What They're Saying About Michigan Basketball After Montana Victory
Here's a look around the Internet to see what they're saying about the Wolverines after they defeated Montana 74-55 Thursday night to move on in the NCAA Tournament:
Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Wolverines roll with a refreshed Charles Matthews
This is what they’d been waiting to see. No, not just another first-round NCAA Tournament dispatching of Montana in another late-night tune-up.
This is what the Wolverines craved to see — one of their best players looking like one of their best players again. Charles Matthews might not be fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered a month ago, but he’s getting tantalizingly close. Michigan got him going early and Matthews responded with a double-double — 22 points, 10 rebounds — in a 74-55 rout of Montana Thursday night.
It was a rematch of last year’s opener, and a mismatch of greater proportions. And earlier in the night, the Wolverines might have gotten a break, as No. 7 Nevada fell to No. 10 Florida 70-61, setting up a meeting with the 20-15 Gators. But the biggest thing to extract from a non-dramatic beating of a 15 seed is that Michigan is a different team with a healthier Matthews, and probably couldn’t make a long run without him.
So here he was, sliding down the baseline for slippery layups, stopping in the lane to pop his favorite turnaround jumper. And he donned his standard defensive cloak, holding Montana’s senior guard, Michael Oguine, to three points. Matthews’ running mate, Zavier Simpson, also clamped down, and the Wolverines’ defense had no trouble smothering the undersized Grizzlies.
More important, Matthews had less trouble shaking off the tentativeness that naturally develops with an injury. After twisting his right ankle in a loss to Michigan State Feb. 24, Matthews missed the last three regular-season games. He returned for the Big Ten tournament but struggled to get reacclimated, shooting 6-for-21 in three games. The difference now?
“I’m getting more healthy, simple as that,” he said. “I’m more comfortable now. The first few games I didn’t want to just come out and mess up the flow of the team. I wanted to get my feel back. It’s a different atmosphere when you’re able to feel like yourself a little bit."
John Borton, The Wolverine.com: Wolverine Watch: New Chapter, Another Chance
No team carrying 28 wins into the NCAA Tournament should be seeking redemption. None.
That’s precisely where Michigan stood going into this grand show, however. They entered The Big Dance aching to stomp on some collaterally damageable feet.
Montana just happened to be in stomping distance.
The Wolverines’ 74-55 win over the Grizzlies in Des Moines served as a balled-up fist, firing out after four full days of clenching. It wasn’t like smacking a Spartan … but any jaw in a storm of fury.
John Beilein’s team spent the first part of its week recovering. It went 28-3 against everyone else, 0-3 versus the team that stole two championships away. Players were angry — with themselves, with each other, with a season of huge successes unadorned by banners.
Junior point guard Zavier Simpson didn’t mince any words leading up to U-M’s NCAA opener. He can deliver a look that might back down an actual grizzly, but his fury became inwardly directed following Michigan’s late meltdown in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
“Do your job and do what you’re asked to do,” Simpson spat, prior to the Wolverines taking on Montana. “There’s no more time for ‘my bads’ or 50-50 players … If you’re not working hard, you’re not helping the team. So get out.”
They opted instead to go all in.
They can’t recover what’s been lost. They can grab what’s still out there. And what’s still out there happens to be the pinnacle of the college basketball season, one of the greatest spectacles in sport.
So they went out and grabbed. They allowed just 21 points in the first half against Montana, despite turning the ball over almost as many times in 20 minutes (eight) as they average per game. Against a team that averages 8.3 three-pointers a game, they surrendered one, on 1-for-11 shooting.
Zavier Simpson and Charles Matthews made it clear to the rest of the Michigan basketball locker room earlier this week.
The time for screw-ups and do-overs is gone. If anyone turns in a clunker, the season is over. Do your job, or get out.
On Thursday night in Des Moines, the rest of Michigan's roster showed their captains they were listening.
"We won," Simpson said. "That's what's important."
No. 2 Michigan rolled through No. 15 Montana with relative ease Thursday night, scoring a 74-55 win to set up a date with No. 10 Florida on Saturday (5:15 p.m., CBS) for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Michigan (29-6) entered the week in need of a pick-me-up after another tough setback to rival Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament. Coach John Beilein encouraged the group to pick their heads up.
Matthews and Simpson told them to get it together.
On Thursday, they did both
"We didn't have any choice. One more mess-up and we're done," said Matthews, who had a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. "I don't want to end my season on a bad note. None of these guys do either.
"After getting to where we got last year, we'll really just feel empty if we don't take it all this year."
Michigan was 40 minutes away from a national championship last season and has since carried itself as a title contender throughout the 2018-19 season. This team has believed it's capable of not only making a second straight trip to the Final Four, but finishing the job this time around.
And while three losses in three tries to MSU had plenty questioning whether or not that'll happen again for Michigan, the Wolverines felt it necessary to crank up their confidence this week and get back to what they do best: Shut teams down, play efficiently with the ball and smarter than the opposition every time.
Theo Mackie, The Michigan Daily: Michigan relishes "boring" win over Montana
As Michigan stormed out to an early but indestructible lead Thursday night against Montana, the word of choice across social media was “boring.” By the time the Wolverines jogged down the tunnel at halftime with a 34-21 advantage that felt more comfortable than that, many back at home had already flipped to the evening’s more competitive action. Those inside Wells Fargo Arena surely wished they could do the same.
But in the moments after the eventual 74-55 win, when a reporter began to relay that description to assistant coach Luke Yaklich, he interrupted midway through the question:
“Nah, I freaking loved it.”
The thing is, Michigan likes it this way. Eventually, the reporter finished his question. Yaklich, in typical form, followed with a minute-long response detailing the minutiae of the Wolverines’ defensive performance — a smile glued to his face the entire time.
Eventually, he got to his defense’s contest rate — 90 percent — and had to pause. His smile had become too wide to speak through.
Elsewhere in the Michigan locker room, Yaklich’s energy wasn’t quite mirrored, but the attitude was. No one, not even this Wolverines team that ranks second in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, shares Yaklich’s childlike joy for defense, but they respect it. Even if that means winning “boring.”
“I don’t take this as a boring win,” said junior guard Zavier Simpson. “I actually take this as an exciting win. We got an opportunity to win the first game. That’s something that can be hard, especially with a team that doesn’t have as much hype that can be difficult to play.”
Throughout the locker room, the mood wasn’t celebratory as it was after blowout wins over Iowa and Minnesota in Michigan’s first two games of the Big Ten tournament. There was no distracting players as they answered questions or posing for triumphant pictures. But, unlike Sunday in Chicago, there were smiles and chatter.
It may not be an attitude that feels befitting of an NCAA Tournament win, but these Wolverines don’t need it to be. They know what comes next. Last year’s second-round matchup with Houston earned countless adjectives; boring was not among them. They also know what came before — a titanic, back-and-forth Big Ten championship game against Michigan State — and how that one ended.
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