catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 03-30-2014 11:47 AM
They definitely have a great team and it's probably over looked because how deep the Big Ten teams are.
The Wolverines are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region and play Kentucky Sunday here for a berth in the Final Four in Dallas. Michigan won the Big Ten Conference championship by three games, is 28-8 overall and finished seventh in the final Associated Press rankings. Yet unranked Kentucky has been made a slight favorite in the game based on its recent wins over Kansas State, Wichita State and Louisville.
“I’m not really sure why. I really can’t tell you why. As far as just listening to that stuff, I mean we hear it. And I think if anything, we just embrace it and that’s just who we are,” said fifth-year Michigan senior Jordan Morgan, who has started 121 games. “Our team is a bunch of guys that have been overlooked. Our coaching staff is a bunch of guys who have gotten overlooked. It’s just like that’s how we play. We got a whole program full of guys that people have always, like, counted out and we just take that and use it as fuel.”
Michigan had six players score nine or more points, including Morgan with 15 points and seven rebounds, in Friday’s 73-71 win over Tennessee before UK beat Louisville 74-69.
Walking off the court, Morgan was heard shouting “mismatch,” a reference to the pregame talk that Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon would overpower him inside. They combined for 12 points and nine rebounds.
“We heard all week about they had mismatches and how we couldn’t guard them inside. I guess people forgot we play in the Big Ten and we won the Big Ten outright,” he said. “So we’re not really soft around here. That’s not who we are. We lift a lot of weights. So it’s just … I don’t know, it’s a pride thing for us. We’re not about to get punked.”
The 6-8 Morgan likely will be paired against UK freshman Julius Randle, who had his 23rd double-double in Friday’s win, often in this regional championship matchup, especially with UK center Willie Cauley-Stein expected not to play because of an ankle injury.
“For me, I mean, sometimes it gets personal when people talk about our inability to compete with people. And it’s like we’ve been competing all year long. That’s more personal than anything,” Morgan said Saturday. “I think because people pin us as a jump shooting team or we get kind of overlooked as being that tough physical team that you see normally from the Big Ten.”
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