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.

