The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, November 29, 2018 — 7

Michigan dominant in 84-67 win over UNC

Roy Williams stood in front 
of a crowd of media, castigating 
both his team and himself. It 
was about 11:40 on Wednesday 
night, and North Carolina had 
just met Michigan — the type of 
team that can drive coaches to 
this sort of frustration.
“Guys, I got no positive 
things,” the Tar Heels’ coach 
said. “If you want some positive 
things, 
you 
better 
go 
find 
somebody on the street.
“... I’ve coached for 31 years. 
Right now, my coaching sucks.”
A 
little 
later, 
it 
was 
Wolverines’ John Beilein at the 
podium, singing a different tune.
“That’s one of the biggest 
compliments I’ve ever had,” 
Beilein said, disposition sunny. 
“... It’s not like we’re trying 
to frustrate you. We’re trying 
to keep people from scoring 
baskets.”
That they did — and about as 
well as you could ask, holding 
No. 11 North Carolina (6-2) 
nearly 30 points below its season 
average, as No. 7 Michigan (7-0) 
engineered a domineering 84-67 
win.
It was the type of win that 
makes you think the Wolverines 
can contend for a national 
title, and when they opened 
the second half by jumping out 
to a double-digit lead — a lob 
from junior point guard Zavier 
Simpson to junior center Jon 
Teske 
prompting 
a 
timeout 
from Williams — Crisler Center 
sounded like the home of a 
national contender.
On the other end of that 
timeout, Michigan started to 
break the game open, leading 
into the under-16 timeout with 
another 
Teske 
dunk. 
After 
Simpson missed a layup a couple 
minutes later, redshirt junior 
Charles 
Matthews 
slammed 
it back home for an and-one, 
sending the crowd — and the 
Wolverines’ 
bench 
— 
into 
hysterics and bringing the lead 

to 14.
When North Carolina’s Leaky 
Black tried a driving layup, 
Matthews put an exclamation 
mark on the night, blocking the 
ball past the cameramen seated 
along 
the 
baseline, 
flexing 
for the cameras and shouting 
amidst a sea of noise.
“Charles has possessed the 
defense,” Beilein said. “He and 
Zavier are the most driven 
defensive 
players 
I’ve 
ever 
coached. This is what they want 
to do. And the offense is sort of 
residual out of it.”
Just 
after 
the 
12-minute 
mark, sophomore guard Jordan 
Poole nailed a corner 3-pointer, 
bringing the lead to 20, enough 
to stave off North Carolina’s 
attempt at a late comeback.
The Tar Heels managed to 
cut the lead to 11 with 5:29 to 
go after Kenny Williams hit 
two straight 3-pointers. But 
after another Matthews triple, 
followed by four straight points 
from freshman forward Ignas 

Brazdeikis, the Tar Heels’ hopes 
were right back where they had 
started.
This was a game that — at one 
point — the visiting team led 
21-11, looking to coast. But after 
Simpson quelled an early 8-0 
North Carolina run with a steal 
in the backcourt and subsequent 
layup, Michigan settled in.
Immediately 
following, 
freshman 
forward 
Ignas 
Brazdeikis led a 9-0 run for the 
Wolverines, hitting a 3-pointer 
and notching an and-one after 
the under-12 timeout. Shortly 
after, Eli Brooks put Michigan 
in front, 22-21, with a 3-pointer 
of his own.
Right before halftime, the 
Wolverines broke a tie after 
Simpson managed to pass his 
way out of a half-court trap, the 
ball eventually finding Charles 
Matthews for an open 3-pointer. 
Poole 
followed 
that 
with 
another three — this one just 
before the buzzer — after a loose 
ball sent Jon Teske sprawling 

on the floor in a mad scramble, 
coming up with the basketball 
to give Michigan a four-point 
halftime lead.
“7-foot-1 guys don’t go and get 
that ball like that,” Beilein said. 
“So he didn’t shoot the ball well, 
didn’t shoot foul (shots) well — 
he’s such a huge presence for us, 
defensively.”
That 
momentum 
carried 
into the second half, Poole 
providing the nail in the coffin 
with a stepback 3-pointer, and 
the Wolverines leaving Crisler 
Center with no doubt about 
where they stand — in both the 
Big Ten and the national title 
picture.
“It just felt really good, but 
we can’t dwell on this victory,” 
Brazdeikis said. “This is just a 
November win for us, it’s only 
the beginning. It’s a big mark 
for us, it shows us where we’re 
at, but we need to continue to 
improve.”
For a November win, it makes 
quite a statement.

Brazdeikis provides momentum shift in win

Ignas Brazdeikis sat on the 
bench, 
watching 
Michigan’s 
sluggish offense fall in a hole to 
North Carolina.
After getting whistled for a foul 
just three minutes into the game, 
the freshman forward came out. 
Without 
their 
leading 
scorer 
on the 
season, 
the 
Wolverines 
struggled to find a 
rhythm.
“I told him, 
‘You can’t make 
fouls 
like 
that 
early in the game, 
you know how 
much it means 
to this team,’ ” 
said redshirt junior wing Charles 
Matthews. “ ‘You’re a freshman, 
but your contribution to the team 
is huge and we need you on the 
floor.’ ”
Brazdeikis learned from his 
freshman mistake and resolved to 

make up for it. Five minutes later 
— with Michigan down by eight to 
the Tar Heels on an 8-0 run — he 
checked back in.
“I made that foul and it was 
kind of a mistake,” Brazdeikis 
said. “So I was like, ‘As soon as I 
get back in, I need to make some 
plays, be aggressive, get back in 
the groove of the game.’
“ … I’ll take my 
leg off if I have to 
… I’m gonna do 
whatever it takes 
to win the game.”
He made good 
on that promise.
After a layup 
cut 
North 
Carolina’s 
lead 
to six, Brazdeikis 
collected 
a 
turnover off a bad 
pass and drove down the court for 
a layup and-one.
Moments later, Brazdeikis once 
again got the ball following an 
empty possession from the Tar 
Heels and a Wolverine defensive 
rebound, and he nailed a triple to 

cut the deficit to two.
And on the next possession, 
he grabbed a defensive rebound 
that set up another 3-pointer by 
sophomore guard Eli Brooks.
One minute and 20 seconds 
after 
re-entering 
the 
game, 
Brazdeikis had almost single-
handedly 
turned 
a 
six-point 
deficit into a one-point lead. The 
ensuing 17-2 run 
— 
including 
another 
layup 
from 
Brazdeikis 
— 
extended 
Michigan’s lead to 
five.
“We 
just 
started 
to 
hit 
shots, 
started 
to make plays,” 
Brazdeikis 
said. 
“I felt like early 
on we were kinda missing shots 
that we usually make, missing 
free throws, so I felt like when I 
got back in, I made a couple plays 
and then everything just started 
rolling from there.”
Brazdeikis’ run was a wake-

up call for the offense, which 
scored 45 points in the second 
half en route to an 84-67 win. 
Appropriately, Brazdeikis scored 
the Wolverines’ first points of 
the second half on an open layup 
under the basket. By then, Crisler 
Center was rocking and Michigan 
was rolling.
“I don’t think he’s in awe,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
John 
Beilein. 
“He’s 
never played in 
an environment 
like 
that 
and 
he’s not in awe 
of any of that. 
He just comes 
in and performs 
through it.”
Brazdeikis 
finished 
with 
24 points on the night — a season 
(and career) high — proving that 
for him, no stage was truly too big.
But it was those six points 
halfway through the first half that 
served as a wake-up call, just when 
the Wolverines needed it most.

Wolverines filling 
roles when needed

Ask anyone. Ask Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson.
Odds 
are, 
they 
haven’t 
noticed a small habit Jake 
Slaker picked up since the 
start of the year.
A 
season 
prior, 
former 
Wolverine 
Tony 
Calderone 
took on the leadership role as a 
captain. He had been credited 
with sparking a fire under the 
Michigan hockey team after a 
film session that fueled a late-
season push to the postseason 
— a journey that ended in a 
Frozen Four appearance.
But it was a smaller notion, 
unnoticed by many, that might 
define that role better. 
Before every 
game, 
there’s 
a brief period 
when 
the 
players are let 
loose 
on 
the 
ice to get some 
practice 
shots 
in. Goaltenders 
mark 
their 
place at the net, 
scraping 
the 
ice around the 
crease. Skaters 
line up and shoot at the net. 
The pucks build up.
It gets to a point where 
there’s only one or two pucks 
left to shoot around with 
before it’s time to empty the 
net. And that’s where the 
veterans of the team clear it.
“You’re not going to see 
many younger guys stepping 
in and (emptying the net),” 
Slaker said. “It’s usually an 
older guy, usually a leader of 
the team.”
Back then, it was Calderone. 
This year? Slaker stepped up 
to the plate.
“I think it’s just one of those 
things where Tony was our 
captain, and he did it, and no 
one really stepped up so I just 
said I would 
really do it,” 
Slaker 
said. 
“So it was just 
one of those 
things 
where 
I just decided 
and ended up 
doing it. And 
I shoot for the 
goalies at the 
beginning 
of 
the game too, 
so I just kinda went along with 
it.”
It’s just another example of 
filling a role that needs to be 
filled, no matter how big or 
small. An action that Pearson 
thought Michigan had done 
well in its Friday matchup 
against Wisconsin.
The team found out close 
to puck drop that Slaker, who 
Pearson noted wasn’t 100 
percent, would sit the game 
out to recuperate.
“He 
still 
wasn’t 
100 
percent,” Pearson said. “I 
think you could tell that, just 
some puck touches and that. 
I thought we won the game, 
Friday, he comes back and we 
lose the game Saturday. He 
didn’t make a big difference in 

the game either way.”
Slaker had been an integral 
part of the offense all season. 
With 13 points and seven 
goals, he is third-highest in 
points and tied for second in 
goals scored on the team. His 
production has powered the 
Wolverines through much of 
their tougher matchups. In 
the 6-5 win over No. 6 Penn 
State, Slaker scored a late-
game goal to claim the lead 
for Michigan before scoring 
another to put a nail in the 
coffin. Against No. 8 Notre 
Dame, he responded with a 
game-tying goal immediately 
after the Fighting Irish had 
scored to turn momentum in 
favor of the Wolverines.
But 
Friday, 
when 
his 
teammates 
found out about 
his 
absence, 
they 
didn’t 
doubt 
the 
replacements 
could step up in 
his place.
To take his 
place, Pearson 
sent in senior 
forward 
Brendan 
Warren 
and 
freshman 
forward 
Jack 
Olmstead to fill the role.
“I 
think 
it’s 
definitely 
tough, 
because 
he’s 
been 
playing so well for us,” said 
sophomore 
forward 
Josh 
Norris. “Obviously Slakes and 
myself and Will have really 
enjoyed playing together, but 
we’ve got a lot of other guys 
that can fill those roles, and I 
thought Olmstead did a great 
job tonight. Warren filled in a 
couple shifts there too, so it’s 
always nice when you have 
those guys that can fill in 
those roles.”
Olmstead primarily filled 
the 
first-line 
forward 
all 
game. Despite no points in 
the stat sheet to show for it, 
he 
generated 
chances 
and 
made cuts that 
forced 
players 
to chase after 
him. 
When 
Warren 
was 
in, he recorded 
a 
primary 
point off of an 
assist to junior 
forward 
Adam 
Winborg.
“That’s the beauty of a team 
sport,” Pearson said. “When 
you have guys out, someone’s 
going to step up, and next 
man up, and we had that 
Friday night. And I thought 
we played much better Friday 
night.
“Sometimes, 
when 
your 
team’s down a guy, your team 
rallies around that. Little 
more sense of urgency, and 
sometimes 
when 
you 
get 
guys back, you think, ‘Oh it’s 
going to be easier, or maybe 
I don’t have to do as much,’ 
or whatever, and if you don’t, 
then you’re in trouble. That’s 
why we have the depth we do. 
It’s easy to throw a guy like 
Olmstead in and not worry 
about him.”

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Junior forward Jake Slaker has tallied 13 points and seven goals this season.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

“It’s usually 
an older guy, 
usually a leader 
of the team.”

“That’s why 
we have the 
depth that we 
do.”

ICE HOCKEY

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Sophomore forward Isaiah Livers and junior center Jon Teske celebrate during Michigan’s dominant 84-67 win.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis provided a spark for Michigan’s offense that resulted in a 84-67 win over North Carolina at Crisler Center on Wednesday.

“...I’m gonna 
do whatever it 
takes to win the 
game.”

“He just 
comes out 
and performs 
through it.”

