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.”