2B — March 9, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
A fitting gesture to close an unusual year
A
fter Saturday’s game
against Rutgers, Jon
Rubenstein stood near
the glass doors of the Crisler
Center media room, surrounded
by friends
and family.
The
freshman
guard didn’t
stand out
from the
pack — at
5-foot-8, he
rarely does —
save for the
game-worn
uniform and
a smile that wouldn’t leave his
face.
A reporter approached him,
and a family member pulled
out a camera to document the
occurrence. Rubenstein rarely
gets interviewed, much less
recognized, for his contributions
to the Michigan men’s basketball
team. But on this afternoon, a
handful of journalists stopped
talking to Aubrey Dawkins and
Max Bielfeldt — who tallied
31 points and a double-double,
respectively — to speak with
him instead.
On the way out, Rubenstein’s
family searched the room for
extra stat packets, scanning the
first page and then smiling.
Before Rubenstein was
escorted out of the room, he was
stopped by a fan.
“You did something I never
did — got on the court for a
college game,” the stranger said.
“Congratulations!”
* * *
B
efore Saturday, Ruben-
stein and freshman Ryan
Kapustka worked what
had largely been a thankless job.
They weren’t on scholarship,
and they didn’t get any media
recognition for their duties.
That’s because both
were team managers for
the Wolverines, handling
equipment, setting up drills
and ensuring practices ran as
smoothly as possible.
For Rubenstein, who had
received minimal collegiate
interest for his basketball
abilities, the job was a way to
“stay in touch with the game I
love.” He and Kapustka played
pickup games with the other
team managers, and the two
former high-school varsity
athletes stood out among their
peers.
But until Caris LeVert,
Derrick Walton Jr. and D.J.
Wilson all went down with
injuries, that was only good
for bragging rights. When the
Wolverines needed more players
to fill in on the scout team,
Michigan coach John Beilein
turned to the two freshmen
who already had an in with the
program.
“I like to think that I can
hold my own out there,”
Rubenstein said. “They put us
in a couple scrimmages, and
I don’t necessarily put up big
numbers in those, but I’m out
there.”
In late February, Beilein told
Rubenstein and Kapustka he
wanted them to dress for the
regular-season finale against
Rutgers. That meant both got
to warm up in a game uniform
adorned with their name and sit
on the bench.
“They didn’t have to do that at
all,” Rubenstein said.
He called his parents, his
high-school coach and his best
friend James.
Then he began to dream of
playing.
* * *
N
ow they have pages on
ESPN.com, Rubenstein
and Kapustka. They’re
the bare minimum — just a
name, height, hometown and
position beside a yellow block
“M” — but they exist nonethe-
less.
That’s because both
officially logged a minute in
the Wolverines’ 79-69 win over
Rutgers. Rubenstein even shot a
free throw, missing the front end
of a one-and-one in the closing
seconds.
“It’s surreal, it’s fun, it’s
crazy, it’s emotional, it’s nerve-
wracking,” he said. “It’s all those
words. It was a dream come
true, absolutely.
“It’s a dream come true to
put this uniform on, to hear the
announcer and the fans. It’s
everything you dream as a little
kid.”
While this season hasn’t
lived up to expectations, it
has provided Rubenstein and
Kapustka a day they never
thought possible.
You may already be
looking ahead to 2015-16,
when Michigan returns the
conference’s hottest shooter
(Dawkins), its most improbably
good player (Albrecht) and a
healthy Walton. It’s shaping
up to be quite the return to
prominence for the program,
which will have experience
across the board — and a
formidable amount of depth at
guard if LeVert returns.
It’ll also mean Rubenstein and
Kapustka will return to their
duties as team managers. No
more uniform, no more warmup
drills, no more possibilities of
playing time.
But their stat lines will
be permanently archived in
Michigan’s record books.
* * *
A
fter Rubenstein and
Kapustka had left the
media room, Beilein
stepped to the podium for his
postgame press conference.
“This was a very unique year,”
the coach said, “and a unique
way to finish it.”
It was, wasn’t it?
Few expected guard
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman to star as a
freshman, and virtually no one
thought Andrew Dakich and
Sean Lonergan would earn
meaningful minutes in Big Ten
games. That’s about as strange
as you can get — but it got even
more bizarre Saturday, as a pair
of former team managers closed
out a conference win.
After such a tumultuous
regular season, it was one last
positive surprise.
“I said to Jon as he was
going to the locker room
after the warmup, before the
game: ‘What was it like down
there?’ And he said, ‘That was
amazing,’ ” Beilein recalled.
“And that sort of just took me,
and I said, ‘Boy, that was the
right thing to do.’ ”
Zuniga can be reached
at azs@umich.edu and on
Twitter @ByAZuniga.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Freshman Ryan Kapustka, a manager-turned-practice player for Michigan, dressed and played one minute Saturday, as did freshman Jon Rubenstein.
MSU ends ‘M’ tourney hopes
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Writer
HOFFMAN
ESTATES,
Ill.
— In each of its two previous
matchups with Michigan State
this
season,
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team
pulled off
convincing victories on the
strength of stellar defense and
efficient shooting.
But
in
their
Big
Ten
Tournament
opener
against
the Spartans on Thursday, the
Wolverines struggled early in
both areas.
After
neutralizing
every
Michigan State threat except
forward Aerial Powers in the
first two games, Michigan’s
defense allowed four Spartans to
reach double figures in scoring.
The Wolverines’ offense missed
its
first
10
3-pointers
and
finished the game with a 16.7
shooting percentage beyond the
arc.
Sparked by an early eight
points from forward Becca
Mills, Michigan State opened
the game on a 19-4 run, and
Michigan was unable to fight
its way out of the early hole.
Led by Powers’ double-double
(16 points, 15 rebounds), the
Spartans pulled away with
a 69-49 victory, eliminating
the Wolverines from the Big
Ten Tournament for the third
straight year.
“Michigan State was fired
up
about
losing
the
first
two contests because that’s
something
that
they’re
not
really accustomed to doing,”
said
Michigan
coach
Kim
Barnes Arico. “I’m sure they
were ready to go. They really
played well tonight. They shot
the basketball extremely well.
We didn’t.”
Michigan State completely
dominated the paint, holding
senior forward and second-
team
All-Big
Ten
selection
Cyesha Goree to five points on
2-for-13 shooting.
The Spartans’ defense left
Goree looking visibly frustrated
throughout the contest — she
only made one of her six free
throw attempts and looked
incredulous
after
she
was
blocked on a fast-break attempt
to end the first half.
“She
missed
uncontested
shots, contested shots, free
throws ... I mean, she seemed
to miss every opportunity that
she was getting,” Barnes Arico
said. “And it’s kind of a bummer
for her to have that as a senior
against Michigan State tonight.
But she’s had such a tremendous
season for us this year, I don’t
want this to take away from
the year that she’s had for our
team.”
To
compensate
for
its
struggles in the post, Michigan
turned its attention beyond
the arc and found no success
there, either. Even when their
guards
found
open
looks,
nothing seemed to fall for the
Wolverines.
No
Michigan
player
connected from long range until
junior guard Madison Ristovski
hit a triple with 1:54 remaining
in the first half. Sophomore
guard Siera Thompson made
only one of her eight 3-point
attempts, and freshman guard
Katelynn Flaherty finished just
2-for-8.
The
Wolverines’
shooters
quickly became frustrated, and
they let it show even when they
didn’t have possession of the
ball.
“When we put our scorers
in, they were giving up points
on the defensive end, and they
weren’t making shots tonight,”
Barnes Arico said. “So that’s
what kind of dug us a little bit
more of a hole. I think Katelynn
— she does get super frustrated
and she believes that if she’s
not making shots, she’s not
contributing.”
The Spartans, on the other
hand, used a solid shooting
performance
to
maintain
a
20-point lead for most of the
game. Guard Lexi Gussert made
her first five shots, including four
3-pointers, before she finally
missed for the first time midway
through the second half.
Barnes Arico made a few
adjustments to try to remedy
the team’s struggles — she
frequently rotated her shooters
and even subbed in junior
forward Kelsey Mitchell for
some extra defensive help —
but nothing Michigan tried
could slow Michigan State’s
momentum.
The loss quelled any chance of
an at-large NCAA Tournament
bid for the Wolverines, and it
denied Michigan a chance to
complete a three-game sweep of
their in-state rival for the first
time in history.
MSU
MICHIGAN
69
49
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Senior forward Nicole Elmblad’s last chance to make another NCAA Tournament may have slipped away Thursday.
Michigan continues
success in California
By MITCH BECKMAN
Daily Sports Writer
It’s
pretty
obvious
that
California has been good to the
Wolverines.
Last season, three of the
Michigan
women’s
lacrosse
team’s four wins came against
California opponents — UC
Davis, California and Fresno
State.
Friday,
they
followed
up
another
victory
against
California with a 22-8 win over
St. Mary’s. The win is the team’s
third in a row, and it puts the
program above .500 for the first
time in its young history.
Just three days after their
16-14 win over California, the
Wolverines showed no signs of
fatigue.
Sophomore
attackers
Jess
Angerman and Tess Korten
each recorded
hat tricks in
the first half
alone, giving
Michigan
a
12-6
lead
at
halftime.
Angerman
ended
the
game
with
three
goals
and
two
assists, and Korten finished
with four goals and an assist.
The offense spread the wealth
in the second half and ran away
on the scoreboard. Freshman
attacker Mae Tarr added four
goals in the second stanza
after scoring one in the first
half, leading all Wolverines on
the score sheet with six points
on seven shots. Nine different
players found the back of the
net, and six of the nine players
registered multiple points in the
program’s largest scoring total
to date.
“It was a product of the whole
team,” Tarr said. “We moved
the ball well and really played as
a team. I think the whole team
contributed to the 22 goals.”
For the third consecutive
game, the Wolverines won
the possession battle. Going
17-for-18 on clears bolstered
the offense, while dominance
in
the
faceoff
dot,
where
Michigan won 21 of 32, kept the
Gaels’ offense from mounting a
comeback and kept the attack
coming on the offensive end.
The Wolverines also won the
ground-ball battle, beating the
Gaels, 23-15.
“It all started with draw
control,” Tarr said. “From there,
we just executed on offense.
And the defense got a lot of
turnovers and (moved the) ball
up field as well, and that really
let us succeed.”
Along with controlling the
faceoff dot, Michigan’s strong
defensive performance gave the
offense ample opportunities,
most of which they converted.
Sophomore
goalie
Allison
Silber made six saves, and the
defense
in
front of her
turned
out
one of their
strongest
performances
of the season,
constantly
pestering the
St.
Mary’s
offense.
The
Gaels
attempted just 16 shots while
the Wolverines attempted 35.
“I don’t think we were
aggressive enough in the first
half,”
said
Michigan
coach
Jennifer Ulehla. “In the second
half we came out and were much
more aggressive on the ball, and
I liked the adjustment we made.”
While
the
on-the-field
performance
was
certainly
impressive, its context makes
it even more so. The wins
come during Spring Break, a
time notoriously difficult for
anyone to focus. Last season,
the team had two tough losses
in Florida. This year, the extra
year of experience showed and
the Wolverines left California
victorious.
MICHIGAN
ST. MARY’S
22
8
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
“In the second
half we came out
and were much
more aggressive.”
ALEJANDRO
ZÚÑIGA