2B — January 9, 2019
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Unlikely veteran Matthews dominates Langford

In the waning seconds of 
Sunday’s game, it was Charles 
Matthews who stood at center 
court, dribbling the clock 
out on the Michigan men’s 
basketball team’s win over 
Indiana. It was appropriate, 
for a game where, for much of 
it, the redshirt junior wing had 
been a focal point.
Coming into the contest, 
a 
lot 
of 
the 
focus was on 
his 
matchup 
with 
Hoosier 
wing 
Romeo 
Langford. They 
were 
both 
highly 
ranked 
recruits out of 
high 
school, 
and in a way a 
microcosm 
of 
the 
different 
ways recruits can turn out. 
Langford is the player who’s 
living up to his hype, an 
instant star for Indiana who 
revitalized the Hoosiers after 
a down year. Matthews is the 
guy who never thought he’d be 
here, a fourth-year player who 
transferred from blue blood 
Kentucky after plans to go 
one-and-done didn’t work out.
Matthews — as sophomore 
guard Jordan Poole noted 
after the game — doesn’t 
usually think about matchups. 
He just looks at what’s in front 
of him and takes it from there. 
But this matchup was a little 
higher profile than most.
“He was fired up about 
this matchup,” said Michigan 
coach John Beilein. “Because 
he’s got respect and he knows 
how good that Langford is.”
And going against Langford, 
Matthews had perhaps his 
best performance of the year — 
firing up not just himself, but 
the team around him, carrying 
it to its 15th straight win.
It was just the second 
possession of the game when 
Matthews stripped the ball 
from Langford, then drew a 
foul. After the inbound, Poole 
hit a jumper.

Just over three minutes 
later, Matthews threw down 
a dunk right over Langford 
— and to add insult to injury, 
Langford 
fouled 
him 
on 
the shot. Matthews missed 
the and-one, but the play 
contributed 
something 
far 
more important. Just four 
minutes into the game, one 
of Indiana’s best players was 
already in foul trouble. He sat 
much of the remainder of the 
half.
“That was a 
designed 
play 
to see if we 
could get that 
second 
foul,” 
Beilein 
said. 
“And 
Charles 
paid attention, 
taking the ball 
strong 
then 
right 
then 
... 
not be as strong 
with 
it. 
That 
was a strong baseline drive, 
and that’s who he can be.”
For the rest of the half, it’s 
who he was. Matthews added 
two more dunks in the half, 
including one off an offensive 
rebound. 
He 
imposed 
his 
will on the Hoosiers, not 
letting them take anything on 
offense or on defense en route 

to 16 first-half points, three 
rebounds and three steals.
And beyond that, Matthews 
provided a veteran presence. 
He may have been fired up 
more than usual because of 
the matchup with Langford or 
the bright lights of a big game 
at Crisler, but it carried over to 
the rest of the team and kept 
the Wolverines rolling to an 
11-point win.
“It’s a huge energy boost, 
for everyone, because he does 
so much,” Poole 
said. “He’ll get 
a tip deflection 
or he’ll go and 
he’ll get a steal 
or he’ll get a 
tip rebound of 
a 50-50 ball, so 
being 
able 
to 
see a leader out 
there 
hustling 
and being able to 
get easy buckets 
and transition buckets and 
being able to get the crowd 
going and give us a positive 
boost and positive momentum 
in any time in the game is 
definitely huge for a game like 
this.”
And that goes back to 
Matthews, 
the 
fourth-year 
player who wasn’t supposed 

to be here. But he is, and now 
he’s transformed into a vocal 
guy on a young team. He’s the 
only fourth-year on the team, 
so it falls to him to provide 
the energy. As he got going, 
Beilein realized it was time 
to get the ball in Matthews’ 
hands more often. The coach 
drew up plays for him and 
trusted him to do his job.
Matthews 
then 
went 
out 
there 
and 
disrupted 
everything, 
from 
Indiana’s 
shooting to its 
spacing to its 
defense. 
He 
held Langford 
to just 5-for-11 
from the field. 
He 
grabbed 
boards 
and 
forced 
turnovers 
to 
salvage empty 
possessions. 
Against a team 
like the Hoosiers, he made 
sure Michigan left nothing to 
chance.
“Don’t 
discount 
what 
Charles — Charles is just 
huge,” Beilein said. “It’s about 
winning. It’s about winning. 
This is his fourth year in 
college.
“Just wants to win.”

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Redshirt junior Charles Matthews scored 18 points and held Indiana’s Romeo Langford to 5-of-11 shooting on defense.

“This is his 
fourth year in 
college. Just 
wants to win.”

“He knows 
how good 
that (Romeo) 
Langford is.”

With Livers out, Johns gets his chance and makes his introduction

For a minute there, Brandon 
Johns felt like he was in high 
school again.
With seven minutes left in 
the second half, Johns gathered 
a pass from junior point guard 
Zavier Simpson and tried a left-
handed layup off the glass. It 
bounced off the rim, but Johns 
popped straight back up over 
everybody and tipped the ball 
into the cylinder.
On 
Michigan’s 
next 
possession, Johns slipped a 
screen, caught Simpson’s pass all 
alone in the post and pummeled 
the ball through the net with his 
right arm.
Not 
enough? 
Twelve 
seconds later, the freshman 
forward — he of just 10 games 
of college basketball — leapt up 
to challenge Indiana forward 
Juwan Morgan at the rim and 
stuffed the All-Big Ten senior. 
What was left standing of Crisler 
Center after Johns’ dunk was set 
ablaze.
“It reminded me a lot of East 
Lansing (in high school),” Johns 
said. “Different levels, but it’s 
great to be out here.”
That 56-second sequence was 
a throwback to Johns’ high-
flying, highlight-reel high school 
career, during which he had 28.1 
points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 
blocks per game as a senior.
But in that same sequence, 
Johns arrived on the big stage.
His arrival was both long-
anticipated and sudden. Johns 
rode the bench for most of the 
Wolverines’ first 14 games as 
he acclimated to the college 
game. But for a Michigan 
team that struggled to find 
stability backing up junior Jon 
Teske, the 6-foot-8 Johns’ raw 
athletic ability was a tantalizing 
prospect; a perfect complement 
to the 7-foot-1 Teske at the ‘5.’
In the last week, Johns got the 
break he needed.
Sophomore forward Isaiah 

Livers missed last Thursday’s 
game against Penn State due to 
back spasms, and after feeling 
less than 100 percent in practice 
and warmups over the weekend, 
was listed as doubtful minutes 
before tipoff Sunday, his absence 
opening up an opportunity 
in the Wolverines’ small-ball 
lineup. And just over midway 
through the first half, redshirt 
sophomore 
center 
Austin 
Davis, Teske’s primary backup, 
committed his second foul.
“It 
was 
the 
need,” 
said 
Michigan coach John Beilein. 
“He’s 
making 
progress 
in 
practice, but we’ve seen that a 
few times in practice. … That 
was a matter of foul trouble by 
Austin, foul trouble by Jon and 
Brandon getting in there.”
Added Johns: “I just knew 
I had to be ready, know 
everything, defense, offense, just 
in case he does call my name, if 
somebody gets in foul trouble I 
can come out and contribute.”
He did just that, going straight 
to work inside and inhaling 
rebounds — four of them in 
less than three minutes. In 13 
minutes against the Hoosiers, he 
would finish with a team-high 
eight of them, along with eight 
points and a block.
“That’s one thing I’ve really 
been focusing on since I got 
here 
is 
just 
rebounding, 
play with a high 
motor,” 
Johns 
said. 
“I 
think 
rebounding 
was like what 
everyone 
thought 
the 
main thing that 
I could do, and 
if anything else 
followed up, it’s 
okay.”
In the second half, the rest of 
Johns’ game materialized in full 
force.
Just over six minutes into the 
half, Davis was sent to the bench 
for good after hacking Morgan; 

his fourth foul in as many 
minutes. With Teske on the 
bench with three and Indiana 
climbing back into the contest 
after trailing by 
as much as 17, 
the 
weight 
of 
the Wolverines’ 
perfect 
start 
came to rest on 
the shoulders of 
the callow East 
Lansing 
High 
School product.
The Hoosiers 
had cut the lead 
to 55-46 when 
redshirt junior forward Charles 
Matthews surged into the lane, 
his runner missing high off 
the backboard. Johns saw it, 
rocketed off the ground and 
powered home the rebound.
Turns out, that impressive 

display of athleticism was only 
the appetizer.
Less than two 
hours 
before 
his 
rejection 
of 
Morgan, 
it 
wasn’t 
even 
a 
sure thing Johns 
would 
play. 
Now, 
against 
a 
nationally-
ranked 
opponent, 
in front of a 
national TV audience, one of 
the most unlikely of players had 
taken complete control.
“I 
did 
not 
(see 
Johns’ 
performance coming), but I 
do know that he is capable,” 
Matthews said. “Injuries allow 
some people to step up and make 
the most of the occasion. He 
definitely had a big game, big 

impact for us.”
After 
the 
game, 
Beilein 
noted 
that 
Johns had been 
too 
passive 
in 
practice 
on 
occasion. 
The next step 
in 
Johns’ 
development, 
according 
to 
Beilein, 
is 
bringing 
the 
same energy he showed on 
Sunday more consistently.
“We’ll see how he does in the 
next two days,” Beilein said. “But 
there’s an argument for him to 
be the first big man off the bench 
after how he played today.
“... Just do this in practice and 
do this in games. He would tell 
you himself. We played four-on-

four the other day, full-court, 
four-on-four, no rules, he was 
a non-factor in the game. He’s 
good, he’s good. He’s got to be a 
factor in these games. … Playing 
harder, playing smarter, just 
embracing the contact is all I 
need to do.”
“I love the kid. He’s going to 
be a really good player.”
John’s 
breakout 
showing 
didn’t end when the final buzzer 
sounded. Nor did it end when 
he led the Wolverines in singing 
“The Victors” in the locker 
room.
As he left the Crisler Center 
media room and a swarm of 
reporters behind, a man in 
a 
Michigan 
sweater 
came 
up to him with a five-word 
declaration.
“Welcome to regular playing 
time.”

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Freshman forward Brandon Johns had eight points and eight rebounds in his breakout performance against Indiana, perhaps cementing a regular role in the rotation.

“It reminded 
me a lot of East 
Lansing (in 
high school).”

“I did not 
(see Johns’ 
performance) 
coming.”

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Editor

Jordan Poole emerging

Two months ago — back when 
the Michigan men’s basketball 
team barely cracked the top 20 
and before its season had even 
tipped off — sophomore guard 
Jordan Poole was anointed as 
the Wolverines’ star. Redshirt 
junior wing Charles Matthews 
and junior guard Zavier Simpson 
were the leaders, but Poole, 
seven months removed from the 
program’s most iconic moment 
in recent memory, was the face of 
the team.
Then, 
freshman 
forward 
Ignas Brazdeikis stole that title 
and ran with it. When Michigan 
made its introduction to the 
national stage in a 73-46 win at 
Villanova in mid-November, it 
was Brazdeikis — not Poole — 
who shone brightest. Through 
five games, Poole was averaging 
just 7.8 points per game, reaching 
double-digits only once, while 
Brazdeikis had done so four 
times.
Since then, Poole hasn’t had 
a game with under 11 points, 
transitioning from the enigmatic 
scorer he was a year ago to 
the Wolverines’ most reliable 
weapon.
“Coach 
(John 
Beilein) 
is 
definitely giving me the green 
light, but he also trusts me a lot,” 
Poole said on Sunday. “He wants 
to put the ball in my hands, and 
he definitely trusts me on making 
the right play.”
Added 
Beilein: 
“It’s 
the 
complete package of having a 
guy that you gotta trust he’s 
gonna learn what good shots are. 
But you don’t want to take that 
hunting personality he has away 
from him.”
In Michigan’s latest dominant 
win — a 74-63 over Indiana on 
Sunday — that trust was on full 
display.
The first half was a showcase 
of everything Poole offers the 
Wolverines when he’s at his best. 
Five minutes into the game, he 
made back-to-back threes to 
extend Michigan’s early lead to 
eight and blow the roof of the 
Crisler Center, as he did so many 
times off the bench a year ago.

But after the break, he ran into 
the type of adversity that would 
have stymied his effectiveness 
last season. Each of his three 
3-point attempts clanged off 
the rim and into the hands of a 
Hoosier.
Instead of frustratedly jacking 
up more threes, though, Poole 
responded to each of his misses 
by going inside the arc and 
scoring, including a highlight-
reel crossover into a mid-range 
jumper. While his second half 
didn’t have the same pop as his 
first half, all three makes came 
after an Indiana basket as the 
Hoosiers tried to claw back into 
the game.
“We always look at what the 
defense is giving us, and we can 
tell that we were able to pivot 
past some of the mismatches that 
we had in the game today,” Poole 
said. “I feel like we were able to 
drive more in the second half and 
space the floor and get threes in 
the first half.”
Poole’s 
performance 
on 
Sunday was no aberration. In 
last week’s sluggish 68-55 win 
over Penn State, he led all scorers 
with eight points in a low-scoring 
first half. When Brazdeikis and 
Matthews made the headlines 
with 12 points apiece after the 
break, Poole remained consistent, 
with nine of his own. Four 
days earlier, as the Wolverines 
scuffled to a five-point halftime 
lead over Binghamton, it was 
Poole who kept them afloat with 
12 first-half points.
For the kid who had a tendency 
to disappear as a freshman, that 
ability to perform when he and 
his team hit adversity has been 
the biggest difference in Poole’s 
10-game 
double-digit 
point 
streak.
“Over the summer, I saw a 
great growth in what’s important 
in winning basketball,” Beilein 
said. “As opposed to the way 
he probably was playing his 
freshman year.”
And when he and his team are 
on?
Well, then he’s still Jordan 
Poole 
— 
with 
the 
behind-
the-back passes and stepback 
jumpers to prove it.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

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