Tim Hardaway leads No. 4 Michigan to NIT Tip-Off title

• Hardaway scores 23 points and pulls down seven rebounds
• Hardaway stepped up while Trey Burke and Jordan Morgan sat on the bench in foul trouble
• Rodney McGruder led Kansas State with 16 points

NEW YORK – In back-to-back games against the two best opponents No. 4 Michigan has faced thus far, Tim Hardaway auditioned for the role of the Wolverines' go-to guy.

Pretty compelling stuff.

Hardaway scored 23 points and pulled down seven rebounds, leading Michigan to a comfortable 71-57 win over Kansas State in the NIT Tip-Off championship game Friday evening at Madison Square Garden. That followed his 16-point game against Pittsburgh in the semifinals on Wednesday.

But even more impressive than the numbers Hardaway is putting up so far this season – a step up from his 14.6 average from last season – is the way he's doing it. On Friday, he aggressively attacked the basket, driving up the middle for layups or to get fouled. He was confident and didn't shy away from taking big shots in critical moments.

In short, it looked like a very different Hardaway than the one the college basketball world saw last year.

"Freshman year, obviously, he was very good. … I don't know if it was the pressure or whatever happened last year," said Kansas State coach Bruce Weber, who faced Hardaway four times over the past two years while coaching at Illinois. "He struggled making shots. You can look at his percentages last year. I'm not telling you any mind-boggling news or anything. He had good games, but he had to shoot a lot of shots. He's a different player now. You can see it confidence-wise, pull-up jumpers, getting to the basket.

"The thing we noticed the most was putting it on the floor and getting to the basket – makes it tough for people to guard him."

Michigan coach John Beilein said the change in Hardaway is no accident and is rooted in an improved work ethic. He said Hardaway is in the gym all the time, working on both strengths and weaknesses in his all-around game. One area in particular Hardaway has focused on is his rebounding, Beilein said.

"He's got great DNA, but DNA doesn't get you there alone," Beilein said. "This is what he works for. … When you work really hard, it just breeds confidence."

Confidence is the key with Hardaway, who sometimes displayed poor body language last season and signs of frustration after missing a few shots in a row. Which could then snowball into more misses.

"The biggest difference (between last year and now) would have to be his confidence," sophomore guard Trey Burke said. "Once he gets going, we've got to feed him. That will open up more people on the perimeter – to open up Nik (Stauskas)'s shot and open up Glenn (Robinson III) and even open up a lot of alley drives for the guards to get down there and get some dunks or layups for the big men.

"With Tim being as aggressive and good as he was today, it opens the offense up."

When asked why Hardaway's confidence is high this season, Burke said simply that Hardaway has grown more mature.

"When he plays like that, we can be very special," Burke said. "He's capable of playing like that every game."

For Michigan, the only concern at the moment is an apparent minor head injury that Hardaway suffered late in the second half. He left the game to get checked out by team doctors but returned to watch the end from the bench and celebrate the tournament championship with his teammates.

A Michigan team doctor said afterwards that Hardaway passed concussion tests and was "doing fine."

Hardaway was not made available to the media after the game.

Assuming the tests were simply precautionary as Beilein said they were and Hardaway's health isn't an issue, Hardaway seems poised for a breakout season. And on a team with a bunch of potential playmakers – like Burke and Robinson – Hardaway is showing he could be the go-to guy.