The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
January 26, 2015 — 3B

a comeback would be unlikely. 
Four minutes into the second half, 
Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker 
had punctuated an 11-0 run with 
a dunk from halfway to the free-
throw line, and the upset was all 
but off the table. Back on its heels, 
facing an 11-point deficit, Michi-
gan clawed back again.

But Wisconsin called timeout 

and calmed down quickly, string-
ing together a Dekker jumper, a 
stop and an open corner 3-pointer 
by Gasser to go up by five.

That deficit still stood with five 

minutes left, when Irvin dialed up 
another 3-pointer to trim it to two. 
In the last five minutes, it was just 
a matter of who would flinch first.

In the first few minutes, it 

appeared the answer would be 
Michigan. With ESPN’s College 
GameDay in town, 3,000 students 

packed Crisler Center up to the 
rafters before the game, ready to 
erupt. They didn’t get the chance 
initially, as the Wolverines fell 
behind 9-2 before tying the game 
at 21.

After Donnal hit a fadeaway 

jumper from the baseline to give 
Michigan what would be its last 
lead of the game, Wisconsin for-
ward Nigel Hayes stepped in. 
He converted a three-point play 
on the ensuing possession, and 
Dekker followed with a thun-
derous dunk, plus a foul. Finally, 
Hayes drained a 3-pointer with 
one second left in the half, and for 
all of the Wolverines’ effort, they 
trailed by seven. It wouldn’t be 
the last time, but the final deficit 
stuck, erasing progress from three 
thrilling comebacks.

“We don’t believe in moral 

victories,” Irvin said. “This one 
definitely hurts. We just gotta go 
back to the drawing board and get 
ready for Nebraska on Tuesday.”

MICHIGAN
From Page 1B

Behind Enemy Lines: 
Illinois coach Matt Bollant

By MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Writer

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team is back in its nest.

After a narrow loss at No. 

20 
Iowa 
on 
Thursday, 
the 

Wolverines return home to an 
arena 
in 

which they 
have 
lost 

only 
once 

this season.

Senior 

forward 
Cyesha 
Goree was her usual self Thursday 
night, racking up 26 points and 13 
rebounds. But she didn’t get much 
help from Michigan’s arsenal 
of 3-point shooters, who went a 
combined 5-for-21 on the night. 
The Wolverines will also need 
senior guard Shannon Smith to 
contribute more than just the two 
points she put up in Iowa City.

On the other side of the court, 

Illinois is looking to snap a four-
game losing streak after losses to 
No. 7 Maryland, No. 16 Nebraska, 
Northwestern 
and 
Michigan 

State.

Freshman 
center 
Chatrice 

White leads the Fighting Illini in 
scoring with 14.4 points per game 
and is second on the team with 42 
rebounds. She’s not afraid to take 
a shot or two from the behind the 
arc either, as she is 7-for-18 on 
3-pointers.

But Illinois, which starts three 

underclassmen and a first-year 
transfer, has been plagued with 
turnover problems, and they 
were made evident in its latest 
loss to Northwestern in which 
the Fighting Illini turned the ball 
over 24 times.

The Daily sat down with 

Illinois coach Matt Bollant at 
Big Ten Media Day in October 
to discuss the upcoming season, 
recruiting, the Big Ten and 
his coaching experience in the 

Philippines.

The Michigan Daily: Last 

year was sort of a down year for 
you. What are the expectations 
going into this season?

Matt Bollant: Expectations 

will be much improved from 
last year. We added a lot more 
talent this season with seven new 
players. Five of them are going 
to play, and two or three of them 
might be our best players, so it’s 
exciting to think about. Kyley 
Simmons might be one of the 
best point guards in the country, 
Chatrice White is as good as any 
freshman in the conference and 
Brittany Carter will be a really 
good ‘2’ guard, so we added some 
pieces that should make us better.

TMD: You talked a lot about 

recruiting and how you like 
going on long recruiting trips in 
your press conference. Is there a 
certain reason for that?

MB: We have 112 days to 

recruit, and you only have so 
many times you can recruit a 
player. I’m definitely passionate 
about recruiting, and I don’t mind 
being on the road and driving to 
show some kids that we really 
want them. We want to make 
them feel wanted. When a head 
coach drives eight hours to see 
a player, it means something to 
the players, and it should and our 
staff is willing to do that.

TMD: What’s your outlook 

on the Big Ten with Maryland 
and Rutgers coming into the 
conference?

MB: It’s exciting for the 

league. The year before I came 
into the league at Green Bay, we 
went 7-0 against the Big Ten, but 
the league was ranked No. 5 in 
the country. Last couple years, 
the league has been No. 1 or No. 
2 and now you add Maryland and 
Rutgers, two great teams. There 
isn’t a league top to bottom that is 
better than the Big Ten.

TMD: I know you coached in 

the Philippines. What was that 
experience like?

MB: 
My 
brother 
was 
a 

missionary in the Philippines 
and Nepal, and I was there for 
six months and coached a team, 
Deeper Life Academy, and it was 
really my first experience as a 
head coach. The first game, we 
got beat by 30 points by the best 
team in the league, and we played 
them in the last game of the year 
and said ‘Let’s see where we get 
to.’ I didn’t think we could beat 
that team, but I kept saying ‘Let’s 
see how we do.’ We had won all 
of our games to that point, and 
were one win away from being 
the conference champion, and 
we knocked the team off that 
day. So it’s pretty special to see 
the change in the team. I thought 
I was going to be a minister and 
stay there for the rest of my life, 
and maybe coach over there, but 
I felt called to stay in the US. But 
I loved the (Filipino), they were 
awesome.

TMD: In terms of talent, it 

probably wasn’t the same as it is 
here, but what made coaching in 
the Philippines so special?

MB: I had two kids, Izzy and 

Muhammad, who just gave me 
everything. They were so excited 
to get better. I remember the first 
day, we had an outdoor court with 
bent rims and one basketball for 
practice, and when they got their 
uniforms, the kids were in tears 
because they had their names 
on the back of their uniform. It 
just made me think how we take 
everything for granted in the U.S. 
These kids were so thankful to 
be a part of the team, and be able 
to play basketball and learn, and 
they wanted to learn everything, 
so it was a great experience for me 
as a head coach. I’ll never forget 
those two kids because they got 
so much better. They hadn’t won 
in the past and now they were 
conference champions.

BEHIND
ENEMY
LINES

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Huntley highlights 
undefeated weekend

Michigan wrestling 

earns two dual-
meet victories

By BRANDON CARNEY 

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan wrestling team 

needed to flex its muscles this 
weekend.

Coming off an uninspiring 

performance against Ohio State 
last Sunday, the Wolverines had 
the opportunity to go back over 
.500 in Big Ten duals against 
Wisconsin (7-2 overall, 5-1 Big 
Ten) and Indiana (2-6, 0-5).

No 
one 
showed 
greater 

toughness to get No. 16 Michigan 
(4-3, 3-2) over the hump than 
fifth-year senior Max Huntley. 
He was one of seven Wolverines 
to 
earn 
victories 
in 
their 

matches against Wisconsin, as 
the team went on to defeat the 
17th-ranked Badgers, 24-12.

In addition to his win Friday, 

Huntley earned a 10-3 victory 
in his match against Indiana. 
He watched his team rout the 
Hoosiers, 34-6, on Sunday.

Huntley trailed, 5-0, in his 

match 
against 
Wisconsin’s 

Timothy 
McCall, 
a 
top-10 

wrestler 
in 
the 
197-pound 

weight class. But Huntley knew 
he had his opponent on the ropes 
after finishing the end of the 
second period with a two-point 
takedown. He earned five more 
points in the third period on his 
way to a come-from-behind 9-6 
win.

In the past, Huntley has 

struggled 
taking 
on 
other 

highly-touted opponents. But 
since being named team captain, 

Huntley has put rankings out of 
his mind.

“I started saying, ‘I should 

be able to beat the guy in front 
of me,’ ” Huntley said. “That’s a 
mental trap and a problem I had 
in the past. I stopped looking at 
that. Every match you’ve got to 
wrestle hard and with grit.”

Sophomore 
heavyweight 

Adam Coon had a comeback of his 
own 
against 

Indiana. After 
suffering 
his 

first Big Ten 
defeat of the 
season 
to 

Wisconsin’s 
Connor 
Medbery, 
Coon punished 
his 
Hoosier 

opposition, 
pinning his fourth opponent of 
the past five matches.

“I would have had a better 

shot (at beating Medbery) had 
I been more aggressive,” Coon 
said. “I really should have been 
attacking more in that match, 
and that’s what I did today 
(against Indiana).”

Coon’s dominance heading 

into his match with Medbery 
may have given him confidence, 
but the ease of his victories 
also made his strategy too 
conservative. 
Making 
an 

aggressive tactical adjustment 
helped Coon return to his 
winning ways Sunday.

One of the biggest surprises 

of the weekend was redshirt 
sophomore lightweight Conor 
Youtsey, who earned two six-
point victories. Youtsey wrestled 
the first match in both duals, and 
his 
impressive 
performances 

helped carry the team.

“Our team did a great job 

following me,” Youtsey said. 
“The momentum set the pace. 
The team came behind me and 
wrestled just as tough. It’s good 
for the guys to see us be on top 
early on.”

Michigan 
came 
into 
the 

weekend knowing it had to show 
off its strength in the middle of 
the Big Ten dual grind. Nine of the 

Wolverines’ 
10 
wrestlers 

recorded 
wins over the 
weekend, and 
six 
finished 

2-0. Michigan 
coach 
Joe 

McFarland 
credited 
this 

success to the 
aggressiveness 

his lightweight wrestlers like 
Youtsey showed.

Most 
importantly, 
the 

Wolverines showed they can 
win close matches. Especially in 
the Wisconsin dual, they were 
able to find an edge in matches 
that were decided by just a few 
points.

“We had six or seven matches 

that were going to be tricky,” 
said Michigan assistant coach 
Sean Bormet. “We had to keep 
wrestling where we wanted it, 
and we did a good job of that. 
When we had to get really tough 
in tight matches, where maybe 
we didn’t wrestle quite as well 
but had to stay really tough and 
win by a point, we did it.”

On 
both 
days, 
Michigan 

needed to show it was strong 
enough to hang in the loaded Big 
Ten. The weekend proved the 
Wolverines have the guns to duel 
with the nation’s best.

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

Max Huntley earned two wins in Michigan’s weekend dual-meet wins over Wisconsin and Indiana.

‘M’ dominates Senior Day

By TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

The 
Michigan 
men’s 

swimming and diving team’s 
Senior Day had just about 
everything you could ask for 
in a swim meet: close races, 
an electric atmosphere and an 
intense rivalry.

And when asked to rise to the 

challenge, the Wolverines did 
just that.

Saturday, No. 5 Michigan 

battled Ohio State in 16 different 
events at Canham Natatorium. 
The Wolverines (5-0 Big Ten, 
9-0 overall) won 12 of them, 
dominating the Buckeyes by a 
score of 187-117. With the victory, 
Michigan remained undefeated 
for the season.

While the day should have 

been all about the seniors, it 
was a freshman who stole the 
spotlight.

In the 1,000-yard freestyle, 

Michigan freshman PJ Ransford 
was given a huge opportunity 
when junior Anders Lie Nielsen, 
the best distance swimmer for 
the Wolverines, chose not to 
swim in the 1,000-free so he 
could rest for the following race, 

opening the lane for Ransford to 
step up in a big meet.

Ransford took the lane and set 

his career-best time, but it wasn’t 
enough. He stayed in line with 
Ohio State’s Brayden Seal for 
nearly the entire race, but in the 
final laps, the Buckeye managed 
to pull slightly ahead, touching 
the wall ahead of Ransford by a 
margin of 0.44 seconds.

“We put a lot of pressure 

on (Ransford),” said Michigan 
coach Mike Bottom. “We didn’t 
put (Nielsen) in the 1,000. We 
said that we believed (Ransford) 
could do it, which is a lot to put 
on a freshman, but he did a great 
job. He battled the whole way. It 
was a physical one for him, quite 
mental as well.”

After the race, momentum 

seemed like it would swing 
heavily in favor of the Buckeyes, 
but 
Michigan 
immediately 

silenced Ohio State’s fans. In 
the next race, the 200-yard 
freestyle, Nielsen and senior 
Justin Glanda finished first 
and second, respectively. The 
pair shut down Ohio State, 
putting a halt to the Buckeyes’ 
enthusiasm.

“You can bet that when Glanda 

in particular saw Ransford, 
he was going to protect him,” 
Bottom said. “He was going to 
step up and say to the freshman, 
‘Don’t worry about that one, I 
got this one.’ ”

Added Glanda: “In a meet like 

this, a Big Ten race against Ohio 
State, watching PJ fight so hard 
in the 1,000-free, it got me fired 
up as well as (Nielsen). We knew 
what we had to do.”

Excluding 
the 
200-yard 

backstroke, 
the 
men 
won 

everything else in the lap pool 
in a dominant performance that 
validated their top-five ranking.

At the other side of the 

pool, the Michigan divers’ best 
performance came from senior 
Thomas Jahnke, who placed 
fifth on both the 3-meter and the 
1-meter springboards. The other 
senior diver, Kevin Bain, took 
seventh in the 1-meter and sixth 
in the 3-meter.

Michigan may have lost four 

events, but it also won 12. If the 
Wolverines were looking to make 
a statement to the rest of the 
Big Ten about what they are up 
against when the championship 
meet 
comes 
around, 
they 

certainly succeeded.

MEN’S SWIMMING

“It’s good for 
the guys to see 

us be on top 

early on.”

