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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 16, 2018

Big difference

The Michigan basketball and 

hockey teams had a rough 
start to 2017. This year has 
been much different, writes 

Betelhem Ashame.

 » SportsMonday Column 

Page 2B

Mayhem in Minnesota
Mel Pearson led Michigan 
to a sweep at Minnesota, 
the first time the Wolverines 
have done so since 1977.
» Page 4B

Free throws can be an 

anticlimactic way of hitting a 
milestone.

But 
for 
Muhammad-Ali 

Abdur-Rahkman, a trip to 
the charity stripe for career-
points No. 999 and 1,000 came 
with all the drama he could 
ask for. Down a point in the 
waning moments, the senior 
guard toed the line with the 
game on his shoulders.

The moment wasn’t too big. 

Abdur-Rahkman 
knocked 

down 
both, 
giving 
the 

23rd-ranked Wolverines (5-2 
Big Ten, 16-4 overall) a 68-67 
win over Maryland (3-4, 14-6) 
at Crisler Center on Monday 
night.

“I 
was 
going 
up 
there 

visualizing making the shot,” 
Abdur-Rahkman said. “That’s 
the best way to explain it: 
visualizing making the big 
play at the big time.”

Terrapins 
guard 
Kevin 

Huerter 
looked 
like 
he 

had done just that on the 
possession before. After four 
straight missed free-throws 
from sophomore guard Zavier 
Simpson left the door open, 
Huerter drained a go-ahead 3 
for Maryland with fewer than 
four seconds remaining.

But 
Michigan 
had 
the 

perfect play drawn up, and 
it started with Isaiah Livers’ 
“baseball arm.”

With his feet planted on 

Michigan’s 
baseline, 
the 

freshman 
forward 
heaved 

a precise pass to a cutting 
Abdur-Rakhman 
near 
half 

court. After the catch, only a 
blocking foul could stop him 
from scoring.

“I saw open space,” Abdur-

Rahkman said. “That means 
go downhill. I knew I didn’t 
want to pull up from 3, and I 
just tried to get to the basket 
to make a play for myself or 
somebody else.”

Added 
Michigan 
coach 

John Beilein: “I felt like we’re 
going to win the game (when 
Abdur-Rahkman drove). I just 
felt like, when he was going to 
the basket, he’s gonna find a 
niche.”

Despite 
the 

result, there was 
a hangover from 
the Wolverines’ 
victory 
over 

then-No. 
4 

Michigan State 
last 
weekend. 

Through 
20 
minutes, 

Michigan 
looked 
like 
a 

shell of what it did in East 
Lansing.

Much 
of 
that 
was 
an 

inability 
to 
connect 
on 

even the best of looks. The 
Wolverines went just 9-for-
29 and scored just 20 points 
in the opening frame — their 
lowest 
first-half 
total 
in 

conference play. 

Maryland, 
meanwhile, 

pounded 
the 
rock 
inside, 

scoring 16 points in the paint 
and also knocked down well-
defended 
shots. 
On 
two 

occasions, 
guard 
Anthony 

Cowan 
hit 
well-defended, 

low-percentage 
3s to kill any 
momentum 
Michigan could 
muster up.

Frustration 

reared its head 
near the end of 
the half when 
Zavier Simpson 
missed a layup 
and 
committed 

a bad foul on the rebound. 
Beilein replaced his starting 
point guard with fifth-year 
senior Jaaron Simmons — a 
third-stringer 
who 
seldom 

sees the floor.

“Muhammad was missing, 

Charles 
(Matthews) 
was 

missing, 
(Simpson) 
was 

missing,” Beilein said. “That 

was one of the ‘inspirational 
things at halftime. I said, ‘the 
1, 2 and 3 men — you guys are 
3-for-15. You gotta play better. 
… It was, ‘What the hell? We 
gotta to play better.’ ”

The team clearly listened.
Capped off by a Simpson 

and-one 
bucket, 
the 

Wolverines embarked on a 
10-0 run, tying the contest 
roughly three minutes into 
the frame.

Then came the rain. In a 

stunning sequence, Michigan 
buried five consecutive 3s — 
including a trio of triples from 
freshman guard Jordan Poole 
— for its first lead since the 
contest’s early moments.

The stretch was a dramatic 

shift in shooting the rock 
from the first half, as the 
Wolverines sunk nine 3s on 
8-for-17 shooting from beyond 
the arc in the second after 
hitting just 2-of-9 3s in the 
first.

The barrage from outside 

came at an opportune time, 
too. In a tie game, Mortiz 
Wagner and Duncan Robinson 
hit from deep on back-to-back 
possessions, leading to a 10-2 
run that would give Michigan 
a 10-point lead with around 
five minutes to play.

Down the stretch, however, 

the Terrapins responded with 
a 10-2 run of their own to cut 
their deficit to just two. Back-
and-forth 
play 
dominated 

much of the last minute until 
Huerter hit his go-ahead 3.

But it was Abdur-Rahkman 

— with the right play and 
confidence when it counted — 
that would play hero Monday 
night. Four years removed 
from being a two-star recruit 
from Pennsylvania, Abdur-
Rahkman 
has 
a 
win 
to 

commemorate his milestone, 
thanks to a pair of free throws.

“Definitely didn’t think it 

was going to happen like that,” 
he laughed. “But I’m glad it 
did, and we got the win.”

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Editor

Wolverines beat State, escape against Terps

“Definitely didn’t 

think it was 

going to happen 

like that.”

TUESDAY

M VING

U-M 
MSU 

U-M 
MAR 
 

UP

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Design by Jack Silberman

