Michigan Basketball: Exhausting Maryland to prevail in all out melee

As everyone knows for this time of year nothing is guaranteed and that was the story for Michigan basketball in a prize fight type of boxing match with Maryland.

From the opening tip, Maryland was energized to repay the Wolverines for the first two outings earlier this season. They were sparked by tenacious defense and some a sharp-shooting effort from beyond the arc. The Terps shot 63 percent from the field, but thanks to a late flurry by Michigan basketball, they trailed by a deuce at the break.

Maryland got on track to take a 36-24 lead in the opening half. At that moment the maize and blue realized what it would take to climb back into it. The Wolverines went on a 16-2 spurt to take a two-point advantage into halftime. Plays were being made all over the place by Mike Smith, Chaundee Brown and Brandon Johns, just to name a few.

As noted Smith was the catalyst with nine assists to zero turnovers in the first half. Brown, Johns and Austin Davis combined for 21 of the 40 first-half points off the bench.

The turning point seemed to be when Maryland guard Darryl Morsell got his second foul. His saran-wrap tight defense gave Michigan fits, but the tide turned as the Wolverines flashed the intensity they were missing early in this one.

In the second half, Michigan’s defense wrote the story for itself. The Wolverines jumped out to a double-digit lead by reverting to where they ended the first half with their effort. Midway through the second though an altercation went down as both coaches got into a scuffle leading to technical fouls on both clubs and Juwan Howard getting ejected.

From that point in the contest, Michigan caught fire. Franz Wagner nailed some jumpers, while Eli Brooks found his stoke after a horrid initial 20 minutes coming off of that injury. Everyone got involved for Michigan except for Isaiah Livers who went scoreless for the only time this season. It truly was a full 40-minute fight for Michigan to eliminate the Terps out of Indy.

Maryland finished under 50 percent for the outing following a sweltering first half. That’s a caveat to how Michigan’s defense has been all year long.  28 points were the Terps could muster in the final 20 minutes. In the end, Mike Smith wound up with the ball in his hands and sealed the victory to put a fitting end to how stupendous his afternoon went.

The maize and blue advance to Saturday with a showdown looming against Purdue or Ohio State. They beat Purdue in West Lafayette and did the same to the Buckeyes in Columbus not so long ago.

Michigan’s intensity will have to be dialed up a notch as the competition stiffens heading into the semifinals of this heavyweight tournament.