8 — Thursday, February 20, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
WITH LIVERS OUT, MICHIGAN RIDES
ZAVIER SIMPSON’s 16-6-5 TO 60-52
WIN OVER SCARLET KNIGHTS
ALEC COHEN / Daily
RAC
ATTACK
Design by Jack Silberman
‘M’ tops Rutgers, 60-52, on the road
PISCATAWAY — Prior to
Wednesday’s night-matchup, the
Michigan men’s basketball team
had never lost to Rutgers — 12-0,
to be exact. The Scarlet Knights
meanwhile, currently tied for
third in the Big Ten, were a
perfect 17-0 at home. Something
had to give.
The process of breaking that
standoff wasn’t pretty, but even
without leading scorer, Isaiah
Livers,
the
Michigan men’s
basketball team
(17-9 overall, 8-7
Big Ten) held on
to beat Rutgers
(18-9, 9-7), 60-52,
undaunted
in
a
hostile
environment.
It didn’t take
long
for
the
Scarlet Knights
to get the Rutgers Athletic
Center riled up. Down Livers —
who’s now missed 10 games this
season due to injury — and facing
a talented backcourt, Michigan
had to dig in.
Unsurprisingly, that grit came
from their catalyst, senior guard
Zavier Simpson. Simpson shot
out of the gate with a pair of
3-pointers and his patented hook
shot en route to 16 points. The
Wolverines fed off their leader.
Amidst recent struggles, senior
center Jon Teske even nailed a
3-pointer.
“It’s nothing new,” Michigan
coach
Juwan
Howard
said.
“(Zavier’s) a smart enough player
to know where the reads are. Any
time a guy steps off you and you’re
able to line it up, massage the ball,
line the seams up and shoot it, it’s
great. He was confident enough
to take the shot, the ball went in.”
As the half progressed, sloppy
possessions and turnovers —
six for Michigan and five for
Rutgers — were a more frequent
occurrence than scoring plays.
Still, Rutgers’ own energizing
presence, guard Geo Baker, sent
the Scarlet Knights into the
locker room with a 31-28 edge
after drilling a buzzer-beating
triple.
With the Wolverines’ rotation
thin in Livers’ absence, Howard
needed someone from his bench
to step up.
Sophomores
Colin Castleton
and
David
DeJulius
answered
the
call.
Castleton,
who had played
a total of five
minutes in the
last three games,
converted
an
and-one layup to
halt a 6-0 Rutgers run. Moments
later,
the
6-foot-11
forward
plucked an offensive rebound out
of nowhere, drawing a foul in the
process.
“Not only the big bucket that
came in the second half, but the
energy he gave us on the court.”
DeJulius said. “When you’re on
the road you’ve got to bring your
own energy. We were just so
happy for him because he works
so hard, and he deserves this and
much more.”
Confident as usual, DeJulius
knocked
down
consecutive
jumpers — culminating in a
3-pointer from the corner — to
hand the lead back over to the
Wolverines with 9:14 to go.
Solitary
spurts
from
the
Scarlet Knights were quelled
immediately by Michigan. Every
time fiery Rutgers’ coach Steve
Pikiell pumped his arms in
encouragement, every time the
crowd rose to their feet raising
the decibel level to absurd
heights, the Wolverines had an
answer.
What did those answers look
like? Junior guard Eli Brooks
hitting a deep 3-pointer to
extend Michigan’s lead to nine;
sophomore
forward
Brandon
Johns Jr. and DeJulius sinking
three
throws
late;
Brooks,
catching a lead-out pass from
Simpson and flushing it coolly on
the other end.
“It comes from within your
heart and within your mindset,”
Howard said. “I think our guys
displayed a lot of grit. When you
talk about Rutgers, a very tough
team who plays well at home,
they put a lot of pressure on the
rim, and today we protected the
paint very well. … That’s part of
the grit that I see from this group
and I’m actually happy I’m able to
coach it.”
In the end, it didn’t matter
where they were or who they
were without, the Wolverines
stood tall in the face of adversity
—
something
Howard
says
they’ve learned over time.
“I see a lot of growth in this
group,” Howard said. “... Each
and every guy in that locker room,
on this team has always been
positive about the process and
now we’re improving. Obviously
today we didn’t have one of our
best player, but our guys did a
terrific job of staying locked in
and figuring it out. At times, it’s
not always going to be pretty.”
Sure, Michigan extended its
winning streak over Rutgers to
13-0, but more importantly, its
victory over the much-improved
Scarlet Knights on Wednesday
indicates that the Wolverines
have bought in, undaunted.
Castleton makes his presence known
PISCATAWAY — For Colin
Castleton, Wednesday’s success
began 72 hours before the
Michigan men’s basketball team
tipped off against Rutgers.
During
the
Wolverines’
24-point win over Indiana on
Sunday, the sophomore forward
played just two minutes, a
brief stint when the game was
already well out of reach. As
some of his teammates hit the
showers and made their way
back to university dorms after
the game, Castleton remained
on the Crisler Center hardwood
— basketball in hand — putting
up extra shots.
No student managers, no
rebounding
machine.
Just
Castleton, the rim and the ball.
Leading up to Wednesday,
Castleton had played just five
minutes over the Wolverines’
last three games. But when
Michigan needed a second-
half spark against Rutgers,
coach Juwan Howard called
his number. Castleton delivered
a timely and-one layup and
a
much-needed
defensive
presence,
propelling
the
Wolverines to a 60-52 victory.
“It’s a big thing in basketball.
People hold their head down if
they’re not playing,” Castleton
said. “But I just get told every
day, and coach Juwan preaches
to me every day, ‘Just stay ready.’
“His big key word is just
being positive. You never know
when your name is going to
get called. So when your name
does get called, you’ve got to be
ready.”
In Castleton’s case, there
were reasons why he could’ve
lost sight of that mindset.
After showing promise as a
backup center in November at
the Battle 4 Atlantis, he was
ultimately surpassed by senior
center Austin Davis in Howard’s
rotation.
Minutes became hard to come
by as he fell in the pecking order,
and he struggled to capitalize
on limited opportunities. From
Dec. 11 to Jan. 25, Caslteton shot
a dismal 20 percent from the
field.
But through it all, one thing
never wavered.
“You never know when your
name’s
going
to
be
called
on,”
Howard
said. “But when
you
have
that
positive mindset
and
you’re
staying
ready,
staying locked in,
feeding
energy
and cheering for
your teammates,
knowing what’s
happening on the floor, buying
into film, coming in on off-days,
getting shots up for yourself,
I feel comfortable with going
with (Caslteton).”
On Wednesday, the odds
were stacked against Castleton.
Lack of recent playing time took
him out of a rhythm he couldn’t
seize in November. He was
forced to deal with the raucous
crowd
that
had
propelled
Rutgers to a 17-0 home record.
He was cold after spending the
entire first half on the bench.
He was forced to play the ‘4’ due
to junior forward Isaiah Livers’
absence, even though it’s not his
natural position.
Still, he made an immediate
impact when Howard looked his
way. His driving and-one layup
gave Michigan its first points
of the second half, halting the
Scarlet Knights’ six-point run
before they could pull away.
Castleton
celebrated
by
marching
over
to
the
Wolverines’ bench, where he
promptly went down the line
to claim a high-five from every
teammate.
“Colin’s a guy that everyone
likes,”
senior
point
guard
Zavier Simpson said. “When
he comes in the game, it shows
his emotion, shows the winning
positive spirit when he gets the
and-one by just dapping the
bench up. Being
encouraging,
being
energizing, that
means a lot.
“Because
some guys get
in
the
game,
get an and-one,
haven’t
played
the whole first
half, they just
think,
‘Ah,
it’s alright.’ … When we see
someone on the court being so
energized and energetic coming
in, just giving us that boost that
we need.”
The and-one marked the
beginning of a 10-minute stretch
in which Castleton changed the
game’s landscape. He scored
five points without missing a
field goal, but his biggest impact
was felt on the other end of the
floor. He grabbed four rebounds
when
his
teammates
were
struggling to keep the Scarlet
Knights off the offensive glass
and used his length to alter
shots in zone defense.
In
Piscataway,
Castleton
reaped the benefits of season-
long perseverance — the same
characteristic that fueled his
postgame solo shootaround just
three days prior.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
You never know
when your
name’s going to
get called on.
(Simpson)
was confident
enough to take
the shot.