brandon johns center possibility

In an unexpectedly spicy Big Ten quarterfinal, Michigan overcame an early double-digit deficit and the second-half ejection of Juwan Howard to finish off a three-game season sweep of a feisty Maryland team.

Despite the unexpected return of Eli Brooks, the Wolverines got off to a painfully slow start, falling into a 15-6 hole. They clawed back only to fall behind once more after Hunter Dickinson picked up two dubious offensive fouls in a little over a minute. Maryland's stretch bigs hit outside shots and attacking guards found less resistance at the rim with Austin Davis at center.

With five minutes to play in the half, Juwan Howard shifted Brandon Johns to center. After Eric Ayala's layup pushed the margin to 12 on the next possessions, he called a timeout. Whatever he said in that huddle was effective. Johns backed down Galin Smith for an and-one baby hook, then Mike Smith went airborne to drop off an assist to Johns, prompting a Mark Turgeon timeout that failed to make the same impact.

Mike Smith had the ball on a string all game [Campredon]

Hellacious defense from Chaundee Brown forced a shot clock violation out of the TO, then Smith made play after play before halftime, scoring or assisting on 11 of Michigan's points in a 16-2 run to go into the tunnel up 40-38. Smith worked his way into the paint before a slick feed to Franz Wagner netted a layup just before the buzzer. Maryland shot 63% from the field, Michigan's top player played six minutes, and the Wolverines still led at the break.

The second half was mostly a continuation of that run, plus beef. Michigan quickly led by nine thanks to dominant play from Dickinson and Smith plus cooled-off shooting from the Terps, who couldn't find the mark from outside with Howard switching the defense to a matchup zone. Whenever Maryland threatened to make it a game again, the Wolverines responded with daggers. Smith hit all three of his three-point attempts; Wagner and Brooks each canned 2/2.

The Terrapins spent much of the half attempting to bully-ball Smith with bigger guards when they weren't firing wayward threes. Smith was up to the task on that end, helping hold the Terps to an 11/30 mark from the field in the final stanza. That's also burying the lede considering his record-setting afternoon on offense: he finished with 18 points on 16 shooting possessions while dishing out 15 assists, which smashed the Big Ten Tournament single-game record of 12 set by Derrick Walton during the Kam Chatman Game in 2016.

...oh [Campredon]

Even that performance may be overshadowed, however, by the brouhaha that occurred during the under-12 media timeout. Viewers were brought back from commercial break to the news that Juwan Howard had been ejected with two technical fouls, and the Maryland bench had also received a technical, following a heated exchange of words that led to Howard being held back by members of the staff. What was said is unclear; the result was Phil Martelli coaching out the duration.

Again, the Terps made a couple short runs only to be rebuffed. A beautiful give-and-go between Wagner and Brooks answered an Ayala layup to get Michigan back up by eight, then Smith and Brooks sank late triples to head off the potential desperation foul-fest.

After looking like the team that was less comfortable in an unfamiliar gym for 15 minutes, Michigan played like this tournament's top seed for the final 25. Brooks and his ankle looked little worse for wear after some ugly first-half jumpers came up short, which is the most important news to come out of the day even with the win. Unless someone leaks whatever Mark Turgeon said, at least.

Michigan will play the winner of four-seed Purdue and five-seed Ohio State (on BTN right now) in tomorrow's first semifinal at 1 pm Eastern on CBS.

[Hit THE JUMP for more photos and the box score.]

1/22/2021 – Michigan 70, Purdue 53 – 13-1, 8-1 Big Ten

Hey, remember that from 10,000 years ago? Really something, that game that happened in the immediate aftermath of a positive COVID test from Sasha Stefanovic. That decision was then rendered moot by a department-wide shutdown because apparently nobody at any level of government has enough sense to quarantine someone coming back from the place where the scary new COVID variant originated.

But anyway: Michigan rolled into Mackey, jumped out to a double digit lead, and never looked back. Without Stefanovic a bunch of usage fell on Jaden Ivey, who cannot shoot but enjoys it nonetheless. Michigan forced Trevion Williams into a 6/19 shooting night by turning his usual reliably okay shots into reliably terrible ones. Purdue never got it back to single digits after Michigan went up 25-14.

Just another day in the Pax Juwanica. Michigan doesn't seem fully put together just yet—there's a lot of balls booted out of bounds and the talent level on the roster is good but not overwhelming. And they just roll onto the home courts of NCAA tournament teams and casually batter them into dust. This one does come with an asterisk since Stefanovic is shockingly impactful for a guy with 15% usage…

cupcakes excised

…but it didn't feel like one gunner zipping around the court was going to change much about the shape of this game.

Onward, with a title in the crosshairs… ah right. That.

[After THE JUMP: doubling gets dodgy]

Previously: Preseason Hoops Mailbag, The Story, Big Ten Roundtable Parts One and Two, Schedule Release, Guards, Wings

While we don't know precisely how the point guard and wing rotation is going to shake out, the center position is the spot with the most uncertainty on the roster after the departures of Jon Teske and Colin Castleton. Juwan Howard has three viable options at his disposal, a luxury in college basketball.

There's the hard-working redshirt senior known as Big Country, the athletic power forward slash small-ball center, and the talented freshman ent. I'm listing them below in order of projected minutes at any position, which puts the multi-position player out in front, but they all should be rotation players who get their chance to shine at one point or another.

#23 Brandon Johns Jr.

Year: Junior
Height/Weight: 6'8/240
Key Counting Stats: 19.6 MPG, 6.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 0.7 BPG, 60%/35%/64% (2P/3P/FT)
Key Advanced Stats: 15.2% usage, 7.4 off. rebound%, 15.2 def. reb.%, 3.3 block%, 41.4 FTRate

Halfway through Brandon Johns' sophomore season, there were legitimate concerns about whether he'd stick in Michigan's rotation. He'd rebound and block shots, but his shot wasn't falling, his confidence waned, and he looked lost on the court. There were games when he seemingly wouldn't even look at the basket.

The proverbial light bulb came on in late January. Generally playing as the #4 offensive option, Johns still had up and down statistical performances, but there were a lot more ups and he continued to contribute when he wasn't scoring. He had some big games down the stretch:

• 14 points on 11 shooting possessions, five offensive rebounds vs. Penn State
• 16- and 20-point performances in back-to-back games against Nebraska and Rutgers, respectively
• 14 points, 3/3 three-pointers, five boards, a block, and a steal to win KenPom MVP against Indiana

His rough outing in his hometown of East Lansing was a personal low point. The return game against MSU in Ann Arbor provided some redemption—he had seven points on six shots, five rebounds, and two blocks in only 19 minutes.

[Hit THE JUMP for profiles on Johns, Hunter Dickinson, and Austin Davis.]