DENVER — Graduate center Vlad Goldin has been the anchor inside for the No. 5 seed Michigan men’s basketball team all season long. His steady play on both sides of the ball has directly impacted success in nearly every game — but his authority was tested by backup No. 4 seed Texas A&M center Pharrel Payne.
Payne was dominant inside with 26 points and five rebounds while also consistent with nearly identical first and second half performances statistically. The big picture tells a tale also pertaining to Goldin’s strength inside, as he had 23-point, 12-rebound double-double with three blocks. Goldin and Payne’s story goes even deeper though, as Goldin and the Wolverines’ other bigs held Payne to just three points in the final 10 minutes of the game.
“(Payne’s) just super physical, super dominant,” redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter said. “It was just trying to get him off his mark, make his catch hard, get good box outs (and) get a body on him early.”
His physicality inside was seemingly impossible for Michigan to stop at times. In the first half, Payne checked in just under four minutes into the game, and immediately scored on the first two possessions. Over and over he was a pest to the Wolverines, racking up fouls on their defense and closing possessions with second-chance attempts.
As he worked to a 14-point first half it looked like there would be no stopping him, and in the second half there didn’t look to be much of a change early on. Payne scored nine points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but then Goldin took over.
“Vlad’s been consistent,” Tschetter said. “He’s been a steady rock for the squad.”
As Payne looked like he would continue on for an all-time performance, Goldin stepped in and stole the show. Fighting foul trouble in the final 10 minutes, he balanced physicality with finesse to stay in the game and impact it heavily.
When Payne slowed to just three points in the final 10 minutes, Goldin took over with nine for Michigan as it traversed a pivotal stretch. The slowing of Payne and continual production from Goldin shadowed that of the game itself — with Payne minimized, Texas A&M slowed down, and with Goldin steady, the Wolverines built a lead.
“It’s still more about his work ethic and character,” Michigan coach Dusty May said of Goldin. “We went through a really, really wild year coming off the Final Four where I think he might have been the only guy in the program, including myself, that didn’t seem to change at all.”
The steadiness of Goldin’s character is reflected in his play. As Payne racked up the points in the first 30 minutes of the game, Goldin did his work when it mattered most. He scored and rebounded well, and most importantly stayed active until the final whistle.
His attention to detail in the final 10 minutes helped keep Payne off the board at the same pace he was early on, and the steadiness that came alongside that helped the Wolverines put together a crushing run to clinch the second-round victory.
