8 — Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Behind Enemy Lines: Northwestern senior guard Bryant McIntosh
It’s been a trying season for the
Northwestern men’s basketball
team.
The Wildcats made the NCAA
Tournament
last
season
for
the first time in school history.
They won their first round game
against Vanderbilt, and came
close to beating Gonzaga, the
eventual national championship
runner-up.
Northwestern
might
have
even won that game if it weren’t
for a missed call. The Bulldogs’
Zach Collins blocked a layup
from Wildcat Dererk Pardon,
but Collins’ hand was inside the
basket. The NCAA later admitted
the play should have been called
for goaltending. Northwestern
was down five with five minutes
left in the game, and there’s
no telling what would have
transpired if the call had been
made differently. Still, the play
left the Wildcats
wondering, what
could have been.
Since
then,
things have taken
a turn for the
worse.
The
celebration
of
the
Cinderella
team from last
year is gone, and
what’s left is a
middling, 14-10 team running
out of opportunities to prove
itself worthy of another NCAA
Tournament bid.
The
stark
decline
in
Northwestern’s production is a
surprise considering it returned
four of its five starters from last
season. One of those returners,
guard Bryant McIntosh, was
pegged to be one
of the best players
in the conference.
McIntosh
was one of just
three unanimous
selections
for
the
preseason
All-Big Ten team
—
along
with
Michigan State’s
Miles
Bridges
and Wisconsin’s
Ethan Happ. McIntosh flourished
in the NCAA Tournament last
season, scoring 25 and 20 points,
respectively, in the Wildcats’ two
games.
Since
then,
McIntosh’s
production, like his team’s, has
declined. He’s averaging over
two points fewer per game this
season, and he hasn’t shown as
many
flashes
of brilliance as
before,
scoring
over 20 points in
just three games
all season.
The
Daily
sat
down
with
McIntosh at Big
Ten Media Day in
October — before
things
started
to go wrong for
Northwestern — to discuss how
things had changed in Evanston,
how expectations had affected
the team and how last season’s
game against Michigan propelled
the Wildcats into the tournament.
The Michigan Daily: As you’ve
become more successful, and the
team’s become more successful,
is there any more added pressure
involved?
Bryant
McIntosh:
I
don’t think it’s
pressure. I don’t
think any of us
look at it. I think
it’s something we
kind of expect
to
be
honest.
We think we’ve
earned it. It’s just
kind of something
that we look at as, ‘We deserve it.’
We’ve put in enough work. I think
our resume from the previous
year shows that we’re one of
the better teams coming back.
We also realize that we do have
a lot of guys coming back, but
just because it says we should be
good on paper doesn’t guarantee
it. Like, we still have to continue
to work and be hungry and still
attack the days to prepare for this
season.
TMD: As there has been more
success
with
Northwestern
basketball, has there been a
culture change, not even on the
team, but around campus?
BM:
We’re
probably
recognized more on campus.
Like, fans didn’t follow us when
I first got to campus. But the best
story I have for you is having a
student hang (a picture of) the
goaltending of Zach Collins on
the shot last year. That speaks
to just how much the culture
has changed at Northwestern
— having fans that really are
invested and care. That’s probably
the best fan story I have for you.
TMD:
Last
year
against
Michigan was obviously a huge
game. When that happened,
did you know, ‘Alright, we
have a better chance of the
tournament?’
BM: Yeah, I think we all kind
of knew that we needed to win
one more — one more game — to
kind of ensure that we were in.
And there was some pressure
on us, but we kind of addressed
it right before that game, and
just said, ‘If we want to make
the tournament, then we’ve got
to win this game.’ And we won
that, and then we just continued
to help our resume in the Big Ten
Tournament.
TMD: Having had that and the
NCAA Tournament experience,
how has that helped the team this
year?
BM: It’s good. I mean, it just
makes us even more veteran
than just having a bunch of
seniors. We’ve actually already
been there now. And I think a
lot of people anticipated this
being the year that we would go.
Having that already under our
belt, having that experience, I
think, can only be beneficial for
our next run.
TMD: With your own personal
accolades, how have you stayed
focused on the season at hand,
knowing
that
people
expect
certain things out of you?
BM: Like I said, the accolades,
the rankings of our team, it’s
something we kind of all think
we deserved and worked for. But
just because it says it on paper
doesn’t mean it’s reality. So you
still have to continue to work. I
also always go back to the fact
that I was a three-star recruit
from the middle of nowhere that
nobody saw or recognized —
didn’t think I was that good. And
I’ve continued to prove people
wrong. So I understand there’s
people out there that will see the
list, and it will motivate them.
I see the guys on the other list,
and I allow it to motivate me too.
I think it will be a good battle
between the Big Ten guards that
are on the list and not on the list.
There’s a lot of great players in
this league. So it means a lot, but
it’s preseason still too.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Northwestern guard Bryant McIntosh has seen a difference in the way his team is recognized in Evanston after making the NCAA Tournament last season.
“I think it’s
something we
kind of expect
to be honest.”
“Just because it
says it on paper
doesn’t mean
it’s reality.”
After last season’s Cinderella run, McIntosh discussed expectations for this season with The Daily at Big Ten Media Day
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
Wolverines prepare for second Northwestern matchup in eight days
It may be an overlooked
rivalry, but the Michigan and
Northwestern men’s basketball
teams have matched up in some
of the teams’ best games in
recent memory.
Last year, a miraculous full-
court pass and layup at the
buzzer gave the Wildcats a
two-point win, solidifying their
resume and eventually earning
them the program’s first-ever
NCAA Tournament appearance.
A
season
earlier,
it
was
Michigan’s late-game heroics
that brought a postseason bid
into focus. With three seconds
left in overtime, former wing
Zak Irvin drilled a game-winner
to beat Northwestern in the 2016
Big Ten Tournament. A day later,
the Wolverines beat top-seeded
Indiana to essentially secure
their tournament berth.
Yet, the usual drama was
absent in last Tuesday’s series
continuum. Instead, it was an
ugly basketball game that bled to
finality.
In it, Michigan’s inexperience
against
zone
defenses
was
glaring.
Northwestern’s
2-3
matchup
zone
made
the
Wolverines’
offense
look
directionless,
falling
too
often
into
the
crux of forced
improvisation
late in the shot
clock.
But
the
Wildcats’ scoring
attack was even
more dormant. Against a defense
that proved to be as strong as its
own, Northwestern sputtered
to 38-percent shooting and 16
turnovers. Each team had five-
minute stretches without a point
in the first half. The Wolverines,
eventually, schlepped to a 58-47
victory.
“We didn’t make shots, we
didn’t make foul shots, but we
held them and that was the
key,” said Michigan coach John
Beilein after the game.
Eight
days
later, the same
key applies, as
the 20th-ranked
Wolverines (8-4
Big
Ten,
19-6
overall) embark
to
Chicago
to
rematch
Northwestern
(5-6, 14-10) on
Tuesday night.
The
quick
turnaround
between games indicates that
this final matchup of the regular
season might look like the first.
Both teams pride themselves on
defense and have played only
once since the last meeting. Yet,
their respective outlooks have
changed slightly in the past
week.
Forty-eight hours after the
Wildcats couldn’t buy a bucket
in Ann Arbor, they scorched
Wisconsin with an 18-1 start for
an eventual win last Thursday.
Center
Dererk
Pardon,
who
was
relatively
quiet
against
Michigan,
was
perfect
from
the floor with 17
points and added
three blocks.
It
was
a
must-have
for
Northwestern,
which is making
a late crawl into
the Tournament picture after
a slow start. Three wins in four
games has Beilein cautious about
the Wildcats.
“Offensively, they put on a
show, up 18-1 on Wisconsin,”
Beilein said. “As we all know
from last year, they have a very
talented team that has turned
the corner now.
“I see no reason why they can’t
go on a run like we did last year.
They certainly have shown in the
past that they can beat anybody
in this league.”
But
Beilein
can’t
be
as
enthused about his team’s most
recent performance.
Michigan’s issues with slow
starts and free
throw
shooting
nearly cost them
Saturday against
Minnesota.
The Wolverines
went
12-for-28
from the line —
that’s right: they
missed 16 free
throws — which
allowed
the
Golden Gophers
to send the game
into overtime.
“We just keep working on
technique and confidence that
we’ll do it a little different,”
Beilein said. “We end every
practice with these pressure
free throws, and I have an
idea tomorrow to make more
pressure — to end each practice
with a make instead of a miss,
which happens too many times.”
And just as it did against
Northwestern, Michigan again
looked sluggish to begin play.
Minnesota controlled and led the
entire first half — the Wolverines
have gotten outscored in the
opening frame in four of their
last six games.
“There are anxieties at the
front end of our game that are
getting in our way,” Beilein
said. “It’s a lack of focus at the
beginning of the game.”
So how does Michigan avoid
those issues Tuesday? It starts
with
assertiveness
and
new
plays, according to freshman
forward Isaiah Livers.
“Just being more aggressive
off the catch. Northwestern’s
zone — you have to catch it and
slice through,” Livers said. “They
have a terrific zone defense.
(We’re) working on sets that
they’ve never seen before — some
I’ve never seen before today.”
The Wolverines will discover
the efficacy of those sets Tuesday
night. For them, it’s another
chance to improve before March.
For Northwestern, it’s a must-win.
And
if
history
is
any
indication, this game could again
come down to the wire.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein believes Northwestern is capable of making a run like his team did last year.
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor
“We just keep
working on
technique and
confidence.”
“It’s a lack of
focus at the
beginning of
the game.”