AN EVENING WITH SAFA AL AHMAD
NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | 7:30 P.M. | RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
FREE | NO REGISTRATION | WALLENBERG.UMICH.EDU
The Michigan basketball team
knew its early-season matchup
against Creighton would be telling.
In the wake of a program-
altering offseason that saw a head
coaching change and the departure
of three players that accounted for
over half of the Wolverines’ offense
last season, questions arose. On
Tuesday night, Michigan (2-0)
continued its search for answers
in a 79-69 win against the Bluejays
(1-1).
Those answers, as it turns out,
are still a work in progress.
When first-year coach Juwan
Howard was hired, it wasn’t a
secret that the Wolverines were
going to try their hand at an NBA
brand of offense. As for what that
means, exactly, Michigan has
shown an emphasis on pushing the
ball and generating 3-pointers thus
far.
Against Creighton, not even
Howard’s team’s overwhelming
height
advantage
changed
that approach. Thirteen of the
Wolverines’ first 18 shots came
from beyond the arc, a streak that
culminated in senior point guard
Zavier Simpson — a sub-30-percent
career 3-point shooter — dropping
his defender and draining a
stepback triple.
In the early stages of the first
half, Michigan looked like a well-
oiled machine. But when the well
went dry, frustration mounted.
The Bluejays pounced on the
Wolverines’ miscues, closing the
half on an 18-7 run en route to
a 41-38 advantage at the break.
For Michigan, poor rebounding
and sloppy turnovers erased an
otherwise positive opening few
minutes.
By the end of the first half, the
Wolverines had been outscored
in the paint, 24-10, against a team
with only one healthy player taller
than 6-foot-8. Even with three
rotational big men taller than that,
Michigan’s first free throws came
over 18 minutes into the game, as it
seldom attacked the rim.
From the look of the halftime
box score, you’d think Creighton
had the upper-hand in height given
its 23-10 rebounding advantage.
Though 10 of those boards came on
the offensive glass, Michigan only
surrendered six second-chance
points.
“We have to crack back and not
allow those (opposing) bigs to run
in freely to get offensive rebounds,”
Howard said, “because I’m asking
(Teske) to go after shots and alter
shots and not allow guys just to
walk down the lane and score
layups. Now, the players have to do
a better job covering up for him by
blocking guys out on rebounds and
not allowing guys to fly in and get
extra possessions.”
With prized freshman wing
Franz Wagner on the shelf due to
a wrist fracture, the Wolverines
didn’t know who would create
offense on their own. A week after
junior guard Eli Brooks posted
a career-high 24 in the season-
opener and senior center Jon Teske
chipped in 17, it was junior forward
Isaiah Livers who answered the
call against the Bluejays. He scored
a career-high 22 points on 8-of-12
shooting, while Simpson and Teske
each added 17 of their own.
“(Livers) made some big shots
for us,” Howard said. “He’s a super
confident player. For his height, he
does a really good job of getting
elevation on his jump shot. … I
think he’s done a fantastic job of
embracing (his role) because with
the confidence and as well as how
we’re going to lean on him from an
offensive end and defensive end.”
Coming out of halftime, the
Wolverines took control of the
game’s pace. Simpson finished
a pair of transition layups that
helped Michigan open the stanza
on an 8-2 run, while the Wolverines
only attempted seven second-half
threes after shooting 16 in the first.
Backed by an effort to get the ball
to the interior, Michigan ultimately
built its 8-2 spurt into a crucial
26-14 run and, most importantly, a
lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
By the time the final buzzer
sounded,
the
double-digit
halftime deficit felt like a mere
afterthought. And with Livers,
Simpson and Teske combining
for 56 of the Wolverines’ 79 points
against a Big East defense, so did
the offensive load of last year’s
early departures.
Tuesday
night
was
far
from
a
season-defining
win,
and Michigan’s most pressing
questions will remain unanswered
for another month or so. But
after narrowly avoiding a crisis
against Appalachian State, the
Wolverines’ performance against
a
respectable
Bluejays
team
sure could be a springboard to
immediate success.
On Tuesday, intentional or
not, each half of basketball
represented a different plan of
attack — and with it, different
identities
of
the
Michigan
men’s basketball team.
During a hard-fought 79-69
win against Creighton (1-1
overall), the Wolverines (2-0)
used
nearly
every
weapon
they had in their arsenal, but
switched its strategy as the
game carried on.
In the first half, the 3-point
shot was the saving grace for
the offense.
To kick things off against
the Bluejays, Michigan let
it fly early and often. The
Wolverines went 7-for-16 from
deep throughout the half and
were not shy about announcing
their plan of attack. Leading
this offensive barrage from
3-point
land
was
junior
forward Isaiah Livers who hit
four from downtown, three in
the first half alone and finished
the night with a career-high 22
points.
Whether it was in transition
or a product of senior guard
Zavier Simpson driving to
the hoop and finding an open
man in the corner, the 3-point
shot
was
instrumental
to
Michigan’s offense in the first
half — closing out the first 20
minutes down, 38-41.
The first half was also
characterized
by
clean
basketball.
The
Wolverines
fouled just three times and
turned the ball over on four
occasions — a trend that would
largely carry the whole game
with Michigan committing just
seven fouls and 11 turnovers
all game. This play represents
a
marked
departure
from
its season opener where the
Wolverines handed the ball to
their opponents 17 times.
In the second half, play from
the big men dominated.
The hot hands would cool
down in the final 20 minutes in
favor of Michigan’s clear size
advantage. In the second half,
the Wolverines attempted as
many threes as they made in
the first.
With the change in attack
brought
more
deliberate
possessions. The guards fed
senior center Jon Teske in the
post who led the team with
12 points and finished the
night with 17. Further shaping
this
tact,
Simpson
found
success near the basket due to
relentless drives to the hoop
and an unmatched ability to
finish.
Now, there is just one simple
question to answer: Was this
strategy intentional?
The
answer,
almost
certainly, is no.
It is hard to question the
idea that Michigan wanted to
control the post early against
the Bluejays — a team who only
had one player over 6-foot-8.
While
Michigan
coach
Juwan
Howard
may
feed
lines about how the team is
always looking for the best
shot and that the open man is
going to dictate that offensive
possession,
in
the
context
of this game, it’s not always
applicable. Take this one, for
example.
“We always try to get the
best shot possible whether
it’s the first or second half,”
Howard said. “Overall, we
want to make sure that we
establish a balanced basketball
game so that we can compete.”
The Wolverines were able
to find that balance — and
their ideal shot selection —
in the second half due to the
re-establishment of its big
men, the change of fortune for
50/50 balls and an increased
defensive intensity.
In
the
game,
Creighton
outscored Michigan on second
chance points, 13-4, with most
of these looks coming in the
first 20 minutes. At the break,
the emphasis from Howard
pointed to transition defense
and two tenants of play down
low — offensive rebounding
and defense around the basket.
“We got backdoored a lot,”
Livers said. “I got backdoored
once, (junior guard Eli Brooks)
got once, (sophomore guard
David DeJulius) once, and
it’s just small plays like that
for an easy two is gonna be
troublesome because I feel like
we’re gonna be like, ‘Damn, we
just got a stop, we forgot about
the backdoor.’ It was just the
little things we gotta clean up.”
Perhaps in a different game
against a different team, these
lapses on the defensive end
cost Michigan the game.
In this instance, though, the
Wolverines were lucky that
shots were falling from deep
or else they would have been
staring down a much larger
deficit.
But when it comes down
to figuring out what changed
at the half-way point in the
contest, Livers claims that it all
comes down to remembering
what this team is all about.
“We kinda just treated it
like it was practice,” Livers
said. “Our scout team did a
tremendous job all week of
running their offense, and I
guess we were overthinking it
in the first half. Just things you
do in basketball, and you come
together and get that speech
from coach Howard, things are
gonna come out clicking.”
Test passed
Michigan runs away from Creighton late, tops Bluejays 79-69 behind career night from Livers, moving to 2-0
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer
For in-state players, MSU rivalry
game is friend against friend
In this state, Michigan and
Michigan
State
football
are
religions. Their annual matchup
is like a holy war. And local
players were baptized in it early,
sometimes from birth.
Nearly every football fan in
the state bleeds either green and
white or maize and blue. Many
high school players imagine
themselves in Ann Arbor or
East Lansing, making plays that
will eventually appear on the
ever-expanding highlight reel of
rivalry moments.
And then, when it’s time to
head off to college, the rivalry
inevitably
becomes
more
personal. Some players become
Wolverines.
Others
become
Spartans.
Once a year, those players see
each other again — the eyes of an
entire state on them.
“This is a great game for
me cause I’m from the state of
Michigan,” said junior defensive
back
Ambry
Thomas,
who
attended Martin Luther King
High in Detroit, the same school
as Michigan State linebacker
Tyriq Thompson. “I know a lot of
their players.”
Senior
guard
Michael
Onwenu
attended
Detroit’s
Cass Technical, the same high
school
as
fellow
Michigan
players Donovan Peoples-Jones
and Jaylen Kelly-Powell. Two
Spartans went there as well, and
Onwenu knows others on the
roster from camps or high school
rivalries.
For Onwenu, it’s easy to
separate his friendships off the
field with his enemies on the
field. As soon as anyone puts on a
Michigan State uniform, they’re
just another foe to vanquish. But
games against familiar faces add
another layer to the matchup.
“If it’s people you know
personally, it kinda goes for
you,” Onwenu said. “Because you
might know their tells or know
their tendencies even better.”
Peoples-Jones,
also
an
alumnus of Cass Tech, was close
with Spartan defensive back
Kalon Gervin in high school but
said Tuesday the two haven’t
spoken
ahead
of
Saturday’s
matchup. Sophomore defensive
end Aidan Hutchinson — who
attended Divine Child High
School in Dearborn, Mich. — has
the opposite approach.
Hutchinson, one of the loudest
and brashest players on the
team, doesn’t shy away from
the chippier aspects of “Hate
Week,” and that includes lots
of trash talk. Michigan State
backup quarterback Theo Day
also attended Divine Child and is
one of Hutchinson’s best friends.
And while Hutchinson listened
to Day air his frustrations about
the Spartans’ collapse against
Illinois, he also made it known
that come Saturday, he’d show no
mercy.
“I don’t know if I can tell
you what he said, but some
words were said between us,”
Hutchinson
said.
“He
was
talking a little bit about the game,
but yeah, I’m just pumped to play
him.”
When
you
consider
the
connections that lie in every
corner
of
this
rivalry,
it’s
no
surprise
that
Michigan-
Michigan State is known as one
of the ugliest matchups in college
football. As much as both teams
sometimes downplay it — with
Onwenu referring to the Spartans
as “another team on the schedule
we’ve gotta beat” — those born
and bred on either side know this
is much more than that.
For players throughout the
state who grew up devout in this
rivalry, whose lives are ingrained
in this rivalry, this is their holy
grail.
“Owning the state of Michigan
is always a big thing for the two
programs who battle for it every
single year,” said senior guard
Ben Bredeson. “There’s the Paul
Bunyan Trophy involved as well.
There’s a lot of pride that goes
into it as well for the fanbases.
It’s a cool rivalry just because
you have the in-state factor of it
and you get bragging rights for
the year.”
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior forward Isaiah Livers scored a career-high 22 points in Michigan’s 79-69 win over Creighton on Tuesday night.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior Ambry Thomas played high school with multiple MSU players.
8A — Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com