Michigan dominates Northwood in exhibition

As far as sporting events 
go, preseason exhibitions are 
amongst the most predictable. 
This one was no different.
The No. 19 Michigan men’s 
basketball 
team 
thumped 
Division 
II 
Northwood, 
90-58, on Friday night in its 
lone exhibition game before 
Tuesday’s 
opener 
against 
Norfolk 
State. 
The Wolverines 
jumped out to 
an early lead, 
hitting 
seven 
of their first 10 
field goals, and 
never 
looked 
back.
Michigan 
scored 
easily 
and efficiently, 
but 
did 
so 
without hitting 
its 
first 
3-pointer 
until 
sophomore guard Eli Brooks 
canned one in transition with 
just under two minutes left in 
the first half.
For a John Beilein-coached 
team, that’s almost unheard 
of, but it’s a trade-off Michigan 
may make. Sophomore guard 
Jordan Poole was the only 
player in Friday’s starting 
lineup who shot above 32 
percent 
from 
outside 
last 
season, a byproduct of Moritz 
Wagner, 
Muhammad-Ali 
Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan 
Robinson’s departures. Junior 
center Jon Teske did flash the 
ability to shoot from outside, 
putting in his first and only, 
3-point attempt of the night.
“We don’t have the volume 
guys we had,” Beilein said. 
“Muhammad 
was 
never 
a 
volume guy — it took him 
years to acquire that trait. 
Duncan came out of the womb 
shooting, and Moe did as 
well. None of these guys that 
we have, except Jordan Poole 
probably, had that mentality 
walking in.”

Michigan got inside with 
ease, shooting 61.7 percent 
from the field with 56 points 
in the paint, an effort led 
by freshman forward Ignas 
Brazdeikis. The Lithuanian-
Canadian 
threw 
down 
a 
transition dunk for his first 
points and later flashed the 
ability to finish with ease, 
smoothly going to his left 
for an and-1 layup to put the 
Wolverines up 17-10.
Brazdeikis, 
who 
started 
ahead 
of 
sophomore 
Isaiah 
Livers, 
stood out with 
11 
first 
half 
points on 5-of-
6 
shooting, 
ultimately 
finishing 
with 
13, 
tied 
with 
redshirt 
junior Charles 
Matthews for the team lead. 
Poole 
and 
Livers 
stuffed 
the statsheet, as the former 
finished with 12 points, seven 
assists and five rebounds; the 
latter with 12 points and eight 
rebounds.

“We went through most of 
our preseason — Isaiah Livers 
was not able to practice a lot,” 
Beilein said. “So we got into 
a rhythm, and then all the 
sudden he was there for like 
one week beforehand. We just 
stuck with him. … Isaiah is 
a team guy and he’ll fill that 
(sixth-man) role well.”
By halftime, the outcome 
was 
all 
but 
decided, 
as 
Michigan held a 41-26 lead, 
pulling 
away 
with a 12-0 run 
punctuated by a 
transition 
dunk 
from sophomore 
guard 
Jordan 
Poole off his own 
steal 
after 
the 
Timberwolves 
tied the game at 
eight.
Early 
in 
the 
second 
half, 
the 
Wolverines 
pulled 
away 
for 
good. 
Matthews tossed a lob to 
Livers for Michigan’s first 
points of the frame, then 
threw down a dunk of his 
own less than a minute later, 
extending the lead to 45-29. 

The Wolverines rolled from 
there. Livers notched another 
transition dunk — this one 
from 
junior 
guard 
Zavier 
Simpson 
— 
three 
minutes 
later, putting the margin at 22.
Defensively, 
it 
doesn’t 
seem Michigan has lost a step 
from last season, finishing 
third in KenPom’s adjusted 
efficiency. 
The 
Wolverines 
held Northwood to just .806 
points per possession, forcing 
16 
turnovers 
just 
a 
day 
after 
Beilein 
lambasted 
their 
performance 
at 
an 
open 
practice.
“We knew it 
was more like 
a game, I guess 
the situation,” 
Poole 
said. 
“How 
we 
played 
tonight, 
we 
came 
prepared to play, like ready to 
play real defense in a game.”
This was supposed to be 
a tune-up, and that’s what 
it was. On Tuesday, the real 
thing begins.

The Michigan Daily Top 10 Poll 

Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out bal-
lots, with first-place votes receiving 10 
points, second-place votes receiving nine and 
so on. 

1. Alabama: We don’t want Bama.

2. Clemson: Their coach is named after a 
mediocre dance move.

3. Notre Dame: It’s Catholicious…. It’s 
hot hot! It’s Catholicious.... I’ll show them 
boys just what I got!

4. Michigan: Rick Snyder is out of a job 
and Michigan is in the playoff hunt — cor-
relation is causation! 

5. Georgia: More like Jake FROMM State 
Farm.

6. Oklahoma: Boomer Sooners are far 
more likely to vote Republican on Tuesday 
than Millennial Sooners.

7. West Virginia: “Let’s win the f*ckin 
game” - Dana Holgorsen.

8. LSU: It’s okay, LSU, you tried your best. 

9. Washington State: We called Mike 
Leach to ask for a joke and he actually 
picked up.

10. Ohio State: More like Urban Com-
plicit.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore forward Isaiah Livers threw down multiple ferocious dunks in Michigan’s exhibition win on Friday.

“None of these 

guys that we 

have... had that 

mentality.”

“How we played 

tonight, we came 

prepared to 

play.”

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
November 5, 2018 — 3B

