4B - February 25, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam
4B - February 25, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
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ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Sophomore guard Trey Burke (top left) eclipsed the 1,000-point mark ina win over Illinois Sunday. Freshman forward Mitch McGary and redshirt sophomore Jon Horford (right) added a paint presence. Michigan won 71-58 to sweep the season series.
fter a sluggish LeVert, Albrecht play
big despite few minut(
sta rt, ic h Beilein's faith in men's stat lines look exception- from Burke. After a V
al in Sunday's box score, but the stop on the other en
two unheralded pair made their presence felt on hita 3-pointer of his o
a day when several regular con- Michigan up 12 and e
o lls5 jj a st 11 1111 freshmen pays off tributors struggled. seal the game.
"We saw how we started out Burke, who assiste
against Illinois a little slow and me and Spike basket, was particul
tune:- A~ eo+ t11 eAc --,n+Iot ner , a +,+ T-7 +
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Burke continues
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Big Ten to lead
Wolverines
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
Even after having an entire
week offfrompractice, itstilltook
the Michigan basketball team
more than 23 minutes of game
time to get going against Illinois
in Sunday's 71-58 victory.
Fighting off a slow start, the
game remained close until about
three minutes into the second
half, when
the Wolver- ILLINOIS 58
ines finally MICHIGAN 71
started to
look like the seventh-ranked team
in the country.
Not surprisingly, the player
who started the run that broke
the game open was point guard
Trey Burke, who became just the
seventh true sophomore in Michi-
gan history to score 1,000 career
points.
Left open about five feet behind
the 3-point line, Burke hesitated
before launching the NBA-range
trey. His hand remained in the
air until the ball was through the
hoop, givingMichiganjustits sec-
ond lead of the game.
After the Fighting Illini were
called for an offensive foul, red-
shirt junior Jordan Morgan cor-
ralled a missed 3-pointer from
freshman forward Glenn Robin-
son III and left Robinson with a
beautiful behind-the-back pass
for a massive dunk.
Illinois didn't score for almost
three minutes after Burke's long
make, falling into a nine-point
hole it couldn't pull out of. Like
so many games this season, a big
play by Burke was the kick-start
to a big run.
"He
player,'
John B
brough
and eve
Befo
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ing the
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rior del
had ei
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open la
the ben
just is really a special converted on each of Illinois's 13
said Michigan coach turnovers, resulting in 27 points.
eilein. "We love what he's "If you turn the ball over
t to the team, in practice against them, it's a dunk or a
erything. It's special." three," said Illinois coach John
re the spark that ultimate- Groce.. "I thought that us more
the Wolverines the lead, than anything, some of those live-
oked stuck in a rut for the ball turnovers."
minutes of the game, trail- The transition game, led by
Fighting Illini by three at Burke, was spot-on for most of the
te. contest. Burke had another ultra-
h Morgan still slowed by an efficient game, finishing with 26
njury he suffered almost a points and 8 assists, while going
ago, the Wolverines' inte- 8-11 from the
fense looked shaky. Illinois floor. BY THE
ght offensive rebounds in "He's just a
t half, outrebound Michi- cool cat, man," Michiga
12 in the period and found Morgan said.
yups when Morgan was on "Nothing phas-
ch. es him. It's a I
great honor to Careerpoints fors
play with him, Burke,whobecan
someone at his truesophomorel
gaining lost level."0
confidence For a team
that was rou-
tinely blowing points scored offt
out opponents ines convertedeve
all season, the
hman forward Mitch Wolverines 1
y started and had a fine first double-
scoring six points and dis- digit lead of the Illinoisturnoers
some of the athleticism month didn't
seen from 6-foot-10 play- come until a
t the interior defense was little more than
bly different with Morgan five minutes left
ame. in the contest, tturnovere
veteran forward managed when freshman 1.6 toeesper
ne point, but his impact forward Caris
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By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Had last year's Michigan
men's basketball team done
what it was supposed to do and
beaten Ohio in its first NCAA
Tournament game last sea-
son, former Bobcat coach John
Groce would likely still call
Athens, Ohio his home.
Instead, Ohio upset Michi-
gan on its way to the Sweet 16.
A few weeks
IMBERS later, Groce
cashed in on
.Illinois his team's
tournament
run and
3 accepted the
omore guard Trey gig at Illinois.
ichigan'sseventh With Groce
ach1,000 points. out at Ohio,
former Bobcat
signee Caris
LeVert was
vers. The Wolver- given a release
urnover for points. from his letter
of intent and,
after a visit
to Ann Arbor,
ed by theWolver- signed with
the Wolver-
ines.
Sunday,
the freshman
n taeBgs s guard's six
points were
key in Michi-
gan's 71-58 win over Illinois
and LeVert's would-be coach.
The Pickerington, Ohio
native said it was "kind of
strange" playing with Groce on
the opposing sideline, adding
that he was full of "mixed feel-
ings."
But the guard didn't let that
deter his play, as he and fresh-
man point guard Spike Albrecht
contributed a handful of game-
changing plays.
LeVert played 16 minutes,
while Albrecht played just
seven. Neither of the fresh-
saying 'We've got to bring more
energy coming into the game,'
so we just tried to do that,"
LeVert said. "Most of it was
actually on the defensive end."
A few possessions after draw-
ing a charge, Albrecht knocked
down a 3-pointer to pull a slug-
gish first-half Wolverine squad
to within five points of the
Figthing Illini with eight min-
utes left in the opening stanza.
Two minutes later, the point
guard deflected an entry pass
from the perimeter that red-
shirt junior forward Jordan
Morgan stole. Morgan quickly
made an outlet pass to Albrecht,
who quarterbacked a fast break
that finished with a monstrous
slam by freshman forward
Glenn Robinson III to tie the
game.
While almost all of his play-
ing time came alongside Burke
(Burke played 39 minutes),
Albrecht looked significantly
more comfortable than he has
in previous Big Ten outings -
perhaps a product of Michigan's
recent week off.
"As we retooled this week,
we talked about that," said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
"When we saw Spike in Octo-
ber, we saw a young man that he
really saw the game at a speed
that we like him to see at.
"We know that Trey and
Tim are terrific players. There's
some other guys out there that
need to step up for us to con-
tinue in the' direction where
we want to go. Spike got a lot
of reps in practice with the first
team (in the past week)."
LeVert, who sprained his
ankle in last week's win over
Penn State, also received a
share of first-team reps after
getting healthy.
With under seven minutes
left in the game and Michigan
leading by six, LeVert deflected
a pass that led to a 3-pointer
downthe shot after he got onhis
younger teammate for passing
up a previous wide-open oppor-
tunity. It was one LeVert's two
3-pointers on the afternoon.
"I just told him, 'Just shoot
the wide-open shot,' " Burke
said. "I was so happy just
because I knew Caris was going
to hit it. I would've been mad if
he had pump-faked and tried to
go into the defense again.
"Once he just stopped think-
ing about the game and just I
playing off of natural instinct,
he hit some big shots for us, he
made some very big defensive
stops for us, and*he was a buzz
off the bench."
The two players, who both
grew up around Columbus,
have formed a special bond
that often includes-one-on-one
matchups outside of practice
time.
"They have a lot of synergy
together," Beilein said. "When
they see each other, they con-
nect. There's not a person on the
team that doesn't love Caris, so
when you have an assist to him,
it even makes you feel better."
Despite combining for just
nine points in limited playing
time, the two freshmen dis-
played maturity in a must-win
game for Michigan. And if the
Wolverines hope to make a
deep run through March and
even into early April, they'll
need contributions from their S
unsung newcomers.
"(Spike) and Caris both made
lots of extra shots this week and
it paid off," Beilein said. "We
made that commitment to the
young team early. We have some
really good players between
(senior guard) Matt (Vogrich)
and (senior forward) Blake
(McLimans), (senior guard) Eso
(Akunne), that are sitting out
right now so that these guys can
play. I was happy that we could
get that done today."
Fres
McGar
game,s
playing
seldom
ers, bu
noticea
in the g
The
only oz
came on the other end of the floor,
back in his spot as Michigan's
defensive quarterback. Of Michi-
gan's 71 points, 43 of them came
in the second half. Morgan played
just five minutes in the first half,
but 12 in the second.
"(Morgan) reacts just a little
bit quicker than the other bigs,"
Beilein said. "Is he faster than
the other guys, is he taller, does
he block shots better? No, but he
anticipates much better than the
younger players do."
The saving grace defensively
came from turnovers. Michigan
LeVert hit a 3-pointer.
Still, even with the slow start,
it was an important win for Mich-
igan. After losing three of five so
far in February, and narrowly
beating Big Ten bottom-feeder
Penn State their last time out,
the Wolverines couldn't afford
another let down with the regular
season winding down.
"I feel like today was really
our first step of getting our confi-
dence back and getting our swag-
ger back," Morgan said. "(We are)
getting back to the basketball we
like to play."