The Penn State men’s basketball team has been a different Nittany Lion squad ever since Michigan beat them, 76-69 at Crisler Arena on Jan. 2.
Penn State (5-4 Big Ten, 12-9 overall) has since beaten two top-25 teams and will host the Wolverines on Sunday at State College.
Though Michigan (3-8,13-10) handled the Nittany Lions in the two teams’ last contest, Penn State is on a two-game winning streak and is seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years.
The senior triple-threat of Talor Battle, Jeff Brooks and David Jackson have led Penn State this season. The three had scored 62 of the 69 Penn State’s points against Michigan in their first meeting.
“That’s a great story right there,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “Of all those guys, David Jackson, who has redshirted and Jeff Brooks. And I know Talor Battle came in and people knew he was going to be a good player. But Brooks has just hard work and has gotten better and better. That’s our goal, to get some of our guys to improve like that that over four years.”
While Battle leads the team in scoring, averaging 20 points a game, Brooks leads the team in rebounding, averaging seven a game, and Jackson has turned the ball over the least out of any starter.
Regardless of what they contribute, that three-headed dragon will be looking for revenge against the Wolverines on Sunday. But there may be one problem: Brooks had suffered a shoulder injury against Illinois and his playing status is still a game time decision.
“We’ll have another plan (if Brooks isn’t playing) but we won’t worry too much,” Beilein said. “We are planning on him playing. It was a separated shoulder and it came back into place.”
Brooks’s injury is not the only one that will affect this contest, as sophomore guard Matt Vogrich is facing a possible stomach bug but was cleared to rejoin practice on Friday.
“(Vogrich) may have had an allergy or it may have been a bug but he is cleared for practice,” Beilein said.
One of Vogrich’s biggest games of the season came in the win over Penn State. The sophomore tallied eight points, two rebounds and a big steal, which led to a fastbreak where the Wolverines took their first lead of the second half.
The shooting from players such as Vogrich and junior guards Zack Novak and Stu Douglass will be key in State College. The Wolverines trailed the Nittany Lions at halftime by five points, but wound up winning by 12 because their 3-point shooting improved from 27 percent in the first half to 56 percent in the second half.
Since facing Penn State, Michigan has seen more consistent numbers — something that the Wolverines had struggled with at the start of conference play.
“Since the Minnesota games, we have been really consistent with a lot of things,” Beilein said. “We have so many guys having to play so many minutes and so that’s one thing I want to see improve. We have to be able to go and use the bench more.”
Along with consistency, Michigan has had trouble with its players knowing their assignments. The Wolverines have worked in practice on defining their roles and learning Beilein’s offensive scheme. Being organized and knowing their assignments will be a key for the young Michigan squad, especially when it’s trying to beat a team that starts four seniors and one sophomore.
Recently, Michigan has switched its lineup with relative frequency. It has often played Douglass along with freshman Evan Smotrycz instead of using Douglass to replace Smotrycz, which was done earlier this season. Beilein has also played Vogrich and freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. at the same time — Vogrich was primarily used as Hardaway Jr.’s backup at the beginning of the season.
“We have more defined roles and our rotation may be a bit different,” Beilein said. “Everybody plays us differently so those roles change so differently.”