LINCOLN — By tip-off Sunday
night,
the
Michigan
men’s
basketball team already knew its
postseason
fate.
After
Iowa’s
victory
earlier
that
day,
the
Wolverines
knew
a
matchup
with No. 9
seed Illinois
awaited them
in the second round of the Big
Ten Tournament in Washington
D.C later this week.
But before Michigan could
turn the page on its regular
season, the Wolverines had one
last task to attend to — a road
contest with Nebraska (6-12 Big
Ten, 12-18 overall) in Pinnacle
Bank Arena.
While Michigan had more
games to look forward to, the
Cornhuskers had nothing to lose.
In their final game of the season,
they were playing with house
money.
The Wolverines had already
beaten Nebraska, 91-85, at Crisler
Center in January, but Michigan
had won just two games on
the road this season. With the
stage set for the Cornhuskers
to play the spoiler — damaging
Michigan’s NCAA Tournament
stock — the Wolverines (10-
8, 20-11) did what they were
expected to do instead, blowing
out Nebraska, 93-57, on Sunday
night.
“It’s just a testament to how
we develop our guys,” said senior
guard Derrick Walton Jr. “We’re
so battle-ready for each and
every single adjustment that’s
thrown at us. Our coaches do a
great job of putting us in the right
positions, and it’s all about us at
that point, just making the right
plays.”
Throughout
the
game,
Michigan proved that it was
simply on another level, as the
Wolverines played their ideal
roles for the team.
Walton played the maestro,
orchestrating the offense with
total command as he finished
with a game-high 18 points and
a single-game program-record
16 assists for his fourth double-
double of the season.
Senior wing Zak Irvin played
his right-hand man, taking on
the secondary playmaker role
to the tune of 15 points with
three 3-pointers. He topped off
the night by scoring the bucket
that clinched his fellow captain
Walton’s assist record.
Junior
guard
Muhammad
Ali Abdur-Rahkman played the
energizer, aggressively making
moves all over the court. His
13 points were highlighted by a
stretch of five consecutive points
in the opening five minutes when
he slammed home a dunk before
Walton set him up for an open 3,
which Abdur-Rahkman hit.
Sophomore forward Moritz
Wagner and redshirt sophomore
forward
DJ
Wilson
played
the reliable big men they have
become, nailing four 3-pointers
and collecting nine rebounds
while commanding the paint on
defense.
Redshirt junior guard Duncan
Robinson, senior forward Mark
Donnal and freshman guard
Xavier Simpson played their key
bench roles, from Robinson’s 3s
to Donnal’s relief of a foul-ridden
Wagner to Simpson’s defensive
posture.
With the cast of characters
coming
together,
Michigan
clicked on both offense and
defense for all 40 minutes. The
Wolverines shot a blistering 63
percent from the field and 51.9
percent from beyond the arc,
while the Cornhuskers shot just
41.2 percent and 13.3 percent,
respectively.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,
giving us some momentum going
into our game on Thursday,
especially how well we shot the
ball but also just how well we
played defensively from start to
finish,” Irvin said. “I mean, that’s
going to be huge for us to be able
to make a run in the Big Ten
Tournament.”
For a team that has been
both breathtakingly good and
frustratingly
bad
at
times
this year, Michigan showed
that it had come into its own
down the stretch of the Big
Ten season. Against Nebraska,
the Wolverines provided the
exclamation mark for their 6-3
second-half record — including
blowouts over Michigan State
and Indiana and upsets over
then-No. 11 Wisconsin and then-
No. 14 Purdue — earning their
largest margin of victory at 36
points.
In front of a packed crowd
eager to celebrate the Senior Day
of guard Tai Webster, who scored
a game-high 28 points in the first
matchup, Michigan sent many
fans rushing toward the exits
halfway through the second half.
Despite the large lead the
Wolverines had, Michigan coach
John Beilein said he didn’t feel
comfortable.
“I’m nervous through all these
games all the way through until
it’s over,” Beilein said. “... That’s
the way it is.”
Given
the
times
the
Wolverines have played down
to the level of their opposition
or failed to close out games in
crunch time, his hesitance made
sense. But on this night, he had
no reason to worry.
Michigan dominated Nebraska
from start to finish, and even
though the outcome may not
have impacted their Big Ten
Tournament seed, the Wolverines
will
still
go
into
Thursday
afternoon rolling because of it.
Ashame can be reached
at ashabete@umich.edu
and on Twitter @Betelhem_
Ashame. Please be kind.
2B — March 6, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines’ thundering road leads back to Illinois
J
ust over a month ago, on
Feb. 4, the Michigan men’s
basketball team was in a
dire position.
Ahead of
a home game
against lowly
Ohio State
— which the
Wolverines
would go on
to lose — they
were sitting
at 14-8, with
a 4-5 record
in a weak Big
Ten. As it stood, they were in line
to be the No. 8 seed in the Big
Ten Tournament and far from
a safe bet to make the NCAA
Tournament.
It’s surreal, then, that after a
month in which the Wolverines
have been as hot as any team in
the conference, they still find
themselves as a No. 8 seed when
the Big Ten Tournament begins
this week. They knocked off
both of the Big Ten’s two best
teams, scored blowout wins over
Michigan State and Indiana and
all but clinched an NCAA bid.
In one sense, that last piece is
all that truly matters. Michigan’s
Big Ten Tournament will count
for little more than seeding, and,
regardless of their position in
the conference tournament, the
Wolverines are playing like an
entirely different team than they
were in February.
But there is one aspect of being
the No. 8 seed that creates an
irresistible storyline leading up
to this tournament for Michigan.
The team it will face, Illinois,
is due at least partial credit for
starting the Wolverines’ second-
half run in the first place.
By now, of course, Maverick
Morgan’s name has become a
verbal punching bag in Ann Arbor.
When he called the
Wolverines’ a “white-collar”
team after the Illini beat
Michigan, 85-69, in Champaign
on Jan. 11, it lit a fire. How fitting
it is that, as the Wolverines now
look to go on another run —
this time through a conference
tournament they seem suddenly
equipped to navigate — it will
start with Morgan and the
Fighting Illini.
Ten days after “the white-
collar game,” Michigan exacted
revenge by outplaying Illinois
at Crisler Center. It’s worth
mentioning, of course, that it
took some time, even after that
win, before the Wolverines
rounded into the form they have
been in down the stretch. But it
was still easy to see the different
mentality they cultivated.
And while back-to-back losses
to the Spartans and Buckeyes put
that new mentality in question,
Michigan has gone 6-2 in the last
month, with its only two losses
coming in overtime and on a
buzzer-beater. The whole way, it
has looked like a tougher, livelier
team.
Now, just in time for the
postseason, the Wolverines will
get an up-close reminder of what
sparked that initial flame — and
how far they’ve come.
Even though the No. 8 vs. No.
9 game — in which Michigan
has played each of the last three
years — is typically considered a
toss-up, the Wolverines’ recent
run should have them favored
over Illinois. They have a senior
point guard in Derrick Walton
Jr. who is playing with a graceful
brand of desperation. They have
a big man in Moritz Wagner who,
at any given time, is liable to be
the best player on the court. And,
most importantly, they have a
supporting cast that is willing to
accept the roles they’ve needed
to accept in order to experience
this success.
Consider, for a moment, that
at the time of the “white-collar”
comment, Zak Irvin was the
relatively unquestioned go-to
guy on the team. Now, Irvin,
though still a gifted scorer,
has accepted a secondary role
as Walton has surged to the
forefront. Some of this was surely
not of his choosing — a lengthy
slump forced other Wolverines
to step forward — but to watch
this Irvin after seeing him in
the early going is to see a player
increasingly comfortable with
not dominating the ball.
Off the bench, two players at
opposite ends of their Michigan
careers have added punch, too.
Freshman point guard Xavier
Simpson has emerged as a viable
backup or complement to Walton,
while senior forward Mark
Donnal has added a handful of
sublime blocks — the epitome of
someone rejecting the “white-
collar” label.
Hardly any of this could have
been said a month ago, when a
rematch win over Illinois looked
like it might have been among
the highlights of the season.
Thursday, the Wolverines
will get a chance to win a game
against Illinois that they’re
expected to win. They’d be wise
not to forget why that’s the case.
Bultman can be reached by
email at bultmanm@umich.edu
and on Twitter @ m_bultman.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. is playing the best basketball of his career, and he leads a Michigan team that went 6-2 down the stretch of the regular season.
MAX
BULTMAN
outset. They finished the first
half
shooting
59.3
percent
from the floor and 53.3 percent
from beyond the arc, led by
sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner’s 11 first-half points off
three 3-pointers and perfect
mark from the floor.
This time, though, the Wagner
show didn’t last the whole game.
Senior wing Zak Irvin and junior
guard
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-
Rahkman each finished the game
with 15 and 13 points, respectively,
and senior guard Derrick Walton
Jr. pulled the strings like a
puppeteer — notching nine of his
16 assists in the first half before
singlehandedly dismantling the
Cornhuskers in the second stanza.
Though
Nebraska
opened
the second half with a layup, it
turned the ball over on the next
three consecutive possessions.
At the 16:37 mark, Walton had
already
notched
a
double-
double. With just over 11 minutes
remaining,
there
were
fans
already
heading
toward
the
exits. And with 10 minutes left in
the contest, Michigan led by 30.
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan at Nebraska
209
John Beilein’s win total at Michigan
after Sunday’s victory, tying him with
Johnny Orr for first in program history
16
Assists for senior guard Derrick
Walton Jr. on Sunday, a new
program record
36
Michigan’s margin of victory
against Nebraska, its largest of the
Big Ten season
8
Michigan’s seed in the upcoming
Big Ten Tournament, which the
Wolverines will open Thursday
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Seniors Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin had Michigan firing on all cylinders Sunday at Nebraska.
Wolverines do the expected
BASKETBALL
From Page 1B
BETELHEM
ASHAME