The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/666058
MICHIGAN BASKETBALL beat the shot clock with a jumper that put the Wolverines back on top, and freshman forward Moritz Wagner fol- lowed with a put-back to push the margin to three, 59-56. The Golden Hurricane retook the lead on consecutive baskets, before junior wing Zak Irvin nailed a crucial three-pointer to again put Michigan ahead, 62-60. Free throws did the rest, the Wolverines punching their ticket to New York as the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament's East Regional. Abdur-Rahkman and Irvin paced the Wolverines with 16 points each, while redshirt junior guard Duncan Robin - son scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Worst Loss — 70-63 against Notre Dame (NCAA East Regional), March 18: Michigan looked right at home in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. … for a while. The Wolverines con - trolled the game at the half, 41-29, and appeared headed for a second win in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. What happened next, nobody saw coming. Michigan couldn't find the range at all in the second half; the Wolverines scored only 22 points af - ter intermission and watched their season end at the hands of the Fight- ing Irish. Abdur-Rahkman led the way with 15 points and junior guard Der- rick Walton Jr. put 10 on the board, as well as eight assists and six steals, but the rest of the roster couldn't gener- ate much on the scoreboard. Walton focused on the other end of the floor as well. "Down the stretch we didn't collec- tively get enough stops in a row," he said. "And that was all the difference in the game basically. They were get- ting stops, and we weren't. They were making shots, and we weren't. "That's pretty much what it boiled down to. We didn't make the nec- essary stops down the stretch that would hold them off." Breakout Per former — Sopho- more guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur- Rahkman: Down the stretch, nobody played better for the Wolverines than the unruffled second-year guard. He not only led Michigan in scoring in its two NCAA games, he proved the most effective penetrator in traffic. The combo guard even generated some buzz that he might have been Michigan's most valuable player this season. He'll certainly enjoy an en - hanced role in 2016-17 as a durable combo guard. Freshman Impac t — For ward Moritz Wagner: Wagner demon- strated a flair for the game as well as fearlessness in his first NCAA Tourna- ment experience. He grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots in the win over Tulsa — both career highs — while making his only pair of shot attempts. Wagner then went three of three from the floor against Notre Dame, meaning he's yet to miss a shot in NCAA action. He beat himself up men - tally over a late foul that appeared to be a questionable call, but showed all kinds of growth down the stretch and promise for next season. — John Borton