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.”