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.”