8A - Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Ex-Hail to the Victors: 'M' 77, Purdue 76

By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
WEST LAFAYETTE -
Michigan had another shot to
winit, and this time, a misswould
mean a loss. But Glenn Robinson
III wasn't about let that happen.
The sophomore forward
caught an
over-the- PURDUE 76
head pass MICHIGAN 77
from Caris
LeVert, which sailed over the
Purdue defense fromthe opposite
side of the court. Robinson found
himself in the corner, then
chiseled his way toward the rim
and put up a leaner off the glass
as time expired.
The ball hung on the rim,
and with red lights illuminating
the backboard behind it, it fell
in to give the No. 16 Michigan's
basketball team the 77-76
overtime win.
"We run that play a lot,"
Robinson said.
About every two weeks,
according to Michigan coach
John Beilein. He guesses they've
practiced it about 10 times this
year, and it has also been run in
games in prior seasons. The play
is meant as a misdirection - get
the defenders moving toward the
ball at one end of the court, and
throw it over the top.
"I think that's a great play,
especially when you have
multiple athletes on our team
who can go get that pass with
a couple seconds left," said
Robinson, who scored a team-
high 17 points along with eight
rebounds.
The win took longer than
many would have expected, but
the Wolverines slipped out of
Mackey Arena with their most
exhilaratingvictory of the season
Wednesday night.
After coming back from down
19 in the first half, Michigan
forced a tie late in regulation and
took its first lead in overtime. In
the extra period, the Wolverines
generated their offense through

center Jordan Morgan.
But Purdue hung tough and
took the lead on two made free
throws by guard Ronnie Johnson
to put the Wolverines in a do-or-
die position, down 76-75 with the
ball. Beilein opted against calling
a timeout and the play failed, with
sophomore guard Nik Stauskas
missing an off-balance layup.
Luckily for the Wolverines,
there were still 15 seconds left.
They fouled Purdue forward
Kendall Stephens, and at that
point, the Boilermakers had shot
17-for-17 from the foul line. But
Stephens missed the front end of
a one-and-one, giving Michigan
another chance to win it.
Sophomore guard Caris LeVert
dribbled down the court, but
Beilein didn't like his positioning.
He called the team's last timeout
with 2.9 seconds left, giving the
Wolverines one final shot.
"I seen him through my
peripherals that he overran it."

Robinson said about the ensuing
play. "I just took one dribble and
was at the basket."
Five minutes earlier, the
Wolverines had another chance
at a walk-off victory. Tied 65-65
with 31 seconds remaining,
Johnson was called for a charge
to give Michigan (12-3 Big Ten,
20-7 overall) the final possession.
Beilein called timeout, but
Stauskas was forced into a long
3-point miss to send the game
into extra time.
As Michigan pulled together
its composure at the foul line,
it gave itself a better and better
chance to win the game as the
buzzer neared. Wednesday
night, it also brought the
Wolverines one big step closer
to a Big Ten title.
"We've been through a lot of
situations throughout the year,"
Robinson said. "One thing that
we learned is never give up on
a game."

A Robinson plays
hero at Mackey
Arena once again
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE - Glenn
Robinson III was supposed to
be the hero. It only made sense.
He was supposed to catch the
inbounded lob pass, take a
dribble to the hoop and score as
time expired.
That's what the Robinsons
do at Mackey Arena. Robinson's
dad, Glenn Robinson Jr., played
two seasons at Purdue and
averaged 27.5 points per game
before leaving to play in the NBA.
Robinson's younger brother,
Gelen, recently committed to play
football for the Boilermakers. The
Robinsons are a Purdue family
- one of them iust hannened to

escape to Michigan.
So it only made sense that
with the game tied in overtime
Wednesday night, Michigan
coach John Beilein implemented
a play with the sophomore
forward as the main target. And
it only made sense that Robinson
executed it perfectly, sending the
Michigan men's basketball team
home with a 77-76 win.
"Oh man, it was an awesome
game," Robinson Jr. said. "This
is my school, so I root for both
teams. I root for Purdue to play
well, but you know, you gotta lose
this one."
In the second frame, Robinson
helped Michigan chip away at the
Boilermakers' lead. The 6-foot-
6 forward shot 4-for-6 from the
field in the half and led the team
with 17 points on the night.
With 13:47 left in the game,
sophomore guard Spike
Albrecht tossed a pass up for
Robinson. who finished it with

an alley-oop dunk, cutting the
deficit to just nine and shifting
the momentum away from
Purdue. And just more than
two minutes later, Robinson
knocked down a jumper to pull
Michigan to within two.
Then, with less than two
minutes remaining, he went to
the free throw line and knocked
down two clutch shots to tie the
game for the first time since the
opening tipoff.
In the extra frame, the two
teams traded buckets. After
Purdue missed the front end
of a one-and-one chance with
fewer than 20 seconds left, the
Wolverines brought the ball
down the floor. Sophomore
guard Caris LeVert had the ball
at the top of the arc but looked
around in a panic and saw no
options, forcing Beilein to call a
timeout.
Then Beilein pulled out a play
that the team had practiced for
these types of situations - late
in the game with fewer than five
seconds left.
"I don't think we've run it yet
this year, but it's a last-second
play," Beilein said. "One of the
options is just get (the ball) to
Glenn, and Glenn just makes a
play. There's other options in it,
but Caris saw the switch, saw the
mismatch and just threw it up."
Robinson thought the ball
overthrown, so he elevated as
high as he could to get it. When
he came down with it, he saw
that his defender had tried to
pick off the pass, leaving him a
clear lane to attack the rim. He
took one dribble and put up the
shot.
The ball hung on the rim, the
scoreboard lit up red, and then
the ball fell in, making Michigan
winners, and a Robinson a hero
at Mackey Arena - again.
"My teammates know how
much this game meant for me,"
Robinson said. "Especially with
my dad playing here, me being
from Indiana. I thought (my
teammates) did a great job of
never giving up on this game."

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