The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1444545
FEBRUARY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 41 When U-M resumed action at Illi- nois Jan. 14, the Wolverines fell, but felt more encouraged than they had been since the Big Ten opener. A Mich- igan crew without sophomore center Hunter Dickinson and senior forward Brandon Johns Jr. battled league-lead- ing Illinois in almost shocking fashion at Champaign. The final score (68-53) completely belies the effort the Wolverines put together with players such as seldom- seen senior Jaron Faulds and sophomore guard Jace Howard drawing between 12 and 14 minutes each. Sometimes they were guarding Illinois' mountainous, 7-0, 285-pound Kofi Cockburn. Cockburn threatened to totally domi- nate the shorthanded Wolverines at the State Farm Center, and further shorten Juwan Howard's roster — by eating a couple of Wolverines. He still paced the scoring with 21 points, but Michigan's scrappy effort gave it a chance to take the lead with less than seven minutes to play. A hustle play by Howard typified U-M's fight. He dove on the floor for a loose ball, then kept digging until he came up with it. He flipped it behind him to grad transfer guard DeVante' Jones, who nailed a three-pointer on the way to a team-leading 17 points. Michigan's bench exploded, the Wol- verines reveling in the effort play during an encouraging setback. "Sometimes when you only have eight or seven guys, you end up playing your best game because guys are so dialed in, knowing that we've got to do it for each other," Juwan Howard said. "I'm always in the trenches with this group and I'm so damned proud of how they approached these unfortunate circumstances — com- ing out with passion and fight." They showed a glimpse at what focus and extreme effort can produce, and carried it over to their next outing. U-M blew out Maryland 83-64 Jan. 18 to im- prove to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten. Howard already had his hands full, without any COVID considerations. He noted prior to the postponements against Michigan State and Purdue that the Wolverines weren't up to speed, fol- lowing a short-roster loss at Rutgers. "We haven't been good to go 100 per- cent," Howard offered. "We've been fig- uring out ways to navigate through what we've been dealt with COVID and the COVID protocol. We're trying to stay afloat and stay ready, and day by day we'll continue working to try to get to that point. "I'll be honest with you, it's frustrat- ing. It's frustrating for all of us in the sports world and non-sports world." Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo sounded a bit frustrated — and helpless — regarding the postponement. To his credit, he avoided casting the aspersions that Ohio State football fans unleashed when the Wolverines and Buckeyes were unable to meet on the gridiron in 2020. "I have no idea," Izzo responded, when asked if he's concerned that the contest won't eventually be played. "I think Michigan wants to play the game as bad as we want to play the game. If they don't have enough players and they postpone the game, they postpone the game. I have heard nothing on that … "I got enough problems with my own team. We're going to schedule to play the game. If that happens, it'll be great, and if it doesn't happen, it'll be postponed." One thing's for certain. The preseason excitement regarding the Wolverines — the defending Big Ten champs, armed with the addition of a national top- three recruiting class — has been put on hold indefinitely. Here's a look at what has gone wrong, Head coach Juwan Howard "I'm always in the trenches with this group and I'm so damned proud of how they approached these unfortunate circumstances — coming out with passion and fight." Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson averaged 16.4 points per game to lead the Wolverines in scoring through Jan. 18. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL