The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2021 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2016: Michi- gan battled back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to knock off No. 16 Purdue at Crisler Center, 61-56, Feb. 13. John Beilein's Wolverines trailed, 56- 50, with only three minutes remaining in the game. But a steal by Muham- mad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman led to a Zak Irvin three-pointer, and a close-range Derrick Walton Jr. bucket pulled Michi- gan within one. Irvin's pull-up jumper from the free throw line gave the Wolverines the advantage by one with 1:09 remain- ing. Michigan's defense and free throw shooting did the rest. Irvin paced the Wolverines with 22 points, including four triples. Abdur- Rahkman tossed in nine points and Mark Donnal eight. U-M bounced back in the first half from a 23-13 deficit, before making its winning run down the stretch. Walton began the game 0 for 9 from the floor, but made big plays when it counted. " There was a point in the game where some people on my bench were saying 'Get him out of there,'" Beilein recounted afterwards. "But the dude scored 26 points the other night. I'm not taking him out." 10 YEARS AGO, 2011: Tim Hard- away scored a career-high 30 points to help Michigan back from a 10-point second-half hole on the way to a 75-72 overtime win at Iowa Feb. 19. The victory helped keep alive Michi- gan's NCAA hopes, with Darius Morris adding 20 points and Jordan Morgan 18. The three tallied 91 percent of the Wol- verines' total at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Michigan actually led early, 14-4, but the Hawkeyes roared back, closing out the half on an 11-4 run to go into inter- mission up 32-24. Iowa fashioned its biggest lead, 37-27, early in the sec- ond half. Then the Wolverines responded with an 18-6 rally, eventually knotting the game at 63-all in the final minute. Iowa went up by a bucket, but Morgan's two free throws tied it up, sending the game to overtime. Morris fed to Morgan on a pick-and- roll, then cashed in himself on a drive to give the Wolverines a 73-69 lead in the overtime. U-M held on from there, securing a huge road win. Of Hardaway, Beilein noted: "He just lets the game come to him more and more, and that's why you see the spike right now that we're having with him." 25 YEARS AGO, 1996: Michigan buried Michigan State on Feb. 27 at Crisler, 75-46, taking advantage of the Spartans early on in the Tom Izzo era. The Spartans were on their way to a 16-16 record that year. Michigan, meanwhile, went 21-11 and finished fourth in the conference. Steve Fisher's Wolverines left no doubt at home against the Spartans, winning by nearly 30 points. Maurice Taylor led a quartet of Wol- verines in double figures during the rout. Taylor scored 16 points, while Ma- ceo Baston and Albert White notched a dozen apiece, and Travis Conlan chipped in with 10. Baston snagged 11 rebounds for the Wolverines, while Conlan racked up six assists. Michigan shot nearly 50 percent from the field (28 for 57), compared to an icy 33.3 percent (17 for 51) by the Spartans, who also struggled to a 10-for-21 effort at the free throw line. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY After trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, U-M came back and won a thriller over No. 16 Purdue on Feb. 13, 2016. The Wolverines were paced by Zak Irvin, who notched 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL