DOWN 8 — Friday, March 13, 2015 Sports The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com The top-seeded Badgers await Michigan in second- round matchup By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor CHICAGO — When the Michigan men’s basketball team took on Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday, it was a team with nothing to lose versus one with everything to lose. And in the Wolverines 73-55 blowout win, “nothing to lose” prevailed. Buoyed by a burst of energy at the start, Michigan was all over a sluggish Illini team from the opening tip. Friday, though, the Wolverines will face a much stiffer test when they take on No. 1 seed Wisconsin. The Badgers have only NCAA Tournament seeding position on the line, and with their smart, veteran lineup, they’re a safe bet to be steady on the big stage at the United Center. But with a resounding win over the Illini in hand, the Wolverines aren’t ready to concede to the tournament favorites. “I think we match up pretty good,” said freshman forward Kameron Chatman. “I think we’re gonna come out with the same energy we did today and hopefully get the victory. … We’re not ready to go home yet.” The last time Michigan met the Badgers — a 69-64 Wisconsin win on Jan. 24 — just about everything was different for the Wolverines. They were still searching for an identity after junior guard Caris LeVert’s season-ending foot injury, and sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr. was still in the lineup. Friday, with Walton doubtful, the Wolverines will be relying on sophomore guard Zak Irvin, junior guard Spike Albrecht and freshman guard Aubrey Dawkins for their offense. To be fair, they were leaning on those three in the last meeting too. But Friday, the three are much safer bets to generate offense. Against the Illini, Irvin finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. He made plays he wouldn’t have dreamed of making in late January, with timely passes through traffic and rebounds over much taller players. He scored 12 points on 5-for- 15 shooting in the earlier game against Wisconsin. Now, he’s evolved to a level where the Badgers won’t be able to rely on him simply throwing up a prayer with the shot clock dwindling. At the other wing spot, Dawkins has developed into a reliable shooter, a far cry from his three points on 1-for-3 shooting in January. But while this isn’t the same Michigan team, this is the same Wisconsin team. And that’s what the Wolverines will be worried about. “They’re an extremely good team, they’re extremely fundamental and they can all shoot,” Albrecht said. “We’re just going to need to do some things to keep them to mix up defenses, keep them out of a good rhythm. “That’s the one thing about Wisconsin: They don’t beat themselves. You’re going to have to beat them.” The Badgers trot out a starting five that includes a National Player of the Year candidate in seven-footer Frank Kaminsky, a bona fide scorer in Sam Dekker, an athletic swingman in Nigel Hayes and a gifted backcourt of Josh Gasser and Bronson Koenig. With those five, Wisconsin can score from anywhere on the court. And it does. Kaminsky is one of the deadliest inside- outside threats in the nation, and he had a 22-point field day the last time he took on Michigan. The tall task of guarding him could go to senior forward Max Bielfeldt, who has somehow been able to outperform bigger centers multiple times this season. But Kaminsky is a different animal. “We’ve done a little cross- matching in the past where we put the ‘4’ on him and the ‘5’ on Nigel Hayes,” Bielfeldt said. “(We’ll) try to force him to do things he doesn’t want to do and just go from there.” It starts with keeping Kaminsky in check, but the Wolverines will need a herculean effort to upset the Badgers. They’ll need to do everything right and force Wisconsin to make mistakes. But they’ve still got nothing to lose. And with a win over Wisconsin, they could have everything to gain. ON (TO) WISCONSIN Michigan opens the Big Ten Tournament with a blowout win over Illinois By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor CHICAGO — The last time the Michigan men’s basketball team was on the court against Illinois, exactly one month ago, the Wolverines looked flustered. They coughed up a lead in the final minute of regulation and were outscored in overtime, 14-2, losing at the State Farm Center. The rubber match was Thursday at the United Center in the Big Ten Tournament, and Michigan (8-10 Big Ten, 16-15 overall) didn’t look scared one bit in a 73-55 rout of Illinois (9-9 Big Ten, 19-13 overall). Sophomore forward Zak Irvin spotted up and hit a long 3-pointer, freshman guard Muhammad- Ali Abdur Rahkman drove at Illinois center Nnanna Egwu for a layup and the Wolverines forced repeated bad shots on the other end — and that was just before the first media timeout. “They just threw the first punch, and we was just unable to answer,” said Illinois guard Rayvonte Rice. “Just gave it all we got. They were just a better team.” Michigan disappeared for the next few minutes, but that ended up being little more than a hiccup. It pulled ahead in the opening minutes, 12-2, before losing the lead entirely, then recovered quickly going into halftime ahead 40-23. Within six minutes, Illinois turned the 12-2 deficit into a 15-14 lead after a 3-pointer by Malcolm Hill. But the Wolverines never wavered, answering right away with junior guard Spike Albrecht’s 3-pointer to spark a 17-2 run and take the pro-Illinois crowd out of it for good. “That was the best part of the game to me — when we were up big, and they ended up answering, and we went right back up big,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “That showed a lot of growth.” Michigan had another double- digit lead — and this one stuck. The final result was the Wolverines’ third-largest margin of victory in a Big Ten Tournament game, as well as Illinois’ largest margin of defeat. Michigan now has under 24 hours to prepare for a quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seed Wisconsin at noon Friday. “It’s definitely a big confidence boost,” Albrecht said. “We came out and played extremely well today, especially the younger guys, so I think they’ll have a lot of confidence going into tomorrow’s game.” Michigan finished with four scorers in double figures — freshman guard Dawkins (18), Abdur-Rahkman (15), Irvin (14) and senior forward Max Bielfeldt (10) — and shot 49 percent from the floor. Irvin opened the second half with a turnaround jumper from the free-throw line. A moment later, Abdur-Rahkman drove at Egwu again, absorbed the contact and laid it in. The rout was on. As the second half went on, Illinois turned up its full- court pressure, but Michigan had no trouble breaking it. The Wolverines finished with just nine turnovers, never giving the Illini chances to make up the deficit quickly. Their undersized big men outhustled Egwu on the glass, and their perimeter defense limited the Illini to a season-low shooting percentage from long range (1-for- 13). “(Egwu is) a long, athletic guy, and on our inbounds plays we worked on spacing, cutting and all that stuff, and keeping him off the offensive glass,” Bielfeldt said. “I think we did a really nice job with just team rebounding and getting everybody out of there.” Their crisp passing dissected the press and led to fast-break opportunities — Michigan refused to slow down, bring the ball back out and milk the clock. The Wolverines’ aggressive, energetic play from wire to wire sent a statement from a team that came into the weekend as sizable underdogs. “We’re going to try and step up and keep getting better,” Dawkins said. “We’re not going to let a couple setbacks hold us back. We’re going to try and get better, no matter what the situation is.” Young players step up when it matters most in opening- round victory By DANIEL FELDMAN Daily Sports Editor CHICAGO — Before Thursday’s game against Illinois, Michigan assistant coach Bacari Alexander wanted the Wolverines to be loose, but also to remember what happened the last time the two teams played — a heartbreaking 64-52 overtime loss for Michigan. “I gave the guys an acronym to kind of concentrate on today,” Alexander said. “And it was ‘payback.’ Each letter meant something.” While Alexander wouldn’t admit what each letter stood for, he was adamant in addressing what the game represented. “Everybody’s 0-0,” Alexander said. “(It’s the time of the year) where you want to preach new life. But the reality is they do have new life. The confidence you can have from that conversation you saw today. For the Wolverines, there’s nothing to lose. To have any chance at a NCAA Tournament bid, they’ll have to win the Big Ten Tournament. Even to make the NIT, they’ll need at least two wins. Thursday afternoon, the Wolverines faced a team in a different situation. Everything was riding on the game for Illinois. Being a bubble team for the Big Dance, the Illini needed to win. A loss would send them to the NIT. Aside from a 10-0 run early in the first half by Illinois, that new life was evident. With Michigan’s starting five combining for 65 points, including 18 by freshman forward Aubrey Dawkins and 15 by freshman guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, the Wolverines looked like a new team, playing their best basketball of the season in the 73-55 victory. Michigan looked relaxed. Throwing alley-oops, shooting uncontested 3-pointers due to great ball movement and even dishing over-the-shoulder, no-look passes, the Wolverines resembled a team finally finding its chemistry. With so many freshmen coming into this year’s team, there was no doubt there would be an adjustment period. And with injuries to junior guard Caris LeVert and sophomore guard Derrick Walton Jr., that period had to be accelerated. “They’re not worried about making mistakes, looking over their shoulder for someone coming in for them if they don’t make a shot or turning the ball over,” Albrecht said. “I tell them all the time: ‘Just go out there and play. Have fun. Who is else is going to play? You guys are going to play. Don’t worry about it.’ “There’s absolutely no pressure on us. … We’re playing just to have fun. If we continue to win games, anything could happen. There’s no pressure on us because no one’s expecting us to do any damage in this tournament.” While Alexander wanted the Wolverines to remember its past games Thursday, he knows being able to separate the season into different pieces helps too. “What we try to do is break the season down into segments: you’ve got the preseason, the regu- lar season, the conference season and postseason,” he said. “And for our guys, when you can compartmen- talize the season like that, it’s not so overwhelming.” Though the pregame message will carry a similar message for Friday’s rematch against Wisconsin, another team that beat Michigan in overtime this season, Alexander knows he’ll need a new creative method to express it. What that’ll be, though, is still to be determined. “I never divulge that stuff early,” he said. ONE Wisconsin vs. Michigan Matchup: Wisconsin 28-3; Michi- gan 16-15 When: Fri- day 12 P.M. Where: United Center TV/Radio: ESPN PHOTOS BY ALLISON FARRAND “We’re not ready to go home yet.”