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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 17, 2017
Michigan 91, Nebraska 85
A chance wasted
The Michigan hockey
team had an opportunity
to reignite its season this
weekend in Minneapolis, but
fell short against Minnesota.
» Page 3B
Short on time
The Michigan men’s
basketball team needs to
find its identity before
beginning a difficult month.
» SportsTuesday Column,
Page 2B
Before
tip-off
Saturday
afternoon, before senior guard
Derrick Walton Jr. carried his
team down the stretch and
before Michigan earned the
win it so desperately needed,
the Wolverines had a team
meeting in Walton’s hotel room.
No
coaches
were
there.
Michigan coach John Beilein
only knew about it because he
tried to call a meeting himself
after Friday’s practice, sensing
that the Wolverines didn’t have
the necessary “bounce” they
would need against Nebraska.
Walton, in his own right,
wanted his team to know
that the time to play up to
their maximum potential was
running out.
“There’s only so many games
left,”
Walton
said.
“We’re
hitting the (middle) stretch, and
the back stretch is coming soon.
It’s time to make some noise.”
Behind Walton’s efforts on
the court, the Wolverines may
have taken the first step toward
doing so, as they defeated
the Cornhuskers in a 91-85
barnburner.
Walton started the game
quietly, playing just 10 minutes
of the first half due to foul
trouble. But when Michigan
(2-3 Big Ten, 12-6 overall)
needed its captain most, Walton
obliged.
With just over five minutes
remaining
in
the
game,
Nebraska was threatening. The
Cornhuskers (3-2, 9-8) were
getting anything they wanted
on the offensive end, and it was
starting to look more and more
like déjà vu.
But with the Wolverines’ lead
down to one, Walton received
an outlet pass from Wagner and
pushed it down the floor before
nailing a transition 3-pointer.
Two possessions later, with the
lead down to one once more, he
did it again.
Then Walton turned around
on the defensive end, picked
Glynn Watson Jr.’s pocket, and
took it to the basket before
drawing a foul and knocking
down two free throws to give
Michigan a seven-point lead
that it wouldn’t relinquish in
the final 4:05. He finished with
20 points — 16 of which came
in the second half — while
shooting
a
perfect
3-for-3
from
behind the
arc
and an impressive 5-for-6 from
the floor.
The Wolverines had some
help before the game even
started.
On
Wednesday,
it
was announced that Nebraska
forward Ed Morrow suffered a
right foot injury and would be
ruled out indefinitely.
Morrow’s
absence
meant
that
Nebraska
would
be
without its leading rebounder
and third-leading scorer. And
with forward Isaiah Roby in
his place, the Wolverines were
clearly looking to attack the
basket — giving the ball to
Moritz Wagner early and often.
The
sophomore
forward
scored from everywhere on the
floor, shooting 2-for-4 from
deep and going a perfect 7-for-
7 from the charity stripe to end
the half with a team-high 14
points.
Michigan’s offense as a whole
thrived as usual for the majority
of the half. The Wolverines shot
50 percent from the floor and
their willingness to look down
low seemed to be the
perfect recipe for
success.
But
with 6:36 remaining in the half,
the Cornhuskers switched to
a 1-3-1 zone. Michigan scored
on six straight possessions,
but the new defensive scheme
cooled the Wolverines down.
After Nebraska implemented
the zone, Michigan missed
three 3-pointers and redshirt
junior
forward
Duncan
Robinson turned the ball over.
Its struggles on the offensive
end allowed the Cornhuskers
to trim their deficit to as little
as one.
The Wolverines’ defensive
effort didn’t help them either.
Though their 16 points off eight
turnovers were an encouraging
sign,
they
still
allowed
Nebraska to shoot 61.5 percent
from the floor and get to the
rim with ease. By the end of the
contest, they had still allowed
the Cornhuskers to shoot 56.2
percent overall.
And while Michigan had
contained senior guard Tai
Webster to begin the frame, he
eventually showcased why he is
fourth in the Big Ten in scoring.
Webster finished the first half
with a game-high 17 points
— just 0.7 shy of his season
average — on 7-for-8 shooting.
As it turned out, Webster was
just getting started, as he
ended up with a game-
high 28 points.
“You can
see
what
development
does,”
Beilein
said.
“Webster,
his
freshman
and
sophomore
years, he was not a factor on
that team. A little bit more of a
factor last year. But now, all of a
sudden he’s going to get buckets
on anybody.”
Despite
Webster’s
first-
half dominance, though, the
Wolverines managed to enter
halftime leading, 40-36.
Michigan
would
never
relinquish that lead.
The Wolverines rode their
trio of Wagner, Walton and
senior
wing
Zak
Irvin
to
overcome
their
defensive
struggles and poor rebounding
effort. Wagner scored nine
second-half points to finish
with a team-high 23, while
Irvin complimented his game
perfectly, scoring 18 points.
“Here at Michigan, man, if
we have to beat someone 99-98,
we cool with it,” Walton said.
“It’s all about winning. We’ll
make the adjustments when
we need to and go back to
the drawing board and make
adjustments, but when we come
out of a game with a win, why
be so critical?”
Following Walton’s scoring
outburst, Michigan managed
to keep the Cornhuskers at bay
— making six stops in the final
three minutes to hold on for the
victory.
But before the Wolverines
did any of that, they simply met
in a hotel room.
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
Rebound