As the regular season winds down, Michigan kept its chances at a conference title alive with a gritty road win at Maryland. The Wolverines were without Charles Matthews for the second straight game, but Zavier Simpson had a fantastic performance on both ends of the floor, and Ignas Brazdeikis was the aggressive scorer Michigan needed him to be (he finished with an efficient, game-high 21 points). It was an unusual game for Michigan — both teams shot 6-20 from three and rebounded over a third of their misses — and in the end, the Wolverines recorded one of their most impressive wins of the season.

It took Michigan a few possessions to get on the scoreboard, and Maryland started the game with two threes. Iggy seemed to relish the physical style of the game and attacked the Terrapin defense: before the first TV timeout, he’d drawn a foul on Jalen Smith on an offensive rebound, drawn a shooting foul on Bruno Fernando, drove on Darryl Morsell to draw a foul, and grabbed an offensive rebound. A short while later, he bullied Aaron Wiggins for another foul (and two more points). Later in the half, Iggy made the only Michigan three before the break, a contested shot from the corner. The first half was tight, tense, and low-scoring — and Michigan’s star freshman confronted Maryland’s size, strength, and athleticism head-on.

The ball screen game with Simpson and Teske was Michigan’s main source of offense, especially in the first half. Simpson had six points at halftime, including two hook shots over Fernando — one came late in the shot clock, the other broke a short Maryland run. He also had six assists, most of which went to the rolling big man; Michigan’s shooters, particularly Teske and Isaiah Livers, got open looks, but missed. Michigan stole some minutes with Colin Castleton when Fernando went to the bench (Smith was already there, as he picked up two early fouls), and he fared well. Castleton did spell Teske for a couple high-leverage minutes in the second half and Fernando didn’t score on him.

Fernando, who certainly looks like he will be heading to the NBA after this season, was mostly neutralized by Teske. He scored 12 points on 14 shooting possessions, and had 3 turnovers to one assist; he also had 10 rebounds (4 offensive) and 6 blocks, several of which came as the help defender on Michigan floaters around the basket. Fernando was an imposing presence at the rim, but Teske was able exploit his lack of mobility to get open jumpers. Fortunately for Maryland, Teske kept on missing: his first seven mid-range or three-point shots were off the mark, some badly, but — like in the first matchup — he did knock down a big three late in the game, this one out of the under-four timeout.

[Sherman]

Simpson’s stellar first half ended with him slicing through the defense to sneak a layup past Fernando before the buzzer and give Michigan a four-point lead; his second half started with two fouls on Maryland’s first three possessions (the second of which came as Anthony Cowan caught the ball 30 feet from the basket), and he was banished to the bench for seven and a half minutes. Michigan survived with him out of the game — they led by five when he exited and trailed by two when he returned — but struggled offensively. Neither Eli Brooks nor David DeJulius (who played a combined 16 minutes) scored. As Smith made his mark on the game putting back Terrapin misses and Maryland pulled back into the lead, Michigan’s offense labored for good looks.

Michigan had a few empty possessions after Simpson returned, but then the Wolverines went on a run. Isaiah Livers hit a corner three out of a Poole - Teske ball screen; Simpson got a step on Aaron Wiggins and made a hook layup (which elicited a timeout from Mark Turgeon); Poole got a layup out in transition — and Michigan led by five. After two missed jumpers by Poole, Iggy nailed a wing three; on the next possession, Iggy airballed a wide open corner three, but Teske got to the floor, Livers came up with the loose ball, and Simpson made yet another hook shot to beat the shot clock and push Michigan’s lead to eight ahead of the under-four timeout.

Down the stretch, Maryland’s offense finally woke up. Aaron Wiggins got an open look and hit a three, Cowan — who had a rough game — made a tough shot over Simpson, and then he hit a deep spot-up three. Michigan was able to stay a step ahead though, and the two teams traded buckets down the stretch after had mostly been a defensive battle. Teske made a pick and pop three; Simpson blew by Eric Ayala for a layup; Simpson found Iggy on a nice cut for a layup; the dagger came when Michigan — after passing up open looks in an obvious effort to burn clock — was bailed out by a contested Livers three to beat the buzzer. Steady free throw shooting sealed the win.

Without Matthews, Michigan’s new starting lineup stepped up — and all five finished with double digit points. Simpson outplayed Cowan by a wide margin and would have had more than his 10 assists with better shooting from his teammates. Iggy matched Maryland’s toughness, drew fouls, made a couple threes, and responded to heckling from the Terrapin fans with a 21-point performance. Livers was cold for a while, but warmed up in the second half; Poole had a tough time with Fernando around the rim, but made a few nice plays. Teske made Fernando work hard (and miss frequently) in the post, got a couple of easy buckets, and spaced the floor, even if he was missing. Until Matthews returns, Michigan’s lack of depth will only be magnified, but the remaining members of the Wolverine core were good enough to get a late-season road win over a ranked team.

[Box score after the JUMP]