The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/970722
MAY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 19 BY CHRIS BALAS P reseason polls don't usu- ally mean much, and they don't mean anything to John Beilein. The Michigan head coach was adamant about calling for patience early in the year, knowing his 2017-18 team could take some time to find its way through a gruel- ing early schedule. B u t B e i l e i n t e a m s i m p r o v e throughout the year — it's what they do, what they've done and what they'll probably continue to do as long as U-M's head coach is in charge of a program that, with this year's run to a Big Ten Tournament title and national championship game appearance (a 79-62 loss to Villanova), is on the cusp of college basketball's elite programs. That seems like a strong statement on the surface, but in the last six seasons no program has won more NCAA Tournament games than the Wolverines' 16. That's tied with North Carolina, while Villanova, Duke and Kentucky are both one behind at 15. U - M h a s t w o t i t l e g a m e appearances, three Elite Eights and four Sweet 16s in that span, and it would probably be more if the Wolverines hadn't been decimated by injuries in 2014-15 and 2015-16. This year 's magical run helped the numbers, of course — a 5-1 record on the way to the national championship game — but the road to the Final Four didn't come easy. Here's a look back at Michigan's magical March run. FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS: WICHITA, KAN. The Wolverines were a popular pick to make the Sweet 16 as a No. 3 seed after sweeping four games in the Big Ten Tournament in New York, capping it with wins over Michigan State and Purdue. At the same time, U-M got arguably the toughest draw of the No. 3 seeds in being sent to Wichita, and facing the top No. 14 seed in Montana and, if they won, the best No. 6 seed in Houston. Rival Michigan State, meanwhile — a team the Wolverines had beaten twice, by a combined 21 points — got the home draw in playing at Detroit's Little Caesar's Arena, also as a No. 3 seed. Beilein didn't seem to care. He also insisted that his team wouldn't play with a bull's-eye on its back just because it had emerged as Big Ten Tournament champions and with the fifth-best odds to win it all (10-1, behind only Villanova at 7-2, Duke at 5-1, plus Virginia and Michigan State at 6-1, according to odds makers at one Vegas casino). "I don't like being the hunted. We're going to be the hunters," Beilein said on Selection Sunday March 11. "We're going to continue to hunt, but these are days when we're the so-called higher-seeded team. "We're hunting. We're going after it. We had a great taste last year of what it was like to be in the NCAA Tournament. … It was a great ride, and we want even more." The big question heading into the tournament, though, was how would Michigan and the rest of the Big Ten schools respond after a week and a half off following the Big Ten Tournament? The conference schedule started in December so the tournament could be held in New York City — one week before every other major conference tournament — and while it was a great event, many thought the teams could be rusty. In Michigan's case, that proved to be true. The Wolverines had shot 34.8 percent or better from long range in eight of nine games leading into the Big Dance and notched four of 45 percent or more. They struggled mightily in the first half against Montana, falling behind 10-0 and looking out of sorts, making only 5 of 16 three-pointers total and never really got it working despite pulling out a 61-47 win. U-M finished with 11 assists to 14 turnovers, but still managed to advance. "That's probably one of the better coached teams in the country," Montana head coach Travis DeCuire said. "When I say someone is well coached, they don't beat themselves. You'll make mistakes, there's human error, but I can't recall one possession where they took a bad shot. There will be defensive breakdowns because the offense can manipulate things, but on the offensive end for them, I just can't remember someone taking a questionable shot and allowing us to get some momentum or maybe a low rebound or whatnot. "When they shot the ball, guys knew they were going to shoot it. To me, those are teams that don't beat themselves." Still, the Wolverines didn't play well, and they hoped they'd gotten the clunker out of their system before the round of 32 game. Houston, a first-round winner over No. 11 seed San Diego State, entered as analytics site KenPom.com's No. 17 team nationally, and many predicted a Cougars upset. U-M brought its "C" game for the second straight contest, at least on offense. There were uncharacteristic airballs from senior Muhammad- Ali Abdur-Rahkman, while lay-ins rimmed out, tip-ins rattled around and popped out, and fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson, whose three early triples kept the Wolverines in the game, even came up short on a second-half three by about four feet. "I didn't want that to be my last memory, the way I played in the second half," Robinson said. Thanks to a freshman, it wouldn't be. The knock all season on shooting g u a rd J o rd a n P o o l e w a s t h a t he didn't know what "winning basketball" looked like, in Beilein's words, whether it was making the right pass or playing great defense. Head coach John Beilein "I've never seen a team work so hard and be so connected on both ends of the floor, even when things do not go right on the offensive end. They were exceptional on defense. … They didn't go down and sulk at the other end [after missing shots]. They ended up just playing better defense so that we could win the game." Junior forward Moritz Wagner became just the third player in NCAA history to post at least 20 points (24) and 15 rebounds (15) in a national semifinal game. PHOTO BY SAMUEL MOUSIGIAN