8 —Thursday, November 15, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Philly Special
‘M’ avenges national championship
loss to Nova with blowout, 73-46 win
VILLANOVA, Pa. — This was
not supposed to happen.
Last April, Villanova took the
floor in San Antonio and put on a
spectacular display of basketball
dominance.
The
Wildcats
seemingly scored at will, while
suffocating the Michigan men’s
basketball team on the other end.
Wednesday night in Villanova,
history was supposed to repeat
itself.
And it did — except that the
roles were reversed, with the
18th-ranked
Wolverines
(3-0
overall) jumping out to an early
lead and never looking back in a
stunning, 73-46 win.
If anything went as expected
on Wednesday, it
was
Michigan’s
defensive
dominance. After
allowing
just
13 points in the
second
half
of
Saturday’s
win
over Holy Cross,
they limited the
eighth-ranked
Wildcats (2-1) to
17 first half points
on 6-of-25 shooting.
Postgame, Villanova coach
Jay Wright was asked what went
wrong for his team. Midway
through a lengthy self-reflection
on the Wildcats’ performance, he
stopped and corrected himself.
“Number one: their defense.”
At half time, Villanova trailed
in all but two categories —
personal fouls and turnovers.
The
Wildcats
finished
with
two more free throws than the
Wolverines but the turnover
disparity
remained,
as
they
finished with 21 — seven more
than their made field goal tally.
“We really are gonna probably
be as good as our defense is
gonna be this year,” said coach
John Beilein. “And it was really
good today.”
“People ask, ‘well what’s this
scheme or what did you do?’
We have really good individual
defenders, including our big guy
Jon Teske. They’re really good at
picking you apart and finding a
weakness. We didn’t have many
weaknesses
individually
on
defense today and that was a big
difference.”
Eight minutes into the first
half,
Michigan
had
already
quieted a raucous Villanova
crowd by building an early 14-8
lead. That wasn’t enough for
Beilein, who replaced junior
center Jon Teske with freshman
forward Ignas Brazdeikis and
shifted
sophomore
forward
Isaiah Livers to the ‘5,’ where
he would remain until Teske
returned with 25 seconds left
in the half. By that point, the
Wolverines led, 44-17.
Livers
made
a
dramatic
introduction to his new position,
pulling up from just beyond the
3-point arc to hit Michigan’s
second
consecutive
3-pointer
and start a 25-5 run, but his
biggest impact came on the
defensive end.
“(Livers) allows us, with a
driving big like they have, he
can
stay
in
front of him,”
Beilein
said
“…
And
then,
hitting
those
two 3s in the
first half really
was big for us.
You’ve watched
our games, you
know
right
now, we were
struggling
getting open shots from outside.
He knocked down those two 3s.
Added Wright: “If they’re
with (Livers) at
the ‘five’ and he’s
the
biggest
guy
and he’s guarding
our guards, that’s
a hell of a team.”
But much like
against
Holy
Cross,
it
was
Brazdeikis
and
redshirt
junior
forward
Charles
Matthews leading
the way for the Wolverines.
Matthews led all scorers with 19
points — including 16 in the first
half.
His most ferocious two came
with the game teetering on the
edge of a blowout, as Michigan
led with 26-13 with 6:29 to
play in the first half. Livers
missed a layup under the hoop,
but Matthews elevated above
multiple
Villanova
would-be
rebounders to slam home a two-
handed dunk before flexing to
the crowd.
“I just play and let my passion
take over,” Matthews said. “It
was an exciting game, it was a
fun game and I got the dunk, and
I just screamed. I didn’t know
what else to do.”
Livers made amends on the
next possession with his second
three of the day. Sophomore
guard Jordan Poole followed
up with an isolation three over
forward
Jermaine
Samuels
before
Brazdeikis
completed
an
and-one
to
extend
the
Wolverines’ lead to 24.
If
the
Wildcats
had
any
suppositions
of
a
second-
half comeback,
junior
guard
Zavier Simpson
—
Michigan’s
defensive star
all
night
—
quickly
put
those to rest
with a basket, steal, and fast-
break assist to put the Wolverines
up 32 within two minutes.
From
there,
the
rest
of
the game — much like the
closing minutes of the national
championship — was little more
than a formality. Only this time,
it was Michigan exhibiting its
dominance.
“Whatever the final score
was,” Wright said, “it wasn’t that
close.”
Safe to say, that is not
something
the
defending
national
champions
were
planning to say about a 27-point
defeat.
Stubborn defense fuels Wolverines
as they hold Wildcats to 46 points
VILLANOVA,
Pa.
—
It
happened exactly as John Beilein
expected.
On
Villanova’s
second
possession, senior forward Eric
Paschall drove the lane, right at
Ignas Brazdeikis. With Paschall’s
40-pound
weight
advantage
and three more years of college
experience, it should have been
an easy two points. Instead,
the freshman held his ground,
absorbed the contact and took the
charge.
“We thought they’d isolate him
and go right at him,” Beilein said.
“And he stuck right in there and
drew a charge. That was moving
his feet. Many players come in
as freshmen, they aren’t ready
to do that or it wears them out …
His endurance and his toughness
today were outstanding.”
It’s hard to point to the defining
moment of a blowout like the
27-point
shellacking
Michigan
unleashed
on
the
Wildcats
Wednesday night. But just 78
seconds into the game, Brazdeikis
had set the tone.
The freshman forward from
Ontario,
Canada
joined
the
Wolverines with a reputation for
scoring. A knack for shutdown
defense doesn’t show up on his
scouting report.
It did, however, appear on
Wednesday’s boxscore. Brazdeikis
stifled Paschall all night, forcing
him
into
an
uncharacteristic
3-for-14 shooting night and just 10
points, and matching the Villanova
power forward on every one of his
drives to the basket.
“Iggy’s kind of like a mini pit
bull,” said redshirt junior forward
Charles Matthews. “He’s not
scared of anything. He took the
challenge, played against a good
four-man. He came out there, just
played hard, played smart and
tried the best he can.”
With Michigan boasting elite
defenders such as Matthews junior
guard Zavier Simpson and junior
center Jon Teske, it makes sense
why the Wildcats tried to attack
Brazdeikis, sensing a relative soft
spot in the nation’s third most
efficient defense. It didn’t work —
and neither did anything else.
“They’re really good at picking
you apart and finding a weakness,”
Beilein said. “We didn’t have
many weaknesses individually on
defense today.”
Meanwhile, the pre-perceived
strengths
of
the
Wolverines’
defense
remained
strengths.
Simpson — the fiery, hard-nosed
leader of the unit — racked up
a whopping six steals while
relentlessly hounding point guard
Collin Gillespie into five turnovers
to
just
three
assists,
which
prevented Villanova from finding
any rhythm offensively.
“He’s just such a tough kid
and he’s tough to get off the floor,
sometimes I have to drag him off
the floor,” Beilein said. “... (His
teammates) look at him and they
see leadership all over him.”
Added Villanova coach Jay
Wright: “Every time (Gillespie)
caught it, they were in on him.
That’s why he was driving so
much, and when he was driving
they were just banging the hell out
of him, not letting him go by them.”
Matthews,
meanwhile,
matched up with shooting guard
Phil Booth, who came into the
contest averaging 20 points per
game. All night long, Matthews’
range and athleticism thwarted
the Wildcats’ normally lethal
perimeter attack, closing out hard
on 3-point shots, recording two
blocked shots and holding Booth
to nine points on 2-for-8 shooting.
Beilein noted that Villanova
shot
just
15
3-pointers
on
Wednesday — less than half of its
season average, and an essential
ingredient in Michigan’s victory.
Matthews’ length and athleticism
were huge reasons why.
“He’s just active. His defense
is what’s making us right now,”
Beilein said. “Booth is a heck of
a player. A heck of a player. So
Charles is relentless when you give
him a matchup like that.”
The Wildcats had no more
luck dealing with the Wolverines’
big men, either. Teske is known
for his prowess in the paint, but
Wednesday showcased a different
side of his game. Michigan often
defended Villanova’s ball screens
by switching Teske onto the ball
handler, and the 7-foot-1 giant
proved he was no statue.
“Most teams, if you switch a
ball-screen, they’re not gonna get
more complicated after,” Beilein
said. “So Jon can do that. Jon can
really move his feet, and that was
very obvious today.”
Last
season,
the
Wildcats
possessed
the
second-most
efficient offense in the KenPom
era. On Wednesday, Villanova
scored just 46 points total. It shot
31.8 percent from the field and 20
percent from behind the 3-point
line. It had more turnovers (21)
than made field goals (14).
And for Michigan, it was the
entire team — Simpson all the
way down to the unheralded
Brazdeikis — that made such a
performance possible.
“Their
defense
was
very
physical, very aggressive, and
really locked in to their scouting
report,” Wright said. “... They’re
playing with Brazdeikis at the ‘5’,
and he’s the biggest guy and he’s
guarding our guards.
“That’s a hell of a team.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Freshman wing Ignas Brazdeikis (left) took a key charge early in Michigan’s 73-46 win over Villanova.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer
“We really are
gonna probably
be as good as
our defense.”
“Whatever the
final score was,
it wasn’t that
close.”
Michigan looking to continue growth against Western Michigan
For
a
relatively
young
Michigan women’s basketball
team, every game is another
opportunity to grow.
A Thursday night trip to
Kalamazoo to take on Western
Michigan (1-1) is no different.
Though
the
Wolverines
(1-0) may have Big Ten title
aspirations come the end of
the season, their goals are
much less ambitious at the
moment.
“I think the team is just
focusing
on
getting
better
each
and
everyday,” said
senior
guard
Nicole Munger.
“We’re looking
to be the best
team
we
can
be, and that’s
going to take
some time but
everybody
is
enthusiastic
about
the
process.”
Michigan is coming off a
dominant home opener against
Mount St. Mary’s, where its
starters combined for 62 points
en route to an 88-40 win. The
Wolverines’ defense was a
bit shaky in the first quarter,
allowing Mount St. Mary’s to
score nearly half their total
points within the first quarter.
The offense picked up the
slack though. Senior center
Hallie Thome, specifically, got
anything she wanted.
With Michigan in control,
coach Kim Barnes Arico could
afford to empty the bench and
give freshmen some valuable
game
experience.
Forward
Naz Hillmon scored 10 points,
while guards Ariel Young and
Emily Kiser pitched in four
points each.
There
wasn’t
much
to
complain about from Barnes
Arico’s perspective, but with
some tough tests coming up
at the end of November, every
minute detail counts. So as
Michigan turns its attention
to the Broncos,
the team’s focus
is
on
starting
strong.
“I
think
for
the
entire
team, freshmen
included,
it’s
important
that
we come out of
the gates ready
to play for 40
minutes,” Barnes
Arico said. “I think that’s
happened to us the past couple
of games where we came out
kinda comfortable and in the
first quarter they scored a lot
more baskets than we would’ve
liked. Once we settle down and
follow the game plan, I think
we were able to stop them and
really do a good job. So the goal
is really to play that way for 40
minutes.”
If the Wolverines hope to
accomplish this, their defense
will have to be cognizant of
Western Michigan’s forward
Leighah-Amori
Wool.
The
sophomore starter is averaging
18 points through the Broncos’
first two games. Though most
of Western Michigan’s other
contributors are experienced
upperclassmen, none of them
present
the
scoring
threat
that Wool does. As a result,
the Michigan lineup should
be well-equipped to deal with
them.
The
Wolverines’
length
should also help their cause.
Much like Mount St. Mary’s,
Western
Michigan’s
lineup
doesn’t feature a player taller
than six feet — Wool being the
tallest. Down low, Thome and
6-foot-2
sophomore
Hailey
Brown should be able to take
advantage.
Following
Western
Michigan,
Michigan
will
return
home
for
a
game
against Detroit Mercy, before
its schedule really heats up
Thanksgiving weekend at the
Gulf Coast Showcase.
“We’re
going
down
to
Florida to play Missouri in the
opening round,” Barnes Arico
said. “In that tournament,
dependent
on
how
things
shake out, we can have an
opportunity to play Texas
and Duke too. So three top-25
programs: boom, boom, boom.
Those early-season tests in
the non-league will only help
prepare us for league play.”
With all that said, priority
number one for the Wolverines
right
now
is
their
game
against Western Michigan and
the learning opportunity that
comes with it.
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
MIKE ZLONKEVICZ/Daily
Freshman point guard Amy Dilk and the rest of the Michigan women’s basketball team is looking to continue its steady improvement against Western Michigan.
“I think the
team is just
focusing on
getting better.”