The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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50 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2018 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL plained that he wants his teammates to pick up on his defensive effort and said he sees it happening. "I feel like energy is contagious, whether it's bad energy or good en- ergy ," said Simpson. "If I can set the tone in any way possible, I feel like it can be contagious to the other four guys on the floor. "I feel like they'll buckle down and play defense. Once our defense is rolling, our of- fense gets clicking, and we're in good shape to win the game." Defense has al- ways been Simp- son's strong suit. This season he is averaging 1.5 steals per game and is frequently tasked with de- fending opposing teams' best player. He helped quiet UCLA junior guard Aaron Holiday in key moments of the second half af- ter he torched the Wolverines in the first half. Holiday was held scoreless in the final four minutes of regulation and netted just two points in overtime during U-M's 78-69 victory Dec. 9. "My dad always told me that de- fense wins championships," Simpson said. "Offense can win games. At the end of the day, you need to be able to buckle down and play defense. "When you go work out, you're working on offense, you're not really practicing defensive slides." Michigan brought in assistant coach Luke Yaklich this offseason from Illinois State. He works almost exclusively on defense with the team — something Beilein has said he ap- preciates since he has to watch both sides of the ball. "He's helped me by being able to correct errors," Simpson said. "Bet- ter offense is great defense, so some- times when you make a mistake, you've just got to be able to fix it. He lets us play free on defense, and he gives me little techniques that help me become a better defender. "I'm very appreciative of Coach Yak. He's a coach we can relate to." Simpson has been battling for min- utes at point guard this season with freshman Eli Brooks and fifth-year senior graduate transfer Jaaron Sim- mons. He's found himself getting the call late in the last several games — largely due to his defense. "With Coach Beilein's system, the offense is going to work," Simp- son said. "In or- der for it to work, in order for us to become a better team, imagine if we had that type of offense with great defense. It'll only make us go a step further, so that's our mindset every day." When asked if t h e re ' s a n y o n e t h a t g i v e s h i m trouble in practice on offense, Simp- son paused for a few moments, and started to say that everyone can give him fits here and there before stop- ping himself. "No one gives me fits," Simpson said. "I feel like I can play pretty good defense on everyone." — Andrew Vailliencourt MICHIGAN OFFICIALLY ADDS A WALK-ON TO ROSTER Michigan made a roster addition Dec. 18, adding 5-11, 165-pound walk-on guard Rico Ozuna-Harrison, who is from Detroit and played at Cass Tech High School. He will now dress at home games and wears No. 14. He's been around the team since walk-on tryouts in late October, but had not been dressing. He has played on the scout team all season. As a senior in high school during the 2016-17 season, he was a team captain and helped Cass Tech win its first Detroit Public School League championship since 1998. However, he injured his wrist midway through the season. — Andrew Vailliencourt MISCELLANEOUS NOTES · The Wolverines have dominated Texas under head coach John Beilein, and that was on full display once again during their 59‑52 win Dec. 12 in Austin. The victory im‑ proved Beilein's record against the Longhorns at Michigan to 4‑0, with all four victories coming in the last five seasons. The first came in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, when the Maize and Blue handed the seventh‑seeded Longhorns a 79‑65 defeat. The second triumph occurred during a 78‑72 thriller on Nov. 27, 2015, in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. Beilein's third victory over the Longhorns was a 53‑50 defensive struggle Dec. 6 last season at Crisler Center, a game that junior forward Moritz Wagner referred to as "nasty, ugly and disgusting to watch." · Similarly, Michigan has also fared well under Beilein against one of college basketball's bluebloods — UCLA. The Wolverines' 78‑69 vic‑ tory over the Bruins Dec. 9 at Crisler Center improved his record to 3‑1 against UCLA. Beilein's first victory against UCLA came all the way back on Nov. 20, 2008, when an unranked Michi‑ gan squad knocked off the fourth‑ ranked Bruins 55‑52 in the 2K Sports Classic in New York. The two teams met again three seasons later on Nov. 23, 2011, in the Maui Invitational, where U‑M grabbed a dominant 79‑63 victory. The Maize and Blue's lone loss to UCLA with Beilein at the helm came last season in a Dec. 10 shootout in Westwood, Calif., when U‑M fell 102‑84. · Sophomore point guard Zavier Simpson's 47.4 percent three‑point accuracy is the best on the team (among players with at least 15 at‑ tempts). The sophomore only made five threes all of last season and shot just 26.3 percent from deep; he has already made nine this year. · Sophomore center Jon Teske has scored more than two points in seven of the 13 games he's played in this season. He played in 20 games last year and never once scored more than two points. — Austin Fox Sophomore guard Zavier Simpson has a team-best 19 steals in 13 games, five more than anybody else on the roster. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL