The story for much of the first half of Monday’s national championship game was the play of Michigan’s Spike Albrecht. Albrecht, who entered the game averaging about a bucket a game, finished with a career-high 17, all in the first half. It didn’t end the way Albrecht and the Wolverines would have liked, but they enjoyed the ride.
Spike Albrecht joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta with Mayhem in the AM to discuss his remarkable first half in the national championship game, where he found the confidence in that moment, the deep shot that he hit, the message at halftime, where he got the name Spike and what the locker room is like after losing a national championship game.
Tell us what’s going through your mind Monday night as everything seems to be going in for you:
“When Trey got those two early fouls, I knew I had to step up and provide a spark. My teammates did a really great job of finding me and hitting me when I was open. Fortunately I was able to knock down some shots.”
With such a limited role throughout this season, where did that confidence come from in that big moment?:
“My shot was feeling really good; it felt good all tournament. My teammates, they knew I had been pretty hot lately, so they just kept feeding me the ball and told me to keep shooting. And honestly, when Trey went out of the game with two fouls, he was the first guy to tell me, ‘Just be aggressive, we need you to score out there.’”
Is it really just a matter of thinking that you’ve been shooting baskets all your life, so what’s the difference in this situation?:
“Yeah, definitely. In high school, I was more of a scorer. But with this team, we’ve got so many weapons and we’re so talented that I wasn’t really needed to score.”
How about the really deep 3-pointer you hit?:
“I think before that I might’ve knocked down two 3s. My shot was feeling good. Trey was able to draw two defenders. Honestly, if you’re a few feet behind the line and it’s open, sometimes that’s a better shot than being on the line and taking a contested shot.”
What did Coach Beilein tell you guys at halftime after Louisville made the run to come back late in the first half?:
“He just told us that we were still up one and that was a great half of basketball. The fans got what they paid for. And then basically we were just kind of reassuring ourselves that Trey Burke, the Player of the Year, barely played. So we felt like we were in good position going into that second half.”
What was your cell phone like after the game?:
“It was a lot of friends and family and all kinds of people reaching out to me. I’m certainly grateful for that. The support I’ve had throughout this season has been unbelievable.”
How long have you been called Spike?:
“Ever since I can remember. Probably since I was 5 years old. Growing up I was a big baseball fan and that was actually my favorite sport. So when I was 5 years old, my parents got me my first pair of baseball spikes and I just started wearing them everywhere. And I would never take them off, so people started calling me Spike.”
What’s a postgame locker room at a national title game like for the team that loses?:
“It was a very emotional locker room after the game, as people would expect. It just obviously hurt a lot to go that far and come so close and fall a little bit short. We had guys just stand up and talk, some of our leaders, and basically just show appreciation for one another and the coaches. We just reminded each other that the journey to get there was great. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but we had one helluva ride.”
