6A — Thursday, February 13, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

WHISPER

SUBMIT A 
WHISPER

By Kevin Christian and Howard Barkin
©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/13/20

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

02/13/20

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Thursday, February 13, 2020

ACROSS
1 Suffix for 
Wikipedia
4 Humiliate
9 Network with a 
“Cameras in the 
Court” page
14 Excessively
15 Where many 
watch the Beeb
16 Get to laugh
17 Crow
19 Plug-in Chevys
20 Series-ending 
abbr.
21 Lightning __
22 “Settle down!”
23 Delete for 
security reasons, 
say
25 Alphabetize, e.g.
26 Crow
32 Lapped (up)
35 Take to a higher 
court
36 Amana Colonies 
state
37 Copier pioneer
39 Taylor of fashion
40 Likely 2020 
Baseball Hall of 
Fame inductee
41 Composer Satie
42 Taco sauce 
brand
44 IRS identifier
45 Crow
48 In years past
49 Range that 
contains much of 
the Mark Twain 
National Forest
53 Temple with an 
upcurved roof
56 Blue-__: pain 
relief brand
58 “Allow me”
59 Meter measure
60 Crow
62 Electric car 
named for a 
physicist
63 Kirin competitor
64 Zero, in soccer
65 Get to the point?
66 Exorcist’s target
67 “Get how it’s 
done?”

DOWN
1 “Some __ time”
2 Waze 
recommendation
3 Lose one’s grip

4 Delta hub code
5 Draft source
6 Pet food brand
7 Avoided a tag, 
perhaps
8 “Queer __”: 
revived style 
show
9 Frolic
10 Blended 
beverage
11 Yank
12 Bubbly city
13 Stick-y place to 
sleep?
18 Spill the beans
22 Slinky shape
24 Persuade with 
flattery
25 Title river in a 
Gershwin/Caesar 
song
27 Like Wyoming’s 
population
28 Start of the back 
nine
29 Quickly writes
30 Is in the red
31 It may get crewel 
treatment
32 x, y and z, in 
math
33 Polo of “The 
Fosters”

34 Shillelagh’s land
38 Words that 
activate an 
assistant
40 “Empire State of 
Mind” rapper
42 White-bellied 
swimmer
43 First name in 
comedy
46 Make lovable
47 Souvlaki meat
50 Comes down

51 2012 NBA 
Rookie of the 
Year __ Irving
52 Crab-walk
53 Miniature golf 
stroke
54 Riding the waves
55 [Oh no!]
56 Besides that
57 Word said with a 
tip of the hat
60 Evil
61 It’s all relatives

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WHISPER

60 Characters. 
Bare your soul.

Introducing

“...so is this 
overheard 
at umich?”

“Microwave 
pancakes 
are my 
hero”

“Tuition 
needs to 
be higher 
said no one 
ever”

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

SUDOKU

EVANSTON 
— 
Michigan 
coach Juwan Howard stepped 
off the plane in Chicago and 
inhaled deeply. He was back 
home. There was something 
different about the air in his 
hometown, he said.
Whether it was the nostalgia 
of being back where he grew 
up or the crowd of maize 
and blue in the bleachers at 
Northwestern 
or 
the 
herd 
of old friends — including 
former NBA All-Star Dikembe 
Mutombo 
— 
Howard 
felt 
different about Wednesday’s 
game.
Whatever was in the air 
though, clearly affected the 
Wolverines (15-9 overall, 6-7 
Big Ten), who trounced the 
Wildcats (6-17, 1-12) to the tune 
of 79-54 in a full display of the 
team’s talents.
But things weren’t so rosy 
from 
the 
onset. 
Michigan 
started the game badly, opening 
up the contest 0-for-11 from 
the floor with seven of those 
shots registering as either 
layups or dunks. Most of the 
offensive stagnancy fell on the 
shoulders of senior center Jon 
Teske, who failed to convert 
around the rim, missing easy 
looks against a drastically 
undersized 
Northwestern 
team. He finished with six 
points on 3-for-14 shooting.
But that was the last time 
Michigan needed to worry 
about the outcome of the game.
And, as if possessed, the 
Wolverines’ 
shooters 
began 
to take things into their own 
hands.
Junior guard Eli Brooks 
lit it up from behind the arc, 
going 4-for-8 and finishing 
with a team-high 18 points. His 
quick release and deep range 
torched the Wildcats all night 
and earned the nickname “the 
silent assassin” from teammate 
Isaiah Livers. 
Adding 
to 
the 
offensive 
production — largely in the 
first half — was senior forward 
Austin Davis, who checked 
in for the flailing Teske and 

added a much-needed presence 
in the interior.
If 
a 
programmer 
were 
designing a consistent, reliable 
player to fill the 10 feet or so in 
front of the rim, that player’s 
performance 
would 
look 
strikingly similar to Davis’s in 
the first half.
The big man opened up 
his scoring in style with a 
two-handed 
flush, making a 
statement 
that 
the lax interior 
presence would 
not 
continue. 
The 
new-life 
offense 
went 
on a 26-5 run 
to take a strong 
38-23 lead into 
the locker room.
Oh, and the 
Wolverines did it all without 
star guard Zavier Simpson, 
who watched all the action 
from the bench with two quick 
fouls. Sophomore guard David 
DeJulius stepped up, as he’s 
done in the past, and filled 
Simpson’s shoes to the inch, 
finishing with seven points 
and seven assists.
“When 
(Simpson) 
came 
in, they told me it was my 
opportunity,” DeJulius said. 
“And I watched film and saw 
how they play defense, and I 
just executed the game plan.
“And I’m naturally a scorer, 
that’s just my game, but that’s 
not what I care about. I care 
about doing whatever is best 
for the team, and just to see 
that I got seven assists. … That 
feels good for me.”
If 
ever 
one 
play 
could 
characterize 
a 
game 
of 
basketball, it would have to be 
Livers’ ferocious slam late in 
the second half. With just over 
five minutes to play, Livers 
found himself streaking down 
the court after a massive block 
from Teske. The junior caught 
the feed from DeJulius and 
forced down a thunderous 
dunk to shake the building.
It also helped that the 
Wildcats sit comfortably in 
the basement of the Big Ten 
standings. 

Northwestern showed some 
life later in the half though, 
catching stride with its shot 
selection. 
The 
Wildcats 
threatened to chip away at a 
20-point Wolverine lead with 
an 8-0 run, but would never 
actualize the comeback with 
Brooks drilling a 3-pointer to 
snap Michigan out of the rut.
Brooks’s 3-pointer felt like 
more 
of 
an 
inevitability 
rather than a 
big-time shot by 
a veteran player. 
The game was 
never truly in 
doubt and the 
Wolverines 
proved 
to 
be 
simply 
too 
much 
for 
the 
undersized 
Wildcats. After all, they were 
never meant to spoil Howard’s 
homecoming.
Maybe that’s why the “Let’s 
Go Blue!” chants emanating 
from the stands in Evanston 
following 
Livers’s 
game-
defining dunk didn’t feel out of 
place. Through Howard, this 
was Michigan’s home game 
too.

EVANSTON — When the 
Michigan men’s basketball team 
needed a spark on Wednesday, 
it turned to an unlikely source.
It was a game in which the 
Wolverines 
shouldn’t 
have 
needed a spark in the first 
place, for a number of reasons. 
But even coming off a season-
altering win over Michigan 
State, Michigan struggled out of 
the gate against Northwestern.
The Wolverines’ early-game 
struggles have become all too 
predictable. Just four days after 
missing 10 of its first 11 shots 
against the Spartans, Michigan 
failed to find bottom on 13 of 
its first 15 against the Big Ten’s 
doormat.
Enter Austin Davis.
In the midst of a breakout 
senior season, the forward 
injected a jolt of life into a half-
empty Welsh-Ryan Arena when 
the Wolverines needed it most. 
After Isaiah Livers’s baseline 
drive was cut off, the junior 
forward found an open Davis 
beneath the rim.
With Michigan trailing, 13-8, 
he rose above three Wildcats 

and threw down a two-handed 
flush.
The dunk ignited an 8-0 
spurt for the Wolverines — one 
that eventually became a 27-5 
run, propelling Michigan to a 
79-54 victory. Davis was a key 
cog through it all, scoring seven 
points in just six minutes, on 
his way to nine total points. His 
first-half performance came on 
the heels of a dismal start from 
senior center Jon Teske, who 
missed his first four layups 
before throwing a dunk off the 
back of the rim.
“(Austin) is so strong,” Livers 
said. “… His finishing around 
the rim is probably the best on 
the team, honestly.”
Just over a year ago, he was 
upended 
by 
then-freshman 
forward Brandon Johns Jr. 
for Michigan’s backup center 
duties. At the time, Johns was 
battling a steep learning curve 
and playing out of position. 
Even still, former coach John 
Beilein preferred him over 
Davis.
This season, however, Davis 
has flipped the script. He 
began the campaign behind 
sophomore 
forward 
Colin 
Castleton 
before 
surpassing 

him 
in 
December. 
Against 
conference opponents, Davis is 
averaging 5.3 points on a team-
best 71 percent shooting clip.
What’s most intriguing about 
Davis, though, is the timeline 
of his emergence. He’s peaking 
in his fourth year with the 
program — a time in which 
players have usually already 
reached their ceiling.
In Davis’s case, the turning 
point came when Michigan 
tabbed Beilein’s replacement in 
May.
“That’s the Austin we knew, 
but the man just took coach 
(Juwan) Howard to come in 
here and work on his post 
moves,” Livers said. “His post 
moves are elite. I’ve had to 
guard that big dude down there 
before — it’s not easy at all.”
Added Davis: “(Howard) is 
high energy all the time. He’s 
pedal to the metal every minute 
of practice. I love it. He’s down 
in the trenches with the post 
guys working with us. He’s got 
the pad, he’s banging on us and 
he’s giving us feedback as we’re 
going. It’s really invaluable. … 
The amount of knowledge and 
corrections he makes everyday 
is incredible. He played 19 years 
in the NBA, and it really comes 
through.”
Following 
Wednesday’s 
4-for-4 shooting performance, 
finishing with nine points, 
Davis is now shooting an eye-
popping 94 percent from the 
field over Michigan’s last five 
games. At this rate, he won’t 
remain an unlikely spark source 
for much longer.
When Davis returned to 
the locker room after the 
game, there was an unfamiliar 
face 
waiting. 
Dikembe 
Mutombo, one of Howard’s 
self-proclaimed 
“favorite 
teammates” from his playing 
days — greeted him with the 
hand he used to popularize his 
signature finger wag.
For a moment, the line 
between idolization and reality 
was blurred.
And for Wednesday’s unlikely 
spark source, it was only fitting 
for his first congratulations to 
come from an unfamiliar face.

Cat killers
Michigan trounces Northwestern, 79-54, behind standout performances from Davis, Livers

JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Editor

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Senior forward Austin Davis scored nine points off the bench, giving Michigan a spark in a 79-54 win over Northwestern.

I watched 
film and saw 
how they play 
defense.

