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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | March 6, 2017
Collar check
The Michigan men’s
basketball team heads into
a rubber match with Illinois
in a much better position.
» SportsMonday Column,
Page 2B
Senior moment
The Wolverines’ Evan Allen
is playing the best hockey of
his career in the final weeks
of his senior season.
» Page 4B
LINCOLN — With just over
five minutes remaining, senior
wing Zak Irvin pulled up from
beyond the arc and nailed a
3-pointer. Irvin’s shot didn’t
matter. It put the Wolverines
up by 30 in a game that had long
been over.
But who Irvin received the
pass from did matter. With
Irvin’s
shot,
senior
guard
Derrick Walton Jr. notched the
15th of his 16 assists on the night,
breaking
Michigan’s
single-
game assist record formerly
held by Gary Grant.
“Andrew (Dakich) told me
that I was close,” Walton said.
“Of course I was looking for
guys the entire game, but Zak
said he felt good, and we ran an
action for him to come up. He
got an open look, and I smiled,
and I told him I loved him after.”
Added Irvin: “Aww. I don’t
hear that too often.”
Behind Walton, the Michigan
men’s basketball team routed
Nebraska, 93-57, on Sunday
night to cap off its regular season
with a road victory in what was
a seemingly meaningless game
prior to tip-off.
After all, the Wolverines’ fate
had already been decided when
Iowa defeated Penn State at
noon and simultaneously locked
Michigan (10-8 Big Ten, 20-11
overall) in as the eighth seed in
the Big Ten Tournament.
Still, the Wolverines had
been dismal away from Crisler
Center prior to
the
matchup
with
the
Cornhuskers
(6-12,
12-18),
entering
Pinnacle Bank
Arena with an
uninspiring
2-8
road
record.
Sunday
night
wasn’t
a
chance
to
put
those
problems entirely to bed, but it
was certainly an opportunity to
take a step in the right direction
before beginning a postseason
during which an ability to play
in front of hostile crowds could
prove
to
be
the difference
between
moving on and
going
home.
And to make
matters worse,
Michigan was
tasked
with
responding
from
a
gut-
wrenching,
buzzer-
beater loss to
Northwestern
just four days prior.
The Wolverines recovered in
full.
“I said twice in the locker
room … that I had no idea how
we were gonna play tonight,”
said
Michigan
coach
John
Beilein.
“That
Northwestern
loss was so disappointing for
these guys, but they handled it
like they always handle it. They
wanted to bounce back. They
practiced well.
“We had this late game
Sunday, you have to wait all day.
… To me it seemed like forever
when you’ve been through a
whole season. Then they went
out, and they were absolutely
excellent from beginning to
end.”
A pair of layups by Nebraska’s
Isaiah Roby and Ed Morrow Jr.
bookended a stretch in which
Michigan scored 14 consecutive
points to claim a 14-4 lead
within the game’s first five
minutes.
The
Cornhuskers
weren’t
helping
themselves
either, turning the ball over
six times during the stretch
and allowing the Wolverines to
notch eight points off them.
At first, it wasn’t a matter
of Michigan’s defense being
anything exceptional. Nebraska
still finished the first half
shooting 56.5 percent from the
floor, but they were plagued
by 10 turnovers in the opening
frame.
On the opposite end, the
Wolverines
were
running
an offensive clinic from the
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
Wolverines storm back from early 2-0 deficit, earn 36-point
victory in Lincoln to roll into Big Ten Tournament as 8-seed
“I had no idea
how we were
gonna play
tonight.”
Michigan 93, Nebraska 57
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
See BASKETBALL, Page 2B