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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Since Michigan needed to regroup, with both Isaiah Livers out with injury, and Zavier Simpson serving a one-game suspension, junior guard Eli Brooks has upped his game.
Starting on the road at Nebraska, the game in which the Wolverines were without both of the aforementioned, Brooks has averaged 13.2 points-per-game, the best of any Wolverine in the last five-game stretch.
So, what’s allowed him to take that big step forward?
“Coach Saddi (Washington) just continued to be on me about hunting shots,” Brooks said. “Just taking that to heart and trying to apply it.”
Particularly, in recent months, Brooks has been lethal on the road. He scored 18 points at Northwestern, 20 at Nebraska and 25 at Iowa.
Is there something about playing on the road that makes Brooks elevate his game?
He says that he actually prefers playing away from Crisler Center than being in front of the home crowd in Ann Arbor.
“I like road games better than home games, honestly,” Brooks said. “I like hearing the other crowd. I use reverse psychology — when you miss a shot, they’re cheering for you. So you don’t think about it as much! So the next shot’s going in, that’s how I think. It’s a weird way of thinking about it, but it works for me.”
That said, Brooks says he doesn’t want home crowd fans to start cheering his misses, just because it’s a strategy that works for him on the road.