(Marilyn Indahl, USA Today Sports)
If there was any question as to whether or not Mitch McGary’s long-term absence would hurt this Michigan team, Minnesota big man Elliott Eliason answered it early. The 6’11″ junior center, who is averaging fewer than six points per game on the season, was dominant inside early on tonight, grabbing offensive rebounds all over the floor and getting excellent position on Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford in the paint on his way to recording a 10-point, 10-rebound (five offensive) double-double.
Luckily for the Wolverines, Eliason got himself into foul trouble in the second half, limiting himself to 24 minutes, and Michigan was able to overcome an ankle injury that kept Glenn Robinson III on the bench for the last 17 minutes of the second stanza to escape Minneapolis with a crucial 63-60 win.
In a game that never saw a lead bigger than eight points on either side and had too many ties and lead changes to count, Michigan somehow overcame a quasi worst-case scenario on the shoulders of two unlikely heroes.
With McGary out, Beilein decided to give the starting nod to fifth-year senior Jordan Morgan once again, but Morgan was ineffective overall, scoring only three points and grabbing two rebounds while also picking up three fouls in nine minutes of play.
Jon Horford scored a career high 14 points to give Michigan a huge boost down low (Marilyn Indahl, USA Today Sports)
Insert redshirt junior Jon Horford, a player who has shown great potential but has never produced consistently and has been battered throughout his career, and you have hero number one. Horford, who certainly had some defensive struggles trying to cover the much wider Eliason, put forth an incredible effort on both sides of the floor to help make up for Michigan’s injuries and showed great leadership throughout the night – something that would have been unheard of a few years ago.
With the game going back and forth, Horford was the one fighting for rebounds inside and finishing some nifty plays on offense to end up with a career-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, nine rebounds, two steals, one block, and just one foul in 30 efficient minutes (also a career high). Many think of Horford as a slow big man who is able to alter some shots defensively, but the younger brother of NBA All-Star Al Horford showed why Michigan may be able to compete in the Big Ten after all. The Grand Ledge native showed off a beautiful turnaround jumper on one back-to-the-basket move, converted an often-overlooked 10-foot spot-up on another trip, and finished off two dunks, one a monster slam over two defenders, in a night’s work that most will call his best career game.
The second unlikely hero on the night was Zak Irvin, a freshman who has been coming on of late and shone brightly tonight. With GRIII on the bench and sophomore starter Caris LeVert struggling mightily, Irvin came in firing and made five of his eight threes for a game-high 15 points while also grabbing three rebounds and recording one block in a career-high 27 minutes.
Tonight’s win was certainly not pretty for the Maize and Blue, but John Beilein will take any road win, especially against a quality 11-2 opponent in the first game of the Big Ten season. McGary’s absence was felt throughout, as Minnesota posted a 44.1 percent offensive rebounding rate, but Michigan fought defensively and won the shooting, free throw, and turnover battles – all of which are Beilein staples.
Shortly after the tip, it looked to be the Glenn Robinson III show again, continuing a marvelous five-game stretch for the outstanding sophomore, as Little Dog scored six early points and swatted four shot attempts by 5’9″ Minnesota guard Deandre Mathieu, but the fourth block saw Robinson land awkwardly on his ankle and exit for the evening.
Minnesota, however, could not take full advantage of Robinson’s absence and gave up a number of easy back-door looks to a Michigan offense that ran some crisp offensive and out-of-bounds sets. The Gophers were led by junior guard Andre Hollins and senior FIU-transfer Malik Smith with 12 points apiece, but Richard Pitino’s squad was unable to generate any consistent offense and finished shooting under 40 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from downtown.
With a raucous crowd of 12,225 at their backs, the Gophers couldn’t maintain an early 15-7 lead and ended up fading down the stretch in yet another heart-pounding finish for Michigan.
Derrick Walton Jr handled the Minnesota pressure nicely, tallying four assists, seven points, and just one turnover (Marilyn Indahl, USA Today Sports)
Following a monster dunk with 1:53 remaining by Jon Horford and assisted by Nik Stauskas out of a timeout, Mathieu threw the ball away under pressure on the other end and then fouled Derrick Walton, who converted two free throws at the 1:18 mark to give the Wolverines a 59-54 lead.
On the next possession, Mathieu rebounded his own miss but then had it stolen by LeVert before Nik Stauskas made one of his two freebies to bump the lead to six with just 36 seconds on the clock to apparently seal the deal. Minnesota, however, had other plans, as Mathieu quickly came down the floor and found Smith wide open for a corner three to halve the lead and make it a one-possession game.
Then came perhaps the most interesting play of the game, as Nik Stauskas received the inbounds pass and appeared to be fouled more than once before getting the ball poked away out of bounds; the refs, however, egregiously swallowed their whistles and awarded possession to Minnesota before conferring around the video screen for what seemed like an eternity to the Wolverines and correctly giving the ball to Michigan (taking advantage of a new rule that allows late out of bounds calls to be reviewed for accuracy).
With a three-point lead and 20 seconds on the clock, Walton came open for the next inbounds play and proceeded to miss both free throws, again giving Minnesota a chance to tie it late. Andre Hollins raced down the floor to go for an easy layup but ended up with an awkward shot, which Jon Horford rebounded. Horford then went to the line and split a pair to go up 61-57, surely enough to let Michigan ride it out comfortably.
Yet again, though, Minnesota inexplicably stayed in it, this time by way of three Malik Smith free throws on a Stauskas three-point foul. Stauskas made up for his error the next time down, however, calmly sinking both free throws before Mathieu’s deep three clanged off the rim to mercifully end the game.
There is no doubt that this game was enormous for Michigan if the Maize and Blue are to compete in the Big Ten and find their way into the Big Dance in March, and a first true road win on the year should provide a huge confidence boost for the young and battered Wolverines.
Michigan knows by now that wins don’t come easy, but it’s a lesson learned much easier when leaving an opponent’s home floor with a mark in the left column in the paper.
Three Stars
***Jon Horford***
Career-high 14 points (6-of-8 FG, 2-of-4 FT), nine rebounds (two offensive), one block, two steals, one turnover in career-high 30 minutes
**Zak Irvin**
15 points (5-of-8 FG, 5-of-8 3PT), three rebounds (one offensive), one block in career-high 27 minutes
*Nik Stauskas*
14 points (3-of-7 FG, 1-of-4 3PT, 7-of-8 FT), seven assists, one rebound, two steals, two turnovers in 36 minutes
Quick Hitters
Tonight might have been the worst game of the season for Caris LeVert (Marilyn Indahl, USA Today Sports)
• The Big Ten-opening win is Michigan’s third straight to open conference play, but this one probably couldn’t come at a better time. With McGary’s loss still stinging for a team that seemed primed to make another deep run, a softer start to this season’s Big Ten season should boost spirits and get Michigan rolling when it counts.
Now sitting pretty at 1-0, the Wolverines next three games are versus Northwestern, at Nebraska, and versus Penn State. A potential 4-0 start would be massive, as the three games after that are at #4 Wisconsin, versus #23 Iowa, and at #5 Michigan State before another four-game stretch in February that includes games at Iowa and #3 Ohio State and home versus Wisconsin and Michigan State.
• Tonight’s victory at The Barn marks Michigan’s fifth straight on Minnesota’s home floor, going all the way back to the 2008-09 season. The two teams only squared up in Ann Arbor in the 2010-11 campaign, but Beilein’s teams have, for whatever reason, experienced great success against some quality Golden Gopher outfits.
In the 2008-09 win, Michigan got a huge game out of Laval Lucas-Perry and punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years. The Wolverines’ win late in the 2011-12 season was also critical for them to get into the Big Dance.
• Caris LeVert played perhaps his worst game of what has become an incredibly inconsistent season for the gangly sophomore. With Robinson III on the bench and Michigan desperately needing someone to step up, LeVert picked a bad time for his line of four points (2-of-7 FG), two rebounds (one offensive), three assists, three steals, and four turnovers. While LeVert did a few little things tonight, his turnovers were cough-ups that are unacceptable at this point in the season and his head-scratching play throughout the season has left much to be desired after a great start to the season.
In the 11 games since Michigan blew out South Carolina State, LeVert is averaging 10.9 points but has scored double-digits in back-to-back games just twice – a three-game stretch that included a loss to Charlotte, a win over Coppin State, and a loss at Duke – and has scored five or fewer points five times. Over the past three games, LeVert has managed just 21 points, 16 of which came against Holy Cross, and is shooting a dreadful 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from the field.
Final Game Stats
#
Name
FG-FGA
3FG-3FGA
FT-FTA
OR
DR
TOT
PF
TP
A
TO
BLK
S
MIN
01
Glenn Robinson III*
2-5
0-1
2-2
0
1
1
1
6
0
2
4
0
20
10
Derrick Walton Jr.*
1-4
1-1
4-6
0
4
4
3
7
4
1
0
1
30
11
Nik Stauskas*
3-7
1-4
7-8
0
1
1
3
14
7
2
0
2
36
52
Jordan Morgan*
1-2
0-0
1-2
1
1
2
3
3
0
0
0
0
9
23
Caris LeVert*
2-7
0-0
0-0
1
1
2
3
4
3
4
0
3
31
02
Spike Albrecht
0-2
0-2
0-0
0
1
1
1
0
2
0
0
0
16
15
Jon Horford
6-8
0-0
2-4
2
7
9
1
14
0
1
1
2
30
21
Zak Irvin
5-8
5-8
0-0
1
2
3
2
15
0
0
1
0
27
44
Max Bielfeldt
0-1
0-1
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Totals
20-44
7-17
16-22
5
19
24
17
63
16
10
6
8
200
Minnesota
21-53
5-19
13-19
15
23
38
18
60
16
15
4
9
200
Full Stats