing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to learn more about what happened.
“Obviously, we got to to run it to the ground, figure out what went on there,” said Thune, a South Dakota Republican.
The handling of national defense information is strictly governed by law under the century-old Espionage Act, including provisions that make it a crime to remove such information from its “proper place of custody” even through an act of gross negligence.
The Justice Department in 2015 and 2016 investigated whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton broke the law by communicating about classified information with her aides on a private email server she set up, though the FBI ultimately recommended against charges and none were brought.
In the Biden administration, some officials were given permission to download Signal on their White House-issued phones, but were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the Democratic administration.
The official, who requested anonymity to speak about methods used to share sensitive information, said Signal was most commonly used to communicate what they internally referred to as “tippers” to notify someone when they were away from the office or traveling overseas that they should check their “high side” inbox for a classified message.
The app was sometimes also used by officials during the Biden administration to communicate about scheduling of sensitive meetings or classified phone calls when they were outside the office, the official said.
The use of Signal became more prevalent during the last year of the Biden administration after federal law enforcement officials warned that China and Iran were hacking the White House as well as officials in the first Trump administration, according to the official.
The official was unaware of top Biden administration officials — such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and national security adviser Jake Sullivan — using Signal to discuss sensitive plans as the Trump administration officials did.
Some of the toughest criticism targeted Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel weekend host. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, said on social media that Hegseth, “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in history, is demonstrating his incompetence by literally leaking classified war plans in the group chat.”
AP writers Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro contributed reporting.
Locals inspect the site reportedly struck by U.S. airstrikes overnight in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth does a television interview outside the White House, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
