Sports
8 — Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Senior Night key for team on bubble
After multiple close
losses, Michigan
looks to get back on
winning track
By KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Writer
Considering
the
Michigan
women’s basketball team’s recent
string of last-
second defeats,
it
would
make sense to
suspect
that
the Wolverines
are
feeling
downtrodden.
After senior
forward Nicole
Elmblad’s
buzzer-beating
putback
propelled
Michigan (7-9 Big Ten, 15-12
overall) to overtime against
Minnesota, it appeared that a
contest would finally fall in favor
of the Wolverines. After three
close February losses that were
decided in the final minute of
play, Michigan’s turn to steal
a victory away seemed within
reach.
Saturday’s game in Minnesota
didn’t
end
any
differently,
though, as the Wolverines lost in
double overtime.
“We’re getting better, we just
haven’t gotten a victory in one of
these yet,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “But let’s just
keep slugging away. I was proud
of our effort and how we were
down, and we didn’t quit, and
we fought back and persevered. I
think our team is really growing
and continuing to improve.”
Tuesday,
Purdue
(3-13,
10-17) will attempt to ruin the
Wolverines’ Senior Night, when
four-year starter Elmblad, two-
year starting forward Cyesha
Goree and two-year starting
transfer guard Shannon Smith
will be honored prior to the
game.
The
Wolverines did
show marked
improvements
against
Minnesota.
Goree
stayed
out
of
foul
trouble while
battling center
Amanda
Zahui
B.
—
the 2014 Big
Ten Freshman of the Year —
and freshman guard Katelynn
Flaherty scored a career-high 27
points.
Flaherty, who has started
the last two games, is looking
more and more comfortable in
pressure situations. After being
named a starter, Flaherty put an
enormous amount of pressure on
Indiana and Minnesota, scoring
48 points in total.
Goree was also able to tack on
26 points and 20 boards against
Indiana
despite
being
double-
teamed
all
game. Against
Purdue, she’ll
look to emulate
Saturday’s
results
while
also remaining
disciplined.
“For
(Goree),
she
has to realize that it’s not all
about her scoring all the time,”
Barnes Arico said. “If people are
really focused on her that much,
and sending two and three
people to her, it’s good for our
team.”
“It’s going to open things up
for her teammates, and it might
not result in her numbers in the
stat sheet being 20 points, but
it’s resulting in Katelynn having
20
points,
and
(sophomore
guard Siera Thompson) having
open looks and Nicole Elmblad
cutting to the basket.”
Goree, Flaherty, Thompson
and Smith are all averaging
double figures in scoring, so if
Goree fouls out or is covered too
heavily, the other three will be
relied on offensively.
A
loss
would
completely
wipe out Michigan’s chances
of making an at-large bid to the
NCAA Tournament, barring an
incredible Big Ten Tournament
performance,
which
would
likely have to include beating No.
5 Maryland.
There
are
two
games
remaining on the Wolverines’
schedule before the conference
tournament in Hoffman Estates,
Illinois. After losing four games
in February, they will have to
win the final two.
Doing so might give a jolt
of morale to a team that needs
to
overcome
its
late-season
struggles to have any chance
of
an
NCAA
tournament
appearance.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
“We just
haven’t gotten a
victory in one of
those yet.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Shortage of time
issue for Michigan
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Time is running out for the
Michigan men’s basketball team.
Despite an upset win over
Ohio State on Sunday, Michigan’s
chances for a postseason bid
remain up in the air. And while
the
NCAA
Tournament
or
NIT remains the goal for the
Wolverines,
Michigan
coach
John Beilein has other concerns
for a season approaching its
conclusion.
Specifically, Beilein wants to
teach his young team as much
as it can learn before summer
approaches and practice time is
limited.
“While some might be dialing
back in their practice right now,
we’re actually practicing more
with those guys, cause they need
this fundamental work,” Beilein
said. “When the season’s over, we
get two hours a week for a couple
weeks, and then it’s the summer.
So we’re trying to use every
valuable minute.”
For the majority of Michigan’s
team, the learning process has
been rushed. After primarily
playing an eight-man rotation
that relied heavily on junior
guards Spike Albrecht and Caris
LeVert, sophomore guard Derrick
Walton
Jr.
and
sophomore
forward Zak Irvin earlier in the
season, the Wolverines were
forced to readjust their lineup.
Due mostly to injuries to
LeVert and Walton, Michigan
had to adjust on the fly and do
what Beilein was so hesitant to do
before: throw his inexperienced
youngsters into the fire.
“There’s
a
reason
that
(freshman guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rahkman) and (freshman
guard Aubrey Dawkins) were
not playing early,” Beilein said.
“Their timing was bad. They
were just figuring it out, like
freshmen should be. And so all
of a sudden they had to play a lot
of minutes — they weren’t very
efficient offensively. So we’ve
gotten better offensively. We’ve
been tweaking like crazy.”
Such changes were evident
Sunday, as freshman forward
Ricky
Doyle
and
redshirt
freshman forward Mark Donnal
combined for 10 points in 23
minutes
of
action.
Playing
aggressively and with two feet
planted in the paint, like Beilein
has preached recently, the duo
didn’t back down against the
Buckeyes’
senior
frontcourt
of Sam Thompson and Amir
Williams.
“For Ricky, who’s 18, playing
against these 22-year-olds, it’s
a challenge,” Beilein said. “And
Mark is 19. It’s a big challenge.”
While practice helps with
the development of Michigan’s
budding young core, watching the
play of older, more experienced
players like Albrecht and senior
forward Max Bielfeldt is also
impactful.
Bielfeldt’s
seven
rebounds,
including three on the offensive
glass, and his dive on the floor to
gain possession late in the second
half showed the type of effort and
resolve Beilein expects from his
players.
“Our young guys are learning
about a sense of urgency,” Beilein
said. “Max’s clock is running out.
He wants to go and get that ball,
whereas typical young guys will
be, ‘I’ll get it next time.’ Max, I
think, has realized there isn’t a
next time and I’m going to get
that ball.”
Whereas Bielfeldt took a leaf
out of Albrecht’s playbook by
diving on the ground, Albrecht
mimicked former Wolverine Trey
Burke with his game-sealing
steal of D’Angelo Russell in the
final minute and his multiple
step-back jumpers throughout
the contest.
It’s that type of play that
represents
what
college
basketball should be, according
to Beilein.
And if Michigan wants to
make a run, it’ll need plenty more
of it.
Purdue at
Michigan
Matchup:
Purdue 10-17;
Michigan 15-12
When: Tues-
day 7 P.M.
Where:
Crisler Arena
TV/Radio:
BTN
‘Children’ support Red, make the opponents blue
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Writer
The
applause
and
name
chanting
poured
down
to
the ice at Adam Wilcox. The
Minnesota
netminder
had
heard it all before, but unlike his
standout performances in net in
Minneapolis, the junior wasn’t
used to this kind of applause.
That’s because Wilcox had
just surrendered his fifth goal in
16 shots in an eventual 7-5 loss
at Michigan on Jan. 10, and was
being pulled for the first time in
his career. As the reigning Big
Ten Player of the Year skated
off the ice, the cheers from the
student section only grew louder.
The
section,
commonly
referred to as the “Children of
Yost,” has developed a reputation
as the nation’s rowdiest, smartest
and — most importantly —
effective fans in college hockey.
After dropping four of five
games on the road and falling
out of the NCAA Tournament
picture, the No. 17 Michigan
hockey team needed all of the
above from its fans on Sunday
against Ohio State. The team got
its wish, returning home for the
first time in over six weeks and
cruising to a 5-2 win.
Leading the charge from the
stands in both games was Marcus
Brown, a senior in an off-yellow
mesh jersey in the third row.
Brown fondly remembers sending
Wilcox off, saying it was a prime
example of what the student
section was all about.
“We knew he was one of the
best goalies out there,” Brown
said. “We knew he had had one of
his worst games, and we felt like
we were a part of that. So we kept
it going even after play resumed.”
After the win over Minnesota,
the Wolverines embarked on an
eight-game road trip. Michigan
went 4-4 in the stretch, bringing
its record away from Yost to 7-9.
Needless to say, the team was
happy to return to the arena in
which it is 10-2 and averaging
nearly 4.5 goals per game.
“I think it impacted our
record,” said Michigan coach Red
Berenson of the road trip. “It was
so good to be back (Sunday). It
was wall-to-wall, fans were all in,
you never know what you’re going
to get at five o’clock on a Sunday,
but our fans really showed up.
“This is such a special place,
and it’s such a home-ice feeling
that we haven’t had in a long
time.”
Every team has fans and an
arena to call home, so what makes
Yost special? To the team, it’s an
unnerving passion for not just the
team, but the game itself.
“They’re not just a bunch
of rowdy students,” Berenson
said. “They know the game and
what’s going on, and they’re huge
supporters of what we do.”
Added junior forward Justin
Selman: “It can be one o’clock on a
Wednesday afternoon or Sunday
night, the Children of Yost show
up no matter what. Playing at a
bunch of rinks across the country
now, it’s by far the best student
section. The cheers they have
and the way they get up for every
game is just really special.”
For Brown, that has always
been the easy part. Growing up
around hockey and still sporting
the same off-maize mesh jersey
from a Michigan hockey camp
10 years ago, Brown had no
hesitation getting hockey season
tickets his freshman year. When
he arrived to his first game, he
learned he wasn’t alone.
“The big difference between
Yost and other sections is the
legacy here,” he said. “A lot of us
grew up around the program or
grew up loving hockey, and those
who don’t catch on quickly to be
a part of it.
“It’s not the popular sport to go
to, but people really, really want
to be there.”
For
the
students,
passion
was the easy part. The hard
part was utilizing that passion
without making the experience
detrimental to others. Though
this year has been incident-free,
that hasn’t always been the case.
“There
have
been
times
when (Berenson) came out at
intermission and asked us if our
parents knew the things we were
saying,” Brown said. “There’s
a line, but we walk that line
proudly.”
The line forces Brown and
company to get creative. Online
forums and groups encourage
suggestions and new ideas, and
sometimes they stick.
Since
November,
opposing
hockey players have been greeted
to large printouts of their Tinder
bios, adding a more personal
touch to the welcome. What
began as an accidental finding on
the popular phone dating app by a
few fans quickly opened doors to
a whole new realm of trash talk.
“The Tinder tradition was
totally
unexpected,”
said
sophomore Anna Moshkovych,
one of the original sources of the
idea. “After posting screenshots
in the Facebook page, the whole
thing took on a life of its own. One
alumni offered to get the pictures
blown up on a poster in Kinkos,
but it was only a few hours prior
to puck drop and I didn’t think
they’d actually follow through.
Once I showed up to the game
and saw the physical posters in
all their glory, I was practically
crying from laughing so hard.
“The pick-up lines those guys
put on their profiles gave us a
whole new level of debauchery.
We made sure to make the
experience completely mortifying
— calling out parents and waving
the posters up against the glass.
The game was one for the books.”
With fans cracking up, players
peeking to see themselves and
visiting parents lowering their
heads in shame, the idea was a hit.
The Tinder posters were alive and
well Sunday against Ohio State,
as were a number of cheers both
new and old. Some made sense.
Some — like chanting for an adult
fan to hold a baby up to replicate
the Lion King scene — did not.
However,
the
fun-loving
nature of the section, according
to Brown, allows the group to
continue to keep things fresh.
“Most of the stuff we do in the
student section is directly for
supporting the team and heckling
away players,” Brown said. “But
occasionally we’ll do things that
are more for our entertainment,
not worrying if the other team
can hear us, but just to crack a
joke.
“The funny thing is that
sometimes it catches on, and
suddenly we have a new cheer.”
With the team no longer in
the driver’s seat en route to
the NCAA Tournament, the
Wolverines will need to play their
best hockey in the final six games
to stay in contention. Similarly,
the Children of Yost are feeling
the pressure.
“We know we have to bring
it for the big games,” Brown
said. “They don’t lose at home
very much, and we think we’re
a big part of that, so we feel the
urgency just like the team does.”
There’s no real way to prove
just how important the student
section is to the team’s success.
But after playing and coaching all
over the continent, Berenson feels
that together, special things are
always on the horizon.
“It’s the sound, the students,
the band, the sightlines, the other
team can get that uneasy feeling,”
he said. “Our team gets this
confidence that’s really special,
and all of a sudden, you’re better
than you were last week because
you’re at home.
“I can tell you, we wouldn’t
be the same team or program
without our student section.”
Neither
would
opposing
goaltenders.
ZACH MOORE/Daily
The Children ofYost have played an integral role in the Michigan hockey team’s season. The Wolverines are 10-2 at Yost Ice Arena this year.