Michigan's Derrick Walton joins Dwyane Wade with landmark NCAA game
INDIANAPOLIS -- Derrick Walton Jr. remains Michigan's unstoppable force.
The senior co-captain started slow, hitting only 1-for-6 shots in the first half of Michigan's 92-91 win over Oklahoma State on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
But after a stern conversation with U-M coach John Beilein, Walton turned back into the Big Ten tournament MVP from last week, dominating the action and carrying his team. His final line of 26 points, 11 assists and five rebounds put him in rare company, becoming the first player in the NCAA tournament since Marquette's Dwyane Wade in 2003 to score least 25, dish out at least 10 assists and collect five rebounds.
"During one time-out, I coached him pretty hard," Beilein said. "I did not like what I was seeing in the first half, because the pressure that he was seeing, he was deferring again and started giving it to Muhammad (Ali Abdur-Rahkman) or I'm going to run this play, where we're running it isn't that important. (No,) we have to get to spots on the floor and you have to have a counter plan. He wasn't countering at all he was deferring, that's when we have to coach him really hard and tell him you have to take over control of this team and run this team."
Message received. Walton made 5-for-6 three-pointers after halftime for 19 points and five assists.
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"Just my mind-set, I just tap into the fact that I know I've worked really hard and trust my mechanics for the most part," Walton said after his third straight game of more than 20 points. "Halftime, I talked to one of my good friends on the team (Andrew Dakich), and I changed my shot a couple times. It's just the mind-set and the trust these guys have in me, it makes me go out and just play much more free just knowing they have a lot of confidence in me."
He provided the game's signature moment when he looked at the crowd after his nearly 30-foot three put U-M up six with nine minutes remaining.
In a game where he was part of the signature matchup, battling Oklahoma State's Jawun Evans, there was a statement moment.
"Just playing with a lot of emotion," Walton said. "That's all it really was. And Coach B said it perfectly, they pressured us and took us out of sets. We haven't played a team that got up into it in a minute. It's hard to emulate that in practice. With their athleticism, it's hard to emulate. In the second half, I settled down, I just wanted to make the right play consistently."
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