Michigan 99, Texas A&M 72
when the walk-on hits [photo courtesy Sam Mousigian/Michigan Daily]
We've seen this game before. A freshman Nik Stauskas shooting Florida out of the gym from the same spot; Texas becoming so overwhelmed the Longhorn Network tweeted a shruggie. Enter this into the canon:
THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement?
BILLY KENNEDY: Felt like we ran into a buzz saw.
Michigan played a near-perfect first half before settling into remarkably productive cruise control in the second. They scored 99 points, the most Texas A&M has allowed this season, on an astonishing 1.38 points per possession. They shot 64% on twos, 58% on threes, and 88% from the line. Eight different players made a three-pointer. One of them was CJ Baird, who started the season as a student manager.
"It was kind of hard to see," said A&M's Admon Gilder. "Because I was just wondering when they were going to miss."
After both underperformed last weekend, Moe Wagner and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman led the way. Wagner was the star of the first half, pouring in 14 of his 21 while seemingly gaining confidence with every shot, the most spectacular a running left-handed bank after his patented behind-the-back dribble. Abdur-Rahkman scored 16 of his 24 in the second half, teaming with Charles Matthews (18 points, 13 in the second half) to drop the hammer on an A&M squad trying to cover a 20-point deficit with post-ups. Two more Wolverines, Zavier Simpson and Duncan Robinson, finished in double figures.
"We knew that we could pick and choose our spots on offense," said Abdur-Rahkman. "And we didn't shoot too well in Wichita, but we knew that we were confident coming into the game that we could hit get our shots off. We just picked and chose our shots, and we took them."
Abdur-Rahkman led the team with 24 points and 7 assists. [Mousigian]
Meanwhile, Simpson made life miserable for self-proclaimed "unstoppable" Aggies point guard TJ Starks, who made the freshman mistake of giving Michigan's best defender extra motivation. Starks, who'd averaged 19.6 points in his last three games, finished with five on 2-for-11 shooting, a lone assist, and five turnovers. Simpson equaled his mark's point total with a career-high five steals in the first half and added one more in the second for good measure. The Aggies mustered only 28 points on 32 first-half field-goal attempts; Michigan had little issue letting them work post mismatches in the second on the three-is-greater-than-two principle.
Last weekend's Wolverines were just good enough to get through last weekend. Tonight's Wolverines were great enough to beat any team on any day. It didn't take long for them to get into a groove and ooze confidence; Wagner talking trash after an in-your-eye three, Matthews flashing a rare smile after a tough bucket, Simpson eyeing his man with pure disdain after a particularly obvious flop, the whole team running back on defense as Abdur-Rahkman let loose a three-pointer. (Yes, it went in.)
It reached the absurd in the late going. Abdur-Rahkman went behind the back on a fast break pass to Wagner for an emphatic dunk. Austin Davis threw down an alley-oop. Baird sent the bench into hysterics with his three-pointer.
The swagger is carrying over.
"I think we're a very confident team, and I think that's all that matters," said Wagner. "We've been playing within ourselves all year and not looking at the opponent too much. Looking at the game plan, trying to execute that, and I think we've been believing all year we can beat anyone if we play our best basketball. So, Yep."
Michigan will face the winner of tonight's Florida State-Gonzaga matchup on Saturday. No matter which team advances, the Wolverines will enter the game knowing they can—and should—win. Given how they've played over the last month or so, they're not wrong.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score and more photos.]
All photos courtesy of Sam Mousigian of the Michigan Daily.
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
What a team! Everybody stars, but MAAR sets the pace.
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:39 PM ^
It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:41 PM ^
Tennessee . . . VCU . . . Florida . . . Texas A&M. A Beilein team hitting on all cylinders in the tourney is just a beautiful thing to watch. So glad we get at least one more chance to see this group together.
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:40 PM ^
watching the game and still can't figure out who we want next.
if we play this well it won't matter. GO BLUE!
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:49 PM ^
Half-way through this season - his senior season - he was just a guy on the floor that could occasionally get a layup. Since that Nebraska loss? Un-fucking-stoppable! That Nebraska ass-whooping must have really tasted bitter to this team, because every single player has been light years better since then.
Thanks, Nebraska, for turning the light on!!
Take heart in that the beautiful thing on a Beilein team is that you'll say that about another player in a year or two.
Can say it about Simpson and Robinson right now. And Matthews looks to be ready to play to his 5 star status. Hard to argue against Beilein as the best developer of talent in the college game right now.
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:50 PM ^
I like this venue much better than the last. Shots fall much more nicely.
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:54 PM ^
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
March 22nd, 2018 at 11:56 PM ^
Sooooooooooo happy
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:39 AM ^
Glad that wasn't against us.
wishing they hit their season average on 3P%. If we shot like they did it would have been a rock fight too. Glad we didn't!
I have a couple of friends who are professors at UNC Chapel Hill and they were magnanimous and congratulatory after we won last night. They were a bit rueful that A&M turned back into pumpkins for this game after buzzsawing the Tar Heels. No speculation as to how the outcome would've been had Michigan faced UNC though; although the way Michigan was shooting, I don't think any team in the country could've beat them last night.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:23 AM ^
you guys fuckin rock.
Just rock.
Best goddamn Beilein team EVER.
Good night.
btw, We're going ALL THE WAY.
Have to.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:22 AM ^
With FSU, KSU, and Loyola winning, our path to the national championship game is as clear as it could ever be. Get there, and hopefully the sports gods will make up for taking away the championship we deserved in 2013.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
It would be cosmic justice if the NCAA champion during this season of FBI investigations went to the squeakiest clean coach in the game. It may change minds and attitudes on what a successful template can look like.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:23 AM ^
I didn't see anything from FSU that scared me. Give Michigan an average offensive game, even with a few minutes of bricks (like they do every now and then), and I think UM wins it comfortably. FSU will pound it low for post points, and will get beat over the top for three's. I'll take that equation all day. They do shoot better than A&M did, but with UM's defense they won't see a lot of success offensively. They're a more athletic A&M, but that only means that they're athleticism is closer to Michigan's, and Beilein's offense >>> anything Leonard Hamilton can come up with.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:30 AM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:37 AM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:54 AM ^
Gonzaga was clanging threes for the first 12 minutes of that game....and I didn't catch the 2nd half, but, yeah, their shooting was atrocious. FSU is going to be a challenge, no doubt, but the basketball gods have once again delivered the more favorable match-up for our next game.
What the heck are you talking about?! FSU looked fairly sloppy, as did Gonzaga. And did you not see how we just looked?!
Also, personally coming from Staples Center, we are going to have a legit home game on Saturday. FSU had pretty much zero fans outside of their university allotted section (less than even Texas A&M).
GO BLUE, BEAT FLORIDA STATE!!!
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
They remind me of A &M in a lot of ways - big, athletic guys who can score. They play hard but if they don't hit shots, espcially against Michigan's defensive schemes, they'll have trouble. Michigan better shoot like that again though. Anticipating a dogfight . I thought that vs A & M too, but this is the tournament and nothing is a given.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:47 AM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:56 AM ^
Just got home from Staples Center.
That was UNBELIEVABLE AND AMAZING! Have absolutely no voice. Felt like Crisler Center!!!
New York City is Ann Arbor East and Los Angeles is Ann Arbor West. HAIL TO THE VICTORS!
What an amazing shooting performance! The D was impressive too!!
Glad to see you're healthy and writing.
So great to have both offense and defense clicking. In the past, if our offense was subpar, it was game, set, match. Now, as we proved in the first two games, we can win when the offense isn't up to snuff. And the great thing about an elite defense (who thought we could ever describe our defense as elite?) is it is a constant. Our defense never takes the night off
And we can score in a variety of ways. Up tempo fast break. Half court methodical. Drive to the bucket. Bury the three. And everyone is given the freedom to shoot. The #9 guy is inserted into the game and first opportunity he gets, he fires up a 3. Misses, so he drains the next one. Coach B lets them fire away. They don't have to look over to the bench & worry about being pulled.
Just a fun team to watch! GO BLUE!!
Even the walk-on student manager has a green light!
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:26 AM ^
still coming of a great high...natural legal high. what a perfect game.
despite a lot of naysayers among the experts and otherwise, i was telling people that A&M was a worse version of Hou and that we would win by double digits if we approached our normal offensive shooting %. we obliderated that.
now we have Fla St, which i say, is a worse version of A&M. so i say again, hit our normal % and we will be dancing to the final four.
i want to book my flight Sunday morning so........Go Blue!!!
God I love this team......
M fans to take over staples Saturday.
Go Blue.
Of course, his walk-on outscored Izzo's in a single minute.
What I'm trying to say, of course, is that Izzo is a genius. It all fits, somehow.
Tom Izzo's five star recruits can't make a three in a big game. John Beilein's student manager buries his.
and an excellent matchup for Michigan. Gonzaga likes to score inside, and FSU is basically if Fangorn had a basketball team.
Knock on wood, hate to jinx and all, but FSU is less suited to stop Michigan than Texas A&M was.
The part I found hilarious was the commentators trying to throw A&M some credit for playing/shooting better in the 2nd half....Michigan outscored A&M by 2 points in the 2nd half.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
But by that point, up 20+, we are very content to trade buckets. it's not like we were playing the same kind of intense defense and trying to expand the lead.
I thought Mo would be in foul trouble. Boy, was I wrong. Great game by Mo. Z owned that freshman pg.
I know Texas A&M tends to draw fouls but MGoBlog's foul worries were rather unwarranted. I was worried Michigan's slump would continue, or the refs meddling in the game, but otherwise, Texas A&M has excellent post players and a terrible offense. This usually tells me that an offense doesn't have a point guard.
And sure enough, Texas A&M doesn't, as noted by MGoBlog but in an inexplicable vacuum. If a team can't rely on its fast break (which you can't against Michigan), the post players are dependent on entry passes from the perimeter. Who did Brian think was going to make those, John Stockton off the bench? Starks is a below-average PG and Michigan put an elite defender on him; that he'd finish with more turnovers than assists was a given. Moe was probably told to concede whatever got through (or not get bothered by getting owned); putting up a fight would've just given them an and-one. Williams and Davis had good nights but that was all part of the plan, because 3>2.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:07 AM ^
Moes defense on the inside was awesome. He played with his feet and made life difficult for their bigs.
really was one hellofa performance. Very impressive. Even my wife was into it and that's saying something
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