NEW YORK – Michigan center Mo Wagner attempted seven 3-point shots in Saturday afternoon’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal game against rival Michigan State. That was kind of a lot by his standards, but not outrageously so. He missed six of them. It was a spectacular day.
Michigan won, of course, and coach John Beilein’s Wolverines advanced to the championship game with an opportunity to record consecutive conference tournament championships. The capacity crowd of 19,812 contained “a lot more blue, from what I could see,” said freshman wing Isaiah Livers. UM earned a second victory this season over its in-state rival, by a combined 21 points. It certainly didn’t hurt to deny the Spartans’ pursuit of Big Ten championship sweep.
There was more to it, though, when it came to Wagner.
“Coach always says, we always talk about being a big that can shoot as opposed to being a shooter that is big,” Wagner told Sporting News. “Versatility can be your best friend, but it also can be your best enemy. You do certain things well, then all of a sudden you’re doing certain things really bad. Coach has a lot of trust in me, and it kind of comes together.”
A 6-11 junior from Berlin, Germany, Wagner earned his playing time last season by functioning as a 6-11 center who could force opposing big men away from the basket with his 3-point shooting: 45 3-pointers, 39.5 percent accuracy. But when frontcourt partner D.J. Wilson left for the NBA, the Wolverines became a smaller team and needed their tallest player to play big.
Although Wagner’s perimeter skill had been a tremendous asset in the first matchup with Michigan State, his struggle to hit open jumpshots in this one meant it was necessary to contribute in other ways. And going up against the army of large Spartans demanded that he not retract from physical challenges inside.
Wagner at various times was matched against starter Nick Ward, and reserves Gavin Schilling and Xavier Tillman. That’s nearly 900 pounds of basketball muscle. Wagner outscored and out-rebounded them all – combined. It wasn’t even close. He played 28 minutes to their 35 and delivered 15 points and 8 rebounds. The three MSU centers totalled just 12 points and 3 rebounds.
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When the enormous defensive improvement in this Michigan team is discussed – the Wolverines are No. 6 in defensive efficiency, up from 69th last year, 92nd the year before that – a lot of the credit is rightfully accorded to point guard Zavier Simpson. Although he was not included on the Big Ten All-Defensive team, Simpson’s excellence as an on-ball defender has been the key to the conference's top-rated defense.
Simpson was exceptional again on Saturday, this time matched against the Spartans’ surging Cassius Winston. MSU became another team to struggle to generate plays out of its system against Michigan, earning assists on just 10 of its 24 field goals. Opponents are averaging just 10.6 assists during the Wolverines eight-game winning streak.
So much of Michigan State’s offensive failure in the second half, though, was a product of Wagner’s ownership of the baseline. The Spartans had seven offensive rebounds before the break, which were essential to building their 29-26 lead. They only had two after the break. Wagner controlled the traffic, Livers “face-boxed-out” Jackson and such players as Simpson and Matthews collected the ball.
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Wagner finished the half 0-for-7 from the field, five of the misses coming on 3-pointers. He was 4-of-7 after the break, though he had only the one made three.
“All of a sudden, a few went in for us and Mo got going a little bit,” Beilein said. “I told him -- this is my great motivation at halftime – ‘Hey, Mo, are you going to make a shot? Because right now you're stinking the place up. Just make one shot.’ We played with each other like that. He just smiled: ‘Yes, Coach, I can do that.’ ”
He can do a whole lot more now.
