Injuries not end to title hopes
Michigan, ’Nova find ways around significant losses
Coach Juwan Howard has Michigan in the Sweet 16 even without a key player.
INDIANAPOLIS — Villanova spent all season operating with the security of having senior point guard Collin Gillespie leading the attack. Michigan knew it could depend on versatile veteran Isaiah Livers.
Now the Wildcats and Wolverines have figured out how to win without them in the NCAA Tournament.
Gillespie is out with a serious knee injury suffered in the regular season’s final week. Livers is out indefinitely with a foot injury diagnosed during the Big Ten Tournament. And both teams are in the Sweet 16 after successfully adjusting so far to those major late-season hits.
It hasn’t been easy for either team. But they’re still advancing, with the fifth-seeded Wildcats meeting top-seeded Baylor in Saturday’s South Region semifinal and the No. 1-seeded Wolverines facing No. 4 Florida State the following day in the East.
Gillespie provided Villanova with scoring (14 points), playmaking (4.6 assists) and 3-point shooting (nearly 38%).
But he went down in the first half against Creighton on March 3 with a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
In the NCAA Tournamet, however, Justin Moore — who assumed duties at the point — scored 15 points in each round after averaging 12.6 entering the tournament.
For Michigan, the 6-7, 230-pound Livers is a senior captain averaging 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 43% from 3-point range. But he hasn’t played since the Wolverines won their Big Ten Tournament opener.
Coach Juwan Howard said after Sunday’s win against LSU that it would take multiple Wolverines to step up to cover for Livers’ impact in multiple areas.
So far, responded.
Johns, a 6-8 junior, has tallied 18 points and three blocks through two NCAA games after averaging 4.1 points coming in. And against LSU, senior guard Eli Brooks and Wake Forest senior transfer Chaundee Brown Jr. each came through with season highs of 21 points.
It will take more of those types of performances for the Wolverines and Wildcats to stick around. they’ve