A look around the Internet to see what they're saying about Michigan after its win Sunday at Maryland.
James Hawkins, The Detroit News: 'Focused' Michigan trumps Maryland, remains in Big Ten title hunt
March has a way of making the improbable seem possible.
Michigan’s chances of grabbing of share of the Big Ten regular-season title would fall under that category.
With the finish line within sight and without redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews for the second straight game, the No. 9 Wolverines kept pace in the frantic conference race with a 69-62 win over Maryland Sunday at the Xfinity Center.
"Through the history of the Big Ten, the regular-season championship is a prize for most programs that have any history in this. That's the prize," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "We haven't won it many times, so to get a regular-season championship, we're still in the hunt.
"I would assume maybe there's two or three (teams) still in that hunt and getting a championship by yourself is even bigger."
Michigan (26-4, 15-4 Big Ten) sits a half-game behind Purdue and a half-game ahead of Michigan State with one game remaining. The Boilermakers and Spartans each have two to play.
Mathematically there’s still a chance the Wolverines could win the title outright, but it would require Michigan to win its regular-season finale at Michigan State on Saturday and Purdue to lose out.
While the odds of that happening might not be in Michigan's favor, it's still a position it wouldn't be in if not for 12-2 second-half run coupled with another sound defensive effort and balanced scoring attack led by freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis' 21 points.
Chris Balas, Michigan Basketball: “Pruned” Wolverines Come Back Stronger ... Again
26-4.
Let one that sink in a minute.
That’s Michigan’s record through 30 games, a school record for regular season wins with one big one still remaining.
And now try to remember that last time John Beilein's team lost two in a row.
The Fab Five, the 1989 National Champions both had teams laden with first round NBA talent, but this year’s squad of team-first guys are in a league of their own after a 69-62 win at Maryland. They did it without redshirt junior starter Charles Matthews (ankle), and despite shooting only 30 percent from long range … and it took a late flurry just to get there after they started 2-for-14.
The looks were there in the first half; they just couldn't convert. They didn’t let their offense affect their defense, however, and they went toe-to-toe with the Terps before scoring on their final nine possessions to put it away.
That’s 15 Big Ten wins now, and this one was as satisfying as any of them. Maryland had been a perfect 7-0 at home in conference play, and U-M had yet to beat a conference team with a .500 or better record away from Ann Arbor (granted, they’d only had a couple chances).
He hit the shot that started the run that ended the game. And as Ignas Brazdeikis backpedaled down the floor inside Xfinity Center on Sunday afternoon he blew a kiss to the crowd.
Then grinned.
Talk about being aware of your surroundings, eh?
Not bad for a freshman. Though Brazdeikis is no ordinary youngster. Actually, he’s not that young, relative to college basketball, at age 20.
Maybe that’s what enables him to point to the crowd and cup his ear after a made free throw. Or raise his arms toward them after he’s been insulted.
As he was early on in Michigan’s 69-62 win over Maryland, when he stepped to the free throw line and the student section off his left shoulder began chanting:
“You are ugly … you are ugly.”
Brazdeikis ignored the chant and made both free throws. Then acknowledged the crowd as he ran back up court … pointing to his ear.
“I don’t care what they are saying,” said the freshman forward, who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. “They can say anything they want.
Well, no, they can’t, which is why the public address announcer intervened after the first couple of chants and chastised the students. Good for him. He should have.
Or maybe he knew that insulting Brazdeikis was the wrong move. His teammates sure did.
“I don’t know why they even do that,” said Isaiah Livers, who started for the injured Charles Matthews. “That's like putting gas in a car. He loves that kind of energy.”
Ethan Sears, The Michigan Daily: Zavier Simpson proves he's the key to Michigan's March
Zavier Simpson got up from his seat as 17,950 fans taunted his backup. There were just over 11 minutes to go in Saturday’s game and Maryland held a two-point lead after hitting five of its last seven field goals. Simpson, sitting on the bench with three fouls, watched as Eli Brooks tossed up an airball and chants started to come down.
Then, the junior guard checked in. The Terrapins didn’t make another shot from the field until there was 3:36 to go in the game. Michigan won, 69-62, staying in the hunt for the Big Ten race and notching a marquee road win.
Standing at the podium 20 minutes after the buzzer, John Beilein took a long pause and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to find the right way to describe Simpson’s presence on the floor.
“Security blanket, is that the wrong word to say?” he asked, before answering himself. “It probably is. I just think there’s a confidence factor when he’s out there.”
At every point where it seemed the Wolverines might lose momentum on Sunday, there was Simpson, their steadying force. He finished with 12 points, 10 assists and one missed shot from the field. Three separate times, he hit hook shots that prompted cries of disbelief from the crowd. For the second time in as many weeks, he locked Maryland point guard Anthony Cowan in a box.
When the game hit its teetering point, Michigan holding a six-point lead with three minutes left, Simpson assisted a 3-pointer, got to the rim for a layup, then assisted another layup. A guy who once ran Michigan’s offense with timidity, drifting inside the arc and stopping, is now the key to everything.
When Michigan sophomore forward Isaiah Livers buried a 3-pointer to give the Wolverines men’s basketball team the lead with a little over nine minutes left against No. 17 Maryland on Sunday at a solid-out Xfinity Center, nobody realized that the clinic was about to begin.
The shots kept falling for No. 9 Michigan — from junior point guard Zavier Simpson's sweeping 1950s style hooks to freshman guard Iggy Brazdeikis’ array of mid-range runners and 3-pointers, to another dagger 3 by junior center Jon Teske.
By the time the clinic ended with the Wolverines erasing what had been an unbeaten home Big Ten record for the Terps with a 69-62 victory, Maryland sophomore guard Darryl Morsell said that he was as impressed in Michigan’s offense as he was disappointed in the outcome.
“They’re real poised,” Morsell said. “One thing I noticed about them was their spacing. Sometimes with our young guys, just with us in general, our spacing gets clogged up in the paint for Anthony [Cowan Jr.] when he’s driving, for Bruno [Fernando] here and there.
“Michigan’s spacing was phenomenal throughout the game. It gave the point guard Simpson lanes to drive, utilize his hook shot. It gave the rest of their players lanes to drive. Also having a center to be able to shoot the ball like Teske helped with their spacing as well.”
Not only was Michigan (26-4, 15-4 Big Ten) able to score on its last nine possessions (excluding the final 17 seconds to run out the clock), but the Wolverines were also able to shut down Cowan until the last few minutes and Fernando for much of the game.
Playing without senior wing Charles Matthews, Michigan had all five starters — all of whom played between 32 and 38 minutes — score in double figures, led by Brazdeikis, who had 21 points, and Simpson, who finished with 12 points and 10 assists.
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