The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2018 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2013: Syra- cuse's famed zone defense posed a big problem in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on April 6, but Michigan's defenders posed a bigger one. In the end, the Wolverines fought off the Orangemen 61-56, clawing their way to the NCAA title game. Points weren't easy to come by, but Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way for Michigan with 13, while Mitch Mc- Gary and Glenn Robinson III scored 10 each. On the other side of the ledger, C.J. Fair tallied 22, but his teammates did little, including 2-of-11 shooting from three-point range at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Wolverines led 36-25 at the half, with Trey Burke's three-pointer completing a strong comeback from an early five-point deficit. Syracuse rallied to within one, 57-56, with 41 seconds remaining in the game, but single free throws by Burke and Jon Hor ford, along with a break away dunk by Jordan Morgan, sent Michi- gan steaming into the championship showdown. "We know Trey is our leader, and sometimes he's not going to have a game like he's had all season," Hard- away said, referencing Burke's 1-of-8 shooting. " That 's when our team stepped up." "We've been a team all year," head coach John Beilein echoed. "It was great." 10 YEARS AGO, 2008: Michi- gan's softball team humbled Michi- gan State 11-3 in a mercy-shortened blowout in East Lansing on April 26. The win capped a four-game sweep of Ohio State and Michigan State by a combined score of 39-4. The No. 6 Wolverines slammed three home runs in a nine-run second in- ning at MSU's Old College Field. The r u n - r u l e - s h o r te n e d co nte s t re p - resented the fifth in a row by Carol Hutchins' crew. Samantha Findlay, Dorian Shaw and Teddi Ewing supplied the home run power, while freshman pitcher Jordan Taylor fanned five Spartans on her way to win No. 23 on the season. That made Taylor the winningest freshman pitcher in the history of the U-M soft- ball program. 25 YEARS AGO, 1993: Michigan became the blue squad left standing in a battle of college basketball ti- tans, outlasting Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament semifinal showdown in New Orleans. The Wolverines beat the Wildcats 81-78 in overtime at the Louisiana Superdome April 3. Michigan moved to 31-4 on the sea- son, paced by 27 points and 13 re- bounds from Chris Webber. Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn countered with 26 points, but in the end Michigan proved far more than the brash-talking pre- tenders portrayed by some Kentucky media leading up to the game. "I'm having a lot of fun," Webber said. "One thing that is fun is to see a challenge and overcome it." The Wildcats came into the game having averaged 97 points per con- test in burying Utah, Wake Forest and Florida State. They'd won by an aver- age of 31 points per game and hadn't trailed at halftime since late February. Kentucky also took a 76-72 overtime lead at one point, before Michigan came roaring back. Juwan Howard's 17 points bolstered the Wolverines' chances, while Jimmy King's defense on Kentucky sharpshooter Travis Ford — who entered the game hitting 59 percent from three-point range in the tournament — pushed U-M over the top. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Samantha Findlay hit a home run and drove in four runs in an 11-3 win over Michigan State on April 26, 2008, that gave the Wolverines a 4-0 regular-season record against the Spartans and Ohio State. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN