4B — November 23, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
THE MICHIGAN
DAILY TOP-10 POLL
2. ALABAMA: Charleston
Southern got Charlie Browned.
1. CLEMSON: The Tigers are
11-0. You know what they call
that? Purrrr-fect.
9. OKLAHOMA STATE:
Apparently, all you have to
do to get College GameDay to
come to your town is lose to
Baylor. We would have liked to
see Lamar get the honor.
3. OKLAHOMA: The
Broadway musical or the 1-on-1
drill?
6. MICHIGAN STATE: The
Spartans will play Penn
State for the Land Grant
Trophy. Mark Dantonio feels
disrespected it doesn’t have a
better name.
5. NOTRE DAME: The Irish
scheduled a game at Fenway
Park against Boston College,
but we’re sure everybody was
sober.
7. BAYLOR: Shawn Oakman
made us put the Bears here.
4. IOWA: We ran out of corny
jokes.
8. OHIO STATE: You had one
job.
10. FLORIDA: The Gators went
to OT with FAU and ... we’re out
of vowels.
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with
first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place
votes receiving nine and so on.
Lewis’ kick return, Wolverines’
special teams break PSU’s back
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE — With
8:05 remaining in Saturday’s
game
against
Penn
State,
Jourdan Lewis turned to Jim
Harbaugh.
The Nittany Lions had cut
what was once a 21-10 deficit to
21-16, and they had just kicked
a field goal from the Michigan
football team’s one-yard line.
If Penn State had converted
the fourth down and scored a
touchdown, it would have had
the chance to go for the two-
point conversion to tie the game.
Penn State coach James Franklin
preferred to cut the Wolverines’
lead to five, and settled for the
field goal.
So
Lewis
smelled
blood.
The
junior
cornerback
has
impacted games all season long
by shutting down opposing wide
receivers, but Saturday’s game
was his third straight returning
kicks. In the newer role, he had
an opportunity to go for the
jugular.
In the middle of the huddle
before his kick return, Lewis
looked over at Harbaugh and
told him he was going to break
the Nittany Lions’ back.
Harbaugh’s
response
was
succinct: “Go ahead.”
Lewis
took
his
coach’s
permission and ran with it. He
returned the ensuing kickoff
55
yards,
leaving
would-be
tacklers grasping for air. Lewis
created space all the way to Penn
State’s 40-yard line, setting
the Wolverines up for a game-
clinching touchdown drive.
“He was just competing like a
maniac throughout that return,
just refusing to go down,”
Harbaugh
said.
“That
was
fantastic.”
The importance of special
teams is not lost on Michigan.
The unit does not meet alone
during weeks of practice — every
special teams meeting is a team
meeting, and a part of game
preparation that both Harbaugh
and special teams coordinator
John Baxter consider crucial to
team building.
The
Wolverines
have
found
out
firsthand
what happens
if
special
teams plays —
the ones that
so
frequently
seem mundane
— don’t go as planned. There
was, of course, the fumbled punt
that cost them a win against
Michigan State last month. And
Michigan surrendered return
touchdowns
against
Rutgers
and Indiana in its previous two
games, though those errors
weren’t nearly as costly.
At some points Saturday, it
appeared as if special teams
issues would hurt Michigan
once again. With just over four
minutes remaining in the second
quarter, fifth-year senior punter
Blake O’Neill’s kick was blocked,
allowing Penn
State to take
over
on
the
Wolverines’
43-yard line.
The Nittany
Lions needed
just six plays
to
score
on
the
ensuing
possession,
and they took a 10-7 lead. Penn
State enjoyed the lead for just
1:10.
Once the Wolverines regained
the lead, the special teams
performance also turned in their
favor. Michigan extended its lead
to 21-10 in the third quarter in
large part due to a special teams
miscue by the Nittany Lions.
O’Neill lined up to punt with
about 7:30 remaining in the third
quarter after the Wolverines’
drive stalled on Penn State’s
43-yard line. His kick landed
in the arms of Nittany Lions
returner DeAndre Thompkins,
but only for a moment.
Thompkins muffed the punt,
and Michigan redshirt junior
wide receiver Jehu Chesson
emerged from a brief scrum with
the ball. The Wolverines took
over possession on Penn State’s
nine-yard line and scored a
touchdown three plays later.
After the game, Harbaugh said
that Saturday’s victory might
have been the one for Michigan
in
which
the
most
people
contributed. The Wolverines,
when it mattered most, made
some of the game’s routine plays
count.
“Everybody does a little, and
it adds up to a lot,” Harbaugh
said.
If all goes well, as it did
Saturday,
the
contributions
add up to a broken back for the
opponent.
Xavier outmuscles ‘M’
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan men’s basketball
team was just eight minutes
into its first real non-conference
challenge of
the season,
but
Caris
LeVert was fired up.
The senior guard got in Xavier
forward Jalen Reynolds’ face after
a hard foul sent LeVert crashing
into the base of the basket. The
boos rained down at Crisler
Center before the under-12 media
timeout halted the confrontation.
Reynolds and the rest of
Xavier’s
frontcourt
certainly
didn’t come to Ann Arbor to make
any friends, and the end result
was an immensely physical game
featuring 48 total fouls and 52 free
throws. Despite LeVert’s 29-point
performance, the Musketeers’
physicality proved too much for
the Wolverines to handle.
Even with Reynolds in foul
trouble for most of the second
half, Xavier capitalized on its
bevy of second chances — 18
offensive rebounds — and beat the
Wolverines, 86-70.
“(The Musketeers) hit the
backboards
obviously
much
better than us, they got loose
balls, they have tremendous grit,”
said Michigan coach John Beilein.
“They’ve got a great mix of guys
who can shoot the ball with the
big men. ... They’ve got a really
experienced team that knows
how to win.”
After Xavier took over the
game with an 8-0 run late in the
first half, Michigan found itself
in a nine-point hole after the
first frame. Then, an offensive
surge led by redshirt sophomore
Duncan Robinson, who made his
first two 3-pointers off the bench
in the second half, cut the lead to
just two.
But the Musketeers answered
with a triple of their own, and then
another after LeVert connected
from beyond the arc on the next
possession.
From there, Xavier’s physicality
took over. After LeVert’s 3,
the Musketeers outscored the
Wolverines 25-11 the rest of the
way, mostly due to their continued
ability to get to the free throw line
against Michigan’s overwhelmed
defenders.
“We’ve got to get stops,”
Beilein said. “We can dial up
(the offense) all we want. It’s not
about the offensive end. … We
cannot give up that many points,
that kind of percentage, off of
that many foul shots.”
Xavier made runs in the first
half, too, scoring the game’s first
seven points. But the Wolverines
battled back on the strength of
LeVert’s
offensive
versatility.
The captain scored Michigan’s
first points of the game with a
contested layup, peppered the
Musketeers with several mid-
range jumpers and took his game
beyond the arc with back-to-back
3-pointers to put the Wolverines
ahead 26-24 with 6:39 remaining
in the first half.
LeVert finished the day with
29 points, three assists and seven
rebounds, but he alone wasn’t
able to stop Xavier’s frequent
scoring runs.
Plenty of Michigan’s shots
just missed the mark when the
Wolverines needed to fight back
in the game. Both junior guard
Derrick Walton Jr. and sophomore
guard Aubrey Dawkins completely
missed
the
rim
on
3-point
attempts, and Dawkins missed an
open layup on a fast break early in
the second half.
“We’ve
just
got
to
keep
developing as a team,” LeVert
said. “When we get layups, we’ve
got to make them. We’ve got to
knock down our free throws.
We’ve got to hit open shots. ... But
we had 70 points — that’s enough
to win a basketball game.”
Big men struggle
to control Xavier
Musketeers grab 18
offensive rebounds,
dominate four
Michigan bigs
By KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Writer
With just over eight minutes
left in the game, Jalen Reynolds
stood on the Crisler Center
steps, surrounded by Michigan
fans, and flexed his muscles.
Reynolds
had
just
fouled
sophomore
forward
Aubrey
Dawkins, who continued on to
make both free throws, but the
Xavier big man didn’t care. The
Musketeers
outmuscled
the
Wolverines in an 86-70 victory
that included 48 fouls, with 11
of them going against Michigan
big men.
The Musketeers grabbed 18
offensive rebounds over the
course of the game, scoring 16
second-chance points off of
them, and consistently grabbed
the ball out of the reach of the
Wolverines’ centers. Michigan
coach John Beilein has wanted
to slim down his 12-man roster,
but he wasn’t able to Friday.
Beilein has been rotating four
men in at the big man spot, but
that decision didn’t become any
clearer after 40 minutes against
Xavier.
“We
got
into
early
foul
trouble, so I’m sure it was
tough for (the big men) to get a
rhythm,” said senior forward
Caris LeVert. “Mark (Donnal), I
think, had three in the first half,
so that was tough, definitely.
I think Moe (Wagner) gave us
some great minutes when he was
called upon, so we’ve just gotta
keep growing at that position.”
Junior forward Mark Donnal
started, as he did the first two
games of the season, but was
yanked after the first minute
and a half after losing the tip
to Reynolds and allowing him
to drive to the basket, fouling
Reynolds on the way there.
“Mark certainly didn’t have
a good day today,” Beilein
said. “He appeared to be a bit
overmatched.
“We’re trying not to foul, but
that’s hard for us to do with that
quickness. (Xavier) just came
right at us.”
Beilein threw in sophomore
forward
Ricky
Doyle
after
Donnal’s woes, but that didn’t
help matters
much. Doyle
was too slow
on the inside
and couldn’t
compete with
Reynolds
or
Xavier
forward
James
Farr,
who
totaled
13 rebounds.
Six
minutes after Doyle entered the
game, LeVert dished the ball
to him for an and-1. But Doyle
missed the free throw.
Seconds later, he fouled guard
Remy Abell and caused an and-1
on the other side, but this time,
Abell made the free throw.
Little things like missed free
throws add up, and entering
halftime, Xavier led Michigan,
45-36. Though the Musketeers
and Wolverines made the same
number of field goals, Xavier
outscored
Michigan
at
the
free throw line by nine points.
The effects were visible on the
halftime score.
“It was frustrating,” LeVert
said. “We had a lot of ticky-
tack
fouls
defensively
that
really killed us, and they shot
the lights out at the free-throw
line. The 50-50 balls at the end
killed us.”
In the first half, Xavier
had more made free throws,
rebounds and assists and had
fewer turnovers and fouls than
Michigan.
The
Wolverines
forgot the fundamentals.
Forwards Moritz Wagner and
DJ Wilson entered the game late
in the first half to relieve Doyle
and Duncan, but struggled to
stay on the court and make and
impact. Wagner and Wilson
played seven and five minutes,
respectively,
but
hardly
made a dent
on
the
box
score.
After
Donnal
collected
three fouls in
the first half,
Doyle started
the
second.
On the first
play, he drove to the hoop for
a layup, and hope returned to
Michigan fans.
That dream was shattered
after Xavier maintained its lead
for the rest of the half. Though
the Wolverines got close to
closing the gap in the beginning,
the Musketeers pulled away in
the last 10 minutes, going on a
14-3 run to seal the deal.
“It was tough,” LeVert said.
“Guys were knocking down
shots, like we expected. But at
the end of the day, we had 70
points — that’s enough to win a
basketball game. We’ve gotta be
better on the defensive end.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
“We had a lot of
ticky-tack fouls
defensively that
really killed us.”
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Caris LeVert’s 29 points weren’t enough to take down Xavier on Friday night.
XAVIER
MICHIGAN
86
70
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Jourdan Lewis helped seal Michigan’s victory with a 55-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter.
“He was just
competing like a
maniac.”