March 3, 2011 - 4:16pm
Players react to Morris', Hardaway Jr.'s awards
BY BEN ESTES
Monday brought the news that a pair of Michigan men's basketball players collected weekly hardware from the Big Ten.
Sophomore point guard Darius Morris was named Big Ten Player of the Week after exploding for 26 points and 12 assists against Bryant last Thursday, while guard Tim Hardaway Jr. earned the conference Freshman of the Week award after scoring a career-high 20 points against the Bulldogs, sharing the distinction with Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger.
Morris has consistently deflected both praise for and questions about his individual achievements to how they have contributed to the team's success as a whole, saying how he only cares about how the team does.
And Hardaway was just as humble in his assessment of his honor.
"It’s great for me, but I wouldn’t have got that award without the team," he said after practice Monday. "We just have to keep on doing what we’re doing and just keep on winning games and stay solid."
Added junior guard and co-captain Zack Novak: "Those guys, I don’t think they really look too much into that stuff. I think they’re just worried about the team winning. That’s what we’re doing.
"We keep winning like this, they’ll win a lot better awards than that."
Still, the distinctions have some significance. Morris became Michigan's first Player of the Week since DeShawn Sims in January of this year, while Hardaway is the first Wolverine to ever receive Freshman of the Week.
Notable absence: Purdue comes into Tuesday's matchup ranked 12th in the nation and with an 11-1 record, and the Boilermakers have done it despite missing their best player in senior forward Robbie Hummel.
The preseason All-American is out for the year after tearing his ACL just after practice began before the season — the same injury to the same ligament that caused him to miss the end of last year. Still, Purdue has clearly been able to adjust without its senior leader.
"He is such a tough player," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "It’s hard to measure what he does for that team when they’re 11-1. ... They had a great chance (with) him, (and) I think they have a great chance (still without) him for playing a long time in March."
The cupboard certainly isn't bare for the Boilermakers, as they have two other All-American contenders in senior center JuJuan Johnson (19.8 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game) and senior guard E'Twaun Moore (19.4 points per game), both of whom were named preseason All-Big Ten.
Dumars ready to go: After his first semester grades were finally posted this past weekend, sophomore guard Jordan Dumars is now eligible to play, Beilein said Monday.
The Detroit native was forced to sit out a year after transferring from South Florida after his first semester there last season. Beilein said he's not likely to play against Purdue on Tuesday.
"(He's) still trying to get in shape and learn the different things, but you never know (if he'll end up playing)," Beilein said.
Hart out: Purdue coach Matt Painter announced in his teleconference Monday that sophomore guard John Hart will miss Tuesday's game and will be out for 4-to-6 weeks after undergoing surgery to fix a stress fracture in his right foot.
It's a significant loss for the Boilermakers. Hart was the team's third-leading scorer and was shooting 45.7 percent from 3-point range this season before his injury.
