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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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.