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When:
Saturday, February 21, 2015
9:00 AM Eastern
Where:
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Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Free parking or valet available.
A meal will be provided.
8 — Friday, February 13, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines look to solidify place in PairWise Rankings
By JASON RUBINSTEIN
Daily Sports Editor
The last time the Michigan
hockey team faced off against
Minnesota, coach Red Berenson
recorded his 800th career win.
Though the milestone won’t be
as monumental, if Michigan can
steal two wins in Minneapolis,
the 12th-ranked Wolverines will
propel themselves into a very
steady position in the PairWise
Rankings.
But that won’t come easily.
No. 14 Minnesota (5-2-3 Big Ten,
14-9-3 overall) will be espe-
cially hungry for two wins con-
sidering the Wolverines sweep
of the Golden Gophers in a two-
game series in January. And a
win against Michigan would
significantly further their cause
in the rankings.
“I’d say this is the biggest
series of my career so far,” said
junior forward Andrew Copp.
“We took care of them when
they were here in Ann Arbor,
but we know that they are tough
to beat out there.”
Added Berenson: “This will
be the biggest test thus far going
on the road to play Minnesota.”
Berenson’s sentiment is par-
tially rooted in the fact that the
Wolverines
haven’t won in
Minneapolis
in seven years.
The
drought
can be partial-
ly
attributed
to
Michigan
(8-2, 16-8) not
playing
the
Gophers regu-
larly until last
season,
when
the
Big
Ten
conference
was formed.
But
per-
haps the los-
ing
streak
in Minnesota is rooted in the
Wolverines’ inability to adapt
to a bigger rink. The Golden
Gophers skate on an Olympic-
size ice sheet — 100 feet by 200
feet — whereas Yost Ice Arena is
just 85 feet by 200 feet.
And the extra space has
caused the Wolverines some
trouble in the past. This sea-
son, though, Michigan is unde-
feated while playing on larger
ice sheets. Back in January, the
Wolverines swept Wisconsin in
its Olympic-size rink, scoring 13
goals along the way.
“This team is excited to be
playing on the big ice,” said
senior forward Zach Hyman.
“You
saw
how
we
played
against Wisconsin in the big
rink and we were excited that
weekend.”
To simulate the game condi-
tions this weekend, Michigan
practiced at the Ann Arbor Ice
Cube this week, which has an
Olympic-size rink. The Wolver-
ines did the same thing prior to
the Wisconsin series.
Heading into the weekend,
Michigan still leads the nation
in scoring, tallying 4.21 goals
per game. The Wolverines are
also accomplishing this feat
without one of last season’s
leading scorers filling the stat
sheet in forward JT Compher.
The sophomore has just four
goals and 13 points this season.
Berenson isn’t concerned.
“I think JT is coming into the
best part his season right now,”
he said.
Despite the offensive prow-
ess, it’s likely that special teams
will determine a large part of
this series. Minnesota boasts
the nation’s best power-play
unit, converting just above 29
percent — 30 of 103 — power-
play opportunities.
The last time the two teams
met, the Gophers converted
two
power-play
goals
after
Copp took a five-minute major
penalty.
“That game was interesting, I
guess,” Copp said with a smirk.
In recent games, the Wolver-
ines penalty-killing unit, largely
headed by Compher, has been
solid. A big reason for that is
that Michigan takes very few
penalties — the Wolverines rank
36th in the country in penalty
minutes.
“Just
not
taking
many
penalties
is
the
key,”
said
freshman
forward
Dylan
Larkin. “The best penalty kill
is staying out of the box. That’s
our mentality. But if we do, we
are going to have to sacrifice our
bodies and block a lot of shots.”
Larkin went on to say how
important this series is for the
Wolverines, especially consid-
ering the PairWise implications.
More notably, getting two wins
on the road at Minnesota would
considerably boost this team’s
already high morale.
“It can push this year into a
special year,” Larkin said, “and
we are all looking for that.”
Michigan at
Minnesota
Matchup:
Michigan
16-8; Min-
nesota 14-9-3
When: Friday
9 P.M.; Sat-
urday 8 P.M.
Where: Mari-
ucci Arena
TV/Radio:
Friday’s game
is on BTN
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Freshman forward Dylan Larkin will be a key player as Michigan looks for a successful weekend in Minneapolis.
‘M’ falters in OT
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
CHAMPAIGN — The Big
Ten championship trophy was
inside the State Farm Center
the last time the Michigan
men’s basketball team played at
Illinois.
On
March
4
last
year,
the
Wolverines
traveled
to
Champaign and left with the
trophy and an 84-53 win. They
scored 35 of the last 52 points of
the first half, culminating with
Nik Stauskas’ deep 3-pointer
just before the halftime buzzer.
Michigan was back inside
the same building Thursday,
but with no conference title
trophy in sight, with assistant
coach LaVall Jordan out sick
at the team hotel and with
injured guards Caris LeVert and
Derrick Walton Jr. at home.
The Wolverines were in for
much more of a fight this time.
Just as they were about to come
away with a solid road win, Illinois
battled back from a late second-
half deficit to force overtime and
eventually win, 64-52.
The two teams also played
in overtime Dec. 30 at Crisler
Center, but the Wolverines (6-7
Big Ten, 13-12 overall) were
victorious on their home court.
They haven’t had much luck since
then in three extra sessions in the
past six games.
“This is what, our third
straight overtime loss?” said
freshman
guard
Aubrey
Dawkins. “It’s tough.”
The Fighting Illini (7-5, 17-8)
put together a nearly flawless
overtime
period,
outscoring
Michigan 14-2 and snapping an
eight-game losing streak in the
series.
“I think there was a huge
let-down that we didn’t win
that game,” Beilein said. “(Our
kids) didn’t have that same zest
that I think you need to go into
overtime.”
The run started with two
free throws by guard Kendrick
Nunn on the first possession,
and Illinois kept its foot on the
pedal for all five minutes. The
Wolverines didn’t score until
freshman guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rahkman’s free throws
with 13 seconds left.
Very little of the rest of the
setting carried
over from last
season, and the
outcome
was
no exception. A
sellout crowd
at
the
State
Farm
Center
on
“Orange-
Out
Night”
couldn’t
will
the Fighting Illini ahead until
the final moments, as Michigan
sustained
momentum
swings
throughout the second half.
“We thought we had it,”
Dawkins said. “We’ve been
in that situation a lot, so we
thought we could figure it out
enough to win the game, but
obviously it didn’t happen.”
But Illinois made one final
push in the last two minutes.
After
forcing
a
five-second
violation on the sideline, the
Fighting Illini scored a quick
bucket, and Nunn added a
3-pointer with 1:21 left to tie the
game. The teams traded misses
— with Illinois’ coming on a
block by sophomore forward
Zak Irvin — and Michigan held
for the last shot.
The Fighting Illini, which had
three fouls to give, committed
all three, then intercepted the
inbounds pass but just missed a
buzzer beater from half-court.
The
Wolverines
rotated
defenses throughout the second
half
to
keep
the
Fighting
Illini from stringing together
anything serious. Illinois shot
just 39 percent from the floor.
“We’re getting better at it,”
Beilein said. “I think we’re
getting better at understanding
our coverages at what we have to
do. It does open us up for some
rebounding, which hurt us a little
bit. We’re working at a lot of things.
That’s why we have an issue right
now — we’re trying to do anything
we can to stay in the game. …
We’re not great at anything right
now, and that
gets
exposed
sometimes
in
games.”
Still, Illinois’
guard Malcolm
Hill ignited the
crowd with a
3-pointer at the
8:20 mark, but
soon Michigan
junior
guard
Spike
Albrecht
lobbed the ball up, caught it and
flung it in while falling over on the
baseline. When the Fighting Illini
drew within four, Albrecht came
back with a long triple with just
over five minutes to play.
“He’s playing with everything
he’s got,” Beilein said. “He’s
really upset right now.”
The
Wolverines
played
almost even on the glass starting
with the first few minutes,
when both teams went without
a field goal for the first 4:50.
An early Illinois run made it a
10-6 game, but senior forward
Max Bielfeldt scored two quick
buckets and Dawkins added a
triple as Michigan swayed the
advantage back in its favor.
Moments
later,
Dawkins
silenced the crowd with a
monstrous dunk over Illinois
center Nnanna Egwu. Dawkins
finished
with
nine
points,
following his career-high 20
point showing on Dec. 30, the
first time the two teams met
this season.
MICHIGAN
ILLINOIS
52
64
Inexperience dooms Michigan
By LEV FACHER
Managing Editor
CHAMPAIGN — At risk of
dropping its fifth Big Ten game
in six chances, the Michigan
men’s basketball team turned
to its upperclassmen — all two
of them — to stem the tide on
Thursday night at Illinois.
“All
those
young
kids
shouldn’t be in those situations,”
said
Michigan
coach
John
Beilein, referring to the three
true freshmen he started against
the Fighting Illini. “They’re
forced to be. We’ve got to get
better at it.”
Instead, it was senior forward
Max Bielfeldt and junior guard
Spike Albrecht who took the
reigns for Michigan.
Albrecht, whose health has
been less than perfect throughout
the season, gutted out 42 minutes
in Michigan’s third overtime
game in as many weeks, scoring
13 points and recording five
assists in the process.
Bielfeldt,
making
a
final
homecoming to the school that
boasts his family’s name on its
athletic administration building,
was equally impressive, scoring
12 points and recording seven
rebounds.
But
the
upperclassmen’s
combined effort wasn’t enough
for Michigan, which continued
a consistent trend of forcing
overtime against teams with
the on-paper advantage before
collapsing during the added five
minutes.
On Jan. 24, the Wolverines
were
outscored
12-7
by
Wisconsin
after
sophomore
guard
Derrick
Walton
Jr.’s
3-pointer tied the game in the
final seconds of regulation.
A
week
later,
Michigan’s
post-regulation result was much
worse — Michigan State went
on a 10-0 overtime run that the
Wolverines
never
recovered
from.
Michigan
was
held
scoreless in the added period,
and ultimately fell, 76-66.
The final five minutes of
Thursday’s game were a mirror
image of the Feb. 1 rivalry clash.
Having already stormed back
from a 50-43 deficit in the final
minutes,
Illinois
scored
the
first 14 points of overtime to
take a commanding 64-50 lead.
Freshman guard Muhammad-
Ali Abdur-Rahkman’s pair of
made free throws in the final
minute was much too little, and
far too late.
“These late-game adjustments
that we have to make … we
haven’t been able to work at
those as much because we’re
still trying to dribble the ball,
and catch the ball on two feet,
and shoot the ball with good
spin and the fundamentals of
the game,” Beilein said.
One of the fundamentals
that was severely lacking was
Michigan’s ability to inbound
the basketball. Abdur-Rahkman
failed three times at getting
the ball past Illinois’ 6-foot-11
center Nnanna Egwu, seeing his
first two attempts swatted away
and committing a five-second
violation on the third.
With 4.5 seconds remaining
in regulation, Michigan had
another opportunity to inbound
the ball and set up a game-
winning shot. Again, its youth
posed a major roadblock.
“I
would
love
to
have
(freshman forward) Ricky Doyle
throwing it in, but we do not
have that type of passing from
our big guys right now,” Beilein
said. “Spike’s got to be the one.”
Albrecht’s pass was deflected,
ultimately ending up in the
hands of Illinois guard Rayvonte
Rice. The Fighting Illini couldn’t
score on their final possession,
sending the game to overtime.
Had the inbounds play worked,
Beilein had every intention of
leaving an upperclassman with
the final shot.
“We were gonna go with
(Bielfeldt),” Beilein said. “He
didn’t play a lot in the last game,
but he’s a senior, this game means
a lot to him, and we sort of had a
hunch that we’d go with him.
“If we’d had the fouls to give,
he was taking last shot if we
were allowed to run the offense,
and might have had three of four
seconds. I dialed up something
for him.”
Though Michigan’s best hope
of closing out the victory —
which would have been its first
of the month — was vested in
Albrecht and Bielfeldt, the sparks
of the Wolverines’ talented youth
were
still
there.
Michigan’s
coaching staff wasn’t shy about
making sure its underclassmen
understood their roles.
At
a
particularly
quiet
moment,
Michigan
assistant
coach
Bacari
Alexander’s
instructions
for
Doyle
rang
through the State Farm Center.
“Rick! Rick! You got one job, son.
Rebound the basketball.”
Doyle came up with a rebound
on the ensuing possession.
That
wasn’t
even
the
most promising sign of the
Wolverines’ impending youth
uprising — in the first half,
Andrew Dakich found Aubrey
Dawkins on a backdoor cut,
allowing Dawkins to finish
with a ferocious right-handed
slam that stunned the record
crowd of 17,087 at the State
Farm Center.
Though Michigan’s simple
lack of depth, which forced
Albrecht
and
sophomore
forward Zak Irvin to play 42
minutes and Abdur-Rahkman to
play 43, was an obvious factor,
Dawkins
wasn’t
willing
to
chalk up the repeated overtime
collapses to a lack of fresh legs.
“It could be that,” Dawkins
said. “I mean, I’m not going to
use that as an excuse. We’ve still
got to come out and find a way to
win every night.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
MEN’S BASKETBALL
“I think there
was a huge let-
down.”