8 — Friday, March 10, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

CAPITOL WILL

Just hours after arriving in Washington 
following plane accident, ‘M’ powers past 
Illinois in Big Ten Tournament, 75-55

WASHINGTON — The past 24 

hours have been a whirlwind for 
the Michigan men’s basketball 
team.

After attempting to take off 

for the Big Ten Tournament 
on Wednesday afternoon, the 
Wolverines’ team plane slid off 
the runway amid turbulent winds. 
Though no one faced serious 
injury, Michigan faced a long delay 
in reaching Washington, D.C.

The 
Wolverines 
didn’t 

arrive at the Verizon Center 
until approximately 10:40 a.m. 
Thursday morning — less than 
an hour and a 
half before their 
scheduled 
noon 

tip-off 
against 

No. 9 seed Illinois 
(18-14 overall) — 
after a 7:30 a.m. 
flight from Detroit 
courtesy of the 
NBA’s Pistons.

With 
their 

game 
uniforms 

still on the plane 
that crashed in 
Ann Arbor, the Wolverines took 
the court in their practice attire of 
maize jerseys and blue shorts.

But different clothes and a 

different time didn’t slow down 
No. 8 seed Michigan (21-11) against 
the Fighting Illini, as it rode a 
red-hot start to a 75-55 victory 
to advance to the tournament 
quarterfinals. 

“What these guys have been 

through the last 24 hours has been 
incredible,” said Michigan coach 
John Beilein. “… It’s made them so 
resilient. They played connected 
like they were yesterday when 
we got a hundred-some people off 
an airplane it seemed like in two 
minutes.”

The Wolverines looked fresh 

from the rescheduled 12:20 p.m. 
tip, dominating the majority of the 
first half before Illinois began to 
climb its way back. While those on 
the outside looking in might have 
expected Michigan to fall victim 
to tired legs or distracted minds, 
the Wolverines were locked in like 
men on a mission.

“Sometimes it’s more than 

just basketball we play for,” 
said sophomore forward Moritz 
Wagner. “We played out there 
to prove ourselves, that we’re 
tough and that nothing can stop 
us really. And for the sake of this 
group, it helps us so much to 
stick together.”

Michigan opened the game on 

an 15-4 run, punctuated by a rare 
four-point play from junior guard 
Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman 
to take a double-digit lead just five 
minutes into the contest.

The Wolverines kept rolling 

in the next five-minute stretch, 
forcing Fighting Illini coach John 
Groce to call timeout. After senior 
wing Zak Irvin stole the ball from 
Illinois center Maverick Morgan, 
he lobbed an alley-oop pass to 
redshirt 
sophomore 
forward 

DJ Wilson, who took flight and 
emphatically finished at the rim to 
put Michigan ahead, 22-9.

The 
Wolverines 
built 
a 

20-point lead soon thereafter, 
capitalizing 
on 
nine 
forced 

turnovers which they scored 12 
points off in the stanza. 

“I think that’s the No. 1 team 

offensively in the Big Ten,” said 
Illinois guard Tracy Abrams. 
“When you play guys like that, 
little things matter. Every play, 
every possession matters.”

But Illinois responded with a 

15-4 run of its own to close the half, 
led by Abrams. With a personal 
10-0 stretch, he drove through the 
lane with ease and finished from 

both the key and 
the perimeter to 
limit Michigan to 
a 40-29 halftime 
lead.

On the other 

side of the break, 
Abrams 
started 

where he left off, 
nailing 
another 

triple to narrow 
the 
Wolverines’ 

lead 
to 
single 

digits for the first 

time since the first five minutes of 
the opening stanza.

As has often been the case 

for the Wolverines this season, 
though, in the moments when the 
Fighting Illini began to threaten, 
senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. 
provided the steady hand to right 
the ship for Michigan. Walton 
immediately answered back with 
a 3-pointer of his own, part of his 
12-point outburst in the second 
half to finish with a team-high 
19 total.

Though the Wolverines thought 

they had the game all wrapped 
up down the stretch, Illinois 
began another comeback attempt, 
cutting Michigan’s lead to 10 with 
just four minutes left on the clock. 
That’s when Walton nailed back-
to-back 3-pointers to give the 
Wolverines all the breathing room 
they would need to close out the 
blowout win.

Despite 
the 
challenging 

circumstances of their journey 
to Washington, D.C., Michigan 
proved that it still had much 
to play for in the tournament. 
But in this particular game, the 
Wolverines put their bodies on the 
line for one particular man.

Thanks to their high energy 

and clear focus, Beilein earned 
the 210th victory of his Michigan 
career to become the winningest 
coach in program history. 

“It’s 
an 
awesome 
feeling, 

especially with Coach B, one 
of the best coaches in the 
country,” Irvin said. “He’s done 
so much for this program, for 
the players. …It’s just an amazing 
accomplishment, and I’m just so 
happy to be a part of it.”

As chaotic as the past 24 hours 

have been for Michigan, the next 
24 hours won’t let up — as they 
now have another game to play in 
the tournament against No. 1 seed 
Purdue on Friday at noon.

BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

“Sometimes it’s 
more than just 
basketball we 

play for.”

Abdur-Rahkman sets stage for postseason encore with season-high 17 points

WASHINGTON 
— 

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman 
wasn’t 
the 
hero 
Michigan 

expected as it put together its five-
game postseason run last year. He 
was the one it needed.

With guard Caris LeVert lost 

for the season due to injury, then-
junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. 
caught in a shooting slump and 
then-junior wing Zak Irvin bogged 
town by the heavy scoring load 
already placed on his shoulders, the 
Wolverines knew they needed to 
find a new source of points heading 
into the Big Ten Tournament or 
start planning for an early summer.

From there, the stage was set 

for Abdur-Rahkman to put on his 
best show. The then-sophomore 
guard entered Michigan’s opening 
round game of the conference 
tournament playing the best 
basketball of his young career. 
He posted double-digit scoring 
figures in three of the Wolverines’ 
final four regular season games, 
and looked as consistent as he ever 
had in a Michigan uniform.

Abdur-Rahkman was ready 

for a breakout performance on 
the big stage, just when his team 
needed it the most to reach its 
postseason goal.

In 
the 
Wolverines’ 
five 

combined games in last season’s 
Big Ten Tournament and NCAA 
Tournament, 
Abdur-Rahkman 

averaged 15 points per game — the 
highest of any five game stretch 
of his career — and stepped up to 
keep Michigan’s season alive.

Abdur-Rahkman 
peaked 
at 

the right time then, and as the 
calendar flips to March again, 
it looks like he’s about to do the 
same for the second straight year.

After finishing the regular 

season with six straight double-
digit point tallies, the now-junior 
guard has peaked at the right 
time, and is ready to play an 
integral part of the Wolverines’ 
next tournament run.

“You just want to play your 

best in the postseason,” Abdur-
Rahkman said. “I just try to 
channel that and focus on the 
little things, try to hone my skills 
and up it in March.”

Thursday 
against 
Illinois, 

Abdur-Rahkman scored a season-
high 17 points, grabbed three 
rebounds and notched three 
assists to push Michigan to the 
quarterfinals of the conference 
tournament. The junior set his 
tone that, just like last season, his 
mind is set on bringing his best 
stuff to extend his team’s season.

Like his usual self, Abdur-

Rahkman’s offense derived from 
being aggressive driving the lane, 
and finishing easy buckets at the 
rim. The guard kept Fighting 
Illini defenders on their toes by 
dialing up from deep — four of 
his 13 shot attempts were from 
beyond the arc.

But Abdur-Rahkman’s outing 

Thursday was different than 
those he had in the previous 
postseasons. Not only was the 
junior scoring points for the 
Wolverines, he was preventing 
Illinois from scoring itself.

“Maybe before we — even 

myself — were guilty of caring 
about 
offense 
too 
much,” 

Abdur-Rahkman said. “I think 
now 
we’re 
worried 
about 

defense, and getting out and 
running, instead of worrying 

about offense. We’re letting our 
defense turn into offense.”

Abdur-Rahkman finished with 

three steals, made plays on the fast 
break and opened up opportunities 
to convert on the Fighting Illini’s 
offensive mistakes.

His finest stretch came on a 6-0 

run halfway through the second 
half, 
which 
Abdur-Rahkman 

single-handedly 
constructed. 

After driving to the hoop for two 
straight layups, the guard started 
a fast break off a steal, dribbled 
all the way to the hoop and found 
senior wing Zak Irvin under the 
hoop for the assist.

“It’s a conscious effort trying to 

get buckets in transition instead of 
half-court sets,” Abdur-Rahkman 
said. “In order to do that, you have 
to play defense.”

If Abdur-Rahkman can catch 

fire like he did last year over this 
stretch, his abilities to make plays 
on both ends of the court could lift 
Michigan to uncharted heights as 
it looks for postseason glory. He 
saved the Wolverines last season, 
now Abdur-Rahkman could be a 
paramount piece in Michigan’s 
plan to surpass expectations.

BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

Michigan sheds the stigma

W

ASHINGTON — “It 
felt like pain. I was 
thinking, you either 

submit to the pain or you keep 
pushing.”

Derrick Walton Jr. was 

talking about running away 
from the plane. He could have 
just as easily been talking about 
Michigan’s season roughly a 
month ago.

The Wolverines could have 

submitted to the pain and 

accepted a season that was 
spiraling toward mediocrity 
and an NIT bid, or keep pushing 
and earn an 
invitation 
to the only 
March 
tournament 
that matters.

Michigan 

chose the 
latter, and 
the 33 days 
that followed 
all led to 
Thursday afternoon, as the 
Wolverines took the floor for 
their opening matchup of the Big 
Ten Tournament against Illinois.

They had all the excuses in 

the world to swallow one loss, 
pack their bags and go home.

Less than 24 hours earlier, the 

power went out in Crisler Center. 
Michigan chose to practice in 
the dark.

A few hours later they 

boarded a plane to Washington 
D.C. They never made it in the 
air — skidding off the runway 
due to high-speed winds and 
an aborted takeoff. Walton 
picked up a gash on his knee 
that needed five stitches. He still 
tied fellow senior Zak Irvin for 
a team-high 37 minutes played 
against Illinois.

After the accident, they went 

back to Ann Arbor. They woke 
up this morning at 6 a.m., took 
a bus to Detroit Metropolitan 
Airport, departed at 7:30, landed 
at 8:45 and took a bus straight to 
the arena.

“Curfew was 10 last night,” 

said senior forward Sean 
Lonergan. “I’ll give you five 
dollars if you can find anybody 

who probably fell asleep at 10 
o’clock. Everybody was just — 
still had that adrenaline kicking.”

Michigan was supposed to tip 

off at noon. The Big Ten told the 
Wolverines that they were willing 
to move the game time. Michigan 
asked for 20 minutes instead.

Illinois was playing for an 

NCAA Tournament bid. The 
Wolverines could have lost and 
still gone dancing.

And then 

there was the 
issue of jerseys 
— albeit the least 
of Michigan’s 
worries. The 
Wolverines were 
required to leave 
their gear on 
the plane as it 
was part of the 
Federal Aviation 
Administration’s 
investigation of the accident.

They improvised, hitting the 

hardwood at Verizon Center in 
their practice jerseys — outfitted 
more like an AAU team than a 
Division I basketball program. 
Then they punched Illinois in 
the mouth, finishing with a 
20-point victory to advance to 
the quarterfinals of the Big Ten 
Tournament.

“That was kind of the question 

walking back into the locker 
room, like, ‘If we get our real 
jerseys back tonight, what do 
we do tomorrow?’” Lonergan 
said. “I’m sure we’ll have a 
conversation about that.

“I don’t have any clue what 

the status of our actual jerseys 
are, so who knows at this point? 
… I like it. I like it a lot.”

This is the same team Illinois 

center Maverick Morgan called 
“white collar” back in January.

And in truth, maybe they 

were. Maybe the stigma of 
being “soft” that has followed 
the Wolverines in the modern 
era was warranted. Then again, 
that’s the point.

As senior guard Andrew 

Dakich said: “Sometimes they’re 
right, and sometimes it makes us 
mad that they’re right.”

Michigan’s 

senior class has 
seldom gone 
a day without 
hearing the 
outside chatter. 
The five seniors 
walked into 
it, and they’ve 
spent their 
careers denying 
it. But on 
Thursday, they 

finally made you believe them.

“A lot of people question our 

toughness, and I think that kind 
of sums it up right there,” said 
senior forward Mark Donnal. “It 
takes a tough team to be able to 
move on from that. … It tells a lot 
about our team — the type of guys 
we have, the type of characters, 
that are able to just kind of move 
on from something that happened 
to them so recently. We were not 
feeling bad for ourselves, we were 
ready to play basketball.”

So call the Wolverines soft. 

Tell them they’re a white-collar 
team. After the last 24 hours, 
frankly, they don’t give a damn. 

Santo can be reached at 

kmsanto@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @Kevin_M_Santo. People 

forget that you can @ him.

KEVIN
SANTO

“It takes a 

tough team to 
be able to move 
on from that.”

