Novak's clutch shooting sparks Wolverine run
Alex Prosperi
Daily Sports Writer December 8th, 2008
There are big shots and then there are really big shots.
In the Michigan men’s basketball team’s upset of then-No. 4 UCLA, freshman Stu Douglass hit an off-balance 3-pointer to give the Wolverines a late lead.
In order for Michigan to beat No. 4 Duke, someone had to step up in place for Douglass, who didn’t hit a 3-pointer all game.
Luckily for the Wolverines, freshman Zack Novak stepped up — twice.
After taking a 53-50 lead with 8:38 remaining in regulation, the Blue Devils seemed to have finally pulled away from unranked Michigan.
But Novak single-handedly saved the day, sending Duke into a tailspin. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers less than 30 seconds apart to propel the Wolverines to a 56-53 lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish.
“All the credit has got to go to my teammates,” Novak said. “I’m wide open on those. It’s easy for me when they’ve setting me up and finding me with nobody within 10 feet.”
Novak scored a career-high 14 points, going 4-of-7 from behind the arc. He has made 10 total 3-pointers in the last three games.
Michigan’s top two scorers, sophomore Manny Harris and junior power forward DeShawn Sims, account for 53 percent of the team’s points. Novak is the only other Wolverine to score in double-figures in multiple games. So it’s a breath of fresh air for Michigan to see another scorer emerge.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called Novak’s improvement from the first game on Nov. 21, when he was held scoreless, one of the biggest differences in the Wolverines’ play.
“That’s what we were missing,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “Everybody talks about last year. We were missing having those distance shooters, the guys that really open the floor for DeShawn and Manny. And that was really the big difference.”
Crashing the boards: Beilein likes to downplay rebounding as much as he stresses the importance of the assist-to-turnover ratio.
Saturday, Michigan held Duke, which averages 42 rebounds per game, to just 34 boards. The Wolverines grabbed 35.
When asked what he thought about his team outrebounding the physical and athletic Blue Devils, Beilein chose to look past it once again.
“That doesn’t happen very much with us, does it?” Beilein said. “Once again they missed a lot of shots, I don’t remember what their percentage is, but 41 percent right?”
Then he looked at the boxscore and saw Duke’s shooting percentage: 47.7, better than its season average.
“I guess we rebounded it pretty good,” Beilein said while laughing.
Considering the Wolverines were outrebounded by 15 the last time they played the Blue Devils, maybe rebounding is important after all.
Chess anyone: If there was an opposing player Beilein was worried about Saturday, it was Duke forward Kyle Singler.
“He’s a tough guard because Mike plays him as a five. He plays him as a four. He plays him as a 3,” Beilein said.
Singler leads the Blue Devils in scoring, rebounding and assists. He is so versatile that ESPN announcer Jay Bilas said Krzyzewski uses him as “a queen on the chess board.”
Although Singler had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists Saturday, his production was hard-earned. The sophomore shot just 6-for-17 from the field and 1-for-9 from behind the arc, tying the worst 3-point shooting performance of his career.
Back in November, Singler scored 15 points against the Wolverines, but it was on just 5-of-8 shooting. Michigan’s 1-3-1 zone was much more successful containing Singler in the rematch.
“The first time we played them, we felt we could have played our zone more aggressive,” Harris said. “So we came out more aggressive and flying around trying to contest every shot.”
But it also may have just been a bad day for the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year.
“What would you do? Would you tell a really good player not to shoot?” Krzyzewski said. “In the second half, (the shots) were pretty wide open.”
Bilas in the house: One of the more respected ESPN personalities, Jay Bilas, had some nice things to say about Michigan during Friday’s practice.
“First of all, I’m a huge Michigan — I don’t know if ‘fan’ is the right word,” Bilas said. “When I was a kid I used to go to the Rose Bowl. It seemed like Michigan was there every year. The best fight song in the history of fighting or singing.”
Bilas, who played at Duke under Krzyzewski from 1983-86, ranked this matchup as one of the best he’ll see this season. But he also warned the Michigan faithful to not put too much into one game.
“The same thing happened at Purdue last week,” Bilas said referring to Boilermaker fans camping out before they hosted Duke on Dec. 2. “There’s a danger with fans of making one game into a crusade. It’s an important step but at the end of the day, win or lose, its just one game. It’s not going to get you into the tournament. It’s not going to keep you out. A body of work does.”
With two quality wins now on their plate, the Wolverines are on their way to putting together a successful résumé.
Bring on the Eagles: Before Big Ten play begins at the end of December, Michigan has four games against non-BCS conference opponents.
The first is Dec. 13 against Eastern Michigan, who is 2-19 all-time against the Wolverines.
The last time the Eagles beat Michigan, Beilein was coaching at the University of Richmond. Eastern Michigan has gone winless against the Wolverines since December 21, 1997, when former Denver Nugget Earl Boykins led the Eagles to an 89-83 overtime victory with 29 points.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:55:56 -0500