The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, December 5, 2013 - 7A Lots of potential, but 'M' couldn't fulfill it ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily Michigan coach John Beilein said, "Maybe we should have run our late-game offense the whole time." Ianemic night, some oi i of1eslVe o 1 i'es By NEAL ROTHSCHILD Daily Sports Editor If it wasn't so painful, it'might have just been called odd. The No. 22 Michigan men's basketball team's offensive per- formance in Tuesday night's 79-69 loss to Duke was by far the worst of the season, never mind that the Wolverines have also lost games scoring 70 and 61 points. With 119 seconds remaining, Michigan trailed 68-50. To that point, it had shot 18-for-46 and only 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. Down 18 with two minutes to play, Michigan (5-3) got a layup from sophomore forward Mitch McGary, and then the hacking commenced. The Wolverines fouled the Blue Devils to send them to the line, prolonging a contest that was well out of hand. Michigan fouled nine times in the final two minutes to manu- facture nine more possessions, in which the Wolverines drained two 3-pointers and scored 19 points to bring the score totals to a respectable level. Those 19 points accounted for 28 percent of Michigan's scoring. McGary led the garbage-time parade, padding his stats with eight points and three rebounds to complete a seemingly impres- sive 15-point, 14-rebound game. Ultimately, the Wolverines boosted their field-goal percent- age from 39 percent to 45 percent and their 3-point rate from 11 per- cent to 23 percent in that span. Though the outcome was never threatened, Michigan cut the def- icit to 10 by game's end. "We didn't get some threes until the end," said Michigan coach John Beilein. "Maybe we should have run our late-game offense the whole time, and we could have scored some points." Beilein's teams have tradition- ally been prolific at perimeter shooting, so Duke's game plan to limit opportunities in transition - and from sophomore guard Nik Stauskas in particular - put the Wolverines in an untenable situ- ation. "You gotta go two at a time, and you gotta get stops at the other end," Beilein said about adjusting to the 3-pointer being taken away. "And then you gotta make runs coming out of that, but we weren't able to do that. But (overcoming) 12 points anywhere is hard to get." The only player able to carry the scoring burden was sopho- more guard Caris LeVert. After he scored just four points in the first half, LeVert went off for 20 in the second half, almost strictly on dribble penetration and almost strictly to the left side. "They were having a hard time scoring, and LeVert just kind of put them on his back and was terrific," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski."We kept telling (the Duke players), he goes left more than right, but he went left real hard, and he's very good." Try as they might, the other Wolverines were unable to gener- ate anything. Drive attempts were forced off balance, and the shots were off target. Until the final !19 seconds, aside from LeVert, the rest of the Wolverines scored just 13 points in the second half. The first 20 minutes were even worse, with the Blue Devils heading into halftime with a 32-22 lead. For Michigan's starters, the points on the first-half score sheet read: four, three, five, three, four. "We dialed (LeVert) up like crazy in the second half," Beilein said. "We played through him the whole second half. That was something that we saw from the game, and we just went with him. Knowing that they were going to deny Nik as much as they can, we went in a different direction and it worked. Unfortunately we already buried ourselves in a hole." Indiana forward Dylan Mares collected the ball outside the 18-yard box and weaved by two defenders before slotting it into the back of the net. As the Hoosiers celebrated, the Michi- gan men's soccer team sullenly walked off the field. M Mares's MINH goal had DOAN sent the On Men's Soccer team pack- ing from the Big Ten Tournament, virtu- ally ending its season. A cam- paign filled with such promise was over, and many team goals were left unchecked. "A Big Ten Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid were our two major goals," said redshirt junior midfielder Tyler Arnone last week. The 2012 season was Wol- verines' coach Chaka Daley's inaugural year and included appearances in the Big Ten Championship and the second round of the NCAA Tourna- ment. Michigan hoped to build off those accomplishments heading into this year. But instead of improving on last season's achievement, the Wolverines (3-3 Big Ten, 8-7-3 overall) regressed. "One of the major disappoint- ments was this team had so much potential," Arnone said. "I don't think we reached our high point at any time." Finishing scoring chances became Michigan's biggest Achilles' heel. Early in the season, the Wol- verines took on South Florida in a non-conference battle. Michi- gan outshot the Bulls, 15-7, and dominated most of the second half and overtime periods, but the Wolverines could not pre- vail, tying the match, 1-1. The same issue was prevalent in many other games, such as one against then-No. 7 North- western, when the Wolverines outshot the Wildcats, 15-5, but couldn't come away with a goal in a 2-0 loss. The highlight of the season was a three-game winning streak at home in which the Wolverines were lifted by timely goals. Against then-No. 12 Creigh- ton, Wisconsin and defending NCAA champion Indiana, late second-half goals by freshman defender Lars Eckenrode, red- shirt junior Tyler Arnone and junior midfielder TJ Van Slooten gave Michigan a chance to cel- ebrate and pushed it into second place in the Big Ten, placing it in a good position for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. "Beating two teams that were in the Final Four (Creighton and Indiana) last year on national TV was certainly encouraging for our group," Daley said. To secure the at-large bid, the Wolverines needed to go into East Lansing and beat No. 18 Michigan State. The game started off well for Michigan, but its recurring theme of deficiencies in front of goal hurt the Wolverines once again. The Michigan offense rattled off 10 shots to the Spar- tans' zero but could not come up with a goal. In the second half, sophomore defender Jack Brown was sent off with a red card, and Michigan State scored two goals on its way to taking back the Big Bear Trophy in a 2-0 win. "We took it to Michigan State before the red card," Arnone said. "We showed we could com- pete against the best teams in the country." That loss, coupled with a first-round exit in the Big Ten Tournament, only reinforced the disappointing reality that the Wolverines would not make the NCAA Tournament. "We were essentially one and a half games from making the NCAA Tournament." Arnone said. While the season did not turn out the way Michigan would have liked, there were many bright spots on the team. The freshmen played excep- tionally well and stepped up in bigsituations when needed. Eckenrode and fellow fresh- man defenders Rylee Woods and Andre Morris played big minutes when their numbers were called upon. Woods and Michigan coach Chaka Daley's sec- ond season was a slight regression. Eckenrode received All-Big Ten freshman team honors, and the three will be the foundation of the Wolverine defense for sea- sons to come. Arnone was another highlight for the team. His work as a box- to-box midfielder and hustle led to his recognition as the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. Heled the team with five assists and put away two goals on the season. "My goal was to be an influ- ence in every game," Arnone said. "I wanted to perform well throughout the year and have a level of consistency." Michigan will say goodbye to six seniors: midfielders Dylan Mencia and Fabio Pereira, defenders Tyler Leppek and Ezekiel Harris and forwards Malcolm Miller and TJ Roehn. All six have left their mark on the program and they serve as the last players on the team from the Wolverines' run to the Col- lege Cup in 2010. But with the freshmen, a slew of key position players and both captains - Arnone and red- shirt junior goalkeeper Adam Grinwis - are coming back for another season, so Michigan's goals remain the same. Heading into next season, the young team will have experi- ence behind it and will look to replicate the success the depart- ing seniors brought. "We're certainly excited about where we're going as a program," Daley said. "The future is looking very bright." WOMLN'S BASKETBALL Surprising Michigan brings red-hot shooting to Virginia U.S. Under-18 foe is young, hungry and capable of upset By MAX COHEN The coach hopes the team's Daily Sports Writer shooting prowess displayed last weekend was no accident. The Michigan women's bas- "We made shots, which is ketball team hit its 3-pointers something, in the games that we left and right in the second half lost earlier this year, we weren't of its near-upset against No. 15 able to do," Barnes Arico said. LSU last weekend. The Wolver- "They're spending a lot of extra ines went 8-for-13 from beyond time in the gym getting up the arc in the shots." half, helping Mihigan Against the Lady Raiders, the them keep the Wolverines shot a blistering 59.3 competition at Virginia percent from the field. The next close. Matchup: day facing LSU, Michigan bare- This marks- Michigan 5-3. ly missed out on eclipsing the man-like Virginia 3-4 50-percent mark for the second shooting has When: Thurs- game in a row, making 47.1 per- continuously day 7 P.M. cent of its attempts. aided Michigan Effectiveness in shooting has in its surpris- ure: John been the difference between ing start. Arena wins and losses for the young The Wolver- team. In the team's other two ines (5-3) enter TV/Radio: losses, it made less than 36 per- this yer's B' Virginialyorts.ls hn 6pr this year's Big orn p($) cent of its attempts. Ten/ACC Chal- The recent lights-out shoot- lenge game ing has continued a trend for at Virginia looking to build the Wolverines. Despite its low momentum after their two most percentage in those two early impressive performances of the losses, Michigan enters its game season. At the Barclays Invita- against the Cavaliers ranked No. tional last weekend, Michigan 27 in the country in field-goal beat Texas Tech in convincing percentage at 46.5 percent - a fashion and nearly pulled off the significant accomplishment for upset over the Lady Tigers. a team that didn't know who its Historically, Michigan has primary scorer would be enter- fared well in the Big Ten/ACC ing the season. Challenge compared to its fel- Junior guard Shannon Smith low Big Ten programs. Since the emerged early as a key offensive Challenge's inception in 2007, presence for the team and leads the Wolverines are 4-2, while the Wolverines in scoring. But their conference has not yet won Smith's status is still up in the the overall title. air for Thursday's game. She "Any time we have an oppor- injured her back late in Friday's tunity to play against another victory and missed Saturday's conference, it's our job to repre- contest against LSU as a result. sent," said Michigan coach Kim Smith has participated in Barnes Arico. some activities in practice this week but will be a game- time decision. If Smith isn't in the lineup, senior forward Val Driscoll will likely take her place, as she did Saturday against LSU. Driscoll played her best game of the season against the Lady Tigers, going toe to toe with talented LSU bigs and coming away with 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Virginia (3-4) hasn't experi- enced as much recent success. The Cavaliers come into the game fresh off of a weekend trip to the Bahamas, where they lost both of their games in the Junk- anoo Jam Tournament. One of the losses was a blow- out at the hands of No. 3 Tennes- see. In the second game of the tournament, center Sarah Imovbioh and guard Kelsey Wolfe combined to score all but eight of the team's 46 points in a narrow loss to Kansas State. Generally, the team has a more balanced scoring attack, led by Imovbioh, guard Ataira Franklin and guard Faith Ran- dolph, who all average between 11 and 13 points per game. Last season, the ACC won the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, 7-5. But, it's new year, and the new-look Michigan team hopes to help the conference notch its first win. "We feel so fortunate to be at Michigan, but also to be a part of the Big Ten conference, which I believe is the best conference in the country and is just going to get better and better in years to come," Barnes Arico said. By JEREMY SUMMITT Daily Sports Editor Exactly 11 months ago, a sul- len Michigan hockey team skat- ed off the rink at Yost Ice Arena after suffering a 5-3 defeat. At the other end of the rink, cur- rent Wolver- ine freshmen Tyler Motte, JT Compher and Evan Allen were more than satisfied. The trio played for the U.S. Under-18 National Team Development Program last season before enrolling at Michigan, and combined for five points - U.S. NTDP at Michigan (ex.) Matchup: NTDP 0-0; Michigan 10-2-1 When: Thurs- day 7 P.M. Where: Yost Ice Arena TV: Fox Sports Detroit everyone," Compher said. "Since we're in Ann Arbor for two years (with the NTDP), a bunch of guys come see Michigan games, and for me it was a little more impor- tant." Since the NTDP plays locally at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, the high anticipation surrounding the game is somewhat expected. Motte went as far as saying the annual matchup is progress- ing into a rivalry, and Michigan coach Red Berenson has grown to appreciate it, too. "We've got to play that pro- gram," Berenson said. "It might not help us, necessarily, but it's the right thing to do. That's why we play them." But the game is an exhibition, and Berenson will use it as a chance to experiment with lines and give some upperclassmen a night off. Specifically, junior for- ward Derek DeBlois and senior defenseman Mac Bennett will be out of the lineup for the first time this season. According to Beren- son, Bennett has some "bumps and bruises" after last weekend's series sweep over Ohio State. Filling in for Bennett, junior defenseman Brennan Serville will return to the ice for the first time since sustaining a head injury against Niagara on Nov. 22. Berenson also confirmed that junior Andrew Sinelli would be a mainstay on the blue line after the coach saw some positives in his game the past two weeks. Sinelli is typically a forward. "I like his quickness," Beren- son said. "He's agood skater, and he goes back to get the puck and he'll win that race. He'lltake a hit to make a play, and he's a defen- Motte with two goals, Compher with two assists and Allen with one assist - in the NTDP's vic- tory over the Wolverines. "With the national team, it's one of the biggest games of the year," Motte said. "You look for- ward to it all year." On Thursday, the scene will be very different. Motte, Compher and Allen will line up in maize and blue when No. 3 Michigan hosts their former team in an exhibition. Looking back, Compher most vividly remembers a jam-packed crowd hovering over him last January. He got the starting nod that day since Yost would soon be his home arena, making the night that much more special. "It's a really exciting game for Vis PAUL SHERMAN/Daily Freshman forward Tyler Motte beat Michigan last year with the NTDP. sive forward, so he's got good defensive instincts in our zone." Thursday's game will also be the first opportunity for many Michigan fans to see Dylan Lar- kin, a Wolverine commit for the 2014-15 season. He has tallied 22 points (14 goals and eight assists) in 23 games this year with the NTDP. Berenson cited his skat- ing, spirit and strength on the puck as some of his most promis- ing traits. Even in an exhibition with multiple lineup changes, Michi- gan will still look to spoil Lar- kin's night. Motte called last year's loss an upset for the Wol- verines and said a similar result this season would be "devastat- ing." "Guys on this side are hungry for it," Motte said. "For us, this year, I think it's about more of keeping our momentum, not tak- ing it lightly and moving forward into the rest of our season."