The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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pretty well. Once we won our first four games, we felt good about our- selves in the Big Ten," Stauskas said. "Coach Beilein preaches every day about winning championships, win- ning championships. When you have that goal in mind every day and keep chasing it, believe it can happen … "I think this team believed it the whole time, and just throughout the whole time we stuck together even when we had some rough games. We'd go back to work in practice and learn from our mistakes." How close were they to making it three straight Big Ten titles? Only a few missed free throws and a bad bounce on a tip-in attempt against Indiana last year. Morgan smiled when he noted he had a collection of championship rings now, one to go with his 2011-12 reward. Horford, meanwhile, barely broke a grin in insisting there was more to come — or at least to shoot for. "Stauskas playing the way he has and LeVert playing the way he has, it's no surprise that they'd be at the top of the league," Dakich said. "But winning the league like they did was special." They'll soon add to what's becom- ing a collection of championship banners in the Crisler Center rafters to commemorate it — and perhaps more in the near future. ❑ Michigan Falls Short In Big Ten Tournament Final Michigan won the Big Ten regular-season title by three games, pulling out several victories in the waning moments to do it. The Wolverines squeaked by Illinois and Ohio State in similar fashion in their first two Big Ten Tournament games, but they ran out of gas — and into foul trouble — in the finale against Michigan State March 16. MSU dominated the glass and scored 12 points off seven first-half turnovers in a 69-55 victory. The Spartans cruised to a nine-point halftime lead (38-29) when MSU's Gary Harris drove the lane and dunked against the Wolverines' 1-3-1 look, and never looked back. U-M fifth-year senior Jordan Morgan went to the bench 15 seconds into the Fifth-year senior Jordan Morgan claimed a net strand to mark Michigan's Big Ten title, the team's second league championship in the last three years. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL