By LEV FACHER 

Managing Editor

It didn’t matter that the 

message was obvious, a bit 
cliché, maybe even overdone 
in the days leading up to the 
Michigan 
men’s 
basketball 

team’s first game following 
junior guard Caris LeVert’s 
season-ending foot injury.

Aubrey 
Dawkins 
was 

listening.

In his first career start, the 

freshman guard answered his 
coaches’ call for a “next man 
up,” and then some. Dawkins 
scored 11 points, one shy of 
tying the team high, on 4-for-
8 field-goal shooting Tuesday 
night to propel the Wolverines 
to a 54-50 victory at Rutgers.

Among 
Dawkins’ 

contributions was a crucial, late-
game 3-pointer from the corner 
to cut the Scarlet Knights’ 
lead to three before Michigan 
topped off the comeback with 
a 20-10 run in the game’s final 
eight minutes.

His on-the-mark shooting 

notwithstanding, 
one 
of 

Dawkins’ 
more 
impressive 

plays was his decision to pass 
up an open look at a 3-pointer 
following a missed trey attempt 
from 
senior 
guard 
Spike 

Albrecht.

Dawkins wisely opted to 

leave the ball for Albrecht near 
mid-court. Albrecht then ran 
the shot clock down and found 
senior forward Max Bielfeldt for 
his own open look at a 3-pointer. 
Bielfeldt 
converted, 
giving 

Michigan a six-point lead with 
just three minutes remaining.

“It 
was 
a 
close 
game,” 

Dawkins said. “I didn’t want to 
rush into another 3, especially 
because I had missed a long one 
previously.”

Plagued by health issues in 

recent weeks, the Wolverines 
struggled through a first half 
in which sophomore forward 

Zak Irvin was confined to the 
bench by two personal fouls. 
Freshman forward Ricky Doyle 
also removed himself from the 
game due to illness.

As a result, Michigan coach 

John Beilein used a slew of 
rarely seen players in the first 
period.

Sophomore 

forward Sean 
Lonergan 
entered 
the 
game 

with 
13:33 

remaining 
in 

the first half, 
recording 
two 
points 

and a defensive rebound in 13 
minutes.

In a surprise move, sophomore 

guard Andrew Dakich checked 
in with 12 minutes to play in 
the first period. Dakich had yet 
to appear in a game this season, 
and 
Beilein 
had 
previously 

announced he would redshirt.

“(Dakich) had told me a 

couple weeks ago about burning 

the redshirt, because he thought 
he could help the team,” Beilein 
said. “We double checked and 
we double checked and we 
double checked, and he wanted 
to do it.”

Even 
sophomore 
guard 

Derrick Walton Jr. was limited 

by a nagging 
toe 
injury 

on his right 
foot, but he 
still led the 
Wolverines 
in 
scoring 

with 12 points 
on 
2-for-8 

shooting 
for 

the field. Both 

field goals were 3-pointers, and 
the rest of Walton’s points came 
on 6-for-6 shooting from the 
free-throw line.

“I thought he was shooting 

not to miss instead of shooting 
to make,” Beilein said. “He 
had a look-off of a play and we 
directed him to shoot it. Then 
next time he hit a shot.”

While Walton has shown 

signs 
of 
being 
Michigan’s 

defensive keystone in recent 
weeks, he wasn’t able to control 
the flow of the Rutgers offense 
singlehandedly, and man-to-
man defensive coverage wasn’t 
always an option.

Beilein often opted for a 

2-3 zone look on defense, a 
departure 
from 
Michigan’s 

more typical man-to-man and 
1-3-1 alignments, to compensate 
for his shorthanded squad’s lack 
of size and experience.

“I think we just go with 

whatever matches up best with 
the opposing team’s offense,” 
Dawkins said. “If it’s not a 
great-shooting team, it’s a good 
option for us.”

Rutgers converted on just 

19 of its 53 field-goal attempts, 
a shade under 36 percent for 
the game. The Scarlet Knights 
struggled from the line, too. 
Free-throw shooting accounted 
for more than the difference in 
the final score — Michigan shot 
12-for-14 from the line while 
Rutgers went 7-for-14.

8A — Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

GOOD KNIGHT
Henry bonds ‘M’ 
after home meet

By BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

Michigan coach James Henry 

brings out the best in his athletes 
when they are familiar with their 
surroundings. During his post-
meet team talk Saturday at the 
Simmons-Harvey 
Invitational, 

Henry made every athlete with 
parents in attendance stand up 
and introduce them to the team.

“I try to make all the student-

athletes on the team inclusive,” 
Henry said. “I try to get 
everybody 
in, 

the parents in, 
because that’s 
what 
makes 

everybody 
comfortable. 
If the kids feel 
comfortable 
about 
each 

other, 
they’ll 

feel the same 
about 
their 

performances.”

Track and field is a highly 

individualized 
sport. 
When 

athletes step onto the track, 
they set goals around personal 
records 
and 
individual 

accomplishments.

Henry wants to change that 

definition. He wants his athletes 
to be comfortable on and off 
the track, and that starts with 
making the individualized sport 
a team one.

“Individual and team growth 

is success,” Henry said. “If 
you define success as winning, 
everyone is going to lose except 
one person.”

Henry’s mentality has already 

reaped its benefits early in the 
season. 
Michigan 
won 
five 

events and had 13 athletes post 
personal 
records 
Saturday. 

Henry 
doesn’t 
want 
those 

personal achievements to go 
unnoticed. He asks his team 
after every meet if it has any 

“shout-ins,” an opportunity for 
team members to share their 
best moment of the day.

“You gotta say where you’re 

at,” Henry said. “You got to be 
willing to say ‘I did a good job,’ 
or you got to say ‘I did a crappy 
job.’ You got to internally know 
where you’re at and be willing 
to share, because that’s what life 
is.”

Just like any family, Henry 

says 
his 
team 
has 
to 
be 

constructive with one another. 
Following ‘shout-ins,’ he asks the 

team if it has 
any 
“shout-

outs” 
about 

the 
athletes’ 

performance, 
positive 
or 

negative.

Saturday, 

teammates 
recognized 
one 
another 

for 
their 

personal 

records, but there was some 
criticism of the Wolverines’ lack 
of enthusiasm on the sidelines. 
Henry said the team needs to 
improve on having energy off the 
track, and believes the “shout-
outs” are the best reminder for 
the team to try and fix these 
problems constructively.

“Having individual growth 

is something you need,” Henry 
said. “But it also helps if 
someone’s 
saying 
something 

nice about you or knows what’s 
going on with you, and to me 
that’s just as important.”

While his athletes still may 

focus 
on 
developing 
their 

individual 
times, 
distances 

and 
heights, 
Henry 
always 

makes sure there is always a 
focus on growing as a team. If 
there’s anyone who’s as proud 
of the athletes on the track as 
the parents, it’s the coach who 
guides them everyday.

“You gotta say 
where you’re at 
... because that’s 

what life is.”

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Hua, Steinberg 
bring fresh faces

Freshman Hua 
wins at No. 4 

singles in coach 
Steinberg’s debut

By KEVIN SANTO 

Daily Sports Writer

One impacts the game with 

a racquet. The other impacts 
the game with a clipboard. But 
one thing is clear: Both are 
changing the Michigan men’s 
tennis team in their own way.

Coming off a fall season 

in which he posted a team-
best 6-3 record, freshman Leo 
Hua drew high expectations 
from first-year coach Adam 
Steinberg.

As the Wolverines faced 

off against Western Michigan 
Tuesday 
night, 
Hua 

didn’t 
disappoint.

Hua 

defeated 
Broncos 
junior Ruben 
Greiner at the 
No. 4 singles 
position, 
easily taking 
the first set, 
6-1. The second set proved to 
be more of a challenge, as Hua 
found himself in a 0-3 hole. 
But the freshman bounced 
back, exhibiting an effective 
combination of both power and 
precision to win the second set 
6-4.

“(In the first set) I thought I 

had to be consistent,” Hua said. 
“I started taking time away, 
and he was just missing. I broke 
him really quick, went up 3-1 
and ran away with the first set.

“In the start of the second 

set, I got broken. I was less 
aggressive, 
and 
when 
I’m 

defending I’m not as good of a 
player.”

Ultimately, 
Hua 
found 

his stroke and became the 
aggressor, helping contribute 
to Michigan’s 6-1 win over 
Western Michigan.

Though 
the 
Wolverines’ 

performance was impressive 
even on paper, one thing didn’t 
make it into the box score: the 
team’s camaraderie, something 
that lacked last season. In his 
first year at the helm, Steinberg 
knew that had to change. And it 
showed.

Throughout 
the 

meet, 
exclamations 
of 

encouragement rang through 
the Varsity Tennis Center, 
and cries of “Let’s Go Blue!” 
drifted up to the rafters, urging 
the Wolverines onto victory—
exactly what Steinberg wanted 
to see.

“My philosophy for 26 years 

is that college tennis is about 
playing for each other, is about 

making 
your 

teammates 
better,” 
Steinberg 
said. 
“Team 

first, yourself 
second. That’s 
what we work 
on 
every 

single day in 
practice.”

Steinberg 

stressed 

that a team mentality is vital 
to move the program in the 
right direction. Specifically, 
he expressed his desire to 
put Michigan on the national 
tennis scene and to capture 
Big 
Ten 
championships. 

Though the Wolverines have 
a young team, highlighted by 
individuals like Hua, Steinberg 
revealed that the team still has 
great potential.

“I want them to become great 

team players,” Steinberg said. 
“We play for the University of 
Michigan. It’s not about you, 
it’s about playing for this great 
university. Once they (learn 
that), our program will go 
through the roof.”

Michigan rolls WMU in opener

Petrone paces 

Wolverines to easy 

home win

By SYED FAHD AHSAN

Daily Sports Writer

If Tuesday’s meet is any 

indication, the Michigan men’s 
tennis team has a lot to smile 
about.

In 

their first 
meet 
of 

the 
dual-

match season, the Wolverines 
took on Western Michigan. 
Michigan won, 6-1, to claim its 
13th straight season-opening 
win.

Sophomore 
duo 
Tyler 

Gardiner and Kevin Wong, 
taking on the Broncos’ Stephen 
Payne 
and 
Matt 
Hamilton, 

made quick work in their match 
in doubles play, going up 4-0 
early on and taking the set 6-2.

Seniors Alex Petrone and 

Michael 
Zhu 
had 
similar 

success, winning their set 6-3 
and breaking the Broncos twice 
along the way. Petrone and 
Zhu’s win sealed the doubles 
point, leaving the third doubles 
match contested by freshmen 
Runhao Hua and Carter Lin 
incomplete.

“Me 
and 
Michael, 
we’ve 

been playing together for four 
years,” Petrone said. “We know 
how to play together, and I love 
playing with him. We feed off 
each other, and we played really 
well.”

Despite 

not being able 
to finish his 
doubles match, 
Lin got things 
going for the 
Wolverines 
early in singles 
play. Lin took 
the first set 6-4, and easily won 
the second set, 6-2.

Michigan went up 3-0 when 

Hua proved too much to handle 
for Bronco Greiner. Hua won 
the first set 6-1, but the second 
proved to be more complicated. 

Greiner went up 3-0 early on, 
but despite the setback, Hua 
ended the match in two sets and 
won 6-4.

Western 
Michigan’s 
lone 

point came courtesy of Matt 
Hamilton, who beat Wong in 
straight sets. Hamilton broke 
Wong early on in the first set 
and went on to win it 6-4. 
The second set proved more 
interesting, with both players 
trading breaks. Wong recovered 
from a 4-1 deficit to even the set 
at 5-5, only to lose 7-5.

At the No. 3 

spot, redshirt 
freshman 
Alex 
Knight 

won his first 
set 6-4, and 
sealed 
the 

match 
in 
a 

second-set 

tiebreaker.

“I wasn’t playing too well,” 

Knight said. “But I knew if I 
stayed composed, and kept 
playing my game, I’d come out 
on top. He held a lot of deuce 
points, and I had a few too. But, 

we were both serving well. It 
was tough to break, so the score 
was pretty close.”

Knight’s 
success 
in 
a 

contested match is rare for a 
player in his first college game. 
His match showed why he is 
Michigan’s lone ranked player.

“Highest-ranked, 
but 

definitely not the best,” Knight 
said. “That distinction goes to 
Alex Petrone. I don’t know why 
he’s not ranked, but just wait 
two weeks and he’ll definitely 
be top 50.”

Petrone’s first set proved to 

be a long ordeal, but he came 
out on top courtesy of a 9-7 
tiebreaker. He won the second 
set overwhelmingly, 6-3.

“I just played every point the 

best that I could,” Petrone said. 
“His serve was really strong, and 
I just had to get a return back to 
try and control the game. It’s 
interesting with deuce scoring 
because you never know what 
to expect — it’s a sudden-death 
point. But the second set was 
easier because I got a rhythm 
going and knew what to expect.”

MEN’S TENNIS

“I started taking 
time away, and 

he was just 
missing.”

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Senior Alex Petrone won his singles match, 7-6, 6-3, and his doubles match in Michigan’s dual-match debut against Western Michigan.

W. MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN 

1
6

“We feed off 
each other.”

MEL EVANS/AP

Senior forward Max Bielfeldt totaled eight points and eight rebounds as Michigan knocked off Rutgers on the road.

“He thought he 
could help the 

team.”

MICHIGAN 54, RUTGERS 50