8A - Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam

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8A - Wednesday, November13, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Michigan dominates

By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Exactly one year before Michi-
gan'sgame against South Carolina
State on Tuesday night, the team
beat IUPUI at Crisler Center.
T Sophomore guard Caris LeVert
didn't see the floor that night -
he was a redshirt candidate and
Swouldn't get
'his first SC STATE 59
taste of MICHIGAN 93
playing time
until Dec. 1.
One year later, as -the Wolver-
ines cruised past the Bulldogs, it
was clear what a difference a year
has made for LeVert.
Michigan (2-0) looked sluggish
in the first half of its first regular-
season game on Friday, scoring
just 23 points against UMass Low-
ell. But Tuesday, the team came
out of the gate quicker and, with
the help of sharp shooting from
LeVert, rolled to a 93-59 win.
"We just came out with more.
energy," LeVert said. "We got
some stops early that led to fast-
break buckets, and I think that
was the difference."
On Michigan's second posses-
sion of the game, freshman guard
Derrick Walton Jr. drove to his
right and finished a tough layup
after being fouled. He got up and
'knocked down the free throw to
complete the and-one play, setting
the tone for Michigan in the first
half.
The team shot 20-for-30 from
the field and knocked down 12
3-pointers in the first half. Early
in the game, freshman guard Zak
Irvin had two open looks from
behind the arc but missed both
times. Onthe possession following
his second miss, Irvin had anoth-
er open look for three but instead
penetrated toward the basket and
threw a crisp pass to LeVert in the
corner. LeVert squared his shoul-
ders, released the ball and drained
the 3-pointer - the first of five
he'd hit in as many minutes.
Following the 3-pointer, Michi-
gan's game plan was simple: get

ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Sophomore guard Caris LeVert had a career-high 24 points on just 11 shots, including six 3-pointers.
Hot as e to blowout

ADAM GLANZA
Sophomore guard Nik Stauskas had a career-high 23 points in the win.

the ball to LeVert behind the arc
and then hustle back on defense.
Walton assisted on LeVert's sec-
ond 3-pointer and sophomore
guard Nik Stauskas set up LeVert
for his next two triples. On Staus-
kas's second assist, he fed a pass to
LeVert in the corner and turned to
go back on defense before the ball
fell through the net.
It was that kind of night for the
Pickerington, Ohio native. If the
ball came out of LeVert's hands,
there was a good chance it was
going into the basket - 64 per-
cent.
He finished the night 7-of-11
from the field for a career-high 24
points. He also added four assists
and three rebounds.
"He is a nightmare on a close-
out," said Michigan coach John
Beilein. "Somebody has got to go
get to him. He can shoot it or go
by you,.and his seeing the floor is
huge for us."
When LeVert came out, Staus-
kas stepped up and took over the
3-point-shooting party with five of
his own from behind the arc and
finished the night with 23 points.
The Wolverines finished the half
with 12 3-pointers and headed to
the locker room leading 59-23.
Michigan didn't slow down in

the second half despite the Bull-
dogs mixing up their defense,
switching from a zone to trap-
ping and pressing the Wolverine
offense.
Sophomore forward Glenn Rob-
inson III threw down a dunk 14
seconds into the half, and Beilein
didn't show any signs of letting
up until two minutes remained,
when he sent in the freshmen to
finish up the lopsided win.
It's early in the season, but so
far it's clear that LeVert is Michi-
gan's most improved player, and
his ability to step up will play a big
part in the Wolverines' fate this
year.
"This is a great start for him,"
Beilein said. "Who are you going
to take out in that lineup right
now so that somebody else can
play? ... We can tweak some things
some more, but at the same time,
LeVert has got to be out there on
the floor."
NOTE: Robinson, redshirt
junior Jon Horford and fifth-
year senior Jordan Morgan were
named captains. It's the ninth
time in program history the Wol-
verines have had three or more
captains. Robinson is just the
fourth sophomore to be named a
captain.

By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
With 18:25 left in the first half
of the Michigan men's basket-
ball team's Tuesday night game
against South Carolina State,
Glenn Robinson III took a seat
on the bench. After being named
one of three team captains earli-
er in the day, the sophomore for-
ward was taken out of the game
after picking up an early foul.
Freshman forward Zak Irvin,
a player Michigan coach John
Beilein has identified as a shoot-
er that spreads the court with
his 6-foot-6 frame, came off the
bench. On the Wolverines' first
possession after the substitu-
tion, Irvin missed a three from
the corner. On the next Michigan
(2-0) possession, the same result
occurred, a rimmed-out 3-point
attempt.
The waythe ballwas bouncing,
it seemed like the game would be
similar to the Wolverines' opener
against UMass Lowell, in which
they shot 1-for-9 from three and
let a newly minted Division I
team stick around for much lon-
ger than itshould have.
Then an extra pass was made
and all of a sudden Michigan
couldn't miss from beyond the
arc, as its lead ballooned to 20
and then some in the team's
93-59 win.

After a defensive rebound by
sophomore guard Nik Stauskas,
the ball found itself in the hands
of Irvin once again. But with
sophomore guard Caris LeVert
standing in the left corner, Irvin
made the extra pass. With his
feet set and his body in perfect
rotation, LeVert rose up and fired
the ball toward the hoop. After
hitting every nook and cranny
of the structure, the ball dipped
into the hoop to give Michigan
an 8-S lead.
His teammates sensed some-
thing was going on with LeVert,
and freshman guard Derrick
Walton Jr. followed protocol,
making the extra pass once again
as LeVert made his second shot
with a clean swish.
"There was no question, when
Caris got it going, they were
looking," Beilein said. "They love
Caris LeVert, and I wasn't tak-
ing him out until he missed one
because he didn't need a rest"
The key for the Wolverines in
this sequence, and throughout
the first half, was their ability
to get the ball in transition and
run plays with the Bulldogs (1-2)
stuck in a zone defense.
"Because of clean rebounds
and fast breaks, we didn't run a
lot of plays today," Beilein said.
"We just ran the ball up (with)
just the nature of the fast break.
If you're going to play zone, I

think this team can get open
looks against a lot of zones. And
we have enough skilled guys to
do that."
With steady rebounds and
quick bursts downcourt, LeVert
continued to find himself open
as the ball moved around the
perimeter. In fact, he was so
wide open in the first half that by
the 11:42 mark, he already had 15
points on 5-for-5 shooting from
beyond the arc. Though Levert
cooled off a bit in the second half,
he still recorded a career-high 24
points on just 11 shots, including
six attempts from deep.
.Not to be outdone, Stauskas
knocked down five deep balls of
his own to match LeVert going
into the locker rooms. Stauskas
scored a career-high 23 points.
Though LeVert didn't want
to admit there was competition
going on between the two, Staus-
kas couldn't help but gush at the
idea of catching up to LeVert's
early hot hand. At the same time,
he noted it was getting the ball
out front that enabled the Wol-
verines to record their second-
most 3-pointers in a game (15) in
program history.
"Wehad alot ofguys that were
passing the ball well, driving the
ball well," Stauskas said. "And
any time you can kick the ball out
for open threes, you can't corn-

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