The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 15 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2020 — Mich- igan men's basketball won a double- overtime thriller at Crisler Center against Purdue, 84-78, on Jan. 9, 2020. The Wolverines' Zavier Simpson scored 22 points and dished out 9 assists to pace the U-M effort. The Wolverines trailed by a bucket, 62-60, with only 27 seconds remaining in regulation. Simpson slashed in for a layup to tie the score, two of the 10 points he recorded down the stretch. Franz Wagner's crucial block of a Pur- due shot as the clock expired sent Mich- igan and Purdue into overtime. Juwan Howard's crew took over from there, outscoring the Boilermakers 16-10 in the extra periods. Simpson's three-point play made it 65-62 to be- gin the first overtime, and after Purdue surged to a 68-66 lead, Simpson tied the game again on another drive. Less than a minute remained, and Michigan's defense held up against Purdue's at- tempt to end the contest. In the second overtime, Jon Teske's three-point play and Simpson's three- pointer staked the Wolverines to a six- point advantage they wouldn't relin- quish. Teske wound up with 18 points in the game, while Wagner cashed in 15. Michigan overcame a dominating ef- fort by Purdue's Trevion Williams, who set career highs by scoring 36 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. "I have one of the best point guards in college basketball," Howard said of Simpson. "We have one of the best leaders in college basketball, one of the toughest competitors in college basketball." 1 0 Y E A R S AG O, 2 0 1 5 — Michigan hockey skated into the belly of the beast, going wild on offense in a 10-6 shootout win over Ohio State in Columbus, on Jan. 16, 2015. Dylan Larkin, Tyler Motte and Zach Hyman each scored 2 goals to pace the Wolver- ines, Larkin coming up with a career- best 5 points by adding 3 assists. Hyman scored twice in the opening six minutes to help stake Michigan to a four-goal advantage early, 5-1. Ohio State fought back to cut the lead to three, 6-3, but Motte scored on a rebound to make it 7-3, signaling the exit for OSU goaltender Matt Tomkins. The Wolver- ines and Buckeyes traded goals the rest of the way, Michigan coming up with a big road win before a hostile crowd. Michigan coach Red Berenson pointed out the importance of grabbing the early lead. "Zach got us out to a good start," Berenson said. "With tonight's game, you could say we won the game, and we scored a lot of goals, but we gave up six goals. Had they scored the first two or three goals, and we had to play catch- up in this building, it could have been a different outcome. So good for Hyman to get us going, and then our power play kicked in with some goals. But then it became a shootout, and I felt that the team with the last shot might score or win the game, so it wasn't the type of game either coach would like." 25 YEARS AGO, 2000 — Michigan football rung in the New Year and the new century in incredible fashion, rallying to a 35-34 overtime victory against Alabama in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2000. The Wolverines' first overtime win in their football history saw Tom Brady connect on 34 of 46 passes for 369 yards and 4 touchdowns, bringing Michigan back from deficits of 14-0 and 28-14 against the Crimson Tide. The Wolverines tied the game with just 2:47 remaining in regulation, on a 3-yard touchdown run by Anthony Thomas. Alabama chose to go on de- fense in the overtime, and Brady re- sponded with a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Shawn Thompson. Alabama put itself in position to go to a second overtime, scoring on a 21- yard touchdown pass from Andrew Zow to Antonio Carter. But Bama's Ryan Pflugner missed the extra point, giving Michigan the comeback win and Brady a big stage from which to launch his un- paralleled NFL career. Wide receiver David Terrell, who caught 10 of Brady's completions for 150 yards, said: "Everybody thought we weren't good enough, but we showed them." — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Zavier Simpson scored 22 points and dished out 9 assists to lead the Michigan basketball team to an 84-78 double-overtime victory over Purdue on Jan. 9, 2020. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL