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.”

