Washington, D.C. — Zak Irvin has been roommates with Derrick Walton Jr. for four years now. So it goes without saying that he knows how to push his buttons. He also knows how he’ll respond.
That’s why he knew it couldn’t go without saying Saturday afternoon as Michigan’s basketball team got ready to tip off against Minnesota in a Big Ten tournament semifinal. The Gophers are led by junior guard Nate Mason, and it was Mason — not Walton — who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors last week in both the coaches’ and media polls.
“I know how to motivate him,” Irvin said, smiling, after the Wolverines — led by Walton’s dominant 29-point, nine-assist performance — knocked off the Gophers, 84-77, to advance to Sunday’s title game against Wisconsin.