The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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off back surgery, was shooting only 20.0 percent (seven of 35) from long range. Redshirt sophomore wing Duncan Robinson (30 of 51, 58.8 percent), sophomore wing Aubrey Dawkins (12 of 27, 44.4 percent) and senior shooting guard Caris LeVert (17 of 41, 41.5 percent) were all shoot- ing better than 40 percent among reg- ular contributors. Depth, too, was starting to emerge. Sophomore guard Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman stepped up when Walton went down with an ankle injury against North Carolina State and provided key minutes in the next two games. Freshman forward Moritz Wagner also showed signs of his special ability in scoring 19 points in 18 minutes against Charlotte, put- ting the ball on the floor and scoring from the outside, as well. Call those the bright spots. Despite some highlights, the Wolverines weren't receiving any top 25 votes in December because their three losses — 86-70 against Xavier Nov. 20 at home, 74-60 to UConn Nov. 25 in the Bahamas and 82-58 at SMU Dec. 8 — were games in which they weren't all that competitive. The worst of the three came in Dal- las, where the Mustangs ran the Wol- verines out of the gym in front of a star-studded crowd including for- mer President George W. Bush and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. U-M struggled without Wal- ton in what amount to SMU's Super Bowl, and the Mustangs essentially advertised it as such given they're on probation with no hope of post- season play. "I know that game meant a lot to them," Beilein said. "It was a great opportunity for them. They want to win every game they can without a tourney at the end, and they're good. We were going to have to play a spe- cial game and couldn't, and they made us play poorly. "The stuff they're running [con- cocted by head coach Larry Brown], you don't see a lot in college basket- ball. You just don't see it. They pick you apart, pick you apart, and we had no answers." The previous two losses weren't quite as bad. U-M was within a bas- ket of Xavier late before fading down the stretch, and the Musketeers look like a legit Final Four contender. Rob- inson and Irvin combined to shoot one of 13 against UConn, something Beilein said, "you'll never see again." Still, while the three losses are against respected teams — Xavier stood No. 12, UConn was just out- side the top 25 and SMU was rated No. 19 as of Dec. 9 — Michigan ex- pected to fare better, especially after last year 's injury-riddled 16-16 sea- son. U-M was in the Elite Eight the season before last and in the NCAA Finals the year before that, and the goal was to build on the success. Last year's injury plagued season aside, U-M seems to have taken a step backward … at least for now. Some familiar with the program think it's only a temporary setback. "It's college basketball, so it's kind of the nature of the beast, somewhat cyclical," former Michigan guard/ forward and captain Zack Novak said. "You see teams there every year