The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/956415
28 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2018 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL TRIO OF WOLVERINES EARN POSTSEASON HONORS Michigan was one of only two teams (the other being lowly Rut- gers) that didn't have a single Big Ten Player of the Week or Freshman of the Week during the regular season. The Wolverines truly won and lost as a team, with junior center Moritz Wagner the leading scorer at only 14.2 points per game as of March 21. U-M had only two players, in fact — Wagner and senior shooting guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman — make any of the All-Big Ten teams. Wagner was named to the All-Big Ten second team by the Big Ten coaches and media, while Abdur-Rahkman earned All-Big Ten honorable mention recognition by the league's coaches and media. Wagner, a preseason All-Big Ten selection, led the Wolverines in scor- ing and rebounding (7.2 boards per game), field goal percentage (53.6 percent) and three-point field goal percentage (40.9 percent) during the regular season. His 47 three-pointers were the most by any player in the na- tion 6-11 or taller, and he had notched 24 double-figure scoring games with seven of 20 or more, including a ca- reer-best 27 points in Michigan's Janu- ary win at Michigan State. Abdur-Rahkman averaged 12.3 points per game and put up 20 dou- ble-figure scoring efforts in the regu- lar season, including a career-best 28 in a regular-season finale blowout at Maryland. He ranked second nation- ally with a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and also averaged a career-best 3.9 rebounds per game. Heading into the Sweet 16, Abdur- Rahkman needed to play in only two more games to tie the all-time mark for contests played at Michigan. Fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson was U-M's only other honoree, earn- ing Sixth Man of the Year — an award head coach John Beilein said mid-year he thought his player could win — and he was also U-M's Sportsman- ship Award winner. He averaged 9.3 points per game and lead U-M with 61 three-pointers during the regular season. U-M did have two glaring omis- sions from the All-Big Ten defensive team, one in particular in sophomore point guard Zavier Simpson. Per- haps the best on-ball defending point guard in the league, Simpson did not make the five-man squad. Both he and Beilein expressed their displea- sure. "I'm disappointed," Beilein said. "I think he has had a huge impact on our team. If there are five better defenders in the league, other coaches must have seen them because I didn't see them. If other coaches saw it, that's what they voted. I certainly voted for him first team, and Muhammad as well. "I think that defensive backcourt was really, really good. Are [the vot- ers] basing that on steals or locking down some really good players? Mo and Zavier have both been able to do that." Simpson got the better of Michigan State sophomore Cassius Winston, a third-team All-Big Ten selection, twice this year. Winston, a former Michigan recruiting target, scored 11 points in each of the meetings but was held to 6-of-17 shooting (1 of 6 from long range) in the two contests. Simpson scored 16 points and added five assists in the first game, an 82-72 victory in East Lansing, and notched 15 points and seven rebounds in the rematch, a 75-64 beating in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals in New York. Simpson has always stopped short of calling it a rivalry with Winston, but he did admit to taking the All- Defensive team snub personally. "It did bother me," Simpson said heading into the second meeting with the Spartans. "I felt like I could have made it … Things like that happen. I'll try again next year." — Chris Balas MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Michigan's 64-63 win over Hous- ton March 17 in the NCAA Tourna- ment's round of 32 was the team's 11th consecutive victory, marking the second-longest winning streak of head coach John Beilein's ten- ure in Ann Arbor. The only one lon- ger was when U-M won its first 16 games to open the 2012-13 season. • The defeat of Houston was also U-M's 30th victory this year, mark- ing just the fourth time in school history the team has hit the 30-win plateau. Michigan won 31 games in the 1992-93 and 2012-13 seasons, and 30 during the 1988-89 national championship campaign. In fact, the Maize and Blue need just two more victories to set a new school record. — Austin Fox Senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman averaged 12.6 points and a career-best 3.9 rebounds per game (through March 21) en route to All-Big Ten honorable mention recognition. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN