6A — Thursday, January 10, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

With a target on their backs, Wolverines travel to Champaign

On 
Thursday 
night 
in 
Champaign, Michigan will play 
in the most important game of 
Illinois’ season.
The Illini, for all intents 
and purposes, are already out 
of contention for the NCAA 
Tournament with a 4-11 record. 
Already, they’re more or less out 
of Big Ten contention as well, 
having dropped their first four 
games of league play. Currently, 
Illinois is ranked 106th in the 
country, per KenPom, and the 
schedule isn’t about to get easier.
But there’s still this: a chance 
to knock off the No. 2 team in the 
country and give the Wolverines 
their first loss. As Michigan 
approaches a program-record 
win streak to start the season, 
a target has, inevitably, taken 
shape on its back.
Six years ago, the Wolverines 
found themselves in the same 
spot — at 15-0 with Big Ten play 
ramping up. They loved every 
minute of it.
“It’s way more fun (to be 
the villain),” Spike Albrecht, a 
freshman guard in 2013, said in 
a phone interview. “Because you 
know you’re the one everyone’s 
going 
after. 
You’re 
getting 
everyone’s best shot. And just 
a normal day when you go into 
someone’s home arena, it might 
not be really bumping or super-
packed. But you know when 
you’re coming in, it’s going to be 
sold out.”
Michigan knew then and 
it knows now that it won’t 
finish 
undefeated. 
When 
sophomore Jordan Poole was 
asked about the possibility after 
Sunday’s win over Indiana, he 
demurred, saying the goal was 
an undefeated record at home. 
When coach John Beilein was 
asked about it Wednesday, he 
turned to the spokesperson 
beside him.
“There’s only one team that’s 
been undefeated in a long, long 
time and that’s almost 50 years, 

I think. Right?”
The coach was told: 1976 
(Indiana).
“So do the math. … 43 years, 
we just found out. May not 
happen again.”
That realism, of course, won’t 
make the Wolverines a smaller 
target. It also won’t lessen the 
sting of an eventual loss.
When that day 
came in 2013, it 
was Ohio State 
that delivered the 
blow — jumping 
out to a double-
digit lead early 
and 
hanging 
on 
when 
Trey 
Burke’s 
attempt 
at a buzzer-beater 
rimmed out. It 
was a splash of 
reality for a team 
with an unlimited ceiling.
“They were up like 30-6,” 
Albrecht said, “and I was like, 
‘Well shit, I guess we’re not as 
good as we thought.’ ”
With that realization, though, 
came a quiet sigh of relief.
“It’s like, ‘OK, it’s a great time 
to grow now. A great time to 
learn.’ You don’t always learn 
as much from winning,” Beilein 
told The Daily. “You learn more 
from losing. So when you have a 
loss, you embrace it and say, ‘OK, 
now we got a chance to be good.’ 
”
Added Albrecht: “It’s kind 
of — I don’t want to say it’s 
necessarily like, ‘OK, glad we 
got that first loss out of the way.’ 
Because you never want to lose. 
But it was kind of a reality check, 
and I think the coaches almost 
enjoyed it. Because they could 
come back and be like, ‘Alright, 
now we can get these guys off 
their high horse.’
“Because I’m sure if you’re a 
college kid, you’re 18 to 22 years 
old, you’re on top of the world 
right now. You think you’re hot 
shit. A first loss can be a little 
bit of a humbling experience but 
sometimes needed.”
This team isn’t the 2013 team, 

of course. Every player from then 
is long gone with the program’s 
identity having shifted from one 
that can go tit-for-tat scoring 
the ball to a top-ranked defense 
guided by the hand of assistant 
coach Luke Yaklich and the voice 
of junior guard Zavier Simpson.
These players haven’t been 
here in the literal sense — at 
this time a year 
ago, 
making 
the 
NCAA 
Tournament 
still 
hung 
in 
the balance of 
every 
game. 
But 
they’ve 
played in games 
of far greater 
magnitude than 
a Thursday in 
Champaign.
Final 
Fours 
and 
Big 
Ten 
Tournament 
championships — that’s the 
experience this team brings. 

Save 
for 
freshman 
Ignas 
Brazdeikis, every rotation player 
has been on a big stage with 
the world watching. More than 
cold, hard logic, that will inform 
Michigan’s 
response 
to 
an 
inevitable loss, as it has informed 
its response to every win.
“I think they’ve seen the 
example 
that 
Muhammad(-
Ali Abdur-Rahkman), Duncan 
(Robinson) and 
Moe 
(Wagner) 
and 
Jaaron 
(Simmons) 
set with that,” 
Beilein 
said. 
“They’ve 
seen, 
‘We won a big 
game. So what? 
We got bigger 
goals.’ 
And 
I 
think we all see 
that. Cause we 
had a lot of big 
wins and it just didn’t change 
practice at all. Same guys the 

next day.
“So that’s, I think, what’s 
resonating with (Jon) Teske. 
(Charles) 
Matthews 
already 
knew it, Zavier already knew it. 
(Isaiah) Livers has seen it now. 
(Jordan Poole) has seen it now. 
Austin Davis. The extent of 
who’s back — the whole idea is 
now, Iggy and the other guys to 
say, ‘Yeah, this is the real deal. 
Every day, we 
get a win. That’s 
all it is is a win.’ 
Doesn’t 
mean 
anything 
until 
we play the next 
game and then 
we got to go do it 
again, do it again, 
do it again.”
When 
each 
game you play is 
the other team’s 
most important, 
that’s the only choice in front of 
you.

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

Behind Enemy Lines: The Daily sits down with Illinois’ guard Aaron Jordan

On Thursday, the Michigan 
men’s basketball team (15-0 
overall, 4-0 Big Ten) will hit 
the road for the first time in 
over a month when it travels to 
Champaign to play Illinois (4-11, 
0-4).
The Illini are 
one of two teams 
winless 
in 
Big 
Ten 
play, 
but 
their 
strength 
of 
schedule 
ranks 
fifth 
in 
the 
country, 
according 
to 
KenPom. 
They 
have already faced 
non-conference 
powers Gonzaga and Iowa State, 
as well as Nebraska, Ohio State 
and Indiana in the conference. 

Things don’t project to be any 
easier for Illinois against the 
second-ranked team in the 
country. But the Illini under 
coach Brad Underwood are best 
known for their unique defense 
that is designed to put pressure 
on teams by forcing turnovers. 
That, combined with the fact 
that the Illini 
are 
playing 
in their home 
arena, ensures 
the Wolverines 
will 
have 
to 
work for a win.
Illinois 
senior 
guard 
Aaron 
Jordan 
isn’t the most 
heralded player 
on the team, 
but he is the most veteran of 
a starting lineup composed of 
two four-star freshmen and a 

sophomore. The Daily sat down 
with Jordan at Big Ten Media 
Day in October.
This 
interview 
has 
been 
edited for clarity and length.
TMD: How did you pick your 
number?
AJ: That’s actually funny 
but 23 is actually my second-
favorite number. 
My 
favorite 
number is eight 
but 
you 
can’t 
wear 
eight 
in 
college (college 
players can only 
use numbers 0-5 
on their jerseys) 
and 
I 
kinda 
just picked it in 
high school and 
then 
actually 
when I first got to college I told 
one of my best friends, my old 
teammate, that I was gonna 

change it. He threatened me 
and said, “If you change your 
number we’ll have problems, I 
won’t be your friend anymore.” 
So I stayed with it. Not really 
much of a story behind it, I don’t 
know, it’s just something I sorta 
gravitated towards.
TMD: Why is 23 your second-
favorite number?
AJ: 
Because 
I used to play 
soccer 
and 
then my soccer 
number 
was 
eight and my dad 
used to always 
scream 
“Go 
number 
eight!” 
and 
so 
that 
kinda, early on 
I played soccer 
more, so then I really embraced 
that number.
TMD: Why did you switch 

from soccer to basketball?
AJ: Basketball became, I 
started basketball around, I 
started travel basketball — so 
we actually go to a lot of places 
— in seventh grade, so it was 
just a really, it was a group of 
guys that were very close that 
loved basketball and so when 
I was able to be around that, 
something just clicked, and I 
said, “Hey, this is something I 
wanna do for the long run.” So I 
stayed with it.
TMD: What’s your favorite 
place you’ve ever traveled to?
AJ: It would have to be 
California. Anaheim. During 
AAU we went on a trip. We went 
to Philly for about a week and 
did a camp and then the team 
flew in and we had a basketball 
tournament. 
And 
then 
we 
came back to Illinois for a few 
days and then we flew out to 

California, played out there, 
then we drove to Vegas. So that 
was very much a road trip. In 
California, we were able to go on 
the boardwalk, go on the beach, 
it was very chill out there, good 
weather, sunny, good food, 
In-N-Out. I love that. If I go 
out west, I’ll probably eat it for 
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
TMD: What’s your favorite 
weather?
AJ: Fall. Definitely fall. You 
can put on a hoodie, put on 
sweatpants. I mean, that’s the 
go-to outfit right there. 
TMD: What’s your favorite 
restaurant near the University 
of Illinois?
AJ: Oishi. It’s a hibachi 
steakhouse. I love hibachi. Early 
on when our scholarship checks 
used to drop we always used to 
go, “Okay, hibachi, let’s go.”
TMD: What’s your favorite 
order there?
AJ: Last time I had steak 
and shrimp, but that was the 
first time I got steak in a while. 
Usually I get chicken and 
shrimp. But overall, truthfully, I 
like going there, I load up on the 
sushi. I’m a big sushi guy.
TMD: What’s been your 
favorite off-the-court moment 
in college?
AJ: Probably the trip overseas 
my freshman year. That was 
amazing. That was the first time 
going out of the country. Maybe 
second. But just being over there 
and experiencing it with those 
guys, 
that’s 
something 
you 
remember forever. 
TMD: Where did you go?
AJ: I believe we went to 
Germany and then we went to 
Paris, saw the Eiffel Tower, I 
think that was it. There were a 
lot of other places but you go to 
so many cities and just enjoy the 
moment for so much that you 
kind of forget it.
TMD: Do you play Fortnite as 
a team?
AJ: A lot of the guys on the 
team play Fortnite. I am not 
one of them, actually. I just sit 
and watch and I just try to hype 
everybody up. Yeah, I’m usually 
the one — they say I’m the 
worst player. I’m not the worst 
Fortnite player. I can get a kill 
or two.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

“When you’re 
coming in, it’s 
gonna be sold 
out.”

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein has his team one win away from tying the program record for an undefeated start.

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Michgan men’s basketball team will play Illinois in Champaign Thursday night, putting an undefeated 15-0 record on the line with a chance to tie the program record for an unbeaten start to the season.

“Something 
just clicked. ... 
I stayed with 
(basketball).”

“I’m not the 
worst Fortnite 
player. I can get 
a kill or two.”

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan basketball

55.6
Opposing points per 
game. Ranked third in 
the country.

4
Wins against top-
25 teams, defeating 
Villanova, North 
Carolina, Purdue and 
Indiana.

17.3

 Average margin of 
victory. Ranked 10th in 
the country.

282
Days since Michigan 
basketball has lost a 
game.

“They’ve seen, 
‘We won a 
bigger game. So 
what?’ ”

