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 ...”