The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN BASKETBALL home game, an 84-80 win over Indi- ana, ripping off U-M's first six points to the delight of his teammates. First, though, he went through the senior day ceremony, where head coach John Beilein presented him with his framed No. 52 jersey. He made the red-eyed walk to cen- ter court with his parents, Meredith and Jim, but composed himself to dominate in the paint. "I knew that if they did what they did last time — just putting guards on me — I was going to do my best to go inside and get rebounds," he said. "That's what happened. If I don't make them pay for that stuff, then we're going to have a long night. "It's just kind of the way it went. It was fun to start the game out like that. I did my best to just keep the emotions separate, keep the whole walking thing kind of short and just moving on so I didn't spend too much time reminiscing and getting all soft." He was anything but. The days leading up to the finale, though, had made him emotional. He had a hard time finishing an interview with the Big Ten Network's "The Journey," a segment that focused on his career. With his mother in tears next to him and to a standing ovation, Morgan wiped his teary eyes several times while acknowledging the crowd. "You're talking about five years of emotions all wrapped up into one day, so much work, sweat and ad- versity that went into this, years and years of battling," he said. "It's just a constant battle for five years. No mat- ter what it is, whether it's on the court or off the court, this is a culmination of all that." Morgan led "The Victors" one last time during a celebration in which he and his teammates accepted the Big Ten championship trophy and cut down the nets. "It was great to finish with a win," he said. "That's the most important thing — finishing with a win with these guys. It's been a heck of a year, I've got some great teammates and it's been a lot of fun." ❏ Record: 25-8, 15-3 Big Ten. Record from Feb. 17-March 16: 7-1. Best Win — 79-70 over Michigan State in Ann Arbor: It's tough to put one above the victories that clinched a share of the Big Ten championship and then the outright conference title. That said, this one put the Wol- verines on the road to do both. Michigan came into the contest one-half game behind the Spartans in the Big Ten race. Following U-M's 79- 70 conquest at Crisler, the two teams went different directions, the Wolver- ines winning out and MSU stumbling down the stretch. Michigan needed to rally from 11 down in the first half to capture the MICHIGAN BASKETBALL REWIND: FEB. 17-MARCH 16