The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2020 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2015: John Beilein's team cruised in its Big Ten Tournament opener, surging past Il- linois 73-55 at Chicago's United Center March 12. The No. 9-seed Wolverines built a 17-point halftime lead in taking down the tournament's No. 8 seed. A 7-0 run in the first half helped Michigan take control early on. U-M put four starters into double fig- ures, led by freshman Aubrey Dawkins' 18 points. Another frosh, Muhammad- Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 15 with eight rebounds, sophomore Zak Irvin scored 14 with six rebounds and six as- sists, and senior Max Bielfeldt checked in with 10 points. The Illini didn't pack it in when the Wolverines jumped on top 14-2. Illi- nois fought back with a 9-0 run of its own, eventually taking a 15-14 lead. Michigan still pulled away to control the game at the half, 40-23. The Wolverines opened the second half on an 8-2 run, and never faced a serious challenge throughout the final 20 minutes of action. "I'm really proud of our team because we know Illinois is a very good team," Beilein said. "We've been seeing some things in practice over the last couple of weeks that showed some growth, even though we may not have seen that in a couple of our losses at the end of this year. Every day these kids are embracing the growth mindset we've tried to have. "I'm really proud that we could show that today, and our kids really played the best defense we've played in a long time, really connected. And then our offense, we're finding multiple ways to score right now because of multiple ball handlers now rather than just one or two, which we had earlier in the year." 10 YEARS AGO, 2010: Michigan overcame Iowa 59-52 in the Wolver- ines' opening game of the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. Follow- ing the March 11 triumph, U-M moved to 15-16 in hopes of a run to the title game. Manny Harris proved the highlight for the Wolverines, pouring in 22 points and snagging nine rebounds. DeShawn Sims added 14 points for Beilein's crew, which opened on a 12-4 run and never looked back. They remained on top at the half 32-23, but a 7-0 Iowa run early in the second half got the Hawkeyes within four, at 34-30. Michigan answered with an 11-4 spurt, and led 54-41 before an 11-0 Iowa run gave the Wolverines one more major scare. Iowa's Cully Payne led all scorers with 25, but it wasn't enough. "I thought we did a good job," soph- omore guard Zack Novak said. "We stayed pretty calm. Nobody panicked. I felt we were in control." 25 YEARS AGO, 1995: Michigan advanced in the NCAA Tournament with a 4-3 college hockey win over Wisconsin in the enemy territory. The Wolverines overcame the Badgers in Madison's Dane County Coliseum March 25. According to the archives of The Michigan D aily, the home crowd proved so loud that no one could hear the introduction of U-M freshman goalie Marty Turco. Turco and the Wol- verines made their own noise, though, holding off the Badgers in a nail-biter. "Tonight's crowd was a great crowd for a college hockey game," Michi- gan head coach Red Berenson said. "It was a hostile environment, but I think it helped bring our team closer together." Turco actually gave Wisconsin one goal, clearing the puck to the Bad- gers' Mike Strobel, who flipped it into an empty net. Michigan still over- whelmed the locals in aggression, outshooting them 40-27. U-M's Mike Knuble netted the one that counted most, scoring on the power play with 11:51 remaining to snap a 3-3 tie and give Michigan the win. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Freshman goalie Marty Turco helped the Wolverines top the Badgers after a bye in the 1995 NCAA Championships, and U-M went on to reach the Frozen Four. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY