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With a potential breakthrough PGA Tour victory well within reach as he stood on Pebble Beach’s 18th tee on Sunday, Maverick McNealy relished in the moment.

“I love being under pressure because you get the adrenaline pumping and you can hit shots that you can't hit under normal circumstances,” McNealy said. “I knew my heart was racing and I had a lot of adrenaline pumping on 18, so I just made sure I used it.”

McNealy proceeded to smash a drive 278 yards on a perfect line, dangerously close to the rocks, and leave himself just 230 yards in. He followed that with a beautiful 3-iron – and equally pretty club twirl – to 22 feet.

And though he ended up making birdie and finishing two shots back of winner Daniel Berger, the 25-year-old Stanford grad proved yet again that he is mature beyond his years.

“I've always been a guy that has to earn my own confidence,” said McNealy, who is projected to climb to No. 126 in the world rankings after his best career finish on Tour. “I can't stand there and just tell myself I'm good at something or I'm doing something right. I have to earn it with myself too. I feel like I earned a lot of confidence this week.”

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Daniel Berger got into the mix quickly with an eagle and finished it off with one even better, holing a 30-foot putt on the par-5 18th for a 7-under 65 and a two-shot victory Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Berger won for the second time since the PGA Tour returned to golf from the COVID-19 pandemic, starting with a playoff victory at Colonial last June.

This was another wild chase on a crisp, breezy day along the Pacific, and Jordan Spieth went from leading to lagging. He went from a two-shot lead to a three-shot deficit through six holes, going from the leading character to a support role. Spieth birdied the last two holes for a 70 to tie for third with Patrick Cantlay (68).

Maverick McNealy, who played at Stanford and once lived in a house near the 15th green at Pebble Beach, made five birdies over his last eight holes for a 66 and was tied for the lead after his eagle putt on the 18th stopped inches away.

Daniel Berger eagled the final hole Sunday at Pebble Beach to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by two shots.

Berger was in the group behind him, and fired a fairway metal into the heart of the 18th green, 30 feet away. He only needed two putts for birdie to win, and instead finished with a flair.

“That was the best putt I’ve ever hit in my life,” Berger said.

Berger finished at 18-under 270 for his fourth career victory.

Spieth finished in the top four for the second week in a row, a strong sign that his game is coming back after a drought that dates to his 2017 Open Championship victory at Royal Birkdale.

The real heartache belonged to Nate Lashley.

Lashley, playing in the final group with Spieth, nearly holed his wedge on the 11th for a tap-in birdie that took him to 16 under and leading by one shot. He was tied with Berger with three holes to play when Lashley went long on the 16th hole.

He pitched out to 12 feet, missed the par putt and then missed the next two putts from the 3-foot range. That gave him a triple bogey from which he could not recovery.

A field that featured only three players from the top 20 in the world got one of them as a winner — Berger, who was outside the top 100 in the world when golf returned last June as he tried to come back from injuries.

Cantlay again was vexed by the Pebble Beach greens. He had five putts from inside the 15-foot range on the back nine, most looking as though they had a chance.

Maverick McNealy was insightful as he nearly won his first PGA Tour title Sunday at Pebble Beach.

Berger hit 4-iron from 229 yards to 20 feet and rolled in the eagle putt on the par-5 second hole to catch Spieth early, and he followed with an aggressive drive that left a flip wedge to 5 feet for birdie on No. 3. He had three eagle putts on the day, narrowly missing a 10-foot attempt on the sixth hole.

Lashley quietly moved into contention with so much attention on Spieth. Cantlay was never too far away. McNealy showed up late with his 31 on the back nine.

“I had the adrenaline pumping coming down the stretch there and feelings that I hadn’t really felt on the golf course in a little while, trying to close this out and give myself a chance,” McNealy.

Ultimately, it was Berger in position to win and he delivered an eagle he won’t soon forget.

Berger seals win at Pebble with 30-foot eagle putt

Published in Breaking News
Sunday, 14 February 2021 16:34

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Daniel Berger got into the mix quickly with an eagle and finished it off with one even better, holing a 30-foot putt on the par-5 18th for a 7-under 65 and a 2-shot victory Sunday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Berger won for the second time since the PGA Tour returned to golf from its COVID-19 pause, starting with a playoff victory at Colonial last June.

This was another wild chase on a crisp, breezy day along the Pacific, and Jordan Spieth went from leading to lagging. He went from a 2-shot lead to a 3-shot deficit through six holes, going from the leading character to a supporting role. Spieth birdied the last two holes for a 70 to tie for third with Patrick Cantlay (68).

Maverick McNealy, who played at Stanford and once lived in a house near the 15th green at Pebble Beach, made five birdies over his last eight holes for a 66 and was tied for the lead after his eagle putt on the 18th stopped inches away.

Berger was in the group behind him, and fired a fairway metal into the heart of the 18th green, 30 feet away. He needed only two putts for birdie to win, and instead finished with flair.

"That was the best putt I've ever hit in my life," Berger said.

Berger finished at 18-under 270 for his fourth career victory.

Spieth finished in the top four for the second week in a row, a strong sign that his game is coming back after a drought that dates to his 2017 Open victory at Royal Birkdale.

The real heartache belonged to Nate Lashley.

Lashley, playing in the final group with Spieth, nearly holed his wedge on the 11th for a tap-in birdie that took him to 16 under and a 1-shot lead. Lashley was tied with Berger with three holes to play when he went long on the 16th hole.

He pitched out to 12 feet, missed the par putt and then missed the next two putts from the 3-foot range. That gave him a triple bogey from which he could not recover.

A field that featured only three players from the top 20 in the world got one of them as a winner -- Berger (No. 15), who was outside the top 100 in the world when golf returned last June as he tried to come back from injuries.

Cantlay again was vexed by the Pebble Beach greens. He had five putts from inside the 15-foot range on the back nine, most looking as though they had a chance.

Berger hit 4-iron from 229 yards to 20 feet and rolled in the eagle putt on the par-5 second hole to catch Spieth early, and he followed with an aggressive drive that left a flip wedge to 5 feet for birdie on No. 3. He had three eagle putts on the day, narrowly missing a 10-foot attempt on the sixth hole.

Lashley quietly moved into contention as much of the attention was on Spieth. Cantlay was never too far away. McNealy showed up late with his 31 on the back nine.

"I had the adrenaline pumping coming down the stretch there and feelings that I hadn't really felt on the golf course in a little while, trying to close this out and give myself a chance," McNealy said.

Ultimately, it was Berger in position to win, and he delivered an eagle he won't soon forget.

Walker on Celtics' skid: 'We need to play harder'

Published in Basketball
Sunday, 14 February 2021 16:49

After the Boston Celtics suffered their worst loss of the season Sunday afternoon -- a 104-91 drubbing at the hands of the Washington Wizards, who entered Sunday with the worst record in the Eastern Conference -- star Kemba Walker had a simple diagnosis for his team's malaise.

"[We] just need to play harder," Walker said. "That's it. We're not playing hard. We're not playing as hard as we know we can.

"When you play hard, great things happen. And right now, it just hasn't been consistent, our play. So like I said, we're going to continue to watch film and learn from our mistakes and get better."

The Celtics are now 13-13, the first time they are .500 or worse this late in the season in six years. The defeat was made worse by the fact it came on the heels of a loss to the Detroit Pistons at home Friday -- who had been the worst team in the East before leapfrogging Washington by beating the Celtics.

An optimist could attempt to downplay Friday's result due to it being the second half of a back-to-back against a rested opponent. There was no such excuse Sunday, as the Wizards improved to just 3-14 this season when Russell Westbrook is in the lineup by controlling play throughout, particularly in the second half.

While the Celtics made a late run in garbage time to make the final score look respectable, the Wizards -- who entered Sunday with the NBA's 29th-ranked defense -- led by close to 20 points for most of the second half as Boston clanged one jumper after another.

Walker and Jaylen Brown each scored 25 points and shot a combined 21-for-39 from the field and 6-for-12 from 3-point range, but their teammates couldn't buy a bucket. The rest of the Celtics were a pathetic 12-for-51 (23.6%) from the field Sunday, including 3-for-23 from 3-point range.

Boston had a span of nearly 21 minutes from the middle of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth that included 13 consecutive misses from everyone on the team other than Walker and Brown.

"It could be," Brown said, when asked if this weekend could be considered rock bottom for the Celtics. "It's up to the mentality of everybody, how we come in every day and prepare to work.

"If you let it be a rock-bottom mentality, then that's what it's gonna be. [If] you come to play, then it'll show. And today, we weren't very good."

Playing without Marcus Smart, who has missed the past two weeks with a calf strain, the Celtics' lack of depth -- particularly on the wing -- and scoring punch has been exposed.

Outside of rookie Payton Pritchard, who has impressed and carved out a guaranteed spot in coach Brad Stevens' rotation, no one on the bench has been capable of providing consistent scoring. Veteran Jeff Teague, who was brought in to back up Walker, has been awful, shooting a paltry 28.6% on 2-point shots. He has been a healthy scratch in the past two games Walker has played.

While Pritchard has quickly earned Stevens' trust, Boston's lottery pick, Aaron Nesmith, has not. He did play Sunday, finishing with five points and five rebounds in 29 minutes, but has been noticeably absent from the rotation this season despite the Celtics repeatedly being short on wing players.

To that end, Nesmith's 29 minutes Sunday make up 20% of his time on the court all season long.

After the game, Stevens pointed to garbage time, when the end of Boston's bench made a run to make the final score more respectable, as something to build on moving forward.

"There's a lot," Stevens said, when asked what needs to improve for the Celtics to get back to playing the way they are used to. "We just have to be better at controlling the things that we can control, playing together the right way on both ends of the court.

"If our team can play more like that last five minutes, then we can be as good as we can be. If not, we will be average ... We have to play well to win. It's not like we are going to roll the balls out and win that game. We have to play well, so when we don't play well, and we don't take care of the little things, we definitely have no chance."

After this weekend, the Celtics -- who have now lost four of their past five, and seven of their past 10 -- will be aspiring to get back to average play, but things won't get any easier with MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets visiting Boston on Tuesday.

As Boston takes the next 48 hours to prepare for that game, Stevens -- like Walker -- said playing hard is going to be a prerequisite for anyone who wants to see the floor outside of the team's mainstays.

"I think we've got to look at everything," Stevens said. "I know we've talked a lot about lineups and consistency and who plays and who doesn't play. Guys that really move the ball or guys that really run the spots and really execute hard have probably got to be the priority, playing-wise, for now around our very best players. And I think that that's where we're gonna have to get to, because that's clearly an issue."

It is not often in modern day rugby somebody will make you jump out of your seat and scream at the television.

Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit provided that moment for the Welsh nation in their living rooms with his Murrayfield magic on Saturday thanks to a virtuoso two-try display.

It led former Wales captain Jonathan Davies to declare "a star is born". Few will disagree.

The signs have been there with Rees-Zammit's Wales squad call-up at 19 and a try on his first start against Georgia in November 2020.

A fine finish against Ireland in the Six Nations win was followed up the double against Scotland for a tally of four tries in Rees-Zammit's first six internationals.

His Edinburgh exploits, though, have propelled the 20-year-old Gloucester star to a wider audience.

"I did not see that coming at all, that was very special," said Rees-Zammit.

"It means so much to me and my family. Hopefully I can do it again in our next few games.

"I turned my phone on for a split second afterwards and it was going mad! I'm not focused on that, though, I'm enjoying the win with the boys.

"We've worked hard as a group to try and get a performance and win. We know it wasn't pretty, but all that matters is getting the five points."

His stunning second try at Murrayfield seems destined to be continually replayed.

"I was calling for the ball nice and early as I saw there was a lot of space on the outside. Thankfully Willis [Halaholo] gave it to me. I tried to use my gas to get on the outside of their winger," he said.

"Thankfully I did that and saw there was no backfield [cover], which is always nice to see. It gives you that opportunity to put it through, and try and get the bounce. It bounced up lovely for me!"

Rees-Zammit has been around the Wales squad for a year and admitted it took time to adjust.

"It's a lot different to the [English] Premiership, the physicality and speed of the game," said Rees-Zammit.

"When I first came into camp for the last Six Nations it was a shock, even in training. I didn't play, but in training I was blowing after five minutes! I've worked with the S&C [strength and conditioning] squad and all the management and am a lot fitter now."

Rees-Zammit will not claim he is the finished article and defensively he was found wanting on a couple of occasions against Scotland, which was pointed out by Wales coach Wayne Pivac after the match. In attack though, he is electrifying.

A Triple Crown awaits on 27 February in Cardiff if Wales can defeat England.

"Two out of two wins a great start to the campaign," said Rees-Zammit.

"We've got England in two weeks which will be a huge game at the Principality.

"We're going to be as motivated as ever to go into that game and try and get a win. The boys will be absolutely buzzing and we'll go all guns blazing for that game. Hopefully we put on a performance that gets a result."

Whether Rees-Zammit goes back to play for Gloucester at Bath on Friday remains to be seen, but club-mate Jonny May will be rested by England.

The two wingers could then face off in Cardiff the following weekend.

"I train with him every day and have learned a lot," said Rees-Zammit.

"It's going to be interesting to actually play against him. I did in the autumn, but he wasn't the opposite winger. It's a bit different this time. It should be a good show. I'm sure Jonny will say he's excited to play against me, and I'm the same."

So can Wales fans start dream about a Grand Slam?

"Not yet," was Rees-Zammit's cautious reply.

"We've got a massive game against England and have Italy and France away. It helps getting the first two wins, but by no means does that win you the trophy.

"It's head-down now. Hopefully we train well over the next couple of weeks and put in a performance against England.

"We're not starting very well. We need to come out the blocks a lot harder. Both games, Ireland and Scotland, we started with a 20-minute period of conceding penalties, and lacked a lot of discipline, they [both] took the lead.

"Thankfully we're coming out of the blocks hard in the second half. We're going to try and replicate that from the starting whistle."

Even talk of the Triple Crown, Grand Slams or Six Nations titles seems strange given Wales only won three out of 10 competitive matches in Pivac's first year in charge and finished fifth in the 2020 Six Nations.

"Those campaigns were building for this," said Rees-Zammit.

"There's been a lot of different line-ups, and Wayne (Pivac), Stephen (Jones) and Gethin (Jenkins) with all the other management are setting up how they want us to play. It's starting to click a bit now.

"We're not overly happy with our performances in the first couple of weeks, so we've got a lot of work-ons to take into the build-up to England.

"We're nowhere near the finished article, hopefully we'll show that in the next few games and can put on a performance worthy of that."

Rain Halts 63rd Daytona 500 After 15 Laps

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 13:34

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second year in a row, Mother Nature brought the NASCAR Cup Series season opener to a halt early in the going at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

The 63rd Daytona 500 was stopped by lightning, and then rain, just 15 laps into the scheduled 200-lap distance and moments after a 16-car pileup forced the race’s second caution flag.

It’s the second year in a row that The Great American Race has been interrupted by weather. Last year’s Daytona 500 saw just 20 laps of racing before rain pushed the conclusion of the event to Monday night.

Polesitter Alex Bowman paced the opening lap of competition in his No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, before a group of Ford Mustangs led by Kevin Harvick teamed up to seize control of the proceedings.

Harvick led the second lap and maintained that position until the accident and subsequent weather delay that stopped the action. When racing is able to resume, he’ll be scored as the leader.

Second through fifth in the order are Christopher Bell, 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and defending series titlist Chase Elliott.

The lap-14 crash that drastically altered the proceedings was sparked by contact between Bell’s Toyota and the Ford of Aric Almirola that sent Almirola spinning into the oncoming pack from second place.

It demolished a host of pre-race favorites, including Bowman, Almirola, Daniel Suarez, David Ragan, Erik Jones and Ryan Newman, who was making his return to the Daytona 500 a year after a harrowing crash on the last lap of the 2020 edition that hospitalized him for three days.

One driver who wasn’t involved, however, was defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who dropped to the back of the pack early and picked his way through the melee in turns three and four.

Hamlin was scored 16th when the red flag was displayed at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, with 24 cars shown on the lead lap and 185 laps remaining in the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing.

As of 4:25 p.m. ET, four strong rainstorms had hit Daytona Int’l Speedway, with precipitation still falling.

However, the chances of resuming Sunday night are somewhat promising. Rain chances will dip below 50 percent after 5 p.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service.

McLaughlin Soaks In First Big Gator Championship

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 14:00

BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Max McLaughlin walked into Volusia Speedway Park with one mission —  win races.

He captured one victory, three top-fives and four top-10s to take the 50th DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator championship for the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds.

The banner win came with a dose of redemption that had been on McLaughlin’s mind since he drove for Heinke-Baldwin Racing in 2017.

“Not only have I wanted to win at this race track for a long time, but to get a DIRTcar Nationals championship is really special,” said McLaughlin. “I almost got one in 2017 when I tied with Brett Hearn. He ended up winning the final night which gave the championship to him. It’s been bothering me for a few years that we didn’t win it. Now, this makes up for it.”

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the multi-discipline race car driver at half-mile dirt oval. The 20-year-old driver of the No. 32C made contact with seven-time Series champion Matt Sheppard in turn one, lap one during the rain-delayed Feature on Feb. 11. McLaughlin went on to win the race with Sheppard finishing fifth, however the drivers were involved in an altercation afterward.

“I made a mistake hitting the water on lap one and got into Sheppard and got punched in the face for it,” McLaughlin said. “That’s alright. Whatever. I got one black eye, one busted lip, and one DIRTcar Nationals championship.”

Sheppard was penalized.

McLaughlin now has his first two Super DIRTcar Series wins with the Sweentener’s Plus Big Block.

“Thank you, Vic Coffey and everyone at the Sweetener’s Plus race team, for giving me the opportunity,” he said. “We won our first Heat Race of the week and I remember saying in an interview that this team has won here before and now it’s up to me and that’s what we did.”

McLaughlin finished in an average position of 4.5 and accumulated 594 points in four completed 30-lap features. Just behind him was Billy Decker in his Gypsum Wholesalers Big Block who finished with 589 points. Decker had four top-five finishes to finish the week in second place overall which is a good indicator that the No. 91 will be contending for a Super DIRTcar Series championship in 2021.

Michael Maresca finished in third place overall and came out with his first Super DIRTcar Series win. T

I-30 To Sanction IMCA STARS Mod Lite Series

Published in Racing
Sunday, 14 February 2021 15:00

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Promoter Tracey Clay caught lightning in a bottle last season with the addition of IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars to weekly programs at I-30 Speedway.

She’ll do that again in 2021, sanctioning the new IMCA STARS Mod Lite division at her central Arkansas speedplant.

“We have run this class 15 years or so. They started as dwarf cars and became Mod Lites. I love the class – they’re a great group of drivers,” Clay said. “I talked to (STARS president and now division director) Jimmy May at our Mod Lite special last fall about the IMCA sanction. I told him I was pro-IMCA and would definitely do it.”

“They announced the Mod Lites would be IMCA sanctioned in December and I said I’m in.”

I-30 is IMCA’s longest sanctioned Modified track in the state, at 31 consecutive years. The IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season for Modifieds, Stock Cars and STARS Mod Lites opens on March 20 and continues through Sept. 18, the second night of Mod Lite Madness.

“IMCA Modifieds have run here for years and we have so many good drivers in that class. The Stock Cars made a big splash last year and really got people interested. We averaged around 14 cars a night last year and I wouldn’t be surprised if we were closer to 20 this year,” Clay said. “The last few years, the Mod Lite racing has just been really, really exciting. The interest has really picked up from drivers and fans.”

IMCA Vice President of Operations Jim Stannard shared that confidence.

“I-30 has been one of our premier tracks for Modifieds for many years and Stock Cars quickly became another fan favorite in their first season at Little Rock,” he commented. “We look forward to building on an already strong Mod Lite division.”

Three years ago, Joel Dahmen called Sung Kang a cheater. Sunday at Pebble Beach, the two played in the same group together for the first time since that Quicken Loans National, where Dahmen accused Kang of purposely taking a wrong drop.

Dahmen could only tweet a worried emoji on Saturday evening after receiving a text from the PGA Tour that he’d be teeing off No. 10 at the 9:56 a.m. alongside C.T. Pan and Kang.

So, how’d it go? Dahmen shot even-par 72, one better than Kang’s 73. As for the conversation, Dahmen’s caddie, Geno Bonnalie, tweeted afterward that Kang came with the icebreaker early.

“My friends told me I should push you off a cliff,” Kang reportedly joked on the opening tee box.

Bonnalie added: “Joel laughed. It was all good.”

It was a far cry from three Julys ago when Dahmen and Kang argued for nearly a half-hour after Kang hooked his second shot into a hazard during the final round at TPC Potomac and then took a drop some 170 yards closer to the hole than where Dahmen believed the ball last crossed into the hazard.

“Kang cheated,” Dahmen later tweeted. “He took a bad drop from a hazard. I argued until I was blue. I lost.” 

While Kang and Dahmen would speak separately about the incident in the coming weeks, it would be five weeks until they spoke to each other, Dahmen revealed last May on Golf.com’s Subpar Podcast.

“He goes, ‘Joel, I want you to apologize to me,’” Dahmen said. “I said, ‘Apologize to me? Look around, you should apologize to everybody else that was in that field. You took money from them. You did all this stuff.’ We just went back and forth about apologizing and finally he’s like, ‘You did this; you ruined my reputation,’ and I go, ‘You did this to yourself; I didn’t do this.’”

Dahmen added: “We have not spoke since.”

Until Sunday.

Michigan wins in first game since 3-week hiatus

Published in Breaking News
Sunday, 14 February 2021 13:33

MADISON, Wis. -- Michigan only needed 20 minutes or so to shake off the rust from a three-week layoff.

Isaiah Livers scored 20 points, Hunter Dickinson had 11 points and 15 rebounds and the third-ranked Wolverines rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat No. 21 Wisconsin 67-59 on Sunday.

The Wolverines (14-1, 9-1 Big Ten) hadn't played since a 70-53 victory at Purdue on Jan. 22. Michigan announced the next day it was pausing all athletic activities after several people linked to the athletic department tested positive for a COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate.

"I was outside, I was doing jump rope, I was doing everything necessary to stay in shape," Livers said. "A lot of other guys were, too. We all had a program. We all stayed true to it, and obviously [you saw] the outcome. We're getting back in our rhythm, back in that Michigan basketball rhythm."

That was apparent down the stretch.

After trailing most of the way, Michigan scored the game's final eight points. Wisconsin (15-7, 9-6) collected just six points and one basket over the final 7:45.

"We're fit to play, I think, any kind of style -- a fast-paced game, a slow-paced game, a grind-it-out game, whatever," said Dickinson, who also had five blocks. "With our depth, I think we have the ability to do so much out there, win in so many different ways."

Dickinson made numerous big plays with the game on the line.

Michigan trailed 57-56 when Dickinson got the offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer from Eli Brooks and found Livers, who sank a 3-pointer with 2:48 left. D'Mitrik Trice tied the game by hitting two free throws, but Michigan pulled ahead for good on Dickinson's putback with 1:46 remaining.

"I think the offensive rebounding, that was the backbreaker today," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "You can't give up those types of offensive rebounds at crucial times."

Trice scored 16 points, Aleem Ford had 15 and Jonathan Davis had 11 for Wisconsin. Michigan's Franz Wagner had 10 of his 14 points in the second half.

Wisconsin led by as many as 14 in the first half and took a 39-27 lead into the locker room.

Wisconsin shot 53.8% overall and went 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the opening half against a Michigan team that came in holding opponents to 37.4% shooting, third best in Division I. Ford led the way by scoring 11 points in the first 8½ minutes.

But the Badgers shot 7-of-28 in the second half and missed their last 11 3-point attempts.

"What we did in the first half is what we wanted to do in the second half," Ford said. "But that's what they did to us. They put us on our heels, made us a bit uncomfortable on the offensive end and they were able to get comfortable on the offensive end themselves."

Wisconsin led 42-32 early in the second half when Brad Davison drove to the basket and his elbow hit Michigan's Mike Smith in the face. Michigan coach Juwan Howard showed his displeasure and wanted a flagrant foul called on the play -- but the only call the Wolverines got was a technical foul against their bench.

Trice made one of the two ensuing free throws, but the incident fired up Michigan. Smith responded with a three-point play as Michigan began its comeback.

"We're all family," Howard said. "It just goes to show you. The family got tested, and everybody banded like brothers for their family."

BIG PICTURE

Michigan: The Wolverines showed their toughness by the way they recovered from a slow start and dominated the game's final minutes. Michigan beat Wisconsin 77-54 on Jan. 12 and became the first team to sweep a regular-season series from the Badgers since 2017-18, when Michigan State and Nebraska both did it. The Badgers had won their past eight rematch games with teams that beat them earlier in the same season.

Wisconsin: The Badgers needed more from their starting five, who combined to score 10 points and shoot 2-of-16 in the second half. They also didn't get enough from their big men. Neither 6-foot-11 forward Nate Reuvers nor 6-10 forward Micah Potter had a single rebound.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Michigan figures to stay at No. 3 when the AP Top 25 comes out Monday. Wisconsin could fall a couple of spots.

UP NEXT

Michigan hosts No. 25 Rutgers on Thursday.

Wisconsin hosts No. 15 Iowa on Thursday.

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  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
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