The Michigan Dailyj michigandailycom January 28, 2013
CHAMPAIGON
SUPER
NOVA
Michigan 74, Illinois 60
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Editor
CHAMPAIGN - Just minutes into
the game, redshirt junior forward Jor-
dan Morgan landed funny on his right
ankle and was limping off the court.
He immediately headed to the locker
-oom to get checked out, and freshman
forward Mitch McGary subbed in for
the starter.
Matching up against Illinois' inex-
perienced sophomore center Nnanna
Egwu on Sunday, the Michigan
men's basketball team was hoping
to exploit the mismatch with a rota-
tion of three big men in Morgan,
McGary and redshirt junior Jon
Horford, who is back from a knee
injury he suffered in December.
Morgan's injury didn't help
the Wolverines' plan to attack
the paint, but it wasn't much
of an issue for No. 2 Michi-
gan (6-1 BigTen, 19-1 overall).
McGary, Horford and red-
shirt freshman Max Bielfeldt
lied in for the injured
Morgan, and were big
factors in the Wol-
verines' 74-60 win
over Illinois on
- Sunday.
"(I) love how
many young kids
got out there
and played," sail
Michigan coach
John Beilein.
"Jordan Morgan
getting the ankle
injury early gave
three guys an opportunity to play that
haven't been getting as many minutes as
they'd like. (I was) really impressed with
how our big men filled in there."
. The forwards combined for 31 points
and 22 rebounds, and if the big men
weren't open, it was freshman guard Nik
Stauskas open on the backdoor cut or
sophomore guard Trey Burke driving to
the rim for alayup. The Wolverines tallied
42 points in the paint and shot 53 percent
from the field off a combination of post-
ups and open cutters.
McGary is typically the first man off
the bench for Michigan, and though he
had trouble protecting the basketball and
finishing his layups early on, he became
a force on the boards. The freshman was
often able to outmuscle his defender,
and finished with eight rebounds and six
points.
The Wolverines also had help on the
boards from freshman forward Glenn
Robinson III - the squad's leading
rebounder added six to Michigan's 36
total rebounds. Horford also contribut-
ed seven points and five rebounds in his
season-high 17 minutes, and Beilfelt had a
four point, two rebound effort on Sunday.
The forwards were also successful in con-
taining Egwu and forward Sam McLau-
rin, who totaled just 13 points.
"Guys stepped up toniight, (and) we
knew that with Morgan going down,"
Burke said.:"Coach calls him the minster
of defense - he's one ofthe older captains,
he's been in the program for years - so
once he went down, Jon and Max came in
and stepped up."
Added Robinson: "(Horford and Beil-
felt) are both getting better every day.
See MICHIGAN, Page 3B
It's not about
the ranking
CHAMPAIGN -
orget about the
No. ranking for a
second.
Forget about everything
you think it means to be
labeled as the top team in the
nation during the middle of
the college basketball season.
Forget about all of the sup-
posed glory and bragging
rights that come with it for
just one
moment.
Because for
all the hype
and hoopla
that will
be made
about
the
rank- STEVEN
ings BRAID
fol-
lowing
Michigan's 74-60 victory
i against Illinois on Sunday
- and there is a very good
chance that the Wolver-
ines will assume the No. 1
ranking when the polls
are released Monday -
what the Wolverines did
Sunday is far more impor-
tant than anything that
will happen the next day. What
they did on Sunday was show
growth and maturation. They
showed that they are a continually
improving team, whether or not
their ranking shows it.
Two weeks ago, Michigan
couldn't handle the pressure.
Then, the second-ranked Wolver-
ines walked into Value City Arena
in Columbus with that coveted
top spot within reach. On that
Sunday, just three days after then-
No. 1 Duke faltered against North
Carolina State, they were almost
assured of becoming the top-
ranked team in the country with a
victory.
But Michigan came out flat,
lacking energy in the first half
against the Buckeyes, fizzling
under the pressure. The freshmen
showed nerves and inexperience.
The Wolverines tumbled their way
to a 21-point deficit in the early
going of that contest, only to have a
failed late-game comeback.
Fast-forward to two weeks later.
After a quick re-scrambling of the
top-ranked teams in the national
polls, Michigan found itself in the
same exact position on Sunday,
trailing only Duke in the rank-
ings. And with Duke's loss earlier
See RANKING, Page 3B
MORE BROOMS
A nightmare season for the Michigan
hockey team continued with a sweep at
the hands of Western Michigan. Page 3B
SENIOR STRUGGLES
The senior class has carried the Michi-
gan women's basketball team all year, but
it had a letdown against Iowa. Page 4B