The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, January 31, 2019— 8

Trash talking in basketball 

comes with a set of unwritten, 
but impossible-to-forget rules. 
Among the most important of 
these dictums: it doesn’t leave 
the court.

In 
the 
second 
half 
of 

Michigan’s 65-49 win over the 
Buckeyes on Tuesday, Zavier 
Simpson fell to the court after 
being on the business end of a 
hard screen from Ohio State’s 
Kaleb Wesson. As soon as the 
play was over, Simpson popped 
up, yelling and pointing at the 
Buckeye center.

Sophomore 
guard 
Jordan 

Poole and junior center Jon 
Teske came armed with words of 
their own. Wesson responded to 
both players, and he and Teske 
exchanged shoves, prompting 
officials to separate the two.

“We 
don’t 
share 
those,” 

Simpson said, when asked about 
the incident.

But therein lies the beauty 

of trash talk: to the extent that 
its impact can be quantified, 
you don’t have to know what, 
exactly, was said in order to do 
so.

The anatomy of that skirmish 

sums up a game that rode the 
emotional highs and lows of one 

of the fiercest rivalries in all of 
college sports. It sums up a team 
that prides itself on beating you 
down physically and mentally. 
And it sums up a team that 
wants to let you know that in the 
worst way.

“A game like this is huge 

emotionally, 
especially 
with 

it being a rivalry,” Poole said. 
“Obviously they’re a really good 
team. Being able to have the fire 
and the energy definitely sets 
a tone, being able to just take 
everything personally, that’s the 
type of game it was today.”

By now, if you know anything 

about 
the 
Michigan 
men’s 

basketball team, you know that 

toughness starts with its junior 
point guard — who had no 
hesitation in calling himself the 
leader of it all.

“Everybody’s 

tough 
on 
the 

court 
until 

things really get 
deep,” 
Simpson 

said. 
“That’s 

when you know 
who’s 
really 

tough. 
… 
It’s 

about 
who’s 

going to take the 
charge, 
who’s 

going 
to 
grab 

that rebound, who’s going to 
dive on the floor, who’s going to 

make sure the team mindset is 
great. That’s really toughness.”

Simpson’s 
proven 
that 

toughness many 
times over. One 
thing he hadn’t 
done 
before 

Tuesday 
night, 

though, 
was 

record a triple-
double.

Simpson 

scored 
with 

his 
signature 

skyhook, 
and 

he even hit an 
uncharacteristic 

pullup 3-pointer among his 11 
points. His 12 assists came in 
just about every conceivable 
form: 
post 
feeds, 
kick-outs 

to open shooters, and fast 
break dimes. But the 6-foot-
tall Simpson also corralled 10 
rebounds, constantly scrapping 
against much larger men.

On the other end of the court, 

Simpson stayed busy guarding 
Ohio State’s C.J. Jackson and 
keeping him off the foul line, 
where he found success early. 
And it was his chasedown block 
of Wesson in transition that 
helped spark the fracas in the 
first place.

“You can’t say enough about 

Zavier Simpson and what he 
accomplished 
today,” 
said 

Michigan coach John Beilein. 
“Triple-double is incredible, just 
to have the ball that much — he 
had 12 assists and no turnovers. 
He’s the sparkplug, and this 
game means a lot to him.

“He 
just 
competes. 
He’s 

relentless in his desire to win.”

Sometimes, the Wolverines’ 

toughness looks just like that — 
their floor general setting the 
tone, spearheading the defense 
and piloting the offense to 
perfection.

On other occasions, it looks 

like Poole — more known for 
his flashy playmaking than his 
defensive grit — receiving an 
elbow from the Buckeyes’ Andre 
Wesson and drawing a charge, 
and then draining a deep three 

on the next possession.

Sometimes, it even looks like 

the normally mild-mannered 
Teske, jawing with Wesson 
and 
earning, 
along 
with 

Wesson, a technical foul, which 
sophomore 
forward 
Isaiah 

Livers speculated might have 
been the first of his lifetime.

In 
these 
instances, 
it’s 

Simpson’s fire, coursing through 
his teammates like a potion.

“He’s a leader,” Livers said. 

“Coach 
(Beilein) 
mentioned 

earlier, the head of the snake. 
He’s our leader, he’s our point 
guard, he does it all for us.”

As Poole lay on the ground 

after drawing his charge, he 
yelled, banging his fist against 
his chest. Rising off the floor, he 
continued shouting, raising his 
right arm to pump up a Crisler 
Center crowd and a student 
section already in the middle of 
its third or fourth loud rendition 
of 
an 
unprintable 
chant 

directed at Michigan’s southern 
neighbor.

This was the Wolverines, once 

again, showing off their mettle, 
and being more than happy to 
do so. And with Simpson setting 
the tone, and his team and 
fans following suit, Ohio State 
coach Chris Holtmann readily 
admitted his young squad had 
no answer.

“I think we can handle it 

better,” Holtmann said. “I think 
that was the cumulation of some 
frustration. For a variety of 
reasons I thought the game was 
really physical, for the bulk of 
the game, when it’s that physical 
those things kind of happen.

“We’ve got a lot of young 

bodies that are thrown out 
there, they’re trying to realize 
that for the first time, and I 
think we’re not there yet.”

Michigan, on the other hand?
“Everybody’s 
tough 
with 

their mouth but not tough with 
their play,” Simpson said. “Guys 
like to talk, which I appreciate, 
we feed off that, that gets us 
going. So when they do that, 
we’re just hungry for more.”

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Editor

EVAN AARON/Daily

Sophomore point guard Zavier Simpson posted the sixth triple-double in Michigan history Tuesday, with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the win.

BY THE NUMBERS

Michigan’s win over Ohio State

7

Times Michigan has held its 

opponent under 50 points in a game 

this season.

6

Times in Michigan history a player 
has notched a triple-double, after 
Zavier Simpson did so in Tuesday’s 

65-49 win.

1

Ranking in adjusted defensive 

efficiency, according to KenPom.

37

Percent shooting as a team from 

3-point range in the win over 

Ohio State.

Michigan’s reliance on 3-point shooting on display in win over OSU

Facing an early 12-6 deficit 

Tuesday night against Ohio 
State, 
John 
Beilein 
pulled 

Jordan 
Poole 
aside 
during 

Michigan’s 
first 
timeout 
to 

give his sophomore guard a 
quick word of advice. “The only 
mistake you could make now,” 
Beilein told Poole, “would be to 
stop shooting.”

Poole, of course, needed no 

such instruction.

At his first chance out of the 

timeout, Poole caught a cross-
court pass from junior guard 
Zavier Simpson and — despite 
having missed his first two 
3-point attempts of the game 

and 21 of his past 26 — let go. 
Again, it clanked off the back of 
the rim. Seconds later, after an 
offensive rebound, Poole tried 
his luck once more. And again, it 
rimmed out. But 
the ball found 
its way back to 
Simpson 
and, 

armed with all 
the trust in the 
world, 
he 
hit 

Poole open on 
the wing.

This 
time, 

his shot found 
nothing but net.

“A 
lot 
of 

people would stop shooting 
after the first one then just 
kinda hesitate the second time,” 
Poole said. “But I’m a shooter. So 
being able to get looks like that 
is very rare.”

Added Beilein: “When he 

shoots and misses a few times, 
it’s not so bad. We know he’s 
gonna make them eventually.”

The 
Wolverines’ 
3-point 

shooting 
funk, 
though, 
had 

extended far beyond Poole. A 
35 percent team from deep on 
the season, they had shot under 
30 percent in four of the past 
six games, bottoming out in a 
3-for-22 performance against 

Minnesota last week.

For a team averaging 71.4 

points per game on the season, 
the difference was obvious. 
Before its Jan. 19 loss to 

Wisconsin, 
Michigan 
had 

not scored under 
60 points in two 
months, and had 
finished 
with 

under 
70 
just 

three times. And 
then — suddenly 
marred by a bout 
of 
unexpected 

3-point 
woes 

— 
they 
posted 

consecutive games in the 50s.

So with the threat of another 

offensive 
impasse 
looming, 

Beilein’s voice was not the only 
one filling Michigan’s huddle 
during 
that 
first 
timeout. 

Simpson — frustrated with the 
touch on his own shot — rallied 
his teammates.

“Yo, just stay locked in, stay 

ready,” 
Simpson 
said. 
“I’m 

gonna get y’all open, I’m gonna 
find y’all. We gonna make sure 
we get good shots.”

As usual, he made good on 

his promise. First, it was the 
repeated looks for Poole. Then, 
a swing pass to sophomore 

forward Isaiah Livers in the 
corner. Minutes later, he found 
redshirt junior forward Charles 
Matthews on a kick out, followed 
by an push pass to freshman 
forward Ignas Brazdeikis in 
transition.

“Just being able to have a 

point guard who’s willing to 
get everybody else open and try 
to get us the best possible look 
even if his (shooting) isn’t going 
the right way,” Poole said. “Just 

being able to stay solid and find 
other ways to get assists.”

And just like that — on the 

back of four assists from their 
point guard and four ensuing 
daggers 
from 
deep 
— 
the 

Wolverines displayed their most 
impressive offensive basketball 
in weeks and turned a five-point 
deficit into a four-point lead that 
they would never relinquish.

The barrage continued into 

the second half, as the Buckeyes 

— who opened the game in a 
zone defense designed to force 
Michigan to shoot — could offer 
little resistance, allowing that 
four-point deficit to quickly 
balloon into a 20-point hole. 
As is so often the case, the 
Wolverines had their 3-point 
shooting to thank in a 65-49 
win.

“When you see us with 10 

made threes,” Beilein said, “it’s 
usually a W.”

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

EVAN AARON/Daily

Sophomore guard Jordan Poole scored a team-high 15 points in Tuesday’s win, which included three made 3-pointers.

For the Wolverines’ offense to be running at full capacity, it needs to be taking — and making — 3-pointers aplenty

When you 

see us with 10 
made threes, 
it’s usually a W.

He just 

competes. He’s 
relentless in his 
desire to win.

With Simpson leading way in rivalry game, Wolverines show toughness

