10 -- Friday, March 22, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
10-FiaMrh2,21 ( heMcia al ihgnal2o
With Burke struggling,
Hardaway answers call
By STEVEN BRAID
Daily SportsEditor
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -
Eventually, it was obvious. Soph-
omore guard Trey Burke just
wasn't going to have his typical
offensive game Thursday against
South Dakota State. Without a
little help from someone else, the
Michigan men's basketball team
was Ilestined for another first-
roundupset and ashort trip home
from the Palace of Auburn Hills.
As the only starter with mul-
tiple years of NCAA Tournament
experience under his belt, junior
guard Tim Hardaway Jr. stepped
to center stage, and it was Hard-
away who single-handedly kept
the Jackrabbits at bay in the first
half.
Midway through the half,
South Dakota State had grabbed a
13-7 lead. Then something clicked
for Hardaway.WithSouth Dakota
State's point guard Nate Wolters
effectively shutting down Burke
from scoring opportunities, the
wings opened up. And, after
missing his first two shots early
in the game, Hardaway found his
stroke and gained a confidence
that never disappeared.
Hardaway scored three of
Michigan's next fivebuckets to
key an 11-3 run for the fourth-
seeded Wolverines.
"When Trey missed a few
shots, we didn't have many
answers at first," said Michigan
coach John Beilein. "Tim came
back and hit two huge threes,
deep, guarded threes and it
seemed to turn everything atthat
point."
Of Hardaway's 21 total points
- he tied with freshman forward
Glenn Robinson III for a game
high - 15 came from beyond the
arc for a 71-percent clip, and he
went 4-for-5 from deep in the
first half.
When Hardaway got hot, the
rest of the team seemed to fol-
low suit. Robinson and freshman
guard Nik Stauskas each made
crucial shots during the game.
Robinson took over in the second
half - 17 of his 21 points came in
the final 20 minutes - but Hard-
away's hot hand didn't disappear,
either.
Each time the Wolverines went
on a run to extend their lead in
the second half, Hardaway would
cap it off with an 3-pointer while
bringing the crowd to its feet.
"We see this in practice more
than we see it in games, and Tim's
always played with alot of confi-
dence, looking for scoring oppor-
tunities," Beilein said.
Added Stauskas: "This is huge
for (his) confidence. Anytime you
can see the ball go in multiple
times, that's great."
Hardaway isn't Michigan's
best 3-point shooter, and he's
been streaky from deep at times
this season, but on a night where
he'd go 5-for-7 from beyond
the arc, Hardaway could do no
wrong.
As one of three players in the
main rotation to return after
being shocked by Ohio in last
year's NCAA Tournament, Hard-
away understands the pressures
of a first-round game. And like he
was been able to do in New York
this season, Hardaway's confi-
dence shined through on the big
stage.
Hardaway credits his famil-
iarity with the arena - the Wol-
verines played at the Palace of
Auburn Hills in a game against
Oakland last season - for his big
performance on Thursday.
"Just coming in earlier today
when myself, Nik and (freshman
guard) Caris LeVert and some of
our bigs just come in here and get
extra reps out and just getting a
feel for the environment" helped
Hardaway get comfortable, he
said. "We played here before last
year so we kind of know what to
expect out of the court and out of
the rim. It feltgood."
Hardaway, and the entire
Michigan squad, hopes that con-
fidence won't falter.
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Freshman forward Glenn Robinson III (left) led all scorers with 21 points in Thursday's win over South Dakota State.
Freshman forward Mitch McGary added energy early in the game to help Michigan take a lead into halftime.
Blue puls a win
out of rabbit hole
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr. caught fire from deep, draining five 3-pointers.
After Burke scare, VCU
and Havoc defense await
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
AUBURN HILLS, Mich.
- With 11 minutes left in the
Michigan men'sbasketball team's
71-56 victory over South Dakota
State in the second round of the
NCAA Tournament, it looked like
the Wolverines were in trouble.
Michigan's star, its backbone and
floor general, sophomore point
guard Trey Burke, had fallen
hard to the floor, landing sharply
on the hardwood.
The initial concern, as Burke
lay on the court, was that he'd
sustained a
head injury. VCU at
But after walk- Michi
ing off the floor
and visiting the Matchup:
locker room VCU 27-8;
under his own Michigan 27-7
power, Burke When: Satur-
returned to the day 12:15 p.m.
floor and ended Where: Palace
up missing less of Auburn Hills
than two min- TV:
utes of game CBS
action.
After the
game, Burke said that he hit his
tailbone, elbow and a small por-
tion of the back of his head. He
never lost consciousness, he
insisted, and his head felt fine.
Before heading off to the cold tub
to try to remedy his sore tailbone
and elbow, Burke also mentioned
that he "got a little overdramatic."
The Wolverines held a com-
fortable eight-point lead, and, at
that point, Burke had only scored
four points on 1-for-10 shooting.
Out of necessity, the production
came from elsewhere.
Without Burke, the trouble
wouldn't have come on Thursday.
Instead, for Michigan, the trou-
ble would've been on Saturday,
against Virginia Commonwealth
in the third round of the NCAA
Tournament.
The Rams are known for their
By STEVEN BRAID
Daily Sports Editor
AUBURN HILLS, Mich -
Glenn Robinson III took a pass
from sophomore point guard
Trey Burke before rattling home a
3-pointer from the corner a min-
ute into the second half. A minute
later, there was Robinson again,
sinking another 3-pointer from
the same corner. A minute later,
once again, there was another
3-pointer from the freshman hit-
ting the bottom of the net.
In all, Robinson scored 11
straight points and 13 of the Mich-
igan men's S DAKOTA ST. 56
basket- MICHIGAN 71
ball team's
first 15 points in the second half
to spark a 71-56 victory against
South Dakota State (13-3 Sum-
mit League, 25-10 overall) in the
NCAA Tournament Round of 64.
The Wolverines advance to
face VCU in the Round of 32 on
Saturday at the Palace of Auburn
Hills.
"The first shot gave me a boost
of confidence, and then I took the
next shot, and it kind of bounced
in - it got my emotions high,"
Robinson said. "Seeing the bench
jump up and down, I felt that I
couldn't miss. I've been getting up
extra reps, and they finally start-
ed to fall."
The freshman forward must
have gotten the message loud
and clear this week from Michi-
gan coach John Beilein, who had
stated quite emphatically that the
Wolverines (12-6 Big Ten, 27-7
overall) would need either him
or freshman guard Nik Stauskas
to be a consistent third scoring
option for the team to be success-
ful.
Robinson did more than that,
shooting 7-of-8 en route to a
team-high 21 points, including 17
in the second half, to go with six
rebounds. It was the first time
since the first week of the sea-
son that Robinson tallied three
3-pointers in a game, and Michi-
gan is now 18-1 when Robinson
scores in double digits.
"We say it to him every day in
practice: he's got to look at the
basket," said Michigan coach
John Beilein.
Junior swingman Tim Hard-
away Jr. also put in 21 points,
making five of Michigan's nine
3-pointers.
The highly anticipated match-
up between Burke and Jackrabbit
point guard Nate Wolters took a
backseat for much of the contest.
Burke finishedwithjustsixpoints
and seven assists, shooting2-of-12
from the field. Wolters didn't fare
much better, tallying10 points, six
assists and five rebounds while
connecting on just three of his 14
field-goal attempts.
Sensing that -the Wolverines
couldn't afford another slow
start, Beilein inserted freshman
forward Mitch McGary into the
starting lineup in place of strug-
gling redshirt junior Jordan Mor-
gan, and it paid dividends for the
young squad that has continuous-
ly struggled early in games.
McGary and Hardaway led
Michigan in the first half, taking
a 30-26 lead into the intermission.
McGary, who has been the
Wolverines' spark off the bench
all season, responded by provid-
ing energy to an otherwise lack-
luster start for Michigan. He
scored the first five points of the
contest for Michigan and entered
halftime with seven points and
four rebounds - two of which
came on the offensive glass. He
finished the game with 13 points
an nine ra dn
"Mitch brought energy, he
brought toughness, he brought
poise, and that's what we need out
of our bigs," Hardaway said.
While Burke sturggled to
produce on the offensive end,
Hardaway provided a nice boost
for Michigan. He led the team
with 12 points in the first stanza,
knocking down 4-of-5 shots from
beyond the arc.
Neither Burke nor Wolt-
ers could find much rhythm
in the first half. Besides a cou-
ple nifty crossovers by Wolt-
ers, neither player did much of
anything before intermission.
Burke entered halftime having
missed all seven of his field-goal
attempts, scoring just two points
to go along with three assists and
two turnovers.
"(Wolters) is a heck of a player,
he's very tough to guard because
he has a lot of length, he could
shoot and he's capable of getting
into the paint," Burke said. "I
think overall, we did a good job of
running him off the 3-point line
and making him take tough twos."
But while the Wolverines
were able to limit Wolters, they
couldn't seem to figure out a way
to stop Jackrabbits guard Bray-
don Carlson. Carlson repeatedly
knocked down open looks, tally-
ing 16 of South Dakota State's 26
first-half points. He connected on
six of his eight field-goal attempts,
including three 3-pointers.
Brayden finished the game
with a team-high 20 points and
eight rebounds, but with Wolt-.
ers struggling the Jackrabbits
had no counter for a Michigan
offense clicking on all cylinders.
The Wolverines shot better than
5o percent from the field and 4o
percent from beyond the arc, the
first time they've done so in nearly
tu mnthc
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Sophomore guard Trey Burke was hurt in the second half but soon returned.
"Havoc" defense, a full-court
press employed after most made
baskets and dead balls. The goal
is to trap the ball in the corner or
pressurethe primary ballhandler
into turnovers.
It's not just a gimmick -
"Havoc" is for real.
VCU leads the nation in steals
with almost 12 per game, which
is more than a full steal ahead of
the next team, Louisville. Its 8.0
turnover margin also tops the
country. In their second-round
game - which took place at the
Palace of Auburn Hills directly
after Michigan's game - the
Rams forced 21 turnovers in an
88-42 victory over Akron.
And it's not like the Wolver-
ines have a ton of time to prepare,
either. The Rams' Thursday game
didn't end until after 11:30 p.m.,
meaning Michigan essentially
has only one day to prepare for
them.
The Michigan assistant coach-
es split up scouting for upcoming
opponents, a task which obvious-
ly gets a little more complicated
in the hypothetical world of tour-
nament seeding. LaVall Jordan
was tasked with VCU, preparing
for the matchup by focusing on
the Rams' win over Butler - a
game they won by 32 points.
"It's a team effort to beat it,"
Jordan said. "Multiple ball han-
dlers is the key.... It's not compli-
cated, but it's more than you can
simulate or talk about before we
actually get out there against it."
Jordan mentioned that fresh-
man point guard Spike Albrecht
will probably play a larger role
on Saturday, as Michigan wants
to pair him with Burke to get
two primary ball handlers on the
floor. Besides Burke, the Wol-
verines' other starting guards
- freshman Nik Stauskas and
junior Tim Hardaway Jr. - aren't
known for their ball handling, a
glaring issue, especially against
a team that lives off its full-court
press.
Still, the key matchup will like-
ly be Burke, one of the best point
guards in the country going up
against one of the best defenses.
The Wolverines didn't need him
as much against South Dakota
State on Thursday, but they will
on Saturday.
Michigan's just lucky he was
being overdramatic.
ana nine re oun s. Two mo~s.
4
A