The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Wolverines Draw No. 4 Seed In NCAA Tournament T Crisler Arena floor, with fans in the stands, breathlessly awaiting admis- sion into the Big Dance. The Wolver- ines clawed their way well past that scenario this season. Instead, the Big Ten champions quietly convened inside Michigan's Player Development Center and watched while they were named the Midwest Regional's No. 4 seed. They were slated to take on Mid-Ameri- can Conference Tournament cham- pion Ohio in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, March 16 in Nashville, Tenn. The Wolverines knew long ago here weren't any chairs set up for coaches and players on the they were headed for the tourna- ment, making it two in a row for Michigan for the first time since 1995 and 1996. That didn't dampen the excitement any on Selection Sunday. "Growing up, that's everyone's dream, especially if you're playing in college," U-M freshman Trey Burke said. "I always watched March Mad- ness and Selection Sunday, and just to be able to have the opportunity to participate and actually play in it is just a blessing." Michigan senior captain Zack No- vak, ready for his third NCAA Tour- nament appearance in four seasons, sounded a note of excitement over the Wolverines' solid standing in the NCAA seeding process. "We feel great," Novak said. "It's the first time we've been in back-to- back tournaments in a long time. It's great for the program, and to be a four seed, that's huge. That's one of the top 16 teams in the country. It just speaks to the type of season we've had. I like the position we're in." ana's Cody Zeller shared the fresh- man spotlight in the Big Ten all sea- son long. It wasn't any surprise when they shared Freshman of the Year honors as well, Burke capturing the award from the league's media panel TREY BURKE IS BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Michigan's Trey Burke and Indi- 52 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2012 Burke led the Wolverines in scoring this season (14.8 points per game) heading into the NCAA Tournament, and he'd racked up 151 assists through the Big Ten Tournament to set a record for a Michigan freshman. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL and Zeller from conference coaches. Burke led the Wolverines in scor- ing this season (14.8 points per game) heading into the NCAA Tournament. He also racked up 151 assists through the Big Ten Tournament, setting a re- cord for a Michigan freshman. He wound up ninth in the Big Ten scoring race, averaging 15.8 points per game in conference contests. Burke was third in average assists (4.3 per contest) in the league, and he wound up sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7) and third in average min- utes played (37.6 per game). The Big Ten champion Wolverines included Zeller, Iowa's Aaron White, Michigan State's Branden Dawson and Northwestern's Dave Sobo- lewski. Sophomore Tim Hardaway Jr. earned third-team honors on both ballots, while senior Zack Novak culled honorable mention in the me- dia voting. Fellow senior Stu Dou- glass was Michigan's representa- tive for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Hardaway earned All-Big Ten hon- didn't feature a first-team All-Big Ten performer, but Burke made the second team on both the media and coaches' ballots. Burke also made the coaches' All-Freshman Team, which ors for the second straight season. He entered the NCAA Tournament av- eraging 14.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for the Wolverines. He was 15th among Big Ten scorers (14.1) in conference games, and tied for ninth in the league in average minutes played (36.1).