8A - Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8A - Thursday, January 23, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

'M' holds off late Iowa rally

With Walton's injury, Albrecht
fills in as viable option

By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Sophomore guard Spike
Albrecht found himself in a
new position Wednesday: a
starter. Albrecht played well in
the Michigan men's basketball
team's win over No. 10 Iowa
and got the start because usual
starter, freshman guard Derrick
Walton had the flu.
It was Albrecht's first career
start for the Wolverines (6-0
Big Ten, 14-4 overall), and he
helped lead them to a 75-67 win.
The 5-foot-11 guard usually
comes off the bench and shares
minutes with Walton. Save for
Walton's three minutes and
a short stint midway through
the second half when Michigan
coach John Beilein had
sophomore guard Caris LeVert

take over, Albrecht logged the
bulk of the minutes at point.
"They told me at the walk
around today that I was start-
ing," Albrecht said. "I thought
(Walton) was going to play
more than that. He went in and
I could just tell he was grabbing
his stomach, and I kinda fig-
ured I was gonna be the guy the
rest of the way."
Albrecht made the most of
the opportunity, but said he
didn't treat the game any differ-
ently being in the starting five.
His biggest contribution
against the 10th-ranked
Hawkeyes (4-2, 15-4) was what
he did sharing theball. Albrecht
helped Michigan control the
pace of the game against a
Hawkeye team that came into
the game averaging 86.8 points
per game - the best in the Big

Ten - and limiting opponents
to 66.6 points.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery
was impressed, and
complimented Albrecht's smart
play, calling him "a guy that
understands how to win."
Albrecht finished with seven
assists, highlighted by a pass
over the top of a confused Iowa
defense to sophomore forward
Glenn Robinson III who fin-
ished with an easy put in. The
basket stretched the Wolver-
ines' lead to five with just over
two minutes left in the game.
The Crown Point, Ind. native
shot 2-for-4 from the field and
knocked down two free throws
late in the game to help No. 21
Michigan ice the game. His
3-pointer late in the first half
put the Wolverines up three
and set them up for an 11-6 run

to close the half.
Albrecht also chipped in
with four of Michigan's nine
steals on defense, which led
to nine points in transition,
including freshman guard Zak
Irvin's corner 3-pointer late in
the game to stop an Iowa surge.
"Spike is a composed player,"
said fifth-year senior Jordan
Morgan. "He stepped up. He
played big - I mean seven
assists, no turn overs, that's
huge. He's a solid player. He's
a fighter, scrappy guy and we
knew he'd step in and have big
minutes for us."
Assuming Walton is healthy,
Albrecht will likely be back on
the bench at the beginning of
Saturday night's game against
Michigan State. But Albrecht is
certainly giving Beilein a rea-
son to find him more minutes.

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