8 — Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

RUBY WALLAU/Daily

Freshman Moritz Wagner (right) has worked his way into Michigan’s rotation.
Michigan’s big men
getting opportunity

By SIMON KAUFMAN

Daily Sports Editor

After his team’s regular-season

opener on Friday, Michigan men’s
basketball coach John Beilein
said earning minutes at the ‘5’
spot would be “very competitive.”
He never said it would be a blood
battle.

But that didn’t stop freshman

forward Moritz Wagner from
stiffening his 6-foot-10 frame and
setting his feet to take a charge
midway through the second half
of the Wolverines’ win against
Elon on Monday. When he stood
up, blood dripped down from a
gash in his forehead. He slapped
his chest twice and returned to
the bench to wipe away the blood.

Wagner was one of four big

men whom Beilein rotated in
during the Wolverines’ 88-68 win
over the Phoenix. In each half, the
situation down low looked more
or less like this: Junior forward
Mark
Donnal
started,
then

redshirt freshman D.J. Wilson
and sophomore Ricky Doyle
subbed in after five minutes, then
Wagner for a few. And then, late
in each frame, Beilein mixed it up.

After getting the start for the

second game in a row, Donnal
grabbed
an
offensive
board

early in the first half and put it
back in. Two minutes later, he
committed an off-ball foul, and
soon after that Beilein pulled him
and sophomore guard Kameron
Chatman in exchange for Wilson
and Doyle, with Doyle playing the
‘5’ and Wilson playing as a stretch
forward.

Wilson nailed his first 3-point

attempt, but then, like Donnal,
he committed a foul on the other
end. Beilein opted to go with a
smaller lineup and pulled Wilson.
Then, in keeping with the theme,
Doyle committed his first foul
and found himself on the bench
with Wilson taking his spot.

Wilson scored on a layup

quickly after reentering, then
committed
his
second
foul.

Wilson out. Wagner in.

It was a big-man merry-go-

round.

Wagner lasted less than three

minutes in the first half, but
his physical play was enough to
impress Beilein. He did a nice
job of boxing out his man on
the defensive end and fought
for a rebound off the offensive
glass, forcing the ball off an Elon
defender and giving Michigan
possession.

Each big earned his turn on the

floor on Monday. Donnal tallied
15 minutes, Doyle and Wilson
13 each and Wagner seven. But
Beilein knows it isn’t realistic to
play four bigs every game.

“We hope we’ll get a rotation,”

Beilein said. “We can’t be rotating
four guys there. Somebody’s
gonna beat somebody out, and
we’ll go with two or three (big
men). Usually you need three,
but we’ll go with two primarily
and a third guy will back up, and
a fourth guy will have to wait his
turn.”

Based
on
minutes
alone,

Donnal has been Beilein’s most
trusted manut Doyle has been
the most productive. Doyle went
3-for-4 from the field, including
a big dunk. On the defensive side,
he grabbed three boards.

Wilson struggled against the

Phoenix. He had twice as many
fouls (four) as he had field goals
(two). But in Michigan’s first
game, he looked more poised,
going 2-for-4 from the field and
dishing out three assists in 23
minutes.

The biggest wild card is still

Wagner.
The
Berlin
product

was an option to redshirt at the
beginning of the year, but Beilein
opted to play him. In two games,
he’s just 1-for-3 from the field but
has shown an ability to step up on
defense, which he demonstrated
by taking a charge on Monday.

“That was awesome,” said

redshirt
sophomore
Duncan

Robinson. “He brings a ton of
energy, to get up and pump his
chest like that. That was a lot of
fun. … He’s talking a lot, bringing
a lot of energy, so he’s a great
teammate.”

Results mixed across Big Ten

Wisconsin’s upset
of North Dakota

stands out, but most
teams still mediocre

By JASON RUBINSTEIN

Daily Sports Editor

The Michigan hockey team

has been quite an enigma this
season. While a 5-1-1 record
looks great on paper, the team is
far from satisfied.

Once again, it appears the

12th-ranked Wolverines boast
one of the nation’s top offenses
— Michigan is second in the
country with 4.43 goals per
game — while the defense ranks
45th out of 60 teams, allowing
3.29 goals per game.

Regardless, the Wolverines

are currently in the top 16 in the
Pairwise Rankings heading into
their
biggest
non-conference

series of the year, a two-game set
at Boston University.

Michigan aside, no other Big

Ten team is ranked.

The Daily gives a team-

by-team breakdown of what
the Wolverines’ five Big Ten
counterparts have (or have not)
accomplished in the season’s
first five weeks:

Michigan State (4-4-1)

The Spartans have to be

disappointed with their start to
the season. Michigan State went
winless in its three marquee
games: two against Denver and
one against Boston College.

Prior to the season, Spartans

coach
Tom
Anastos
knew

his team would win with its
goaltending.
They
returned

the reigning Big Ten Goalie
of the Year, Jake Hildebrand,
who has a career .926 save
percentage and 2.23 goals per
game average. Through nine
games, the netminder’s stats
are below his career mark, but
he still has an impressive .916
save percentage while allowing
2.44 goals per game.

Michigan State had a real

chance to bump its RPI when it

traveled to play Boston College.
In a game that boasted arguably
the nation’s top two goalies
in Hildebrand and the Eagles’
Thatcher Demko, there were 10
goals allowed. Boston College
escaped with a 6-4 win.

The Spartans’ win column

stems from a sweep of New
Hampshire and two wins over
Lake Superior State.

Wisconsin (3-4-1)

It’s been another wild start

for the Badgers after they tallied
just four wins a season ago.

Wisconsin garnered the Big

Ten’s biggest non-conference
win, beating No. 4 North Dakota
on the road, 3-1. That means
each
Michigan-Wisconsin

tilt is of great importance for
the Wolverines, as a win over
the Badgers would improve
Michigan’s RPI.

Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves

said after the game: “To have
that signature win really could
be something special for this
group as we move forward.”

Aside from their win in Fargo,

North Dakota, the Badgers’ only
other wins came against Arizona
State, which is in its first season
as a Division I program.

Minnesota (4-5)

Minnesota lost most of its

premier players in the offseason
due to graduation or to the NHL.
How the Gophers replace those
players will define their season.

First,
coach
Don
Lucia

needed to fill the void left by
netminder Adam Wilcox, who
gave the Wolverines fits in the
past. It appears he has done that
successfully, starting freshman
Eric Schierhorn, who has a .931
save percentage and 2.11 goals-
allowed average.

A sluggish start to the season

has held Minnesota back — the
Gophers lost to Vermont and
were
swept
by
Minnesota-

Duluth to begin the year —
but the team is starting to
trend upward. Just recently,
Minnesota
stole
one
from

Minnesota State on the road.

Penn State (6-2-2)

After losing Casey Bailey,

who led the Nittany Lions in
goals (22) and points (40) last
season, to the Toronto Maple
Leafs, Penn State’s offense had
multiple question marks.

However, the Nittany Lions

haven’t skipped a beat. They
boast the nation’s third-best
offense, scoring 4.40 goals per
game. Freshman forward Chase
Berger is leading that charge,
already having tallied eight
goals.

Penn State has been aided by a

porous non-conference schedule,
with its best win coming over
Notre Dame at home.

Ohio State (3-7)

The Buckeyes had an ultra-

slow start to the season, losing
their first seven games. Ohio
State was swept by both Miami
(Ohio) and Providence — its
toughest
non-conference

opponents.

Forward Nick Schilkey has

come out of the gates firing,
registering six goals and six
assists, and the junior has been
a large reason for the Buckeyes’
current
three-game
winning

streak.

Still, it’s looking like it could

be a long season for the Buckeyes.

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily

Michigan coach Red Berenson’s team has the best offense in the Big Ten.

BY THE NUMBERS
Big Ten Hockey

12

Points Ohio State’s Nick Schilkey has
through 10 games, good for first in the

Big Ten
2.22

Goals per game allowed by Minnesota

(best in the Big Ten)
4.40

Goals per game scored by Penn State
(second in the Big Ten behind Michigan)
25-23-5

The conference’s combined record,

including Michigan

‘M’ pulls away from Elon

Walton, Robinson

combine for 43
points to power
another home win

By KELLY HALL

Daily Sports Writer

Duncan Robinson sank a 3

from the corner. Then he did it
again. And again. By the end of
the
first

half,
the

redshirt
sophomore
was 4-for-4 from the field.

Robinson and junior guard

Derrick Walton Jr. combined
for 43 points Monday in the No.
24 Michigan men’s basketball
team’s win over Elon, with 33
of those coming on 3-pointers.
The offense shot 51.7 percent,
and though it looked explosive
at some times, it looked sloppy at
others.

But the Wolverines didn’t have

trouble dropping the Phoenix,
88-68, in a Battle 4 Atlantis
Mainland
Game
just
three

days after defeating Northern
Michigan.

Though Elon didn’t provide a

true test of his team’s talent, the
game gave Michigan coach John
Beilein more time to work out his
starting lineup.

On
the
first
possession,

sophomore forward Kameron
Chatman threw the ball to an
open Derrick Walton Jr. as the
shot clock dwindled to four
seconds.
The
junior
guard

threw it up from beyond the
arc without hesitation, and the
student section erupted as the
Wolverines won an early lead 28
seconds into the game.

“(Walton)
played
great,”

Robinson said. “That’s a big thing
for him, just staying aggressive.
That’s when he plays his best. He
was finding people all over the
floor and was really efficient at
scoring the ball as well.”

But
minutes
later,
the

Wolverines went on a six-minute
scoring drought to allow Elon to
tie it up at 12, only to snap out
of it by hitting their next three
attempts.

Redshirt
freshman
D.J.

Wilson ended the drought with
a tip-in, and then, seconds later,
Robinson scored his first points
as a Wolverine with a dunk to
get Michigan to a 16-15 lead.
Robinson
got the ball
again
after

picking off an
inbounds pass
and fed it to
sophomore
guard
Muhammad-
Ali
Abdur-

Rahkman,
who took it
the length of
the court for a layup.

There
were
still
clumsy

moments, though. Four minutes
into the game, sophomore guard
Aubrey Dawkins let the ball slip
through his fingers and go out
of bounds after LeVert threw it
to him from half-court. LeVert

was burned by Phoenix guard
Steven Santa Ana, who stole
the ball and drove it to the net
for a layup. Elsewhere, junior
big man Mark Donnal missed
multiple shots from under the
basket. Junior forward Zak Irvin
played his first minutes since his
early-September back surgery
and went 0-for-5 from the floor.
Michigan entered halftime with
just a 10-point lead.

“The
funny

thing about Zak
is that one shot
doesn’t
phase

him, so until he
gets his rhythm
back, you can
expect him to
get
‘em
up,”

Walton
said.

“So we know
we can expect
him to make

the right play, but until then,
we’re trying to get him back to a
rhythm to find his niche and get
his condition back.”

The Wolverines came out of

the locker room on a 10-0 run by
correcting some of those mistakes
and continuing what they had

been doing well. Walton and
Robinson had more 3-pointers,
and LeVert had two monster
dunks. Forward Ricky Doyle
came in and outplayed Donnal by
making all three of his second-half
shots and looking more composed
on the defensive end.

“(Elon) played a really, really

fast pace,” Robinson said. “From
that standpoint, we definitely
have a lot of room to grow
defensively, just being a little bit
closer in communication, but it
was definitely a step in the right
direction.”

In a high-scoring game where

Walton led with 24 points,
seven assists and six rebounds,
Beilein took full advantage of his
team’s depth. Against Northern
Michigan, Dawkins and LeVert
led the charge, but against Elon,
it was Walton and Robinson.

“I mean, any night it could

be anyone else, which is a great
quality to have in a team,”
Robinson said. “We all know
that.
Last
Friday,
everyone

was excited for those two, and
tonight, everyone’s excited for us.
It’s whoever can get it done on a
given night.”

RUBY WALLAU/Daily

Redshirt sophomore forward Duncan Robinson scored 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting in Michigan’s win over Elon.

“Any night it could

be anyone else,
which is a great
quality to have.”

ELON
MICHIGAN

68
88