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