Wagner helps fire up red-hot Michigan
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Ask Moe Wagner who he looked up to when he was younger, and suddenly the Michigan big man’s fiery demeanor makes a little more sense.
“Kevin Garnett was always my biggest idol, even though our play isn’t really similar. Just the way he brings intensity and energy to his team,” Wagner said. “That always was something that really impressed me.”
Now Wagner is providing his own emotional leadership to a Michigan team that has become one of college basketball’s most remarkable stories this March.
The Wolverines have won six in a row since they were involved in a plane accident on the eve of their Big Ten Tournament opener.
After winning that conference tourney, they opened the NCAAs with victories against Oklahoma State and Louisville — with Wagner scoring 26 points in the win over Louisville that sent Michigan (26-11) to the Sweet 16 against Oregon (31-5) on Thursday night.
The 19-year-old Wagner is in his second season with the Wolverines. He showed some promise in 2015-’16, but averaged only 8.6 minutes a game as a freshman. He’s been a starter the whole way this season, teaming up with D.J. Wilson to give Michigan some unexpected production in the frontcourt.
The Wolverines entered the season with high hopes thanks to the presence of seniors Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin.
The 6-foot-11 Wagner has made them even tougher to defend. The sophomore from Berlin is averaging 12.2 points a game. He’s made 41% of his three-point attempts in 2016-’17, putting even more pressure on opposing teams.
An expressive player on the court, Wagner admits he’s still learning how to keep his emotions under control.
Coach John Beilein says Wagner can be hard on himself, but he has an upbeat attitude.
“I don’t want to rob him of his energy and his passion,” Beilein said. “If you heard him in timeouts — I mean, he is really into it. And it’s encouraging things he’s saying.”
Kansas-Purdue: Two national player of the year front-runners, Frank Mason III of Kansas and Caleb Swanigan of Purdue, will lead their teams against each other in the other Midwest semifinal.
In many ways, they’re a microcosm of their teams.
Mason is the granitetough point guard whose ability to get up and down the floor in a blink has caused nightmares for the rest of the Big 12 the past four years. Swanigan is the 6-foot-9, 250pound bruiser whose ability to dominate the post helped the Boilermakers dominate the Big Ten.
The Jayhawks are the essence of speed and shooting, Purdue the epitome of size and strength.
“There is no doubt they’re going to attack us with that match-up,” Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said. “And there is no doubt we’re going to attack their match-up at the other end. And both teams are going to try to prevent that.”
With clashing styles, the No. 1 seed Jayhawks and fifth-seeded Boilermakers promise to deliver a slobber-knocker when they meet at the sold-out Sprint Center, a short drive down Interstate 70 from the Kansas campus in Lawrence