8A -- Thursday, March 27, 2014

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On guards: Clashing styles

8ASEBALL
Michigan topples
Broncos in opener

Tennessee's guards
feed the big men,
who will test
Michigan inside in
Sweet 16 meeting
ByNEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily SportsEditor
Michigan's starting guards
are 6-foot-2, 6-foot-6 and
6-foot-6. Tennessee's are 6-foot-
1, 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-6.
But the similarities in size
get quickly obscured by the
differences in style.
The Michigan men's
basketball team works its
offense around the perimeter
- playing off of ball screens
and finding drive-and-kick
opportunities. The Wolverines
rotate the ball quickly and look
to exploit cracks in the defense
with prolific 3-point shooting.
The 11th-seeded Volunteers,
meanwhile, work the ball from
the inside out. The guards
- Antonio Barton, Jordan
McRae and Josh Richardson -
don't generate the offense like
Michigan's guards do.
Six-foot-eight, 260-pound
wunderkind Jarnell Stokes gets
alotoftouches and passes out of
double teams when opponents
give him attention in the post.
The junior forward is averaging
20 points and 15 rebounds in
the NCAA Tournament, but
has just as many assists on the
season as Barton, the starting
point guard.
Another 6-foot-8 load,
Jeronne Maymon starts
alongside Stokes, and while
he lacks
the scoring
presence, he
knows how "They
to catch the
ball, keep it great qu
high and play
back out over On 1
the top of the
defense. perim
"This is
a team that
is a difficult
match . for
us because they have great
quickness on the perimeter,"
said Michigan coach John
Beilein on ESPN's Mike and
Mike radio show. "And they play
with a classic two big guys on
the blocks that just beat us up."
Unlike No. 2 seed Michigan,
however, Tennesssee doesn't
win with knockdown 3-point
shooting. The Wolverines make
40 percent of their attempts
while Tennessee shoots
33 percent. Four Michigan
regulars shoot better than 40
percent behind the arc, while
Tennessee's most accurate
gunner, McRae, makes 36
percent.
The Wolverines shoot five

PAUL SHEtMAN/Daily
Sophomoreguard Nik Stauskas is Michigan's biggest 3-point threat, and the Volunteers are keying in on stopping him.

Wolverines t
command w
two-out rur
By JASON RUBINS'
Daily Sports Write
The Michigan baseb
entered Wednesday's
opener with a bitter
its mouth after beingt
in-state foe
Western WESTERI
Michigan MICHIGA
lastseason.
But the bitterness becar
as the Wolverines dis
the Broncos, 12-4, scori
runs with two outs.
Michigan tallied six
runs in the fourth innin
the lead over the Bron
never looked back. Al
quick outs, Western Mi
pitchers were unable to
strike zone, hitting on
and walking three othe
"To think that w
capable of doing the
us a lot of
confidence,"
said Michigan
coach Erik «T
Bakich. "It
was just a
big separator
inning, and to pre
do it with two
outs really to
just gave our
guys a lot of
momentum."
With the bases
junior first baseman
Patrick hit a two-run
his second of the game
second baseman Eric J
followed with a one-rut
Jacobson has been f
all cylinders for the Wo
since starting against
on Saturday. With t
against the Broncos, J
raised his average t
which leads the team an
top the Big Ten if he qu
"Confidence
aggressiveness is th
Jacobson said. "It's
that I can provide a spa
lineup."

ake Added Bakich: "I think the
baseball gods are just rewarding
ith a kid that works extremelyhard."
The Broncos had some luck
ns early. Andrew Sohn reached
third base after a fly ball got
TEIN by the Wolverines, and senior
r right-hander Alex Lakatos
wasn't able to find a rhythm,
all team walking two hitters and
home surrendering two hits.
taste in It didn't faze the Wolverines.
upset by Michigan answered handily in
its first turn at bat with Patrick
N 4 hitting a two-run single, scoring
AN 12 sophomore third baseman
Jacob Cronenworth and junior
ne sweet outfielder Jackson Glines.
mantled Freshman left-hander Brett
ng eight Adcock relieved Lakatos after
only one inning, providing
two-out three scoreless innings while
g to take tallying two strikeouts en route
icos and to his first win of the season.
fter two "Hehadsometoughluckearly
chigan's where it seemed like everything
find the he threw up there found a hole
e batter and was hit very hard," Bakich
rs. said. "He's settled in, and we
'e were know he will throw strikes. We
at gives have a lot of confidence when he
goes in there.
"Him
putting up a
[ts X ti ' few zeroes
exciting there wasa
that I can big part of
the game and
vide a spark critica for us
to not only tie
the lineup." it up, but to
take the lead."
The Broncos
relieved left-
loaded, hander Derek Schneider, who
Kendall recorded three strikeouts, after
single - one inning. Schneider picked
. Junior up the win in Michigan's home
Jacobson opener last year.
n single. Junior shortstop Travis
iring on Maezes continued his timely
ilverines hitting with a leadoff triple in
Indiana the third inning. Glines knocked
wo hits him in to tie the game, 3-3.
Jacobson Senior catcher Cole Martin
:o .444, also had a sound defensive
id would game, easily throwing out a
alified. runner stealing.
and Martin's defensive prowess
e key," got him named to the 2014
exciting Johnny Bench Award watch
rk to the list, an accolade given to the
nation's top catcher.

more 3-pointers per game, and
the expected advantage for
Michigan after considering
both the accuracy and quantity
of 3-point shooting is nearly 10
points.
It'sno secrettotheVolunteers
who they need to key in on,
specifically. Sophomore guard
Nik Stauskas has Tennessee's
attention.
"He shoots
threes, he can
have drive to the
hole, he can do
ickness pretty much
everything,"
the Richardson
told reporters
eter. Tuesday. "It
will be a tough
cover again.
Their offense
pretty much
flows through him, and he leads
in points and assists, so it will
be crucial to get him out of his
rhythm."
But just in case that sounds
like Richardson is worried
about the matchup...
"It's just another player,"
he said. "I have been guarding
guys like that for a while now.
It's nothing new."
Richardson is the team's
second-leading scorer behind
McRae, and he led Tennessee
with 26 points on 9-for-13
shooting in Sunday's 83-63
pummeling of Mercer.
Though he won't command
a lot of attention behind the
3-point line, his shooting has

improved in the last few weeks.
Similar to a handful of Texas
players last week, Richardson
is most effective putting up
floaters and mid-range jumpers.
According to Tennessee
coach Cuonzo Martin,
Richardson went through some
of the same self-efficacy doubts
as sophomore forward Glenn
Robinson III.
"Iknowas aplayersometimes
coach wanted me to shoot the
ball, and I wasn't as assertive
early in my career to shoot the
ball," Martin said, analogizing
himself to Richardson. "But it
is how he is feeling, and if his
shots are going, he is aggressive,
he is going to be extremely
tough to defend."
McRae, however, is
Tennessee's major scoring
threat. In many ways, he
resembles the man he'll most
likely guard - sophomore
guard Caris LeVert. Both
players are listed at 6-foot-6
and 185 pounds, and both have
long, lanky limbs that help
them deflect balls in the passing
lanes, jump stop into the paint
and finish with either hand on
either side of the rim - over and
around the outstretched arms
of post defenders.
The Tennessee senior
averages 18.6 points per game,
but even if he, along with the
rest of the Volunteers are on
top of their games Friday night,
Martin knows that still may not
be enough.
"The (Wolverines) shoot it

very well," Martin said. "We
have to contest that line. But the
thing about it is ... they run their
plays, and it's almost like you
would like for them to score out
of their set plays because when
the set plays break down, they
have four guys that can take you
off the dribble and make plays
and make shots.
"The margin for error is very
slim."
NOTE: Wednesday, Stauskas
was named a first team All-
American by the National
Association of Basketball
Coaches. He is the eighth
Michigan player to receive the
distinction. The last was Trey
Burke in 2013.
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs. Tennessee
40
Michigan'spercentagefrombeyondthe
arc, thanks in large partto guard Nik
Stauskas.
33
Tennesee'spercentagefrom behind
the 3-point line.
14
3-pointers made by the Wolverines in
the Round oft32 against Texas.
17.3
Average margin1of victoryforthe
Volunteers in this NCAA Tournament.

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Lawrence leads bookish Wolverines

By MAX BULTMAN
DailySports Writer
When the Michigan softball
team went on Winter Break,
Carol Hutchins gave them
homework.
The Michigan coach gave
each player a copy of Tim S.
Grover's Relentless: From Good

to Great to Unstoppable, a book
meant to teach athletes how to
harness their intensity and turn
it into killer instinct.
Early in the season, it looks
as though the Wolverines have
done their homework and done
it diligently.
After splitting 10 games with
ranked teams in non-conference

play, Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 22-6
overall) thumped Indiana by a
combined 29-4 in three games
over the weekend.
The clearest example of that
offseason growth comes with
sophomore outfielder Sierra
Lawrence. While she had
already earned a first team All-
Big Ten distinction last season,
Lawrence has played at a new
level this year.
"She has great hands, she has a
great eye, but her timing was just
off," Hutchins said. "Her timing
is a lot better this year, and her
confidence is a lot better. And
that's the goal - you want them
to get better from year to year."
In her standout freshman
campaign, Lawrence batted .314
with 38 RBI and seven home runs
in 63 games. Those are tough
numbers to improve on for any
player, freshman or otherwise.
But through 25 appearances
this season, she's hitting.357
with 28 RBI and three home
runs already.
All of it, Lawrence says, is a
result of her offseason growth.
"I worked on everything,
basically," Lawrence said.
"Offense, defense, my mentality,
just everything."
Perhaps the most startling
aspect of her torrid pace is that it

has come against the nation's top
competition - something she
won't see much of for the rest of
the regular season.
"For (Lawrence), the sky is the
limit," Hutchins said. "I thought
she had a ton of untapped
potential last year."
That potential is showing itself
everytime Lawrencecomestobat.
Whereas the Wolverines have
faltered from time to time with
runners in scoring position,
Lawrence has come through to
the tune of a.429 batting average
and 28 RBI.
She has been even better with
the bases loaded, when she's gone
4-for-5 with two grand slams.
"I just know my team is
looking up to me and expecting
me to step up when it's time,"
Lawrence said.
That kind of attitude
resonates through the whole
team. Senior outfielders Nicole
Sappingfield and Lyndsay Doyle
have made similar comments
after clutch hits late in games,
and it's somewhat of a catch
phrase for Romero.
That's no accident.
Hutchins handpicks books
like Relentless to instill that
mindset in her players, and it
works.
Chapter and verse.

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Sierra Lawrence is showing marked improvements from a stellar freshman year.

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