Kornacki: Simpson Ran Show, Matthews Star of It
3/22/2019 6:40:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Charles Matthews came to the rescue last season, when Montana broke out to a big lead and the University of Michigan had to scratch and claw its way back before finally taking control.
However, in the NCAA Tournament opener rematch Thursday night (March 21), Charles and the Wolverines were in charge from the start. Point guard Zavier Simpson, who passed Trey Burke in career assists, helped see to that.
Matthews had 22 points and 10 rebounds -- leading Michigan in both categories -- in a 74-55 win over the Grizzlies. The No. 2-seed Wolverines (29-6) next face No. 10 Florida (20-15) Saturday. The Gators held on to beat Nevada, 70-61, in the first game of the evening session at Wells Fargo Arena.
Simpson ran the show, while Matthews was the star of it. They also placed the clamps on Montana's top two scoring guards in a superb all-around display.
Matthews limited Michael Oguine (13.2 points per game) to three points on one-for-six shooting.
Simpson forced Ahmaad Rorie (15.1 ppg) out of his rhythm, and Rorie was three-for-13 from the field while getting blanked on six three-point attempts. He made four free throws to finish with 10 points.
Rorie and Oguine had both scored 15 points in last year's game with Michigan, but they got 13 points combined this time.
Simpson is now tied for seventh on Michigan's all-time assists list with 421 career helpers.
Simpson scored just four points, but grabbed seven rebounds and had 10 assists.
"We had a school record set," Wolverine coach John Beilein told his team afterward. "We never had a guard -- and we've had some tremendous point guards -- have eight 10-assist games in a season. We've had Jalen Rose, Trey Burke, Derrick Walton Jr."
Simpson, a junior, passed Rose (1992-94) in the Big Ten Tournament and Burke (2012-13), the national player of the year as a sophomore, in this game to move into a tie for seventh in school career assists at 421 with Eric Turner (1982-84). Simpson is virtually assured of finishing his career No. 2 on the list and could challenge 1988 Big Ten Player of the Year Gary Grant (731 assists) for No. 1.
"That's really something," said Beilein. "Trey Burke played two years, and really Zavier's only played two years (getting 37 assists in limited playing time as a freshman). He also could become the all-time winningest player at Michigan as well.
"It was two or three years of give and take, right, because he struggled with some of the concepts and with not being a primary scorer like he was in high school (in Lima, Ohio). But we needed someone to get the ball to the other guys, and Zavier did it."
He assisted on four baskets by center Jon Teske, three by Matthews and one each by Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers and Jordan Poole.
 What did passing Burke mean to Simpson?
"It means a lot," said Simpson. "It's an honor but I want to keep going. I'm doing this to help myself and my team. I'm going to set any record possible, but I don't care about individual stats. If we're winning, I'm extremely happy.
"But I followed Trey Burke a lot. We compete in an Ohio summer league, all the teams from Akron, Columbus and Toledo. We just play. I met him when he was in junior high school."
Mathews led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double.
Matthews got to lead the team in the singing of "The Victors," and stood up on a stool, wearing a wide smile and using hand gestures to emphasize points in the fight song. It felt good to be back after spraining his right ankle, missing the last three regular season games and then scoring 15 points total in three conference tourney games.
The durable, 6-foot-6 senior guard, had a string of 69 consecutive starts broken by the injury – which he said was the first he'd ever suffered at any level of basketball.
"Dealing with an injury can be tough and understanding it's a process to get back to where you were before it happened," said Matthews. "I had a great group of guys around me. Our athletic trainer (Alex Wong) was tremendous helping me with rehab and the coaching staff did a great job of supporting me as well. I was able to take my time and get back to where I wanted to be."
He had to learn to be patient.
"I wasn't trying to force anything in the Big Ten Tournament," said Matthews. "I wasn't trying to set the world on fire. But at the same time, I knew I had to take steps to getting back fully. It's just not (regaining) endurance. You have to understand that when you've been out for weeks, I was doing stuff off to the side. So, just getting reacclimated with the team. We were winning, Isaiah was playing extremely well, Jordan's (Poole) playing well and Iggy's (Ignas Brazdeikis) playing well.
"So, I just wanted to come in here and start finding things out. It takes patience. That was huge. I'd never been hurt before and so it was tough. I didn't know how to respond to it. I've been blessed, very blessed."
Matthews was the NCAA West Regional Most Outstanding Player in wins over Texas A&M and Florida State that got his team to the Final Four, and is essential to the hopes of another long run.
"He played great," Beilein said. "The last two days, we tried to get the ball back in Charles' hands. He's just so explosive. And he does the little things that our team needs."
Matthews, Simpson and Teske meet with the media following Michigan's 74-55 win over Montana.
DeAndre Haynes, the Michigan assistant coach who focuses on guards, discussed what made Matthews and Simpson so effective.
"(Simpson) came out with that composure in the game," said Haynes, "and this is the kind of game you want to have your point guard control. He controlled the whole game, kept the ball in his hands, had 10 assists and made players better. He's been a great leader for us and this is big. He controls the game on and off the floor.
"I've been telling everybody that they're two of the best defenders I've seen in the country by far. They had two hell of a scorers who we shut down tonight. If we continue to bring it like this, we can win a national championship. Charles came up big on both ends of the floor. Charles plays like that and we've got a good chance of winning some games. We lock in like that – we're a hell of a team."
Matthews scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Montana in that 2018 NCAA game in Wichita, Kansas. Montana opened the game with a 10-0 run, but Michigan ended up winning by 13 points.
The Wolverines came out much stronger this time, taking a 10-2 lead that ballooned to 21-6. They built the cushion from there, and got it up to 27 points in the second half.
The Griz shot 3-for-20 out of the gate, and others joined Simpson and Matthews in denying open looks.
Brazdeikis (14 points, seven rebounds) and Teske (nine points, 11 rebounds) also had big games, and Poole (10 points) and Livers (eight points, three rebounds) both finished strong.
It was a good first dance in the "Big Dance," and next up on the floor are the Gators with a Sweet 16 berth in Anaheim, California, on the line.
