The Wolverine

March 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MARCH 2019 THE WOLVERINE 85   MICHIGAN BASKETBALL "He's just sort of learning how to exist at this level, but he's still get- ting better," Beilein said. "Every day, we're seeing great strides, but he's still not the best option for us to be the guy who goes in." Since playing a season-high 13 minutes against Indiana Jan. 6, Johns played a grand total of 37 minutes in the next nine contests. After scoring eight points against the Hoosiers, he has made only one field goal. Beilein has told Johns to just be like an energizer bunny and to have a great motor in order to see the court more. DeJulius was stuck behind junior Zavier Simpson and sophomore Eli Brooks at point guard. But with Brooks struggling to make an impact, DeJulius supplanted him as the first guard off the bench against Mary- land Feb. 16. He impressed against the Terrapins and made his first field goal since December. "He's been playing really well," Beilein said. "We just said we can use Eli in some ways, but it's time for David to back up [Simpson]." Simpson had high praise for DeJu- lius after the Maryland game. "He played great, played great de- fense, knocked down a little three o'clock [layup]," Simpson said. "We just need that sense of urgency if there's an injury off the bench. "I was happy to see him come in and just be vicious and demonstrate what he can bring to this team." — Andrew Hussey Three Best Players 1. Freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis He averaged 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the eight contests from Jan. 22 through Feb. 16, highlighted by a double-double (18 points and 11 boards) in the 59-57 win over Minnesota Jan. 22. Brazdeikis also tallied 18 or more points in three of the eight games, while connecting on a respectable 40.0 per- cent (16 of 40) of his three-point attempts. 2. Redshirt junior guard Charles Matthews He hit the game-winning jumper at the buzzer to beat Minnesota Jan. 22, and also led the club in scoring in three straight games from Feb. 9-16 against Wisconsin (18), Penn State (24) and Maryland (14). The redshirt junior's 5.7 rebounds per game were second only to junior center Jon Teske's 5.8 during the span, and he pulled down a season-high 11 in U-M's 69-46 triumph at Indiana Jan. 25. 3. Junior guard Zavier Simpson The do-it-all-guard lived up to his bill- ing from Jan. 22 through Feb. 16, aver- aging 9.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists per outing. Simpson played one of his best all- around games in a Michigan uniform in the 65-49 victory over archrival Ohio State Jan. 29, when he posted just the sixth triple-double in school history with 11 points, 10 boards and 12 assists. Key Play With the game knotted at 57 and Michigan holding for the last possession of its Jan. 22 matchup with Minnesota, Simpson handed the ball off to Brazdeikis near the top of the key with just 7.5 seconds remaining. The freshman then sprinted toward the basket, but was met by four Gophers in the paint with red- shirt sophomore forward Eric Curry easily blocking his shot. The ball, however, ricocheted perfectly into the hands of a waiting Matthews, who took a short jumper along the base- line with only 0.7 seconds left. The ball went through the net just as the backboard flashed red, giving the Wolverines a thrilling 59-57 victory. A loss would have been Michigan's second in a row after its 17-0 start, and would have dealt a severe blow to the squad's Big Ten title hopes. Best Highlight With U-M leading Wisconsin 59-52 and just 8.7 seconds re- maining in the Feb. 9 contest at Crisler, Simpson inbounded the ball to sophomore guard Jordan Poole, who immedi- ately began sprinting the length of the court. Once he hit the Badgers' three-point line, Poole lobbed a pass over the head of Wisconsin sophomore forward Nate Reuvers and straight to sophomore forward Isaiah Livers, who had been run- ning parallel with Poole the whole time on the opposite side of the floor. Livers caught the ball in the air per- fectly in stride and threw down a mon- strous alley-oop dunk with just 3.4 seconds remaining. The play put an exclamation point on what was a huge 61-52 victory over the No. 19 Badgers. Surprise Performer Michigan's short rotation doesn't al- low for many options here, but Simpson gets the nod due to his consistent re- bounding efforts. He pulled down six or more boards in four of the eight games, and is now averaging 5.1 per outing on the year (as of Feb. 18, which was good for 24th in the Big Ten). The top 30 rebounders in the league this season are all 6-6 or taller — with the exception of Simpson, who stands just 6-0. Bold Prediction Michigan will win at least one of the final two daunting road games — at Maryland and at Michigan State — to close out the regular season. Many observers have already pegged both as losses, when considering the Wolverines are just 4-3 on the road in league play (as of Feb. 18). The Maize and Blue will likely need to grab at least one of them if they hope to win the Big Ten title, so the pressure to come out victorious could be high. — Austin Fox Superlatives For Games From Jan. 22-Feb. 16 Freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis notched his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 boards in U-M's 59-57 vic- tory over Minnesota Jan. 22. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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