The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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102 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2017 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Michigan's 66-57 win over Illinois at Crisler Center Jan. 21 marked the Wol- verines' 11th win in the last 13 games against the Illini. The Wolverines had lost at Illinois 10 days earlier, 85-69. Il- linois' 57 points in the loss represented its second-lowest scoring effort on the year, produced in part by 17.0-percent three-point shooting. • U-M's 90-60 win over Indi- ana at Crisler Center Jan. 26 marked the second-biggest margin of victory ever by a group of Wolverines against t h e H o o s i e r s. M i c h i g a n beat Indiana by 48 in 1998, 112-64. The Wolverines shot 63.3 percent (31 of 49) in the 30-point victory over Tom Crean's squad, their second- best marksmanship in a game all season. • Michigan featured six players scoring in double fig- ures in the home rout of the Hoosiers. That hadn't hap- pened since the Wolverines did the same against Dela- ware State on Dec. 12, 2015. • Senior guard Derrick Wal- ton Jr. established a season scoring high with 24 points in Michigan's 70-62 loss at Michigan State Jan. 29. Wal- ton connected on 14 of 15 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds, in addition to his then-season-high 24 points. • Walton moved his season high in scoring to 25 points in the very next game, against Ohio State Feb. 4. The Wolverines also dropped this one, at home, 70-66 to the Buckeyes. He also managed his second double-double of the year, hauling down 10 rebounds. • Michigan's 86-57 win over Michigan State at Crisler Arena Feb. 8 snapped a five-game losing streak against the Spartans. The Wolverines had not won against their in-state rival since Feb. 23, 2014. • Freshman guard Xavier Simpson tied his career high with seven points in the home win over the Spartans. • Walton tied his season-high with 25 points in Michigan's 75-63 win at Indi- ana Feb. 12. Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner posted the first double-double of his career in the game, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. • Through Feb. 12, the Wolverines stood fourth in the Big Ten in scoring average (conference games only), put- ting up 74.5 points per game. Only Pur- due (78.8), Iowa (76.3) and Maryland (74.8) managed to light up the score- board more proficiently than Michigan through two-thirds of the conference schedule. • Michigan stood sixth in the league in scoring defense, allowing an average of 70.6 per contest. Wisconsin, yielding a stingy 61.6 per outing, led the Big Ten in scoring defense. • That left the Wolverines fifth overall in scoring margin, beating opponents by an average of 3.9 points per game. Purdue led the league (8.6), followed by Wisconsin (7.7), Maryland (6.2) and Northwestern (4.6). • The Wolverines continued as one of the best free throw shooting teams in the conference, checking in third at 78.3 percent. Purdue put out an 81.7-percent effort through 12 Big Ten games to lead the league, while North- western shot 78.5 percent in as many outings. • The Wolverines ranked No. 2 in field goal percentage, shooting 47.9 percent through their first dozen Big Ten con- tests. Only Michigan State (48.3) shot better to the same point in the year. • Michigan's field goal defense is an- other story. It reached the two-thirds mark of the conference schedule still last in the Big Ten, significantly, allow- ing 50.3 percent shooting from the field. The top three conference crews for field goal defense were Northwest- ern (40.1 percent), Wisconsin (40.9 percent) and Maryland (41.1 percent). • Michigan stood No. 4 in three-point shooting per- centage, connecting on 39.1 percent from beyond the arc. Purdue led the league (42.4), followed by Michigan State (40.0) and Maryland (39.5). • The Wolverines' defense against three-point shots re- mained one of the worst in the league. U-M opponents were shooting 41.9 percent from long range, with only Nebraska (44.7) defending the three-point line more poorly. Rutgers (32.0) fea- tured the best three-point defense in the conference. • U-M remained last in the league in rebounding mar- gin, getting outrebounded by an average of 4.8 per game. Purdue proved the glass masters of the Big Ten at the two-thirds mark of the schedule, outrebounding opponents by an average 5.7 per game. • Michigan stood 12th in the league in blocked shots, averaging 2.8 per con- test. Minnesota led the loop, averaging 7.2 swats each time out. • The Wolverines ranked ninth in the conference in average assists per game, at 12.3. The Boilermakers were the best in the Big Ten here, averaging 17.5. • Michigan was tied with Minnesota for eighth in average steals per game, at 5.8. Iowa paced all Big Ten teams, re- cording an average of 8.0 per contest. • John Beilein's crew led the Big Ten in turnover margin, at a healthy plus-4.3 per game. Wisconsin was the next best in this category, at 2.8. The Wolverines were tied with Purdue, Iowa and Min- nesota in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.3, a shade behind league leader North- western (1.4). Junior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman shot 51.9 percent from three-point range in U-M's first 12 Big Ten contests, which ranked third in the league. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN