Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 — 7
‘M’ hosts surging Nebraska
Wolverines
continue to battle
injuries coming off
heartbreaking loss
By MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Fighting to stay afloat in the
Big Ten standings, the Michigan
men’s basketball team is gearing
up for a team that’s just now
hitting
its
stride.
Following
an
overtime
loss to then-No.
6 Wisconsin on
Saturday,
the
Wolverines
will try to avoid
an
untimely
hangover when
Nebraska visits
Crisler Center
on Tuesday.
The
Cornhuskers (4-3 Big Ten, 12-7
overall) lost their first two games
in conference play but have been
much improved since, winning
four of their last five and holding
Illinois, Rutgers and Minnesota
to under 50 points each. Against
an
injury-plagued
Michigan
team still looking for consistency
on offense, their stingy defense
could pose a significant threat.
“(Nebraska is) maybe the best
defensive team in the league
right now, if you look at their
numbers,” said Michigan coach
John Beilein. “They’re staggering
with what they’ve done with
their field-goal percentage both
at the 3-point line and defensive
field-goal percentage.”
Beilein said Monday that the
Wolverines (5-3, 12-8) could once
again be looking at a change to
the starting lineup as a result of
injury, but did not specify which
players are ailing this week.
The player Michigan can
least afford to lose, it seems,
is sophomore guard Derrick
Walton
Jr.,
who
led
the
team with 17 points against
Wisconsin, including a game-
tying 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds
left. He has been nursing a toe
injury
since
late
November
and appeared to be limping in
overtime Saturday.
If Walton can’t play, freshman
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman might need to step
in. He has looked increasingly
comfortable on the floor since
the beginning of Big Ten play
and could be a candidate to start.
Abdur-Rahkman
chipped
in
nine points against the Badgers
and looked impressive on a pair
of drives and finishes at the rim.
But picking the right bodies
for the starting five is only half
the battle. Even if the lineup
stays in tact, the Wolverines are
sure to be worn out after a long,
physical game Saturday against
the class of the conference.
“We put a lot of energy
into that game,” Beilein said.
“Coming back on two days rest is
not as easy as you’d think. We’re
a tired group right now, and
we’re going to have to find a way
to find energy right now.”
Looking
to
capitalize
on
Michigan’s
exhaustion
will
be Nebraska forward Terran
Petteway, who scored 32 points
in Nebraska’s 79-77 win over
Michigan State on Saturday.
Petteway was named to the
Preseason All-Big Ten team
after a breakout season in 2013-
14, during which he averaged
18.1 points and 4.8 rebounds.
This season, he has upped
those numbers to 19.6 and
5.1, respectively. The 6-foot-6
swingman poses a mismatch
problem
for
Michigan,
but
keeping him in check will be key
to the Wolverines game plan.
“You have to pay a lot of
attention to him,” Beilein said.
“No matter what defense you’re
in, you better mark him well
when he doesn’t have the ball.
When he gets the ball, he should
see 10 eyes looking at him. … He
can just get baskets where you’re
gonna shake your head and say,
‘How did that go in?’ ”
But
while
Petteway
will
attract all the attention when
the Cornhuskers have the ball,
Michigan will try to spread its
scoring around the floor.
Sophomore
forward
Zak
Irvin continues to work through
a shooting funk, but he leads
all active Wolverines with 13.6
points per game. And while the
emphasis on Irvin’s struggles has
fallen on his 3-pointers, Irvin has
actually shot a higher percentage
from beyond the arc (34.1) than
he has on 2-pointers (32.8) since
conference play began.
But as will be the case for the
rest of the season, Michigan
will take any kind of scoring
wherever it can get it.
“This is one of those years
where I don’t think we’ve ever
had the rotation figured out,”
Beilein said. “Hopefully we’ll get
to that point.”
Nebraska at
Michigan
Matchup:
Nebraska 12-7;
Michigan 12-8
When:
Tuesday 7 P.M.
Where: Crisler
Center
TV/Radio:
ESPN
Behind Enemy Lines:
Nebraska’s Tim Miles
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Nebraska coach Tim Miles
and his Cornhuskers were get-
ting a little more attention before
this
sea-
son start-
ed
than
they
had
received
the previ-
ous year.
Nebraska was picked by the
media to finish fourth in the Big
Ten at the beginning of the sea-
son. The year before, the Corn-
huskers were picked 12th out of
12 teams in the
preseason con-
ference predic-
tions.
The
press
had
taken
notice,
and
after
mak-
ing the NCAA
Tournament
last year, Miles’
table at Big Ten
Media Day in October was a little
more crowded than in past years.
His newly acquired popularity
prevented the Daily from ques-
tioning the coach about how he
plans on covering Michigan’s big
men and his thoughts on wheth-
er junior Terran Petteway will
come back for his senior season
or declare for the NBA Draft, but
we still fired off some questions
regarding the more serious issue
at hand: How does Miles always
give the best press conference?
It was true at his 2013 Big Ten
Media presser when he light-
heartedly discussed his wife
giving him a hard time for not
recruiting enough and made self-
deprecating
comments
about
being picked to finish last. It was
true at his postgame interview
after losing at Michigan in Feb-
ruary, when he muted himself
in place of using a curse word
and referenced Seinfeld. And it
was true at Big Ten Media Day
in October when he suggested a
happy hour for the media.
Miles had to run from Media
Day early to catch a flight back
to Lincoln to make an afternoon
practice, but that didn’t stop us
from learning the art of a good
press conference from the guy
who practically invented it.
The Michigan Daily: Who
gives your favorite press confer-
ence?
Tim Miles: I don’t watch any;
I should prob-
ably. I’d prob-
ably get some
good tips on
how to act.
TMD: After
last year’s per-
formance
at
Big Ten Media
Day, did you
prep at all for
today?
TM: Nope.
TMD: Honest?
TM: I don’t prep.
Nebraska Sports Informa-
tion Director: He didn’t prep.
He has actual Big Ten knowledge.
TMD: What’s the best ques-
tion you’ve ever been asked?
TM: Yours. That one right
there.
TMD: If you could ask any
basketball personality a question,
who would you pick and what
would you ask them?
TM: I would ask Bo Ryan how
he does it. I think he is an unbe-
lievable coach. (The Big Ten) has
all of them. But Bo, being a guy
that’s gone from a small college
like me, and being so successful
in the Big Ten, (getting) inside
into his world would be great.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
BEHIND
ENEMY
LINES
Defense still ranks
near nation’s worst
By ERIN LENNON
Daily Sports Editor
The No. 13 Michigan hockey
team’s offense is the reason
this team has earned its highest
ranking since
the
home
opener Oct. 18.
The offense is the reason the
Wolverines overcame a four-
goal deficit Friday, en route to
its second straight series sweep.
In doing so, it proved the recent
scoring
outburst
—
which
culminated in a 10-goal rout of
Ohio State — was more than just
a hot streak.
It leads the nation in scoring
with a commanding average of
4.36 goals per game.
But Michigan coach Red
Berenson won’t soon forget a
coach’s favorite mantra: defense
wins championships.
“It’s the defensive part I’m
concerned
about,”
he
said
Monday.
Prior to the series opener,
the Badgers had scored just two
first-period goals in 18 contests
this season. In the first period
Friday, they scored three.
In stark contrast to the
offense, Michigan carries the
No. 44 defense in the nation.
It allows three goals per game
and kills penalties at a rate
under 80 percent. And given the
inconsistency in net — junior
goaltender Steve Racine lasted
only one period in his only
start against Wisconsin — that
number has the potential to go
up.
Michigan’s
recent
streak
hasn’t seen tight games, but the
numbers suggest this offense
can’t afford to have an off night.
An
NCAA
Tournament
appearance hinges on it.
ONE-GAME WEEKENDS:
It will more be than one month
until the Wolverines play on a
Saturday.
In the middle of a seven-
week stretch away from Yost Ice
Arena, Michigan will have two
straight one-game weekends
to close out the first half of
conference play. The Wolverines
will take on Michigan State in
the “Duel in the ‘D’” on Friday
before the in-state rivals travel
to Chicago to face off in the
Hockey City Classic at Soldier
Field.
Given
their
recent
dominance,
the
Wolverines
would like a chance to win
every night in order to maintain
their position to make the
NCAA Tournament, especially
with the weakness of the Big
Ten.
“We’d like to play more,”
Berenson said. “The Big Ten
sets the schedule, so we’re at
their mercy.”
The Wolverines will return to
a two-game weekend schedule
in a rematch with Minnesota in
Minneapolis on Feb. 27.
STARTLING STATS: After
Saturday’s 6-0 blowout win,
Berenson compared his current
team to the 1997-98 national
championship squad. And he
had good reason to do so, given
the tear this offense has been on
of late.
For
starters,
after
relinquishing an early lead,
the
Wolverines
scored
12
unanswered
goals
in
four
periods, stifling any and every
Badgers offensive rush in the
neutral zone.
Michigan’s
seven-game
winning streak is now its longest
since March 2011, back when
the Wolverines made the NCAA
Tournament year after year. In
addition to leading the nation in
scoring, the Wolverines record
the third-highest average of
shots per game (35.14).
The Wolverines have also
had the luxury of beating up on
a noticeably weak Big Ten.
After
dropping
its
first
conference
matchup
against
Penn State at home, Michigan
went 7-0 against its next three
opponents — including then-No.
12 Minnesota and Ohio State —
scoring 52 times for a stunning
average of 6.5 goals per game.
Weekend sweep proves depth
By ERIN LENNON
Daily Sports Editor
On more than one occasion
Saturday night, Alex Talcott’s
shot rang off the goalpost, inches
from his first career goal.
Prior
to
the
game,
the
freshman forward hadn’t played
in a game since Nov. 1.
Of course, Michigan didn’t
need the tally. The 13th-ranked
Wolverines
had
already
established a commanding five-
goal lead over Wisconsin, and
soon finished off a sweep on the
road having scored 13 goals.
But scoring chances from
Talcott
and
several
other
forwards showed that an offense
that averages more than 4.36
goals is as deep as it is top-heavy.
“We’re pretty well-balanced,”
said
Michigan
coach
Red
Berenson. “It seems like when
we need a goal, we’ll get it from
one of our top nine.
“We’ve had different players
step up on our lines.”
In
fact,
the
Wolverines’
success in Madison came despite
noteworthy absences from the
lineup.
Senior forward Travis Lynch
— the fourth-line center and
key feature of the penalty kill
— did not make the trip after
undergoing wrist surgery last
week. Sophomore Evan Allen,
who has seen playing time on
the line this season, was also out
with a concussion.
Senior
defenseman
Mike
Chiasson also stayed in Ann
Arbor with a concussion.
In
Lynch’s
place,
junior
forward Boo Nieves was set to
anchor the fourth line before
getting sick and missing out both
games. His absence forced the
Wolverines to roll three lines
out, more or less, each night,
putting added pressure on the
offense.
“It’s been a work in progress,”
Berenson said. “Boo has shown
some spurts of his potential. … I
think he’s starting to come into
his own.”
Without those players, senior
forward Zach Hyman continued
to put on a clinic around the net,
while fellow scoring leaders
Dylan Larkin, Alex Kile and
Andrew Copp all contributed big
weekends.
But the offensive production
wasn’t limited to the top five
forwards.
Junior
forward
Justin
Selman, for example, tied his
career high of five goals in a
season Friday by virtue of his
first career hat trick. Selman
missed several weeks in October
with a broken wrist and has
shown significant improvement
since. He and Nieves both have
double-digit
points
totals,
which was not the case in the
two seasons prior.
“He’s a different player now,”
Berenson said. “This is the best
hockey I’ve seen Justin Selman
play since he came to school.”
Scoring isn’t just limited to
the forwards, either.
Michigan’s final goal of the
weekend came from freshman
defenseman
Zach
Werenski.
With two goals on Saturday,
Werenski now has 18 points on
the year — second among Big
Ten freshmen behind Larkin.
He is one of four blue-liners
with more than nine points this
season.
As a unit, the defense has
tallied 67 points, accounting for
a quarter of Michigan’s offense
this season.
This offense is so deep that
reigning Big Ten Freshman of
the Year JT Compher — who led
the team in scoring last season
— ranks No. 9 on the team in
scoring. He’s not struggling, but
on a team whose goal-scoring
leader sits among the top five in
the nation in scoring, Compher’s
mediocre four goals don’t tell the
whole story.
“I feel like whoever is on the
ice has a chance of scoring,”
Berenson said.
The offense is so deep that
when Talcott’s shot rings off the
crossbar, it’s more likely than not
that a Wolverine will be there to
redirect it in.
ICE HOCKEY
NOTEBOOK
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Justin Selman recorded a hat trick in the Michigan hockey team’s 7-4 comeback win at Wisconsin on Friday.
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Zak Irvin leads all healthy Michigan players with 13.6 points per game and is shooting 35.8 percent from 3-point range.
“I think (Bo
Ryan) is an
unbelievable
coach.”