The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532537
❱ MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM GRITS ITS WAY PAST NO. 7 PURDUE The Wolverines grabbed the biggest win to date of the Dusty May era Feb. 11 with a 75-73 victory over the seventh-ranked Purdue Boilermakers, which put them into the driver's seat for the Big Ten regular-season title. It was an all-hands-on-deck effort from U-M, which got contributions up and down the roster, notably from graduate transfer guard Rubin Jones, who had struggled throughout the year but finished with 6 points, 3 re- bounds and 2 assists against the Boilermakers. He was disruptive on defense and also contributed some of the biggest plays of the night at Crisler Center. The 6-foot-5, 190-pounder swiped the ball from Purdue forward Caleb Furst and took it coast to coast for a layup to put Michigan up 66-65 with just more than three minutes to go. He also had the assist on a three-pointer by junior guard Tre Donaldson to put Michigan up one just before that, and a put-back dunk off a missed shot by junior forward/center Danny Wolf later on. His slam gave the Wolverines a four-point edge with 39 seconds remaining, helping ice the game. The game was Jones' second in a row in the starting lineup, swapping spots with junior wing Roddy Gayle Jr. May thinks it may have unlocked the player they thought they were getting out of the transfer portal. "He was everywhere," May said. "His quickness, his anticipation. Almost feel bad — I don't say I feel bad for Michigan fans, but we haven't seen the real Rubin Jones yet. He's an irritant. He's a pest on defense, and he's a really good shooter." Jones, who spent the first four years of his career at North Texas, had struggled this season with U-M, averag- ing 3.4 points per game and shooting 32.5 percent from the field. The message inserting him back into the starting lineup was a simple one for Michigan. "Get back to being myself," Jones said. "Don't overthink about making threes, don't think too much about offense. Do what I enjoy doing, that's playing defense, bringing energy to the team, leading the guys. I think me focusing on that is going to pay off on the offensive end." — Anthony Broome PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL