Michigan 75, Indiana 63
Wagner hits 3, runs over Tom Crean. pic.twitter.com/YdwT35WGlv
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 12, 2017
In one sense, this felt deeply unfamilar. Michigan entered today's game with zero road wins on the season and one victory in 17 tries at Assembly Hall since 1996, that an overtime win over a terrible 2008-09 Indiana squad. They never trailed the Hoosiers or even came particularly close to relinquishing their lead.
In another sense, this felt pleasantly familiar. Michigan turned up the defensive intensity, forced 15 turnovers—ten in the first half—and rode hot perimeter shooting and another tremendous game from Derrick Walton for a comfortable victory over the Hoosiers.
If this wasn't a must-win game, it was damn close to it, and Walton once again played with an intensity that matched the stakes. He scored 25 points, going 7-for-13 from the field and 9-for-9 from the line, while adding five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. It was a masaterful performance that had the CBS announcers full-on fawning over his play:
"How did he do that??" @umichbball https://t.co/BSlyh9p2xV
— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) February 12, 2017
Much like in the first contest, Walton's main scoring support came from big men Moe Wagner and DJ Wilson. Wagner overcame a series of extremely questionable calls to post an 11-point, ten-rebound double-double while helping keep star IU center Thomas Bryant (8 points on 8 shots, 3 turnovers) in check. Wilson did a little bit of everything on both ends; he showed off an NBA-caliber array of shotmaking to net his 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting and his NBA-caliber combination of size and coordination to tally three blocks and three steals.
Other than Zak Irvin (5 points, 1-for-8 FG), whose offensive woes continued, the supporting cast had another strong outing. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman needed only four shot equivalents for his seven points and once again made James Blackmon Jr. a relative non-factor; Blackmon scored only six points, three of which came on a meaningless garbage-time shot. Duncan Robinson hit a couple timely threes, playing his part in making sure IU paid dearly for their live-ball turnovers. Xavier Simpson followed his breakout MSU game by converting a strong take the hoop on his only shot attempt and chipping in two assists and a steal in 12 minutes.
The first road win of the season couldn't have come at a better time. Michigan is now 16-9, 6-6 in the Big Ten, and they'll be in the field in the next round of NCAA tournament projections; in many of them, they'll be taking Indiana's place. A 3-3 finish down the stretch, which features four road games and tough home contests against Wisconsin and Purdue, should have the Wolverines in position for an at-large bid. That looks a whole lot more realistic this afternoon than it did a week ago.
February 13th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
Irvin's struggles are well documented but it's amazing we are playing this well considering one of our key players, that consumes significant minutes, is struggling so much on the offensive end. I thought Beilein should play Ibi Watson more with Irvin's struggles but obviously that is not the plan this year. At this point Irvin should limit his shooting since the other players are shooting the ball so much better...make him a defensive and rebounding specialist. He really should only shoot the ball when going to the basket. Something is very wrong with his outside shooting...many of his shots are not even close to going in the basket.
February 13th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^
But, as has been the case throughout sporting history, defense wins championships. When your defense shows up for a couple games in a row, it is well-deserved reason for optimism, but two games does not a championship make. If the D can hold up for the next couple games vs Wisconsin and at Minnesota, I will be a little more excited.
Unfortunately, Irvin remains the same player he was as a freshman. That has got to get solved somehow or any kind of tournament run (B1G or NCAA) seems like wishful thinking.
February 14th, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
Irvin isn't close to the player he was as a freshman, offensively. He was a 42.5 percent three point shooter that year and he didn't try to do anything else, so he had a microscopically low TO rate (9.3 percent, yay!). I'd love to have that Zak back on offense.
It's almost like the injuries of the past two years that required him to take on a larger role have ruined him because now that it's in the team's best interest to take a back seat to the better offensive players (Walton, Wagner, Wilson), he won't take that back seat.
February 14th, 2017 at 6:31 AM ^
Is there a movement afoot to get coaches' feet off the court? I'm guessing TV likes the added drama of coaches calling attention to themselves, hey-look-at-me-coaching style. Nevertheless, shouldn't basketball coaches be required to stay within touching distance of their chairs?
Playing on the fabled 4th Street court in NYC, no one would allow a non-player to stand on the court. That jerk would get run over —
Oh. Never mind.
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