2B — Tuesday, January 16, 2018
SportsTuesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

What a difference a year makes

N

ew Year’s resolutions 

aren’t really 
meant to be 
kept.

Setting 

goals and then 
brushing them 
off a week 
or two into 
the new year 
has become 
a normalized 
routine for many. So has reciting 
the punchline: “There’s always 
next year.”

While some people eventually 

do achieve their goals, others are 
left to wonder if they ever will.

The latter scenario must have 

been how the Michigan hockey 
and men’s basketball teams felt at 
this time last year.

On the second weekend of 

January in 2017, the Wolverines 
faced off against No. 9 Minnesota 
in Mariucci Arena, where they 
hadn’t secured a series sweep 
since 1977. But 40 years later, with 
a chance to reignite their season 
on the line, Michigan was swept 
instead.

And on a January afternoon 

in 2017, the Wolverines took on 
Michigan State at the Breslin 
Center, where they had only won 
once in their past seven attempts. 
But with a bitter rivalry in the 
balance, Michigan suffered yet 
another loss.

After the Golden Gophers 

skated them off the Olympic-sized 
ice and the Spartans ran them 
out of the packed building, the 
Wolverines diverged into two 
different paths.

The hockey team stumbled 

through the final two months of 
the season and ultimately finished 
with one of their worst records 
in recent years, missing out on 
the NCAA Tournament in former 
coach Red Berenson’s final year 
at the helm of the program. The 
men’s basketball team, on the 
other hand, exacted revenge at 
Crisler Center just nine days later, 

blowing out Michigan State by 
nearly 30 points and going on to 
win the Big Ten Tournament and 
advance to the Sweet 16 of the 
NCAA Tourney.

Still, 

Michigan’s New 
Year’s resolutions 
remained 
unfulfilled, and 
the Wolverines 
weren’t sure 
how long they 
would have to 
wait for them to 
be realized. As 
it turns out, that 
would be all of 
one year.

On the second weekend of 

January in 2018, the Wolverines 
headed back to Mariucci Arena 
to face still-No. 9 Minnesota. 
Ranked 27th in the Pairwise — 
well out of contention for the 
NCAA Tournament — they had 

an uphill battle awaiting them up 
north.

The bus ride to the first game 

of the series was understandably 
quiet. The pressure could have 

turned the 
Wolverines into a 
diamond or dust. 
They chose the 
former.

It took just 

14 seconds for 
Michigan to 
find the back 
of the net, and 
the blitz was 
on. Four more 
goals followed 

that night, and three more came 
the night after. Minnesota could 
muster just four over both nights 
in response.

“They’re typically not a very 

physical team, so we just came in 
with the mindset that we were 
going to outwork them, outmuscle 

them,” said sophomore goaltender 
Hayden Lavigne after Saturday’s 
game. “And that’s what we did 
both nights.”

With 5-3 and 3-1 victories, the 

Wolverines took 
home the elusive 
series sweep in 
Minneapolis.

“They had only 

lost two games 
here all year at 
Minnesota, so to 
come and get a 
sweep is huge,” 
said Michigan 
coach Mel 
Pearson. “And we 
earned it.”

They also jumped up 12 spots 

to a tie for No. 15 in Pairwise 
with none other than the Golden 
Gophers. Given that the top-16 
are usually selected for the NCAA 
Tournament, Michigan will have 
a much more favorable position 

come tourney time if it can 
sustain its momentum.

The same could be said for the 

Wolverines on the court.

On a January afternoon in 

2018, Michigan 
traveled back 
to the Breslin 
Center to take on 
No. 4 Michigan 
State. After a 
heartbreaking 
70-69 loss to No. 
5 Purdue earlier 
in the week, 
the Wolverines’ 
challenging 
stretch went up a 

few notches in difficulty.

It didn’t help that the status of 

junior forward Moritz Wagner 
was up in the air after he 
re-tweaked his ankle injury. But 
not only was he there Saturday, he 
was everywhere.

Wagner scored a career-

high 27 points in 27 minutes 
and, on several occasions, 
made his Spartan defender 
look silly. But he didn’t do it 
alone, as sophomore guard 
Zavier Simpson, senior guard 
Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman 
and redshirt sophomore forward 
Charles Matthews scored 16, 
14 and 10 points, respectively. 
Michigan State, which had been 
the top-ranked team in the 
nation two weeks ago, had no 
answer.

“We have a confident group 

of guys,” Matthews said. “I 
don’t think anyone is scared of 
the moment. Nobody is soft or 
anything like that. If anything, 
sometimes we get too thirsty. 
Today, we were just relaxed.”

With that mindset on full 

display in an 82-72 win, Michigan 
brought home the rivalry victory 
in East Lansing.

“We always say that all we 

need is what we have in this 
room,” Abdur-Rahkman said. 
“... I think us being so close as 
a team helps us go into tough 
environments like Michigan State 
and other places on the road. … 
It’s us against the world.”

It also entered the Associated 

Press Top 25 poll at No. 23 for 
the first time this season, and is 
now projected to be a No. 6 seed 
in the NCAA Tournament by 
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. That would 
be its highest position since 
2014, which was the season after 
the Wolverines finished as the 
national runner-up.

More often than not, people 

use the phrase, “there’s always 
next year,” about their New Year’s 
resolutions as a joke because they 
know the cycle will continue, for 
however many years it takes.

But for the Michigan hockey 

and men’s basketball teams in 
2018, that wasn’t the case.

What a difference a year 

makes.

Ashame can be reached at 

ashabete@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @betelhem_ashame.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein has his team trending in the right direction, and it’s a far cry from where the Wolverines were a year ago. 

BETELHEM
ASHAME

Michigan 
struggled 
through 

January of 2017.

“I don’t think 

anyone is 

scared of the 

moment.”

Michigan proves toughness in quick turnaround

When 
Michigan 
State 

forward Miles Bridges said the 
Michigan men’s basketball team 
“(doesn’t) even focus on (being 
tough) Saturday,” he was merely 
regurgitating 
something 
the 

Michigan basketball program has 
heard for years.

Some prefer “soft.” Maverick 

Morgan chose “white collar.” But 
the same underlying sentiment 
runs true.

Defiantly, 
the 
Wolverines 

proved once again their label 
couldn’t be further from the 
truth. Not this team; not this year.

With guile and grit, with 

defense and a 3-point shooting 
frenzy, with a little ingenuity and 
a whole lot of heart, Michigan 
squeaked out a home win over 
Maryland, 68-67, just over 50 
hours after knocking off then-No. 
4 Michigan State at the Breslin 
Center.

“People 
are 
saying 
you’re 

pretty good,” Michigan coach 
John Beilein told his team before 
the game Monday. “I’ll tell you 
how good you are if you can beat 
Maryland.”

They’ve 
had 
one-day 

preparation windows before, but 
not of this difficulty. Twenty-
four hours sandwiched between 
a heavyweight in-state rival and 
a hungry conference foe posed 
a test of physical and mental 
fortitude unlike anything they’ve 
faced this year.

To 
accomodate 
Madison 

Square Garden as the venue 
for the Big Ten Tournament, 
the conference condensed its 
schedule, forcing each team to 
deal with short turnarounds. The 
Wolverines got a day of practice 
— though hardly strenuous — 
in between the games against 
the Spartans and the Terrapins. 
Coming off the emotional high 
of the win over Michigan State, 
Monday reeked of a trap game.

“First of all, I’ve got to come 

down from the adrenaline in East 
Lansing because when you’re 
out there it’s a little different,” 
Wagner said. “It’s a different 
atmosphere. 
And 
you 
win, 

obviously having a good game as a 
team, and then talking trash after 

and all the surrounding stuff that 
you don’t want to get caught up in, 
like that takes energy, too. You’ve 
got to come down from that, relax, 
then make your mind up that you 
have the next game in 48 hours.”

For the first 20 minutes, the 

“letdown” narrative fit to a tee.

The Wolverines shot 9-for-29 

in the first half, with zero free-
throw attempts. They made just 
two 3-pointers in the half, and 
hardly fared much better with the 
attempts close to the rim. Down 
30-20 at halftime, the defense 
was propping up a lackadaisical 
offense to little avail.

“It was one of those days when 

we felt like ‘Nothing is really 
working today,’ ” Wagner said. 
“We don’t give up. We’ve been 
down 18 points before, we’ve been 
down 16 against Purdue. We’ve 
been in these situations, we trust 
each other.”

In the middle of the second 

half, that trust — and the mental 
fortitude — began to pay off.

In the blink of an eye, the 

energy perhaps still radiating in 
the locker room at Breslin Center 
made its appearance. First, it was 
Poole hitting an open 3-pointer at 
the top of the key. Then Wagner 
slipped a screen and hit another. 
Then Isaiah Livers found the 
bottom of the net from his now-
patented corner. Then Poole hit a 
transition, step back three from 
the wing. Then, to bring the house 

down, Poole again.

“I don’t know why they left me 

open,” Poole said, “that’s all I can 
say.”

In 
his 
charicteristically 

boisterous fashion, Poole turned 
to the Crisler faithful, put three 
fingers to his head and made his 
presence known. As if there’s ever 
a doubt with him. 

“If I hit one,” Poole said. “I feel 

like I’m The Microwave.”

Five 
straight 
possessions. 

Five straight threes. One game-
altering run. 

But it was far from game-

sealing. With tired legs coercing 
Michigan 
to 
crawl 
— 
and 

prohibiting it from cruising — to 
a finish, the Terrapins fought back 
furiously. 

With 20 seconds left and the 

Wolverine lead diminished to five, 
Maryland guard Anthony Cowan 
stepped up and made a contested 
three-pointer from the top of the 
key. Then after two missed free 
throws from sophomore point 
guard Zavier Simpson, Maryland 
freed guard Kevin Huerter for 
an open three to take a one-point 
lead. Splash.

It conjured scenes from the 

Wolverines’ heartbreaking one-
point loss to Purdue less than a 
week ago.

Perhaps a softer team would 

have mailed in another close loss, 
emphasized the “Woe, is me” 
nature of playing under these 

circumstances and packed its 
bags for Omaha, Nebraska.

Instead, with 3.2 seconds left, it 

executed to perfection.

Isaiah Livers — a former 

baseball player — tossed the 
inbounds 
pass 
over 
Cowan’s 

head, straight to Muhammad-
Ali Abdur-Rahkman at halfcourt 
as he strided toward the hoop. 
Head down, full-steam ahead, 
Abdur-Rahkman 
overcame 
a 

poor shooting night with the 
moment of the game, drawing a 
foul to get to the line. With silence 
more conducive to a library than 
a crowded arena, the 92 percent 
free-throw shooter sunk both 
without even grazing the rim or 
cracking a smile.

Neither a quick turnaround 

nor shooting struggles could 
faze a traditionally stoic Abdur-
Rahkman.

“Me?” 
Abdur-Rahkman 

prefaced 
when 
asked 
about 

how he prepared with the short 
turnaround. “I was just playing 
Xbox with a couple guys on the 
team.”

“That (turnaround) is tough, 

but that’s what makes good 
teams good — and we know that,” 
Wagner said. “Adversity, we’ve 
proven that we can win and adjust. 
But prosperity? That’s what the 
really good teams adjust to. 

“We had a tough time, we 

found a way.”

Tough, indeed.

Wagner takes over 

As Moritz Wagner walked 

off the court on Saturday, he 
pointed up to the rafters of the 
Breslin Center. There, in a small, 
maize section, stood a few rows of 
Michigan fans who had made the 
commute to East Lansing.

Wagner had just scored a 

career-high 27 points to help the 
Wolverines beat No. 4 Michigan 
State, 82-72. He did it in a bevy 
of ways, from 3-point shooting to 
behind-the-back dribble moves to 
fall-away baseline jumpers.

And Michigan needed all of it. 

It needed Wagner to be the same 
player he had been earlier in the 
season, and Wagner delivered in 
spades.

With about 12 minutes left in 

the first half, the Spartans looked 
poised to go on a run. Michigan 
State’s Jaren Jackson Jr. blocked 
two shots on the defensive end 
before throwing down a vicious, 
one-handed dunk to give the 
Spartans the lead.

Moments later, as the crowd 

exploded around him, Wagner 
drilled an open three. He shushed 
the crowd as he backpedaled 
down the court.

In the second half, there was a 

similar situation. With just over 
eight minutes left, Michigan State 
took another lead thanks to a 
pair of free throws from Jackson. 
Again, the crowd crescendoed. 
Again, Wagner hit a 3-pointer to 
retake the lead.

All game long, when the 

Wolverines needed a spark, they 
looked to Wagner. And all game 
long, Wagner provided it. In a 
hostile 
environment, 
Wagner 

ripped the Spartans’ hearts out, 
and he did so with a smile on his 
face.

“We actually used to call 

him the Grayson Allen of the 
Big Ten, being that everybody 
kinda hates him,” said senior 
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman. “But he loves that role, 
and he plays it well, coming in 
here and having a big game like he 
did. And we’re just happy to have 
him.”

The performance was even 

more eye-catching when you 
consider that it wasn’t a certainty 
that Wagner would play at all.

After re-tweaking an ankle 

injury on Thursday, Michigan 
coach John Beilein said he wasn’t 
sure if Wagner would be in 
Saturday’s lineup.

Wagner claimed he always 

knew he was going to play. Either 
way, knowing that there was 
some pain involved in Wagner’s 
performance makes it all-the-
more impressive.

“That stuff happens, dude,” 

Wagner said. “With an ankle 
injury, you can’t wait until it’s 
gone or 100 percent. You’ve just 
got to get used to it. Sometimes 
you re-tweak it, but that stuff 
happens, man.”

Added Beilein: “He had a lot 

of courage to come in and play, 
because he basically re-injured 
the same injury, but he didn’t look 
like it was bad today.”

Maybe it helped that this was 

a big game. When Wagner was 
on the fence to play earlier in 
the season, he sat out in games 
against Detroit and Alabama 
A&M — games the Wolverines 
would have won with or without 
Wagner.

On Saturday in a rivalry game 

against a top-5 team, sitting 
wasn’t much of an option.

And it would be easy for 

Wagner to brush off the matchup 
as just another game. He didn’t 
grow up around college basketball 
rivalries like this. He wasn’t 
always familiar with the passion 
or hatred for Michigan State that 
fans and other players feel. But he 
understands that the passion is 
there. For him, that’s enough.

That’s why his last action 

before leaving the court was a 
point.

“This game means so much 

for the people up there that you 
don’t see down here, and all of 
the Michigan family out there,” 
Wagner said, pointing again to the 
section where the Michigan fans 
sat. “Obviously, me being from 
Germany, it’s a little different, but 
for these people you want to play 
your heart out. We did that today.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MIKE PERSAK

Managing Sports Editor

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Junior forward Moritz Wagner scored 18 points on Monday night to help Michigan overcome a quick turnaround.

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor