4B — December 2, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Wolverines topple No. 8 Gonzaga, 82-64, win Battle 4 Atlantis title
Nobody thought much of this
Michigan team.
Nobody thought they would
finish beyond the middle of the
pack in their conference.
Nobody thought they would
go to the Bahamas and come
back with a trophy.
Three days and three quality
wins later, the Wolverines are
proving that they have a lot
more potential than anyone was
giving them credit for. They
defeated No. 8 Gonzaga, 82-64,
on Friday in the championship of
the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament
in the Bahamas, their second
win over a top-10 team in as
many days, as their defense
stifled the Bulldogs’ imposing
transition offense.
“We’re here to win,” said
Michigan coach Juwan Howard.
“They believe in it, they trust in
it, and it worked. At the end of
the day, I’m just so proud of this
group, and how they competed
throughout the weekend.”
The Wolverines started the
game playing from behind, as
Gonzaga’s size and speed up
front helped the Bulldogs out to
a quick start, but Michigan seem
to find its composure around
the 13-minute mark, going on a
10-0 run and eventually taking
the lead as their shots started to
fall and their defense started to
have more success.
From there, the game was
closely
matched,
but
the
Wolverines were much more
confident than they had initially,
contesting more rebounds and
playing more aggressively in
their frontcourt. It was most
notable in senior center Jon
Teske, who was visibly fired
up as his shots kept finding the
net late in the first half, and
especially after he tipped in a
rebound of a missed three-point
attempt from junior guard Eli
Brooks to put Michigan up by
eleven going into the halftime
break.
“As a senior now, I gotta be
a leader,” Teske, who finished
with 19 points, said. “I came in
and I knew my role. Everyone
knows their role at a certain
point, and now there’s been a
chance as I’ve gotten older, as
a junior and senior, where I just
gotta lead the younger guys, and
just try and help the team win,
and we’re having fun doing it.”
Sophomore
guard
David
DeJulius also looked good for
Michigan on Friday, moving
nicely inside the paint and
passing
well.
He
has
seen
more minutes recently, playing
66 minutes over the three
tournament
games
in
the
Bahamas, and has flourished in
the sixth-man role, leading the
bench all season.
The Wolverines started slow
again coming out of the break,
not scoring until three and a
half minutes into the second
half, giving the Zags a chance
to go on a 10-0 run of their
own. Michigan did eventually
warm back up, though, and
seized control of the game
around the 14-minute mark,
taking a 12-point lead on back-
to-back threes from freshman
guard Franz Wagner and junior
forward
Isaiah
Livers
and
then expanding it to a 19-point
margin around the 11-minute
mark. From there, the game and
the championship were never in
question.
Michigan
is
as
of
yet
unranked,
something
that
is
likely
to
change
after
tournament
wins
over
the
Bulldogs as well as Iowa State
on Wednesday and No. 6 North
Carolina
on
Thursday.
The
Wolverines head into a tough
midweek away game against
potential No. 1 Louisville on
Tuesday, another chance to
prove themselves against high-
level competition, but the top
priority for now is staying in the
rhythm they’ve found these last
few games.
“We just keep grinding,”
Livers said. “We don’t really
pay attention to all the media
stuff. We want to play Michigan
basketball, and that’s all – that’s
all – we’re going to be focused
on. We’re not focused on any
rankings, or any of that outside
mess that people want to talk
about. We play for each other.”
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Senior center Jon Teske scored 19 points against Gonzaga in Battle 4 Atlantis final as Michigan won, 82-64.