2016-17 2k classic

One team found shooting a little easier than the other. [Joseph Dressler]

If this is a fever dream, please don't wake me up.

A little over 11 months after SMU played like men among boys in a 24-point win over Michigan, the Wolverines returned the favor to win the 2K Classic due to imposing size, dominant defense, and red-hot shooting from Derrick Walton.

I'll let that all sink in for a moment.

This was the best all-around performance by John Beilein's squad since the 2013-14 Big Ten title team. Michigan scored 1.32 points per possession while holding SMU to 0.88. The Wolverines turned the ball over four times and forced 13 Mustang turnovers. They hit 67% of their shots inside the arc and 43% of their three-pointers. They never trailed; from the 6:18 mark of the first half onward, the margin was never within double digits.

After going scoreless in Thursday night's win over Marquette, Walton had the best shooting performance of his career, hitting 7-of-12 threes to score a game-high 23 points and dishing out five assists with no turnovers. Fellow senior Zak Irvin was nearly as impressive, posting 16 points on 14 shot equivalents, grabbing six boards, and handing out five assists against a lone turnover.

Zak Irvin took home 2K Classic MVP honors. [Dressler]

The big story, however, was once again Michigan's frontcourt play. SMU power forward Semi Ojeleye entered the game averaging 23 points. With DJ Wilson seemingly everywhere on defense, Ojeleye managed only 11 on 4-for-13 shooting, and he was far from alone in his struggles; SMU shot 39% as a team. Wilson's six points, three rebounds, two steals, and two blocks don't come close to encapsulating his impact tonight. With Wilson and either Moe Wagner, Mark Donnal, or behemoth freshman Jon Teske manning the interior, SMU hardly had a clean look all evening.

Wagner and Donnal once again had efficient games on offense to go along with their strong work on defense. Donnal had nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and capped the sequence of the night for Michigan: after Wilson drew a foul on a highlight-worthy dunk, Donnal rebounded the ensuing free throw, popped to the perimeter, and was rewarded for his effort with a three-pointer. Wagner had a quieter night because of some early foul trouble, but still managed to hit one of two three-pointers and pull down a few impressive rebounds. Teske made a surprise appearance early and held his own, forcing an SMU miss with his rather astonishing length and hitting a pair of free throws after getting fouled on a pick-and-roll.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman found his groove with a couple strong takes to the basket, and after a slow start from the perimeter he eventually found his shot, finishing with 12 points on eight attempts. A quiet game from Duncan Robinson (2 points, 0-for-2 FG) was really the only negative of the game, and his role has diminished greatly with the emergence of Wilson at the four.

While it's dangerous to put too much stock in an early-season game, this marks two consecutive great performances by Michigan against teams that were supposed to pose significant challenges. That they've accomplished this on the strength of suffocating defense only adds to the excitement. There may not have been much buzz surrounding this team heading into the season, but that is already in the process of changing. It appears that, once again, John Beilein has successfully transformed his team for the better.

Marquette had no answer for Michigan's size. Seriously. [Joseph Dressler]

"They're just too big," said Karl Ravech, the ESPN play-by-play man. He was talking about a Michigan basketball team. It was a true statement.

"The defense by Michigan has really been outstanding," Fran Fraschilla added a short time later.

By the second half, the two were discussing how future opponents would handle Michigan's size as Moe Wagner demonstrated precisely why they were on that topic:

MOE WAGNER IS GOOD. pic.twitter.com/W44ug1ypvS

— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) November 18, 2016

The key to it all was the insertion of DJ Wilson into the starting lineup in Duncan Robinson's stead. Both players flourished in their new roles. Wilson looked every bit as good as he did in the season's first two games, if not better, tallying his first career double-double with ten points and 13 boards and filling out the box score with a pair of assists and blocks. Robinson came off the bench to match his season point total, hitting 3-of-4 three-point attempts to finish with ten himself. The switch allowed John Beilein to unleash Wilson and pick ideal matchups for Robinson; it paid off immediately.

Michigan jumped out to an early lead due to hot outside shooting and a torrent of Marquette turnovers. Even the big men got into the act, with Wagner, Wilson, and Mark Donnal all connecting on first-half triples. Robinson's pair of first-half bombs got the lead up to double digits, and a strong stretch by Donnal—his tip-in of a Xavier Simpson miss elicited Ravech's comment—helped push the margin up to 24 points at the break.

DJ Wilson dominated the boards. [Dressler]

The Wolverines were able to set it on cruise control for the second half. They eased up a little too much at times, committing some sloppy turnovers to allow Marquette to get as close as 12 points down, but every run was swiftly rebuffed.

The frontcourt was the story of the night, as it should've been: Mark Donnal went 6-for-9 for 15 points, Wilson was everywhere, and Wagner tallied nine points and the SportsCenter posterization. That overshadowed a quietly solid performance from the others. Zak Irvin had his midrange game going early and started knocking down threes, too, on his way to a 16-6-6 stat line marred only by four turnovers.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman finished with 15 via frequent trips to the line and some tough twos. Derrick Walton and Xavier Simpson didn't need to score to make an impact. Both played excellent perimeter defense and the offense didn't skip a beat when Walton sat with two fouls early on. Notably, Beilein let Walton re-enter the game with two fouls midway through the half, and he rewarded his coach's confidence by not picking up another the rest of the way.

The resounding victory puts Michigan in tomorrow night's 2K Classic title game against SMU, another team that looks like it will surpass preseason expectations after a comfortable 76-67 win over Pitt in the other semifinal. That game tips at 7 pm on ESPN2. A bigger, burlier Mustangs squad should provide a tougher matchup; if Michigan is able to get through that close to as well as they did tonight's game, it'll be time to get really excited about where this season can go.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Derrick Walton expects to be at full strength after rolling his ankle in Friday's win over Howard. [Photo: Marc-Gregor Campredon]

After winning both 2K Classic "regional" games last weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan gets a major step up in competition for this week's championship round at Madison Square Garden.

Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30, but the other semifinal (Pitt/SMU) tips off at 7 in MSG, so there's a good chance this ends up starting later than the listing. Set your DVRs and sleep schedules accordingly.

THE US

Derrick Walton didn't look quite right for the second half of Friday's game and all of Sunday's after tweaking an ankle late in the first half against Howard. It apparently bothered him even though he played 35 and 36 minutes in those two games:

“I was coming down on the break and I tried to stop and go into a step-back,” Walton said on Sunday when discussing the Friday night injury. “I kinda jammed it and slightly rolled it. It’s real stiff. I did a couple things after the last game and up until this game. It’s still a little stiff, but my guys carried me (today).”

Michigan ranked 31st on KenPom so start the season and Marquette 47th, but the Golden Eagles have surpassed the Wolverines following two blowout wins to open the season, including one against a common opponent. Marquette beat Howard by 32 on Monday; Michigan's margin was "only" 18. That followed an impressive season-opening 95-71 win over #68 Vanderbilt.

Marquette has five players averaging double-digit points through two games, led by senior wing JaJuan Johnson, who's at 17.5 points per game this season after emerging as a top scoring option over the second half of 2015-16. Johnson is an efficient scorer both inside and outside the arc; it's yet to be seen if he's rid himself of his turnover issues of the previous two seasons.

6'5" guard Haanif Cheatham, another effective inside-outside scorer with past turnover problems, has been their best all-around offensive player. He's averaging 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Cheatham has a nine-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio this season; last year it was 73-to-88. Sophomore point guard Traci Carter is the more trustworthy distributor, but he only shot 37% from two and 31% from three last year. While Carter's backup, freshman Markus Howard, looks to be a better shooter given the limited information available—he's 3-for-4 on threes—he's showing his inexperience; he's committed five fouls and four turnovers in 27 minutes.

Starting four Katin Reinhardt is a 6'6", 210-pound college basketball nomad; the former four-star prospect started his career at UNLV, where he started 34 games as a freshman, then transferred to USC and started 40 games over two seasons there before moving on to Marquette as a grad transfer. He's another sharpshooter from the outside—he's attempted nearly as many threes as twos in his career—but he doesn't have much impact on the boards. His backup, 6'7" freshman Sam Hauser, has been much more productive on the boards, and he's also 7-of-11 threes this season; he's only attempted one two-pointer.

The Golden Eagles have a legit post presence in 6'11", 250-pound former Indiana transfer Luke Fischer, who's shot 61% from the field in each of his last two seasons at Marquette. He's an excellent shot-blocker and offensive rebounder; oddly, he has Nnanna Egwu-like (or last year's Michigan centers-like) low rebounding percentages on the defensive end.

This will be a great test of Michigan's defense. If they're playing sound, aggressive defense on the perimeter, they can turn the tide of the game by converting turnovers into transition opportunties. If they're screwing up rotations and allowing blow-bys by guards, it could be a long night. We've seen both sides of that in the first two games. DJ Wilson continuing his thus-far breakout season would be huge; he can be a mismatch against Marquette's smaller fours as long as he can stay in front of them on defense.

THE SECTION WHERE I PREDICT THE SAME THING KENPOM DOES

Marquette by 1.

[Hit THE JUMP for previews of Pitt and SMU, Michigan's potential Friday opponents.]