4B - Monday, January 27, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Fighting mentality carries 'M' to win How It Happened:

By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Jordan
Morgan had experienced the
environment of the Breslin
Center before. He'd been there
when the noise of the Izzone
and the play of the Spartans
had been too much to handle.
He'd been there when his
team overcame the variables
of Michigan State. And after
one last fight on Saturday, he'll
never have to experience it
again as a player.
"I'm kind of glad I'm never
going back there," Morgan said.
In Michigan's 80-75 victory
over No. 3 Michigan State,
Morgan and the Wolverines'
fighting mentality powered
them through another game.
It began in the Wolverines'
first series of offensive tries
as they converted four baskets
on four opportunities to take
a 10-2 lead. Michigan didn't
want a repeat of last year's
game in East Lansing, where
sophomore guard Nik Stauskas
said earlier in the week - and
sophomore guard Caris LeVert
repeated after the game -
Michigan got "punked."
"We weren't going to let that
happen this year," Levert said.
And Michigan didn't. Though
the Spartans (7-1 Big Ten, 18-2
overall) dominated the paint in
the first half, they didn't relent.
When fifth-year senior
forward Jordan Morgan and
redshirt junior forward Jon
Horford got in early foul trouble.
- each played just eight minutes
in the first half - Michigan (7-0,
15-4) persevered.
Despite shooting just 41
percent from the field, including

5-for-16 on 2-pointers, Michigan
was able to remain down just six
heading into the locker rooms,
thanks to 6-for-11 shooting from
beyond the are.
Even though they remained
within striking distance
entering the second half, the
Wolverines didn't come close to
playing their best ball.
"We didn't play a very good
first half at all," Morgan said.
"So we just stayed composed
and just kept with the game
plan. We knew they were going
to have their runs. We just had
to keep staying positive and
keep fighting."
In the second half, Michigan's
fighting mentality nearly
spilled over onto the court as
it continued to claw back from
a deficit that began with 10:56
left in the first half. Unlike in
the first half, which saw the
Wolverines at times pass the
ball around the perimeter of the
3-point line, Michigan started
getting the ball in the paint and
at the basket as Michigan State's
foul trouble started to bubble.
Down 53-50, LeVert gathered
a rebound off a Gary Harris
missed triple and threw the ball
ahead to sophomore forward
Glenn Robinson III, who drove
to the basket only to get rejected
at the rim by Russell Byrd.
It was then that a little
hooting and hollering - not by
Michigan State's fans, but its
players - got to the Wolverines.
In stepped Morgan to make sure
nothing more came of the play
and aftermath.
"The guy blocked Glenn's
shot and got all up in Glenn's
face," Morgan said. "It wasn't
necessary, you know? And I
just stepped in to the aid of my

teammate. We don't really play
that type of basketball."
While Morgan and Michigan
State's Keith Appling were given
technical fouls - giving Morgan
four personal fouls - the play
sparked Michigan.
"You have tobe able to go out
there and stand your ground
and that's what we did today,"
Morgan said. "They knocked
us back on our heels and we
were able to respond and keep
believing we were going to win."
While the near altercation
helped trigger Michigan's
aggression to close out
the game, it was also past
experiences, both at Michigan
State and earlier this season
that helped too.
"I can't help but credit that to
the tough games we had to play
so far," Morgan said. "We've
been at Duke, at Iowa State -
those are some hard places to
play. And with that young team,
we got thrown in the furnace a
little bit. And it's prepared us for
these moments where we can
stay composed."
For a young team, Michigan
looked calm and composed
under pressure at Breslin.
Playing like a veteran, freshman
guard Derrick Walton Jr. scored
a career-high 19 points - tied
for the team-high with Stauskas
- including an and-one 3-point
play with 2:29 minutes left that
made up the middle of an 8-0
run that gave Michigan a lead it
would never relinquish.
The whole sequence, a
Horford block leading to an
outlet pass from LeVert to
Walton, made Walton admit it
was a great play, but the fact that
he did it here "in front of this
crowd with these guys makes it

much more special."
When Michigan beat
Michigan State in East Lansing
in 2011 after former guard Stu
Douglass sunk a 3-pointer in
the game's final 30 seconds,
the game didn't represent the
mentality that is present with
the Wolverines now.
"That one was more a shock,"
Morgan said. "This one was like
we knew this was going to be a
fightandwetookitveryseriously."
With any rivalry game, such
play should be expected, but
with the style of play embodying
Michigan every time it's on the
court, it makes these games even
more memorable.
"Well, guys," said Michigan
State coach Tom Izzo, "you
wanted a rivalry and you wanted
two good teams. I guess we got
what we've been asking for."

Michigan vs. MSU

By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
What happened Saturday:
The Michigan men's basketball
team earned itsthird straight win
against a top-10 opponent, 80-75
over No. 3 Michigan State.
After starting 4-for-4 from the
field and having a lead as large
as eight in the first 10 minutes,
the 21st-ranked Wolverines
ultimately retook the lead on a
3-pointer by sophomore guard
Nik Stauskas with fewer than five
minutes left to take a 63-60 lead.
Michigan stands alone on top
of the Big Ten standings with a
half-game lead over Michigan
State (7-1 Big Ten, 18-2 overall).
Additionally, the win marks
\ \
ng

Michigan's ninthstraight victory.
All nine have come without
Preseason All-American forward
Mitch McGary. Coupled with
the Wolverines' victories over
then-No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 10
Iowa, Michigan is the first team
since the 1986-87 Hawkeyes to
win three straight games against
Associated Press top 10teams.
Walton's Waltz: Freshman
point guard Derrick Walton
Jr. stole the show and shifted
what momentum wasn't already
swung towards the Wolverines
(7-0,15-4) late in the second half.
After Michigan took the lead,
Walton finished an impressive
sequence that began with a
Horford block of Spartan guard
KeithAppling.Aftertherejection,
sophomore guard Caris LeVert
gathered the ball and passed it
up the court to Walton, whose
finger roll fell through the hoop.
A foul was also called on the play,
leading Walton to throw up the
and-1 gesture made famous by
former Wolverine Jalen Rose.
Injury Bug: The talk leading
up to the game was the impact
Michigan State's injuries to
Adreian Payne and Branden
Dawson would have. While the
Spartans' frontcourt was affected
by the absence of the two big
men, it didn't mean Michiganhad
a field day down low.
In the first half, the Wolverines
struggled from inside the 3-point
arc, shooting just 5-for-16 while
getting outscored in the paint,
16-6. The numbers were nearly
identical in the second half as
Michigan ultimately finished
with as many 2-pointers as
3-pointers in the game -11.

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Fifth-year seniorJordan Morgan helped Michigan win the rebounding battle.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Wolverines rebound from loss, topple Wisconsin

Michigan's strong
defense limits
Badgers' offense
By SHANNON LYNCH
Daily Sports Writer h;
The Michigan women's
basketball team isn't perfect,
and on Sunday afternoon at the
Kohl Center in Wisconsin, that
much was
clear. The WISCONSIN 44
Wolverines MICHIGAN 60
had only
two players score in double
figures and lost two players to
foul trouble.
Despite those issues, Michigan
never let the Badgers get into an
offensive rhythm and came out
victorious, 60-44.
"It wasn't our best game," said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. "But we were able to put
it together and people stepped
up at crucial times for us to be

successful."
After a home loss to Ohio
State last Thursday in which the
Wolverines shot 31 percent from
the field, madeonly two 3-pointers
and committed 17 turnovers,
they headed to Wisconsin with
something to prove.
"The other night, when Ohio
State took their lead, we kind of
collapsed, and we weren't able
to fight back after that," Barnes
Arico said. "I thought when
Wisconsin took that lead today,
we regrouped, we made a run
of our own, which was great to
see, and then we got stops on the
defensive end which led to the
offensive run."
The Badgers got on the board
first with a layup from top scorer
Michala Johnson, but junior
guard Shannon Smith quickly
followed up with a jump shot
to tie the game. That type of
sequence established a theme
for the Wolverines. As often as
Wisconsin scored, Michigan
always seemed to come right

back at the Badgers with a basket
of its own.
The Wolverines took a 27-22
lead into the half but allowed the
Badgers to catch up early after
the break. With a little over 17
minutes left, Wisconsin took its
first lead since the beginning
of the first half, but Michigan

because she did a great job of
taking care of the basketball,"
Barnes Arico said. "I thought she
had some late in the game that
could have gone either way - she
had to actually rip them out of
somebody's hands. So she showed
great toughness down in the
second half."

answered the Michigan
call with an 8-0 made it difficult
run to retake for the Badgers
the lead. "That really on offense,
Sophomore sp a s 1limiting them
guard Madison speaks volumes to 33-percent
Ristovski stood shooting
out as one of to our toughness from the field
Michigan's ,, while holding
playmakers, as a team. Wisconsin to
scoring six five 3-pointers.
points while That
dishing out efficiency was
five assists to go along with a a large improvement compared
career-high 11 rebounds, many to the Wolverines' last matchup
of which gave the Wolverines with the Badgers this season,
the opportunities they needed to where Michigan struggled to
pull ahead. stay with two of Wisconsin's top
"If she can be this way all scorers, senior guards Taylor
the time, she can be incredible Wurtz and Morgan Paige. The

pair averages 10 points per game,
but Michigan held them to three
and two points, respectively.
"We did a good job on Wurtz,
and in the first game, Paige hurt
us," Barnes Arico said. "Today,
we did a much better job on her,
so it was a good defensive effort.
We really wanted to take away
their inside."
The win keeps Michigan
undefeated on the road at 6-0.
And it means the Wolverines still
hold another important record
intact - this season, the team has
yet to lose back-to-back games.
Barnes Arico said bouncing back
from a big loss is one of things her
team has done well.
"I think tonight was a great
example, because we didn't
really play exceptionally well,"
Barnes Arico said. "We were
able to come on the road, where
Wisconsin does play better, and
really take care of business. I
think that really speaks volumes
to our toughness as a team
and as a program."

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan womens basketball
Wolverines' record following a loss and
also in true roadgames this season.
14-11
Record when holding ahalftime lead,
with the lose loss toming from Ohio
State last Thursday
11
Number of rebounds by Madison
Ristovski on Sunday, a career high
14-4
Michigan's record when outrebounding
its opponent. The Wolverinesgrabbed
13more boards thanthe Badgers.
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