NEW YORK – Michigan made the most of its first trip to the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game, running away from Kansas State 71-57 to take home their first title. In so doing, they did exactly what they did to get to New York and looked like the clear class of the field.
Michigan has been almost unstoppable at the offensive end thus far, and Friday was no different. The Wolverines blitzed IUPUI and Cleveland State by 37 and 30 points, respectively. They have shot over 50 percent in all but one game thus far this season, shooting a still-pretty-good 46 percent against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. From long range, they have been lights out as well. In addition, they are less turning the ball over 10 times per game thus far.
You didn’t need to see the stats on Friday to see how this has happened. While the offense certainly starts with Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr., this team legitimately goes nine or 10 deep, and when they went to their bench the offense didn’t miss a beat save for when Burke had to sit with foul trouble. They got a good boost from everyone who got in there for good minutes, from Nik Stauskas (who is 10-17 from long range on the season) to fellow freshman Mitch McGary to Jon Horford. None of it was lost on their opponent.
“Obviously, two great players, transition, the two freshmen – actually, all three freshmen played pretty good for them,” said Kansas State coach Bruce Weber. “They were solid for them.”
And when Burke went out, there were no worries. They had all the confidence in the world in the one freshman not mentioned earlier, Spike Albrecht, and weren’t surprised that he held down the fort.
“Did any of you sort of shake your head when he pulled up and hit that three?” said Beilein. “We do it a lot in practice. He looks like an altar boy, and he’s out there playing here in Madison Square Garden just like he’s done his whole life.”
Weber also noted that this team can now run, which wasn’t the case early in John Beilein’s tenure there. It’s also not at all what he has been known for. But now in Ann Arbor, he has athletes like he’s never had before and players capable of pushing the pace – and doing just that.
While Burke was good in the second half, his stat line for the game wasn’t extraordinary, but Michigan just kept pouring it on. Burke finished with 10 points and four assists but had five turnovers. Still, Michigan ran the lead as high as 21 points and never let the Wildcats seriously threaten them. Kansas State never got within single digits the rest of the way.
None of this is to take away from what this team has done on the defensive end. Opponents are shooting below 37 percent from the field against them and they out-rebound opponents by 14 per game; they out-rebounded the Wildcats 42-30 on Friday. Their fast breaks often begin off rebounds, not turnovers as they force less than 10 per game. The defense is feeding the offense, especially since Glenn Robinson III and Hardaway Jr., a pair of wings, lead the team in rebounding along with McGary, who does his work on the glass in barely 13 minutes a game.
Hardaway Jr. got a mild blow to the head late in the game and was being examined by the team doctor. Beilein said he seemed fine when he talked to him after the game. The clear star of the game with 23 points on 10-15 shooting and seven rebounds, he looks like a different player this year. Players have encouraged him and worked with him, and Beilein has seen how much work he has put in.
“You have to have great work ethic like his father did, and that is the big thing,” said Beilein. “That young man is in the gym all the time, whether he’s in Miami, or he’s in the gym working on his strengths and anything he’s trying to develop.”
Michigan certainly wanted this championship, and they won it as the clear class of the field. They should be among the class of a strong Big Ten this season as well, and what they showed here is a big reason why. But it won’t get easy before then, starting with the next game as they are in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
“We have a very high-level team in North Carolina State on Tuesday,” said Beilein. “It’s going to be the same thing. You have to go prove it again. They’re not going to care if we won this championship. They’re going to come in, and we’ve got to perform again.”
