The Wolverine

May 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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34 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2018   MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Three Best Players 1. Junior forward Moritz Wagner He is the easy choice for this top spot. Wagner averaged 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in Michigan's 10 postseason games, and he did his best work when the Wolverines needed him most. That was most evident in U-M's 69-57 Final Four victory over Loyola Chicago March 31, when he racked up 24 points and 15 rebounds against the Ramblers. In doing so, the junior became just the third player — Hall of Famers Larry Bird (1979) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1983) are the other two — to score at least 20 points and record 15 boards in a national semifinal game. 2. Senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman He averaged 12.9 points throughout the course of the year, but upped his offensive production in the postsea- son to 14.6 points per contest. Abdur- Rahkman has been known for his con- sistency during his time in Ann Arbor, and that was on full display once again during U-M's postseason run — the se- nior scored at least 11 points in seven of Michigan's 10 games and played at least 33 minutes in nine of them. Abdur-Rahkman poured in 23 points in a losing effort during the national title game against Villanova April 2 — his second-highest scoring output of the postseason behind the 24 he tal- lied versus Texas A&M March 22. 3 . R e d s h i r t s o p h o m o r e w i n g Charles Matthews He had several impressive offensive showings during the postseason en route to averaging 12.9 points per game. On a night where the U-M of- fense only posted 61 points in the first round of the Big Dance against Montana, the redshirt sophomore was one of the few bright spots, pouring in 20 on efficient 7-of-13 shooting. Mat- thews' best outings came in three of U-M's last four games of the season, though, when he averaged 17.3 points in wins over Texas A&M, Florida State and Loyola Chicago. Although it doesn't show up in the box score, Matthews' defensive pres- ence was also suffocating, which is a big reason why the Maize and Blue held their opponents to just 63.1 points per game during the postsea- son. Key Play There is an obvious answer for this one — freshman guard Jordan Poole's game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to give Michigan a dramatic 64-63 win over Houston in the sec- ond round of the NCAA Tournament March 17. With just 3.6 seconds remaining and U-M trailing 63-61, freshman forward Isaiah Livers rocketed an inbounds pass to Abdur-Rahkman just in front of the half court line. The senior guard dribbled twice, crossed midcourt and fired a pass to Poole, who was standing about eight feet behind the three-point arc. The freshman never hesitated, let- ting the ball go with 0.8 seconds re- maining and watched as it splashed through the net simultaneously as the final buzzer sounded. The Michigan bench erupted with celebration and attempted to mob the freshman, who sprinted up and down the court in pure joy. There can't possibly be a more im- pactful play for Michigan here, simply because it kept the Wolverines' sea- son alive. If Poole hadn't hit that shot, the Wolverines' magical run to the na- tional title game never would have been possible. Best Highlight Poole's aforementioned game-win- ning three-pointer to send Michigan to the Sweet 16 would be the obvious answer here, but since we already discussed it we'll go with a play that occurred late in the 99-72 blowout of Texas A&M March 22. With Michigan leading 86-63 and just 3:39 left in the game, Matthews pulled down a rebound off an A&M miss and instantly fired the ball to Abdur-Rahkman. The senior guard then looked to run, and found himself sprinting across half cour t with Wagner and Livers trailing close behind. With the game having long been decided and the Aggies' spirit all but broken, ju- nior forward D.J. Hogg was the only Texas A&M player that bothered to pursue the play. As Hogg closed in on Abdur-Rah- kman at the free throw line, the se- nior rifled a behind-the-back, no-look pass to a trailing Wagner, who em- phatically threw down a two-handed slam that ignited the predominantly U-M crowd. The dunk extended Mich- igan's lead to 88-63, and summed up per fectly the sheer and utter beat- down the Wolverines put on the Ag- gies that night. SUPERLATIVES FROM THE POSTSEASON (MARCH 1-APRIL 2) Freshman Jordan Poole's buzzer-beating three-pointer earned Michigan a 64-63 win over Houston March 17 and a bid to the Sweet 16. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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