Wolverine TV podcast with Ant Wright: Freshmen stepping up, Illinois preview, Big Ten power rankings
TheWolverine.com’s Clayton Sayfie and On3 college basketball analyst and former Michigan player Ant Wright discuss the Wolverines’ big win over Rutgers and how the freshmen are stepping up, preview Illinois, give their Big Ten power rankings and more.
Michigan showed a high level of play Wednesday against the Scarlet Knights, which led many to believe the Wolverines have been galvanized by the incident that has head coach Juwan Howard suspended for the remainder of the regular season, which includes the next four contests — vs. Illinois, vs. Michigan State, vs. Iowa and at Ohio State. Wright said he saw some great focus and energy, which went a long way in the victory.
“I did see a focus,” Wright said. I saw a focus. I saw that the guys were playing hard.
“But the first half, I felt like they were waiting to get punched in the mouth. It felt a lot like the Ohio State game [a loss] for a bit there. Both teams were testing each other out for a while, and I feel like in the second half, whoever made the first punch was going to win the game — and that was Michigan. [The lead] was always between six and two — it was always a one- or two-possession game for the longest time, and I was like, ‘They’ve got to break this.’ They either had to break six, or Rutgers was going to take the lead. And I felt like whoever did that first was going to win.
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“I don’t think it’s a rah-rah thing around the coach. You’re not thinking about that, but you do have a sense of focus where you can come into the game with, and I think all the guys had that, for sure.”
This game is the second out of four straight home games, which marks the first time the Wolverines will have played more than two consecutive contests at Crisler Center. The Wolverines have lost just three games at home and have been much better within the friendly confines. These contests are crucial for Michigan, too, even though they’re projected to be in the tournament field as of now. Two appears to be the magic number when it comes to grabbing an NCAA Tournament bid.
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