SPORTS

U-M's Derrick Walton Jr. out for 'foreseeable future'

Mark Snyder
Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING -- The sight of Derrick Walton Jr. on crutches and in a walking boot before the game was enough of an indictment.

When the sophomore missed the Nebraska game Tuesday with a sore foot and sprained toe, he was hobbling, but still upright and walking unassisted.

This was far more severe. It kept him out of Sunday's 76-66 overtime loss to Michigan State.

The Wolverines will be without him as they face the Big Ten's upper-tier teams in the next few weeks.

"We don't anticipate he will be back for a while," coach John Beilein said. "It will be some time. We're going to give him great rest and hopefully the foot will get better and the turf toe as well. I don't have a definite date, but it won't be for the foreseeable future."

Walton, Michigan's starting point guard for the past 11/2 seasons, has missed three games because of the injury, the Nicholls State game after it occurred in late November and two in the past week as the foot worsened.

Beilein did not mention whether Walton had a procedure last week but something changed with the way the foot was protected.

As for the results of last week's tests on the foot, Beilein was not specific but said that played a role in the looming shutdown.

"We do have an idea what is going on and what we do know it is going to take him out for a little bit here," Beilein said. "I don't expect him back too soon."

That leaves the team looking for another leader.

On Sunday, that task was shared by guards Spike Albrecht and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman who each scored a career-high 18 points.

"We've just got to have more and more guys step up, guys are going to have to learn different spots in the offense, defense, stuff like that," Albrecht said. "We're going to have a little bit shorter rotation now. We've really got to make sure we're taking care of ourselves."

Abdur-Rahkman is embracing the new role.

"I'm just becoming more confident and embracing my abilities and the players on the team are helping me," Abdur-Rahkman said.

He said the pressure to score will vary by game, but those two shouldered the burden, shooting a combined 14-for-27 and 5-for-10 from three-point range.

Zak Irvin, the other expected big scorer, struggled from the field, shooting just 5-for-14 and 1-for-6 from three-point range.

DEFENSIVE TIME: Michigan has gone heavy with zone defenses in recent weeks, but that was limited Sunday.

While Michigan State shot 29% in the first half, many of the misses were their own lay-ups that rimmed out, with bad bounces.

Their proven ability to shoot — the Spartans hit 15 of 21 in the second half — showed why Beilein was afraid to use the 1-3-1 zone.

The man-to-man wasn't much help either in the first half as MSU rolled up the fouls, leading U-M, 8-1, at one point.

"They run so much man action and they did a great job against the 1-3-1," Beilein said. "I really expected that. I have this formula when you look at a team whether you can play 1-3-1. Teams that really are high assists and good shooting teams are not ones to play 1-3-1 against. So I pulled that real quick after they had a dunk and a three to start with."

Note: Center Mark Donnal didn't play because of a respiratory illness that kept him out of the Nebraska game earlier in the week, Beilein said.

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder.