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.”