The Wolverine

February 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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14 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2019   INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2014: John Beilein's No. 20 Wolverines took down Tom Izzo's No. 13 Spartans 79-70 at Crisler Center Feb. 23, highlighted by a 13-0 second-half run. The win finished off a regular-season sweep of the invaders from the northwest and thrust Michigan into first place in the league standings. Sophomores Nik Stauskas and Caris LeVert proved poison for the Spartans, scoring 25 and 23 points, respectively. A third sophomore, Glenn Robinson III, added 15 points and five rebounds. Michigan actually fell behind in the game by double digits early, 22- 11. U-M responded with a 10-0 run, eventually winding up down just two at the break, 36-34. The Spartans later led 52-51 prior to Michigan's big run, sparked by a pair of Stauskas triples. "In the first half, I only took three shots," Stauskas said afterward. "Ev- ery game, it seems like I'm being con- tained. I kind of came out and I was like, I'm done with this. I'm not going to be contained anymore." Even the normally measured Michi- gan head coach didn't hide his en- joyment over this win and the season sweep. "Michigan basketball is back, in so many ways," Beilein noted. 10 YEARS AGO, 2009: Michigan posted a big 87-78 home win over No. 16 Purdue at Crisler Center Feb. 26. Junior forward DeShawn Sims rose above all, notching a career-high 29 points to lift the Wolverines to the win. Beilein's squad shot an incredible 81 percent in the second half, turning a 37-34 halftime lead into a double-digit advantage and eventually a pull-away victory. Michigan scored 50 second- half points, behind Sims' 13-of-16 shooting and an additional 27 points and eight rebounds by Manny Harris. R obbie Hummel scored 24 for Purdue, but it wasn't enough to o v e r c o m e M i c h i g a n's t a g - t e a m onslaught. "We knew this game meant more than just a tournament bid," Sims said. "It meant a lot for the guys who work hard and might not play that much, and for the entire men's basketball program here. " There was just so much to do with this game. More than any other game we've played this season. So, emotionally, we had to do whatever it took to win tonight." 25 YEARS AGO, 1994: Steve Fisher's No. 13 Wolverines stole a huge victory on the road at No. 8 Purdue, taking down the Boilermakers 63- 62 Feb. 1. Juwan Howard's put-back with 21.1 seconds remaining gave Michigan the victory, Purdue misfiring on three shots in the waning seconds. "It's unfortunate that we can't block out, and that's what beat us," Purdue head coach Gene Keady groused afterward. The Wolverines moved to 14-4 overall after scrambling back from an 11-point deficit. Glenn Robinson's 36-point effort appeared that it would be enough to wrest the battle for first place in the Big Ten away from Fisher's crew. But Purdue missed 10 of 15 free throw attempts in the second half to leave the door cracked open, and the Wolverines crashed through. " Two teams playing awfully hard defensively led to an ugly looking game at times," Fisher said. "It was two tough defensive efforts that you saw from the offensive end." — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Sophomore Nik Stauskas decided he would not be contained anymore and broke out for a game-high 25 points to lead the Wolverines to a 79-70 victory and season sweep of rival Michigan State on Feb. 23, 2014 at Crisler Center. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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