CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michigan basketball fans have seen the dejected face of Jordan Morgan in foul trouble all too often this season.

Friday’s matchup against Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament was no different — the redshirt freshman center picked up a pair of fouls early and hit the bench at the 13:43 mark. And Tim Hardaway Jr. followed suit shortly after. The two starters combined for just 15 first-half minutes.

But the Volunteers were quickly confronted by a face they apparently didn’t prepare much for. Not Hardaway Jr., Morgan, Darius Morris or Zack Novak.

It was sophomore guard Matt Vogrich, who had a career day off the bench and lit up the porous Tennessee defense for 11 points — nine in the first half — on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting performance.

“It was huge,” Morris said of Vogrich's performance after the game. “Whenever you can get an offensive scorer coming off the bench, that’s the advantage of having players that can come in and score at any given time, and get hot. Matt Vogrich did a great job of that today, knocking down the three, but also mixing it up and going to the hole. It was a huge spark for us.”

Indeed, he didn’t play his typical game of basketball. The relatively unimposing Vogrich normally hangs on the perimeter and fires three’s at will, and he finished conference play this year shooting just under 50 percent from beyond the arc.

But knowing how he’s scouted, Vogrich took the Volunteers by surprise, shooting only one 3-pointer and scoring the rest of his points on drives and back-door cuts to the hoop.

“He is a good back-cutter,” Michigan coach John Beilein said after the game. “He can back cut because I’m sure their scouting report was don’t let him get the ball (on the perimeter) — he’s got a quick shot. So they extended their defense, and he was able to get those two back doors.”

Vogrich’s solid play in the first half wasn’t limited to the offensive end, either.

When Beilein deployed his notorious 1-3-1 zone, Vogrich led the formation at the top of the diamond, picking up the opposing guards around half court. And with five minutes left in the first half, he picked off an ill-advised pass from Tennessee forward Tobias Harris and scored on a fastbreak layup.

That basket gave the Wolverines a 24-23 lead, and Michigan led for the rest of the game. Largely on the back of Vogrich, Beilein’s crew was able to take a four-point lead into the half, even with his starters’ foul troubles.

And along with Vogrich, other bench players thrived as well.

Both redshirt freshman center Blake McLimans and freshman forward Colton Christian saw time in the first half — a rotation that Beilein probably didn’t want to experiment with in an NCAA Tournament game.

But he was pleasantly surprised when Christian turned in three minutes of lockdown defense in the post and McLimans finished on a contested shot underneath.

“This has been a team all year long,” Beilein said. “You don’t always get that type of thing with Blake McLimans — we’re in foul trouble and Blake makes a tough catch and finish. That wouldn’t have happened two months ago. That would not have happened.

“As a coach you’re selling this “team, team, team” thing. When it comes forward like that, it means a lot.”

Once the second half started, Michigan reloaded with its starters, who avoided foul trouble the rest of the way, en route to a 30-point victory. But if Vogrich hadn’t kept the Wolverines in the game for the first half, who knows what would have happened.

That must be a comforting thought for a team that’s set to square off with top-seeded Duke on Sunday afternoon. It wouldn’t be Beilein’s first choice to give Vogrich a lot of minutes against the Blue Devils.

But if he has to, it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world.