Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 24, 2015 — 7

Flaherty leads historic night

By BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

She missed her first four shots,

but Katelynn Flaherty won’t
walk away from Monday’s game
against South Carolina Upstate
remembering that.

Instead, the sophomore guard

will look back at her next 16
attempts, 13 of which she made
on the way to a career-high 34
points as the Michigan women’s
basketball team (4-0) had no
trouble taking down the Spartans
(4-2), 119-61, finishing with the
second-most points scored in
program
history
since
the

beginning
of the NCAA era.

“When I started making shots,

then everything started flowing
in my game offensively,” Flaherty
said. “Not getting down when I
miss shots has been a part of my
growth this year. I think I’ve
changed my mentality a lot. I
work on shooting all the time.
I expect myself to make those
shots, so I just kept shooting and
it happened.”

The Wolverines ended the

first half with 65 points, their
most since 1980, by shooting
a remarkable 69 percent from
behind the arc, making 64
percent of their total shots in the
period.

In the first half, 17 of Michigan’s

23 field goals were assisted by
eight different players.

“I think we’re really unselfish,”

Barnes Arico said. “I think we
always look to make the extra
pass and get the best shot off and
not the first shot. We did a really
great job of that tonight. We had
four players tonight with five
assists. That’s pretty incredible.”

With the Wolverines looking

flat from the start, and scoring
threats
like
Flaherty
and

sophomore
forward
Jillian

Dunston shooting a combined

0-for-6 in the opening five
minutes, Barnes Arico felt her
team needed an energy spark.

Soon
after
introducing

freshman guard Boogie Brozoski
and
junior
guard
Danielle

Williams, Michigan turned on its
press defense, went on a 7-0 run
and never looked back.

Brozoski, Williams, Flaherty

and junior guard Siera Thompson
stifled USC Upstate’s offense
and opened the second quarter
making nine consecutive baskets.

While
Flaherty
was
the

primary scorer, Williams and
Brozoski carried the Wolverines
defensively. The pair combined
for eight steals, as Michigan
forced 27 Spartan turnovers.
Brozoski also finished behind
Flaherty with 16 points and
co-led the team with five assists.

“Once we got into the press,

the energy was there,” Brozoski
said. “When we press, and we
get up and have that energy, we
definitely intimidate teams a
little bit and get them to turn the
ball over.”

Thompson proved to be the

motor behind the Wolverines’
high-powered offensive attack,
scoring
13
points,
including

making all three 3-point shots
she attempted. But the guard
drove Michigan’s attack starting
from the defensive glass, where
she grabbed a team-high eight
rebounds.

Senior guard Madison Ristovski

carried the Wolverines when they
were cold in the opening minutes,
scoring nine of Michigan’s opening
11 points, all from beyond the arc.
Watching her teammates struggle
to score, the senior stepped up
and lifted the Wolverines from
a lackluster start into a historic
night. She finished with 11 points
and five assists.

“Madison has really been a

spark for us in our last couple
games,” Barnes Arico said. “She’s
been super consistent shooting
the ball and she’s one of the best
passers we have. Her consistency
has really been a staple for us and
it’s great to see that from her as
a senior.”

While there was much to cheer

about Monday night in Crisler
Center, the loudest moment came
when fifth-year senior Halle
Wangler scored her first career
point with a minute left in the
contest.

“(The team) was more excited

for her than they were for their
own individual success,” Barnes
Arico said. “Halle is a great kid
and brings a lot of energy and
passion every single day, and for
her to have the opportunity to do
that tonight was special.”

Between
Flaherty
and

Wangler’s
career
moments,

Michigan’s offensive explosion
will be one for the record books,
as the Wolverines continue to
show their attacking consistency
early in the season.

“It was just a great night for

the whole team,” Brozoski said.
“Everyone
scored.
Everyone

impacted the game in some way. At
the end of the day, it doesn’t come
down to points. It comes down to
how hard you play, and everyone
gave it their all out there.”

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty shook off an 0-for-4 start to finish with a career-high 34 points Monday night.

SC UPSTATE
MICHIGAN

61
119

‘M’ wears orange
in support of Carr

By TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

Just hours before the Michigan

women’s basketball team tipped
off
against
South
Carolina

Upstate on Monday, the Michigan
community was grieving. That
afternoon, 5-year-old Chad Carr,
the grandson of former Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr and former Hall
of Fame safety Tom Curtis, passed
away after a 15-month battle with
an inoperable brain tumor.

To honor Carr, the Wolverines

wore
orange
T-shirts
with

“#CHADTOUGH” written across
the chest during their game. The
team came out of the tunnel for
warmups dressed in the shirts
and also sported them while on
the bench.

The coaching staff also geared

up in orange, representative of the
#ChadTough Pray for a Miracle
fundraising event that distributed
orange rubber wristbands to raise
awareness and support for the
cause. Some of the Wolverines
wore the wristbands around their
socks on Monday, and all of the
profits from each wristband went
directly to pediatric brain tumor
research at C.S. Mott Children’s
Hospital in Ann Arbor.

A moment of silence was held at

Crisler Center prior to Michigan’s
win.

Chad’s fight with a form

of cancer known as Diffuse
Intrinsic Pontine Giloma (DIPG)
garnered endless support from the
Michigan community and beyond,
most
prominently
with
the

Michigan football team writing
“#CHADTOUGH” on the back of
its helmets.

But as the only Michigan team

in action Monday, the women’s
basketball program took its chance
to honor Chad with the shirts, and
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico

spoke about what Chad’s fight
meant to her and her team.

“It was really hard,” Barnes

Arico said. “We live in the same
community, and my children go
to school with their children. For
them to share their story with us
over the last 15 months has been
incredible and an inspiration to
myself, to our players and to my
family. Our team has volunteered
for the Chad Run last year and
this year. We all feel like Chad and
the Carrs are part of our family.”

The Wolverines heard the

news during a shootaround
earlier today, and as soon as they
did, they decided they would
honor Chad and the Carr family
during the game. Many players
tied their shoes with orange
laces in support.

“It’s such a difficult time for

everyone to go through, especially
the
family,”
said
sophomore

guard Katelynn Flaherty. “(Chad)
inspired everyone. It really puts
a perspective on everyday life,
and I think it reminds us not
to take anything for granted
and appreciate where we are,
everyone around us and just being
able to step out on the court.”

As Barnes Arico mentioned,

the Wolverines participated in
the second annual RunTough
fundraiser last month, helping
raise over $120,000 to benefit the
ChadTough Foundation.

After the 119-61 win over USC

Upstate, the players, coaches and
two of Barnes Arico’s daughters
put on the #ChadTough shirts and
gathered in the middle of the court
for a picture to show their support.

“Any way that we can honor

them, by wearing orange and
supporting their family, is what
we wanted to do,” Barnes Arico
said. “My little one came running
up to me after and said, ‘Mommy,
we did this for Chad.’ ”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Beilein strives to
solidify rotation

By LEV FACHER

Managing Editor

The
Michigan
men’s

basketball
team
has
been

scheduled to appear in the 2015
Battle 4 Atlantis for almost a
year, but this week, its travel
schedule seems to be a perfect
response to the weather.

The
Wolverines
left
for

the
eight-team
tournament,

hosted by the Atlantis Paradise
Resort off the shores of Nassau,
Bahamas, on Monday evening —
barely 48 hours after Saturday’s
record-setting
snowstorm
in

Ann Arbor.

While Ann Arbor is currently

almost 50 degrees colder than
the Bahamian beaches, Michigan
coach John Beilein said he
doesn’t expect the trip to prove
distracting.

“We’ll keep (the players) pretty

busy,” Beilein said. “Hopefully,
we don’t have anybody coming
back with tans. … It’s the fans
that get to have some break time
before the winter hits. It won’t
be us.”

The Wolverines can’t afford

break
time,
anyway.
Their

86-70 loss to Xavier at Crisler
Center on Friday highlighted
the team’s question areas, like
their ability to defend against
a physical post presence, or
run an offense heavily reliant
on ball-screen action around
the perimeter against a larger,
more
experienced
defensive

backcourt.

Michigan
fans
will
see

changes
come
Wednesday’s

first-round matchup against No.
18 Connecticut, but Beilein is
keeping them close to the vest.

After Friday’s loss, Beilein

indicated
that
junior
Mark

Donnal’s status as the starting
center would depend on his
performance, and that of other
big men, over the course of
the next few practices. Beilein
acknowledged there will be
changes to the starting lineup but
wouldn’t say at which positions.

“I do know where they’ll be,”

Beilein told reporters Monday.
“You just don’t know.”

Beilein said he’ll continue his

quest to trim his team’s rotation
from 12 closer to eight over the
course of the tournament.

That process, however, is

complicated by senior guard
Spike Albrecht’s extended rehab
process from the same surgery
former forward Max Bielfeldt
underwent prior to the 2014-
15 season. Given the program’s
experience with the procedure,
Beilein
said
the
recovery

process was initially expected
to be similar, but listed two main
differences.

For one, Albrecht had the

surgery on both hips, while
Bielfeldt only needed it on
one. Meanwhile, the nature of
Albrecht’s position as a perimeter
player makes the procedures
more difficult to recover from,
as his role requires more overall
movement.

Working Albrecht back into

a rotation presents a challenge
for a roster that currently has a
multitude of players with a foot
in and a foot out of the regular
rotation, like freshman forward
Moritz Wagner and sophomore
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman. Several other players’
roles remain undefined, like
sophomore forward Kameron
Chatman,
redshirt
freshman

forward D.J. Wilson and redshirt
sophomore
guard
Duncan

Robinson.

The experiment of playing

12 players in a given contest is
unsustainable, Beilein said. All
the same, the Wolverines are set
to play three high-profile games
in a 48-hour window, and depth
can only serve as an asset.

The
Michigan-Connecticut

matchup begins at 9:30 p.m.
on Wednesday. With a win,
the
Wolverines
would
play

the winner of the Charlotte-
Syracuse game in a second-
round matchup at 3:30 on
Thanksgiving
Day.
With
a

loss, Michigan would play that
game’s loser at 9:30 p.m.

Michigan’s Thanksgiving report
card: Offense remains strength

By JUSTIN MEYER

Daily Sports Writer

Campus was emptying on

Monday
as
students
skipped

out early for the holiday. But
Michigan hockey assistant coach
Brian Wiseman’s voice echoed
throughout practice at Yost Ice
Arena, his presence as evident as
ever.

“Come on — harder!” Wiseman

said. “We’re going to play hard.”

The college hockey season can

be a grueling affair: 25 weeks of
non-stop practice and travel to
hostile barns in various frozen
parts of the country each weekend.
Even coming off a tough series
against No. 10 Boston University,
any letdown is unacceptable.

The Wolverines set out to

capitalize on a weak schedule
early this season. Their progress
toward that goal has been the
subject of much debate.

An upcoming series against

Dartmouth marks the end of the
first third of Michigan’s (6-2-1)
regular season. The Daily grades
the Wolverines’ performance so
far.

Offense: A-minus

The obvious bright spot before

a single practice commenced
this season was that Michigan’s
offense is a juggernaut that can
hang with the best in the country.
Early this season, the production
has been driven by a plethora of
young talent.

The Wolverines are led in

scoring by breakout freshman
forward Cooper Marody, who has
tallied six goals and five assists.
At 1.22 points per game, Marody
ranks third among all Division I
freshmen.

The top three point-getters

for the team, Marody and fellow
forwards
Kyle
Connor
and

Brendan Warren, are all freshmen.

Some of this performance is

due to the quality talent Michigan
brought in this offseason, but a
greater part is attributable to the
Wolverines’ depth.

Michigan is the fifth-ranked

scoring offense, and 12 different
players have found the back of
the net this season. The stats
Marody and Warren record are
both significantly inflated by
playing for the third line, and
consequently
against
inferior

competition.

JT Compher, a junior, continues

to be a sparkplug. The captain
opens games at a breakneck
pace and has helped the top line
generate 13 goals.

Junior Boo Nieves has elevated

his game as well. Nieves centers
one of the best possession lines in
the NCAA, flanked by Connor and
senior Justin Selman.

The result is that any line is a

threat to score.

For the forwards, the biggest

misstep of the season came in a
4-0 loss to Robert Morris. The
Wolverines came out sluggish and
looked hesitant in the offensive
zone.

That

anomaly
aside,
though,

Michigan
consistently
crashes
the

net hard and
moves the puck
with
fantastic

efficiency. Few teams in the
country have a chance at shutting
down this high-powered unit.

Defense: B-minus

There is good news for the

Wolverines: The defensive unit
looks improved. The bad news is
that it still has a long way to go.

Through
nine
games,
the

defensemen
have
learned
to

comfortably protect the puck and
break out fluidly. But some areas
have improved at a crawling pace.
Clearing rebounds and moving
the puck in the defensive end
remain points of focus in practice.
Turnovers in the offensive end
have led to a few bad odd-man
rushes.

There are marginal statistical

improvements
as
well
as

intangible additions. This season’s
unit is allowing 3.1 goals per
game. At this time last year, the
Wolverines were allowing 3.3.

Michigan also added quite

a bit of speed and finesse with
freshmen Nicholas Boka and
Joseph Cecconi. Both are NHL
Draft picks and have played
significant minutes this year.

Overall, Michigan has to be

happy with the progress.

Sophomore
standout
Zach

Werenski has looked tremendous
at times and a bit overwhelmed
at others. The 18-year-old is still
a bright spot, though, adding a
scoring threat to the defense.

As a team, the Wolverines are

allowing opponents to convert
far too high a percentage of shots.
Part of this problem stems from
a lack of physicality. Michigan
ranks 55th out of 60 NCAA teams
in penalty minutes this season.

The best defensive games so

far came in a 5-2 win against

Rensselaer
Polytechnic
and
a
4-2

win Saturday
at
Boston

University.
Both
times,

an
energetic

Wolverine

squad smothered chances and
cleaned up in the front of the net.

This defensive unit won’t rank

as one of the best in the NCAA,
but it is on track to finish ahead of
last season.

Goalie: C

Michigan’s
goalies
haven’t

quite slept through games this
season, but it’s been easy at times
to forget they are there at all.

Senior
Steve
Racine
has

emerged to take the starting
job in the last three games after
a deflating battle with junior
Zach Nagelvoort. Neither goalie
handled the competition with
consistency, displaying flashes
of brilliance and long periods of
sloppy play.

Racine and Nagelvoort rank

59th and 73rd, respectively, in
save percentage among eligible
goalies
this
season.
That’s

inexcusable, but the C rating is
justified because the play is not as
bad as the numbers suggest.

Subpar defending has hurt

both Racine and Nagelvoort.
Sharp
defenders
can
easily

mask a goaltender’s deficiencies,
while poor play often leaves the
netminder shouldering all the
blame.

Racine made several show-

stopping saves over the weekend,
but posted just a .893 save
percentage in the series. The
senior is lighting quick out of his
butterfly, and can move post to
post well. At times, though, his
focus seems to wane.

Make
no
mistake:
The

improvement in net over the last
month has been marked. Still, it’s
hard to imagine Michigan relying
on its goalies to win a tight game
this weekend. There is a sense of
optimism that goaltending is on
the upswing, but the evidence has
yet to arrive.

***

The non-conference schedule

has been a rollercoaster for
the Wolverines. At times they
have showed talent, resilience
and desperation; some games
would be better described by
complacency.
The
question

remaining is whether the team is
complete enough to be great.

“I didn’t know where we would

be (at this point),” said Michigan
coach Red Berenson. “I knew
we didn’t have a tough schedule
and that we would have to take
advantage of that. You might have
a good win-loss record and not be
the real deal. I think our team is
the real deal.”

Michigan
hosts
Dartmouth

on
Friday
and
Saturday

before starting Big Ten play.
The Wolverines appear to be
tentatively passing the eye test at
the early-season break. They’ll
have to do much more by the time
March rolls around.

“I think our team
is the real deal.”