Sports
6A — Thursday, February 12, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Michigan coach Red Berenson has been impressed with the quality of Big Ten hockey, despite the conference’s struggles.
Wolverines maintain
hope for conference
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Editor
For the old diehards of the
Central
Collegiate
Hockey
Association, this year might be as
good as any to wish for its return,
even if only as a replacement for a
lackluster Big Ten season.
It isn’t the drama and intensity
that has held back the Big Ten,
but rather its teams’ combined
poor showings in non-conference
games paired with plenty of
inconsistency that has kept it
in the lower echelon of college
hockey leagues.
Even with what has been
a
season
of
underachieving
for many Big Ten teams, the
spectacle of Big Ten hockey
hasn’t faded for Michigan coach
Red Berenson.
“I just think it’s a new level,” he
said. “I can’t tell you all the teams
are better than the teams in the
CCHA, but the venues are. And
it just seems like it’s a big-league
environment, so that’s what I like
about the Big Ten.”
Berenson might be a man of
few complaints this year, as his
12th-ranked
Wolverines
and
No. 19 Penn State hold the top
two spots in the conference
standings. But even with two
ranked teams and Minnesota on
the verge of breaking into the
national polls, the Big Ten still
might send only one program to
the 16-team NCAA Tournament.
“These programs, just because
they’re in the Big Ten, (it)
doesn’t give them an automatic
entitlement to be, you know, a
top-10 or top-20 (program),”
Berenson
said.
“We
all
go
through cycles.”
Wisconsin has been stuck in
an infinite loop of disastrous
proportions this year, winning
just two games — the fewest
of any team in the country.
Ohio State has been plagued by
injuries, Michigan State is just
now starting to find a groove
with a month left in the season,
and Minnesota had been in a two-
month slump before sweeping
the Buckeyes last weekend.
“Minnesota is better than
their record,” Berenson said.
“They’re going to surface, they’re
going to be there, and we’re
hoping to be there. And we’ll see
if Ohio State and Michigan State
get something going. It could be
a down year, but wait until it’s
over.”
In the meantime, it’s best to sit
back and enjoy the ride.
“We just have really good
programs, really good recruiters,
really good coaching, and it’s a
really
good
league,”
said
senior forward
Zach Hyman.
When
the
CCHA
still
existed, games
were
rarely
televised.
Now, the Big Ten Network
carries games every weekend
throughout conference play.
“I think that playing against
big name schools every night,
I think that’s huge,” Hyman
said. “I think Big Ten Network
is awesome, being on that and
getting that kind of publicity. We
didn’t have that in the CCHA.”
Along with publicity come
new rivalries, too, and those
rivalries become amplified with
a larger viewership. Berenson
and Hyman admitted that the
games against Miami (Ohio) and
Notre Dame were notable losses
that came with Big Ten hockey,
but those games rarely reached
the same levels of regional and
national audiences.
“It’s too bad we don’t play
those teams,” Berenson said.
“Now, maybe we will in the
future in some non-conference
games, but that’s the way it is.
“In the meantime, we get to
play Minnesota and Wisconsin
every year, and Penn State will
become a rivalry, Ohio State is
getting better and Michigan
State is Michigan State, so they’re
always going to be a rival.”
And
without
conference
realignment, a team like Penn
State might not have had the
chance to prove itself on the
biggest stage. In just their second
year as a Division I program, the
Nittany Lions have tripled their
win total from last year and rank
22nd out of 59 teams in RPI.
The Big Ten has been a sound
base for recruiting and has held
an instrumental role in garnering
more interest around college
hockey. Conference expansion
might not be in the immediate
future, and the six current
programs will have to cope with
a significantly smaller conference
than the rest of the leagues. But
the
Big
Ten
region
offers
just as much
opportunity
for growth.
Nebraska,
Iowa
and
Illinois
offer
logical choices
for expansion opportunities in
the next decade. All three schools
currently
have
club
hockey
programs and reside in regions
with strong hockey fan bases.
Sure,
Iowa
and
Nebraska
don’t have NHL franchises, but
Iowa does boast seven teams in
the USHL, a recruiting hotbed
for top programs around the
country. Michigan sophomore
defenseman Michael Downing
was a product of the Dubuque
Fighting Saints before enrolling
at Michigan.
Nebraska,
too,
has
three
USHL
teams,
including
the
Omaha Lancers, who have a
league-record seven titles. If they
became a Division I program, the
Cornhuskers would have a natural
rival in Nebraska-Omaha, a team
enjoying great success this season
as the No. 4 team in this week’s
USCHO.com poll.
Much work must to be done
to bring the Big Ten into the
realm of the CCHA’s dominance
throughout its 42-year history.
Big Ten hockey might never
reach the prominence of Big Ten
basketball and football, either.
It’s a work in progress and stands
as a reality many hockey fans will
have to accept.
It’s not hard to tell that Big Ten
hockey remains in its infancy, but
don’t sleep on its potential just
yet.
‘M’ heads to Illinois
on three-game skid
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Spike
Albrecht
had
been
thinking about holding a players-
only meeting. The Michigan
men’s basketball team’s 72-54
home
loss
to
Iowa
last
week gave him
the
perfect
opportunity.
In addition
to the junior
guard,
senior
forward
Max
Bielfeldt,
junior
guard
Caris
LeVert,
sophomore
guard Derrick
Walton Jr. and
sophomore forward Zak Irvin
each spoke up as well, delivering
a simple message.
“(Make) sure everyone knows
the expectations here,” Albrecht
said. “And don’t fall into that
trap of (thinking) what we’re
doing is acceptable.”
With Michigan (6-6 Big Ten,
13-11 overall) fresh off three
straight losses and traveling to
Champaign on Thursday to take
on Illinois, a lot is on the line.
Expectations are still high, and
an NCAA Tournament bid is still
the goal.
At ninth place in the Big Ten,
Michigan’s chances of climbing
back into the top half of the
standings with six games to go
in conference play are slim to
none. Still, Michigan coach John
Beilein remains hopeful his team
can make some noise.
“This is a year where you
could be in the middle of this
pack and still get into the NCAA
Tournament, because you look
nationwide, and also just look at
our league,” Beilein said. “What I
love about our opportunity is we
have the opportunity now with
Illinois — who we’re fighting
with somewhere in that pack
— Michigan State, Ohio State.
All (are) opportunities that you
wouldn’t get at another level to
really increase our résumé if
we’re going to have any chance
at the postseason.”
The focus of Wednesday’s
practice was Illinois (6-5, 16-8),
which is led by guards Malcolm
Hill and Kendrick Nunn. In the
last nine games, Hill and Nunn
have accounted for 52.9 percent of
the Illini’s scoring. The purpose
of Tuesday’s
practice,
though,
was for the
Wolverines
to
improve
on
the
basics,
even
if
it
meant
practicing
drills usually
reserved for September, like ball-
handling drills.
“We’ve got to keep working,
but at the same time, if you saw
(Tuesday’s) practice it was about
catching on two feet,” Beilein
said. “You can do all the game
planning you want for Illinois,
but if we still drop a two-on-
one fast break and bobble it, it
doesn’t work.”
Michigan could have been
in a different position if a
couple of possessions had gone
differently in recent games.
According to Bielfeldt, despite
mental
mistakes
from
the
younger players and injuries to
LeVert and Walton, expectations
remain just as high for the
Wolverines. And the NIT is not
part of such plans.
Whether Michigan eventually
makes the NCAA Tournament
or the NIT, one priority will stay
constant for the Wolverines:
improve every day and take it
game by game.
“That’s the most important
thing right now,” Albrecht said.
“It’s
just
making
Michigan
better. … We’ve got to work out
some kinks, and as we continue
to develop and figure that out,
we can look more into other
teams and their tendencies.”
While the next couple games
will reveal if Michigan has
even the slightest chance for an
at-large
bid
to the NCAA
Tournament,
there
are
other
implications
as well.
“It’s
important
that we see
this part of
the future,” Beilein said. “I’m
looking so forward to that, but in
the meantime, I’m not giving up
on today.”
NOTES: Beilein said Walton
has “been getting every day, but
certainly (is) not ready yet” to
return to action. His hope is for
the sophomore to come back
before the season ends, but he
does not have a timetable.
“When he can run pain-free,
he’s going to get back out there,”
Beilein said. “Now obviously
there’s some rehab involved for
him to get his cardio back up —
he can’t do that yet, but when
he can, I would say two to three
days later we would put him in a
game.”
Michigan
at Illinois
Matchup:
Michigan 13-11;
Illinois 16-8
When: Thurs-
day 9 P.M.
Where: State
Farm Center
TV/Radio:
ESPN
“It’s important
that we see this
part of the future.”
Michigan in the final countdown
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
It has become a rocky road
for
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball team.
Two
weeks
ago,
the
Wolverines (6-7 Big Ten, 14-10
overall) lost to both Nebraska
and No. 5 Maryland. Then, last
Thursday, Michigan narrowly
defeated Michigan State despite
allowing the Spartans to trim a
22-point lead to six.
Sunday, against then-No. 21
Rutgers, the Wolverines almost
grabbed their second lead of the
game with 3:10 left, when senior
guard Shannon Smith pushed
through three defenders under
the basket, made a layup and
narrowed the deficit to two. But
even a nearly impossible play by
a 5-foot-7 guard wasn’t enough
to ignite Michigan to an upset.
Two days later in Columbus,
Smith continued to spearhead
the offense. With a layup, she
topped off a 13-point lead over
the Buckeyes for the Wolverines’
largest of the night, but they
squandered that cushion in the
final nine minutes, ultimately
losing by four points.
Michigan
has
just
five
opponents to face before Big
Ten Tournament — three below
the Wolverines in the standings
and one that they have already
defeated once this year. But
even then, a lot is coming into
question.
It’s
hard
to
say
which
Michigan squad will show up
on any given night. It’s hard to
say if the Wolverines’ lights-
out shooters will be lights-out.
It’s hard to say if this team’s
defense can hold steady and not
allow two different players on
two different teams to score 19
second-half points.
And given the inconsistencies,
it’s hard to say if Michigan will
reach the NCAA Tournament.
With a question mark hovering
over the Wolverines’ postseason,
the Daily breaks down this year’s
team as it approaches the end of
the regular season.
THE
FULL
40:
Though
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico has stressed to her team
that it needs to put together a
full 40 minutes of basketball, the
Wolverines haven’t done so in
their past two games.
Michigan ran out of gas when
it nearly upset Rutgers and held a
large lead over Ohio State before
giving it away. Winning one or
two of those would have been a
much-needed résumé booster.
Instead, the Wolverines let both
teams stomp on them as their
defense shut down, and allowed
Buckeye guard Kelsey Mitchell
to score 26 total points.
The defense is going to need
to better pinpoint and eliminate
the main scoring threats before
it’s too late. Michigan will also
need to fight past the fatigue
with time winding down and its
season on the line.
DOWNTOWN SHOOTING:
At the beginning of the season,
Barnes Arico said freshman
guard
Katelynn
Flaherty
doesn’t play like a freshman. But
recently, she has started look
like one.
In the last two games, Flaherty
has gone a combined 6-for-28,
with only one 3-pointer, missing
all of her open looks against
Rutgers. Meanwhile, sophomore
guard Siera Thompson hasn’t
been able to make up for the loss
in scoring, as she too has been on
a cold streak, going 7-for-31 in
the last two games.
Though
Flaherty
and
Thompson combined for 21
points from beyond the arc
against Michigan State, they
have gone downhill since. For
Michigan to win out, it’s going
to need its best shooters to be
efficient from long range.
THE
BOARD
GAME:
Though the Wolverines shot
26.2 percent against the Scarlet
Knights,
double-digit
leads
were hard to come by as a result
of Michigan’s efforts on the
glass.
Senior
forwards
Cyesha
Goree
and
Nicole
Elmblad
have
been
getting
batted
around in the paint, but they’ve
been
important
contributors
nonetheless. Elmblad posted her
second double-double (14 points,
15 rebounds) against Ohio State
alongside Goree’s 14 boards.
Elmblad’s
aggressiveness
allows her to draw fouls often,
and Goree’s toughness fares well
against almost any matchup. If
both can stay out of foul trouble
late in the game, they will
continue to be the staples for a
team trying to keep its NCAA
Tournament dream alive.
HOT OFF THE BENCH:
While some of Michigan’s better
players have had to come off the
court due to foul trouble, Barnes
Arico has been getting a lot of
production from her bench.
Freshman
forward
Jillian
Dunston has played 30 minutes
in the last two games, collecting
12 total rebounds. She played a
big role against Rutgers, filling
in for Goree, who had to leave
the game with four fouls.
Against Ohio State, junior
guard
Madison
Ristovski
replaced
sophomore
guard
Danielle Williams, who has been
scoreless in four of her last five
starts. Ristovski finished with
five points against the Buckeyes,
including one triple.
If necessary, Barnes Arico has
efficient options to fall back on.
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Katelynn Flaherty has gone cold from 3-point range in the past two games.
“I just think it’s
a new level.”