The Michigan Wolverines’ basketball team got some contributions tonight in its 103-91 win over Iowa from two players that it hadn’t really received significant contributions from yet this year — redshirt junior center Austin Davis and sophomore forward Brandon Johns.
Davis scored a career-best eight points and pulled down three boards in only 10 minutes of action, while Johns also scored a career-high 12 points and tallied eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
The latter’s most impactful contributions didn’t necessarily show up in the box score, however, as he was often the spark plug that ignited the crowd tonight, consistently showing a level of grit and hustle that others on the court didn’t have throughout the evening.
“Sometimes guys just want to score and be an offensive player,” he explained. “Once one [part of your game] starts rolling, the other will start rolling too.
“I brought the energy on defense tonight and the offense came with it. [I bought in] during the summer, because I wanted to build up my endurance and be a threat on the defensive end, in rebounding and when it came to staying in front of my man.
“I also wanted to grab those rebounds tonight and win the game, because it was a huge bounce back game for us. It’s now about keeping this mindset and continuing to work in the gym to keep my endurance up.”
Johns had been averaging 13.6 minutes per outing and had appeared in all eight of Michigan’s contests entering the evening, while Davis’ role, on the other hand, had been much smaller.
The redshirt junior had only seen the court in three games all year, but was called upon in the second half when senior center Jon Teske exited with foul trouble and sophomore center Colin Castleton departed with an injured lip that required stitches.
“It’s about staying locked in and being ready to go in and contribute,” the 6-10 center explained. “It’s about being ready for whatever the team needs that day.
“Today they needed me to play, and other days it might be getting the starters good looks in practice. It’s about filling whatever role my brothers need on any given day.
“It’s been frustrating at times [not seeing many minutes], but I’ve stayed positive and have been happy for my brothers when they do something great, and that’s helped me a lot.”
Tonight was the best outing for Davis during his four years at Michigan, who appears to now possess more confidence than he ever has before … with the same statement also applying to Johns.
“I was in my head more last year as a freshman, trying to pick up the system,” the sophomore admitted. “The game has slowed down a lot for me.
“I’m understanding it more now — [former head] Coach [John] B[eilein] taught me a lot of concepts I had never learned in high school, so bringing those to this year has really helped me.”
“B [Johns] is always coming in with a ton of energy,” Davis bellowed with a laugh. “Some of the rebounds he went and got tonight were incredible.
“He’s a big energy getter, and that’s his role.”
Notes
• Iowa junior center Luka Garza was the story of the game for the Hawkeyes, scoring 44 of his club’s 93 points, while no other Hawkeye tallied more than 12.
“We were trying to make it tough on him — tough for him to get the ball and then keeping it tough once he got it,” Davis explained.
“We wanted it to be as hard for him to score as possible, without fouling. We knew he was a great player coming in, and he had a really good night.”
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