When John Beilein left Michigan for the lure of the NBA, the question was who would follow him in Ann Arbor. What direction would the program go? Could his successor keep them as a powerhouse program that Beilein built them into in his own way?
The last question will need some time to answer, but to be sure, the change was likely to be a little different. Beilein didn’t win by recruiting lots of McDonald’s All-Americans there, as many who win in the Big Ten do and as much of the fan base would want. Though football is king there, fans see the basketball program as one that should win big and do so with big-time talent. The school tapped a famous alum, Juwan Howard, to lead the way, and while it is an interesting choice given that he has no college coaching experience, he certainly appears to have what it takes to coach given his NBA assistant coaching experience.
It is early yet in his tenure, but the Wolverines picked up the first really significant win under him on Thursday in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Wolverines broke open a close game by scoring 19 unanswered points in the second half, then held off a rally by North Carolina in a 73-64 win.
Eli Brooks (24 points) keyed the run as he continues the start of what may be a breakout season after two years of being a bit player. He was 4-6 from long range, helping them go 11-26 from deep on the afternoon. Classmate Isaiah Livers (12 points) is also taking advantage of an expanded role, though for him it means becoming a top contributor after being a good reserve. All the while, Zavier Simpson is the intangibles leader and classmate Jon Teske (10 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots) is the big inside presence who has developed significantly over his career.
The Wolverines shot 50 percent from the field against a pretty good defensive team, overcoming 16 turnovers. They held the Tar Heels to 2-13 from behind the arc, and the Tar Heels did themselves no favors by going just 10-20 from the free throw line.
Michigan will now take on Gonzaga for the championship after the Bulldogs edged Oregon 73-72 in overtime behind a big double-double from Filip Petrusev (22 points, 15 rebounds). It will be a good test against a Bulldog team that likewise lost a lot from last season and entered this season with a few more questions than usual, but whose winning ways have continued thus far.
Should the Wolverines pull this off, it would mark quite a start to Howard’s tenure, perhaps more than many expected given the personnel losses in addition to the coaching change. While he should do well at his alma mater, not many saw instant success, but they can start to change that notion on Friday.
Side Dishes
Tournament/showcase roundup:
- In consolation games in the Battle 4 Atlantis, Iowa State took care of Alabama 104-89 and Seton Hall took care of Southern Miss 81-56.
- In the Orlando Invitational, Maryland got 30 points from Anthony Cowan and survived against Temple 76-69 in a game that was closer than the final score indicates, Harvard beat Texas A&M 62-51, USC edged Fairfield 54-47 and Marquette used a strong second half and 40 points from Markus Howard to knock off Kellan Grady (28 points, 10 rebounds) and Davidson 73-63.
- The Wooden Legacy got going with quarterfinal action and had three thrillers on the day. Long Beach State overcame a 17-point deficit to edge Providence 66-65 in the opener, then Wake Forest rode a 14-point, 14-rebound outing from Olivier Sarr to a 65-56 win over College of Charleston, Penn just got by UCF 68-67 in a game that ended with UCF hitting what looked like a game-tying three-pointer but was ruled a two-point shot, and Arizona won a great game to end the night that had each team score in the final seconds, beating Pepperdine 93-91. (Here’s a thought on the end of the Penn-UCF game: might the presence of four separate three-point lines played a role in what happened?)
- In the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, Tennessee State beat Cal Poly 82-72, North Florida just got past LIU 95-92, Iowa handled Texas Tech 72-61 and San Diego State moved to 7-0 by thrashing Creighton 83-52.
- In the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn, Memphis got 21 points from Boogie Ellis and 15 and 11 rebounds from Precious Achiuwa to hold off NC State 83-78.
The lone game on the slate that was not held at a neutral site but was part of the Battle 4 Atlantis was UT Arlington‘s 77-67 win at Elon.
With a lighter amount of news to go through, we come back to a nice story from a day earlier involving Stephen F. Austin forward Nathan Bain, who scored the game-winning layup at the buzzer as his team stunned Duke on Tuesday night. Bain’s family home in Freeport, Grand Bahama was devastated by Hurricane Dorian, and a GoFundMe page was set up to help his family recover. After his game-winner on Tuesday, donations soared from about $2,000 before the game to more than $117,000 by Thursday morning. The initial goal was $25,000. Interestingly, this all came right before the Battle 4 Atlantis tipped off in Paradise Island there, and participants in that tournament are helping with recovery efforts.
Tonight’s Menu
After a day full of tournament action, a number of games outside of tournaments also come into play on a busier day of games.
- The Orlando Invitational gets going with semifinal action as Maryland takes on Harvard (11:30 a.m.), then a consolation game as Texas A&M meets Temple (2 p.m.) After that is the second semifinal between USC and Marquette (4:30 p.m.) before Davidson takes on Fairfield to close out the day (7 p.m.)
- The final day of the Battle 4 Atlantis starts with the third place game between Oregon and North Carolina (11:30 a.m.), then the championship game between Gonzaga and Michigan (2 p.m.). In the evening, Seton Hall takes on Iowa State for fifth place (7 p.m.), then the tournament closes with the seventh place game between Southern Miss and Alabama (9:30 p.m.)
- Day two of the Wooden Legacy starts with a semifinal between Long Beach State taking on Wake Forest (2 p.m.), then Providence takes on College of Charleston in a consolation game (4:30 p.m.) In the evening, UCF takes on Pepperdine in the second consolation game (9 p.m), then Penn takes on Arizona in the second semifinal (11:30 p.m.)
- The Emerald Coast Classic starts with Chicago State and Jacksonville State (noon), then Alabama State and Chattanooga (2:30 p.m.) in the afternoon, with the evening session featuring Tennessee battling Florida State (7 p.m.) and VCU taking on Purdue (9:30 p.m)
- In the Las Vegas Invitational, Cal Poly takes on LIU (2 p.m.) and Tennessee State takes on North Florida (4:30 p.m.) in the afternoon. In the evening, Iowa and San Diego State meet for the championship (8 p.m.) and Creighton takes on Texas Tech for third place (10:30 p.m.)
- The NIT Season Tip-Off starts with the third place game between Penn State and Syracuse (7 p.m.) before Ole Miss takes on Oklahoma State in the championship game (9:30 p.m.)
- Games outside of tournaments and showcases to watch include DePaul at Minnesota (3 p.m.), Louisville at Western Kentucky (5 p.m.), Winthrop at Duke (7 p.m.), Missouri State at LSU (8 p.m.), and the best one of all is the next-to-last one on the entire slate, Utah State at Saint Mary’s (11:30 p.m.)
