Series Split
The No. 20 Michigan hockey
team split a pair of games
against No. 18 Wisconsin
this weekend
» Page 4B
Free Falling
The No. 13 Michigan
women’s basketball team
had a rough week, dropping
a shocker at home to Purdue
and losing at Rutgers
» Page 4B
It was deja vu all over again
for the Wolverines.
A stodgy first half. A second-
half spurt. A collapse at the
end. A three to tie it.
Against Maryland, guard
Kevin Huerter drained a cold-
blooded three to tie the game,
with the Terrapins smelling
a potential upset bid. On that
night, the Wolverines executed
their last-second play to
perfection, finding a charging
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman as he bullied his
way to the hoop. On that night,
Abdur-Rahkman drained both
free throws to escape with a
win.
On Saturday, Abdur-
Rahkman caught the inbounds
pass with 3.3 seconds left,
found a wall of Minnesota
defenders, and hurled up
something resembling an off-
balance three. Needless to say
it didn’t fall.
But once again, Michigan
(19-6 overall, 8-4 Big Ten)
escaped with a win in a game
filled with self-inflicted
wounds. Once again, Abdur-
Rahkman would be the hero.
With 3.8 seconds left,
Abdur-Rahkman made up for
his end-of-regulation miss with
the decisive moment of the
game, as he attacked the
hoop, spun to his left
and made the layup
with a foul.
“I just looked
up the
floor and
surveyed
the floor,
and saw there
was nobody
under the
basket,” Abdur-
Rahkman said.
“So I knew that if
I could get downhill
there wouldn’t be a help
defender. Once he cut me off I
just thought I should probably
spin.”
Once again, the Wolverines
pulled a rabbit out of their
hat in a game they tried
desperately to lose, topping
Minnesota (14-11, 3-9), 76-73,
in a bewildering back and forth
slugfest.
For much of the night,
though, Gophers’ guard Isaiah
Washington imposed his will.
Washington came into the
game averaging 6.9 points per
game on 32 percent from the
field, and left Crisler with a
26-point outburst on 11-of-16
from the field.
While Michigan struggled
to contain Minnesota’s guards
on one end, the offensive
struggles remained an equally
persistent problem for a team
that has taken a propensity to
slow starts. The Wolverines
shot just 34 percent from the
field and 29 percent from three
in the first half, heading to the
locker room down 34-32.
Michigan
has now shot
37 percent
or below
and scored
32 points or
fewer in five
of its last six
first halves.
And as
bad as things
may have
gotten from
the field,
the most
alarming statistic came at the
free-throw line. Michigan shot
just 12-for-28 on the night.
“It’s all mental,” Abdur-
Rahkman said. “You get up
there to the line, people think
too much. You get a clear
head. We literally do this
everyday and guys shoot good
percentages in practices.”
Added Beilein: “It’s not
mechanical right now. They’ve
got to go up there with some
confidence. We’ve got to get
them right. That’s my job.”
Yet as things remained grim
the Wolverines somehow found
a way to stay competitive.
In need of a pick-me-
up in the second half, the
Wolverines turned to their
star center to turn the tide.
First, Wagner drained a
3-pointers from the corner
to close the gap to two
points. Then, he corraled
two consecutive offensive
rebounds to keep possessions
alive. The majority of second-
half offensive possessions
centered around pick-and-
roll action with the German
center. He scored 16 points on
the day.
And, perhaps most
impressively, Wagner stared
one of his most physical one-
on-one matchups of the season
in the face and overpowered
him.
Minnesota forward Jordan
Murphy came into the game
averaging 18 points and 12
rebounds per game, fourth
in the nation in the latter
category. Not only did Wagner
dazzle offensively, but he
topped Murphy on the boards
— with 10 to Murphy’s 6 — and
held the Gophers’ star in check
offensively. Wagner called that
“the key to winning this game.”
Murphy would
later foul out in
overtime with
just 12 points.
Despite
Murphy’s
struggles,
though,
Washington
and Mason
continued to
wreak havoc
on Michigan’s
defense. They
combined
to score 48 of the Gophers’
73 points, with an array of
offensive moves and tough
shots. The guard tandem was
effective enough to force the
Wolverines into a zone midway
through the second half, a
rarity in assistant coach Luke
Yaklich’s man-centric defense.
It was Yaklich who decided the
zone would be the only way to
combat the dynamic duo.
“That was Luke Yaklich
all the way,” said Michigan
coach John Beilein. “We felt,
when you get a guy like Mason
and Washington — they were
15-for-22 at that time — they
have what we need to go
recruit: guys who can make
tough twos. They were making
tough twos. They were making
them. We said, ‘Well, the only
way we can possibly stop this is
change what we’re doing.’ ”
As the clock began to wind
down, Michigan appeared
headed toward a close victory.
Up three points with 20
seconds left in regulation,
Robinson caught the ball in
the corner, as two defenders
tried to wrestle the ball from
him. While a foul appeared
immiment, the referees instead
blew the whistle for a travel,
handing possession back
to Minnesota with one last
chance.
“I have no idea what
happened on that play,” Beilein
said. There’s a cylinder when
you’re pivoting, they can’t be in
your cylinder. If he walked I’m
sure it must have been blatant
for the officials. If not, that’s
really a bad call.”
Mason took that break and
snatched the momentum right
back.
With just five seconds left,
Mason drained a 3-pointer
to send it to overtime after
Michigan missed a switch on a
screen.
In overtime, the free-throw
disaster continue to plague the
Wolverines. Sophomore guard
Zavier Simpson missed two key
attempts to potentially extend
the lead to three. Washington
answered on the other end,
making two free throw to take
back the lead. On the next
possession, Matthews barely
clanked home the first and
missed the next.
Tied at 71. One minute left.
As the teams traded buckets
in the final minute, Abdur-
Rahkman got his chance
at redemption with nine
seconds left. For a senior just
starting to develop into the
go-to option late in games,
every opportunity is a work in
progress. He made the most of
this one.
“I wouldn’t say that I’ve
been in that position before,”
Abdur-Rahkman said. “But
I’ve been in games, tight
games, NCAA Tournament and
stuff like that. It’s definitely
something that’s developing.
I’ve just got to continue to
grow.”
It was an emphatic finish to
a most uneven performance.
There was as much
exasperation as enthusiasm
after the game.
“I’ll take the W,” Beilein
muttered as he walked off the
podium after his postgame
press conference. “I need a
nap.”
MAX MARCOVITCH
Senior Sports Editor
U-M tops Minnesota in wild finish
SAM MOUSIGIAN/DAILY
B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | February 5, 2018
the sweet
ESCAPE
DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN
MICH 76 - MINN 73 (OT)
“I just looked up the
floor and surveyed the
floor, and saw
there was nobody
under the basket.”