8 — Thursday, February 22, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan fends off early second-half run, takes down Penn State, 72-63

Jordan Poole cocked his arm 

back and the Bryce Jordan Center 
crowd gasped.

The freshman guard finished 

the fastbreak dunk with a flush, 
putting 
Penn 
State 
forward 

Julian Moore on a poster and 
sending the Michigan men’s 
basketball team well on its 
way to a statement win, as the 
17th-ranked 
Wolverines 
(12-5 

Big Ten, 23-7 overall) took down 
a resurgent Penn State, 72-63 
Wednesday night.

And just for a little effect, the 

always-affable Poole turned and 
mean-mugged the camera. It 
was the look of a freshman guard 
who was more than happy to ruin 
Senior Night in State College.

“I definitely knew the camera 

was right there,” Poole joked 
after the game.

Once 
again 
Poole 
lifted 

Michigan with a much-needed 
offensive spark, finishing with 
13 points on 4-of-8 shooting. 
Once again, the Wolverines’ 
defense carried them to a big 
win. And once again, Michigan 
showed signs of peaking as the 
Big Ten and NCAA Tournament 
approach.

“I think (Poole is) heading in 

the right direction, that’s for sure, 
of what winning basketball really 
looks like,” Beilein said. “Part of 
that is really making simple plays. 
… He’s sort of learning what to do 
at the right times. But he’s got so 
much swag to him, we can teach 
the other stuff. He’s got so much 
confidence, we can teach the 
other stuff. We can’t teach his 
DNA right now.”

It wasn’t always as smooth 

as the charismatic freshman 
made it seem, though, especially 
offensively.

Michigan 
turned 
the 
ball 

over five times in its first eight 
possessions, but kept the Nittany 
Lions (9-8, 19-11) largely in 
check on the other end thanks 
to strong post defense. Penn 
State seemed content letting 
redshirt sophomore wing Charles 

Matthews, who finished the 
game with zero points and three 
turnovers, attack off the dribble. 
That plan was effective early 
on, prompting Beilein to turn to 
freshman guard Jordan Poole and 
fifth-year senior forward Duncan 
Robinson 
to 

spark the offense.

Both 

responded 
emphatically.

First, Robinson 

dotted a 3-pointer 
in the face of 
his 
defender. 

Then he cut on 
the 
baseline, 

catching a laser 
pass and laying 
it in. Two possessions later, he 
pump-faked his defender and 
pulled up for a smooth, mid-
range jumper.

Robinson 
paced 
the 

Wolverines in the half, scoring 12 
points of his team-high 19 points 
in the frame.

Poole added a 3-pointer and a 

lay-in to his highlight reel dunk 
for eight points of his own in the 

first half. 

But 
the 

Nittany 
Lions 

wouldn’t go down 
without a fight. 
They started the 
second half with 
a jumper from 
star guard Tony 
Carr, a 3-pointer 
from 
forward 

Lamar 
Stevens 

and 
another 

three from Carr. The barrage 
continued, with 10 unanswered 
points in total to grad a 41-38 
lead.

Carr, in particular, grabbed 

the reigns of the previously 
sputtering Penn State offense and 
did his part to rejuvenate it. The 
Big Ten scoring leader finished 
with 21 points on 18 shots, but 
ultimately couldn’t get enough 
support to turn the tide for good.

“We just knew what he was 

capable of doing. He’s a great 
point guard in the Big Ten,” said 
sophomore point guard Zavier 
Simpson, the man tasked with 
guarding Carr for the majority of 
Wednesday’s game. “He’s putting 
up great numbers and leading his 
team to victories. So me being 
the starting point guard for my 
team, I just wanted to come 
in with a defensive mindset to 
make it contagious. He hit some 
good shots, but I think, overall, 
we played some pretty good 
defense.”

From 18:36 to 13:38 of the 

second half, Michigan failed to 
score, offering grim flashbacks 
to road comeback losses at 
Northwestern and Ohio State, 
prompting Beilein to call timeout.

“We seemed like we were tired 

and didn’t want 
to play with the 
same conviction 
we did in the 
first half,” Beilein 
said. “I can’t tell 
you the timeout 
worked, but in the 
last 12 minutes 
we played with a 
lot of conviction.”

With 

Michigan’s back 
against 
the 
walls, 
suddenly 

trailing on the road and in need 
of a basket, junior center Moritz 
Wagner answered the call. With 

the shot clock winding down, 
Wagner nailed a corner three, 
tying the game back up. He 
followed that up with another 
crowd-silencing 
three 
two 

possessions later, wrestling the 
lead back to the Wolverines. 

“Those 
two 
buckets 
were 

definitely 
huge,” 
Poole 
said. 

“Obviously we couldn’t get shots 
to fall. Obviously, the momentum 
was swinging their way. But he’s 
a big-time player — he’s been here 
making big-time shots this year 
and last year.

Wagner finished with 18 points 

and 8 rebounds.

The teams traded haymakers 

as the game headed towards 
its dawn — a Reaves three, an 
Abdur-Rahkman answer. A Poole 
three, a Carr jumper.

It was Robinson who would 

throw 
the 
knockout 
punch, 

blocking two key shots at the rim 
and nailing a transition 3-pointer 
to extend the lead to nine with 
just 1:28 left.

“I just feel a little bit more 

engaged when I step on the floor,” 
Robinson said. “These are the 
final minutes and games of my 
college career. I’m trying to make 
it all count.”

In the end, with the defense 

doing its part to hold Penn State 
in check, Michigan held its slim 
lead for the final 12:04 of the 
game.

And yet, with a 12th conference 

win in tow and just a game left 
in the regular season, Bryce 

Jordan 
Center 

wasn’t the place 
for macroscopic 
reflection on the 
season. That time 
will come.

This is a team 

continuing 
to 

improve at the 
time of year that 
is paramount.

“The 

expectation 

is we’re going to keep getting 
better,” Beilein said. “If that’s 
our rule of thumb, we are getting 
better.”

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Freshman guard Jordan Poole provided a spark off the bench once again, finishing with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting with a couple highlight plays.

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

Wagner finds Michigan’s answer

Early in the second half, the 

“Wagner” chants returned.

It 
was 
reminiscent 
of 

Michigan’s 
January 
trip 
to 

Nebraska. The Wolverines lost 
by 20 in Lincoln, and Wagner — 
opposing crowds’ favorite guy to 
heckle — struggled mightily.

Back then, the junior forward 

had no comeback for the taunts. 
He 
was 
frustrated 
by 
the 

Cornhuskers all night, and at 
the end of the contest, he sat 
quietly on the bench as the crowd 
chanted his name. Nebraska 
trounced Michigan.

Wednesday, the Wolverines 

were in danger of something 
similar. But this time, Wagner 
had an answer.

It was after he had been 

blocked on a layup attempt by 
Penn State’s Lamar Stevens, 
leading to an and-one to put the 
Nittany Lions on top. Michigan’s 
eight-point halftime lead had 
evaporated. Two minutes later, 
Stevens threw down an alley-oop 
to increase the lead to three, and 
the Bryce Jordan Center broke 
out the Wagner chants.

The 
Wolverines 
looked 

helpless on offense. Michigan 
coach John Beilein admitted he 
was frustrated with that side of 
the ball at the time.

The next possession didn’t 

look much better. The shot 
clock was trickling down, and 
the Wolverines still couldn’t 
find their flow. Senior guard 
Muhammad-Ali 
Abdur-

Rahkman probed into the lane 
and kicked it out to Wagner with 
five on the clock. The junior rose 
up from the right corner and tied 
the game with a three.

With just over 12 minutes to 

go, Wagner did it again off a pick-
and-pop to give Michigan its 
lead back. The Wolverines never 
trailed again, winning 72-63.

“During that situation, we 

just look to try to get a good 
shot,” said sophomore guard 
Zavier Simpson. “Moe had big 
enough balls to take them, so we 
appreciate him. He made them, 
and we’re glad for that. It kind 
of settled us down and made us 

enjoy the situation of us being 
up. We took advantage of it. So 
we were proud of that, and a big 
shoutout to Moe for knocking 
those shots down.”

Added Beilein: “(We had) very 

poor direction at that time. … 
Usually in the second half, I can 
help them with that. ... He got 
open, luckily, and he made them 
both, and now, all of the sudden, 
it’s a one-point game, and now 
we’re back playing.”

It was that kind of shooting 

that 
sealed 
the 
game 
for 

Michigan. Wagner finished the 
game 4-for-5 from deep with 18 
points. Fifth-year senior forward 
Duncan Robinson went 3-for-6 
from beyond the arc and finished 
with 19 points.

Both hit clutch 

shots when the 
Wolverines 
needed 
them. 
Beilein 

complimented 
how 
they 

“don’t 
have 
a 

conscience.”

That’s 

especially 
important 
for 

Wagner.

He knows he draws the ire of 

opposing crowds wherever he 
goes, and Michigan struggled on 
the road early in the season.

Wagner 
somewhat 
relishes 

the 
villain 
role 
though, 
as 

he’s shooting 46% from three 

in 
opposing 
arenas. 
It’s 
a 

phenomenon 
he 
can’t 
really 

explain, just like he can’t explain 
why he’s the center of road 
crowds’ attention.

“For some reason they hate 

me everywhere, but I just play 
honestly,” Wagner said. “I don’t 
think about that type of stuff. 
Last year, I remember people 
asking me why my shooting 
numbers were so low on the road. 
Now it’s the other way around. 
If you know me, I don’t look like 
I’m not enjoying this out there. I 
definitely have fun, and it’s cool.”

It’s a unique perspective for 

sure.

It would be easy to crumble 

under the pressure knowing that 

13,000 
people 

are dying to see 
you get your shot 
blocked or turn 
the 
ball 
over. 

They’d revel in 
any 
frustration 

at all.

They 
loved 

it in Lincoln. It 
was the sideshow 
to 
the 
game, 

as 
the 
student 

section pestered Wagner into 
submission.

But despite the same chant 

raining down on the court and the 
other team threatening a similar 
run to put the Wolverines away, 
there was one, key difference.

Wagner had an answer. 

MIKE PERSAK

Managing Sports Editor

“The expectation 

is we’re going 

to keep getting 

better.”

“I think (Poole 

is) heading 
in the right 
direction ...”

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Moritz Wagner hit several big shots against Penn State on Wednesday.

“For some 
reason they 

hate me 

everywhere ...”

