Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, December 4, 2015 — 7
‘M’ opens Big Ten play
By MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
A season ago, the Michigan
hockey team played Wisconsin
five times — four times in the
regular season
and
once
in
the
Big
Ten
Tournament.
The
Wolverines
triumphed over
the Badgers in
all five games,
with an average
margin
of
victory of 3.8
goals.
But a fresh
season
and
a
new
crop
of
freshmen
breathed
new
life into Wisconsin coach Mike
Eaves’ team. His squad will be
ready to break the losing streak
when No. 12 Michigan takes on
the Badgers at Yost Ice Arena this
weekend in both teams’ Big Ten
opener.
“I know that they’re coming
out
hard,”
said
freshman
forward Cooper Marody. “It adds
something to be the first Big Ten
game, and it’s going to be tougher,
and there’s more at stake. We’ve
got to come out hot, have a good
start and do what we do well.”
Most notably, forward Luke
Kunin
and
goaltender
Matt
Jurusik have given Badgers’ fans
the hope that last season, when
Wisconsin won just four games,
will not repeat itself.
Kunin,
who
played
on
the
United
States
National
Development
Team
alongside
many Wolverines, is currently
second on the Badgers’ stat sheet
with nine points and will look to
get the Badgers on the board early.
Jurusik, on the other hand,
didn’t come in as highly touted, and
wasn’t expected to play much this
season. But in the third game of
the season at No. 1 Boston College,
Jurusik replaced goaltender Adam
Miller after Miller allowed two
goals in four minutes.
Jurusik hasn’t looked back,
playing every minute since the
change in net in Chestnut Hill,
Mass.
And since that game, the
Badgers have steadily improved.
Since starting out the season
without a win in six games, the
Badgers have gone 3-1-2 and come
to Ann Arbor with an impressive
win at then-No. 1 North Dakota
and a tie against No. 9 Denver.
“They’re much better than their
record,” said Michigan coach Red
Berenson. “They’re much closer
to a typical Wisconsin team. They
play hard, they play physical, and
they play with intensity. They’re
hard to play against, they play
good systems and they’ll be stingy
defensively.”
Added
freshman
forward
Cooper
Marody:
“We
know
they’re going to be a good team,
and they have the ability to make
plays so we have to play well.”
On the other side of the ice,
Michigan comes into the Big Ten
opener after an uneven weekend
against Dartmouth that saw it
score a 7-0 victory on Friday
before tying the same Big Green
team, 1-1, on Saturday.
“In hockey, the teams are
pretty even no matter what,”
Marody said. “At the level that
we’re at, any team can beat any
team on any night, and the puck
just wasn’t finding the back of the
net like it was in the first game.
Sometimes that happens, so we
need to find other ways to score.”
But Marody pointed out one big
positive from the weekend, which
was that the Wolverines allowed
only one goal in two games.
A big part of that was senior
goaltender Steve Racine, who
finished
the
weekend
with
38 saves. But 14 minutes into
Saturday’s game, Racine suffered
a lower-body injury and junior
goaltender Zach Nagelvoort came
off the bench to take his place.
Nagelvoort
played
well,
finishing the game with 30 saves,
and he will be relied on again this
week with Racine still injured.
But if the Michigan’s power
play clicks as it has recently,
Nagelvoort may not be called
upon as often.
The man-up unit has scored
nine goals in its last five games
and will be one of the Wolverines’
keys to success this weekend.
“We’ve established a little
rhythm as to where each player is
going to be,” Marody said. “(The
power play) flows better now.”
With the Big Ten teams not
performing as well in the non-
conference portion schedule as
many hoped, just a couple losses
could be devastating for their
NCAA Tournament hopes.
Michigan’s goal is to avoid that.
“(This weekend’s games) are
just part of the puzzle,” Berenson
said. “This whole RPI thing is
a puzzle. All we can do is win as
many games as we can, regardless
of what other teams have done and
regardless of the nonconference
schedule.”
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Freshman forward Cooper Marody will get his first taste of Big Ten action against Wisconsin on Friday at Yost Ice Arena.
Wisconsin
at Michigan
Matchup:
Wisconsin
3-5-4;
Michigan 7-2-2
When: Friday
7:35 P.M.,
Saturday
7:35 P.M.
Where: Yost
Ice Arena
TV/Radio:
BTN2GO
VOLLEYBALL
Wolverines return
to NCAA tourney
By LANEY BYLER
For the Daily
As the Michigan volleyball
team gears up for the first round
of the NCAA Tournament against
Santa Clara on
Friday in Los
Angeles, one
characteristic
that seems to
be
propelling
the Wolverines
is their ability
to
make
a
comeback.
Whether
it’s making up
for a lost point
or a full set,
Michigan has
proven that it
can rally. This can be credited
to the Wolverines “point-for-
point” mentality. It’s a common
theme that’s touched on during
interviews and is clearly evident
on the court.
“Even if you don’t lose the first
match, you lose points throughout
the match — you lose momentum
at times,” said Michigan coach
Mark Rosen. “You have to really
bounce back from that. We use
the term ‘playing point for point’,
which means we have to play for
the next point instead of playing
for the last point, or 10 points ago.
They’re thinking about the point
they’re in. Whether you lose the
first set or you lose two and have
to come back and get them in five,
this team has a lot of resilience
that way.”
Michigan returns to the NCAA
Tournament after missing the
event last season. If it beats Santa
Clara on Friday, it will play the
winner of UCLA and Lipscomb
on Saturday.
The
Wolverines
are
no
stranger to tough competition.
Michigan has established its
reputation as a comeback team in
its recent conference wins against
Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio
State and Illinois. The first time
the Wolverines encountered each
of these teams, they suffered
difficult defeats, such as their
3-0 losses to Michigan State and
Illinois. But the second time the
Wolverines faced their Big Ten
foes, they looked completely
different. Michigan has stepped
up its game each time it got a
second chance against these
teams, pulling wins against each
higher-ranked squad.
Michigan hasn’t played Santa
Clara before, so it can’t rely on
its
penchant
for
comebacks.
However, the Wolverines do plan
on playing Santa Clara as if they
had lost to the Broncos before.
“We’re seeing these teams for
the first time, but I think we’ll go
in there with the same mentality
that we do when we lose,” said
senior setter Carly Warner. “So as
long as we go in knowing we can
beat them the first time and come
out strong, we’ll be OK.”
Though
the
Wolverines
won’t be able to capitalize on
the weaknesses made apparent
from playing a team multiple
times, Michigan plans on taking
advantage
of
the
Broncos’
shortcomings early.
“I think that unfamiliarity is
kind of a cool thing,” Rosen said.
“It makes you go, ‘Hey, we really
have to pay attention to this team
a little bit more,’ and I think it’s
exciting to play someone outside of
the Big Ten. You’re guaranteed the
first two rounds of the tournament
to play someone different than
a Big Ten team. So preparation-
wise, that’s the only difference.
You have to realize you’re not
playing someone you know as
intimately as a Big Ten team.”
Michigan vs.
Santa Clara
Matchup:
Michigan
19-12; Santa
Clara 22-8
When: Friday
8:30 P.M.
Where: Los
Angeles
TV/Radio:
MGoBlue.com
WRESTLING
Familiar event
up next for ‘M’
Wolverines travel
to tournament
named after
former coach
By LELAND MITCHINSON
Daily Sports Writer
When the Michigan wrestling
team travels to Las Vegas for the
34th annual Cliff Keen Collegiate
Wrestling
Invitational,
it
will
find
no
shortage
of
links back to
Ann Arbor.
The
Wolverines
have
joined
top teams from
around
the
country in Las
Vegas
since
December
1983,
when
head coach Joe McFarland was a
junior on the team.
“It
was
real
competitive
when we (started) coming to the
tournament,” McFarland said.
“There were a lot of really good
teams like there are today. I lost
in the finals my junior year, and I
wrestled a really good match my
senior year and won it. Obviously
you always have better memories
when you win, right?”
The invitational, named after
legendary
Wolverines
coach
Cliff Keen, was started by former
Michigan wrestler and three-
time NCAA champion Mark
Churella Sr. while he was serving
as the head wrestling coach at
UNLV.
Churella’s
son
Josh,
a
three-time
All-American
for
the Wolverines, is currently
an
assistant
coach
for
the
Wolverines and is headed back
to the tournament he spent his
childhood attending, while his
brothers Mark and Ryan, also
former Michigan wrestlers, will
be helping Churella Sr. run the
event.
“It’s a neat deal for me now,”
Churella said. “I grew up going
to the tournament, and then I
competed at the tournament,
and now I’m able to coach at the
tournament. It’s a pretty cool
dynamic.”
For
the
wrestlers,
the
tournament provides an early-
season measuring stick against a
high level of competition that the
Wolverines may not see again
until the NCAA Tournament.
Most of the Michigan starting
lineup will be competing in the
tournament, including returning
All-Americans
Rossi
Bruno,
a senior, and Conor Youtsey,
a redshirt junior. Bruno and
sophomore Alec Pantaleo will
be looking to improve on their
runner-up performances from
last year’s tournament. However,
the Wolverines will be without
juniors
Brian
Murphy
and
Adam Coon, who are out with
unspecified injuries.
“Everybody in the Big Ten
knows each other,” Bruno said.
“They know how each other
wrestles. At this tournament,
you draw from a wide variety of
different styles of wrestling from
all parts of the country, and you
might run into somebody that
you have no clue who it is. For
me, that’s a big positive.”
Added
McFarland:
“There
are a lot of quality kids here, kids
who are highly ranked from
across the country, so it’s going
to be a challenge for our guys.
For the most part, this is our first
opportunity this year to compete
in a big-time tournament like this
against some of the top-ranked
teams
and
nationally
ranked
individuals. We want our guys to
see where we’re at this point in the
season and then build from there.”
Despite flying to the West
Coast
and
facing
diverse
competition, the Wolverines
will
find
maize
and
blue
connections everywhere.
Cliff Keen
Las Vegas
Invitational
When: Friday
and Saturday
Where: Las
Vegas, Nev.
Updates:
MGoBlue.com
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman played 25 minutes Tuesday at North Carolina State and may continue to do so with Derrick Walton Jr. injured.
Abdur-Rahkman’s role expands
By LEV FACHER
Managing Editor
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-
Rahkman has spent the first month
of the 2015-16 season competing for
minutes. There’s not much time to
go around in the backcourt for the
Michigan men’s basketball team,
but John Beilein’s clarification
Monday
that
Abdur-Rahkman
would remain a regular part of
the Wolverines’ rotation made his
plans for the future clearer.
The statement rang true a
day later, but not in the way the
Wolverines’ coach intended.
Abdur-Rahkman, a shooting
guard, became a de facto point
guard on Tuesday at North
Carolina State when junior guard
Derrick Walton Jr. suffered a
sprained ankle midway through
the first half.
“It was certainly a hellfire day,
because Derrick’s been playing so
well,” Beilein said.
Walton entered the Wolverines’
66-59 win averaging 10.4 points
and 3.8 assists, and his confidence
on the court was noticeable in
the Wolverines’ wins against
Charlotte and Texas last week.
With senior Spike Albrecht
continuing
his
slower-than-
expected rehabilitation process
following
two
offseason
hip
surgeries, Beilein had few options.
Albrecht did see the court, but he
was clearly limited in his abilities,
picking up a personal foul on a
loose ball and recording no shot
attempts in five
minutes played.
Even
junior
guard Andrew
Dakich,
who
played
substantial
minutes toward
the end of the
2014-15 season as Michigan’s
backcourt suffered one injury after
another, was unavailable. Dakich,
a walk-on, is planning on spending
the 2015-16 season as a redshirt to
preserve another year of eligibility.
Abdur-Rahkman’s 25 minutes
were a season high — he played
just
six
in
the
Wolverines’
previous game, a 78-72 defeat of
Texas on Nov. 27.
Abdur-Rahkman and senior
Caris LeVert, who are both
typically
considered
shooting
guards, ended up splitting the
lion’s share of ball-handling duties.
Abdur-Rahkman didn’t turn the
ball over and served as a perimeter
distraction for the North Carolina
State defense. LeVert scored 18
points on the night, and redshirt
sophomore
guard Duncan
Robinson
added 17.
With
Walton
out,
somebody still
had to defend
the Wolfpack’s
Anthony
“Cat”
Barber,
and
Abdur-Rahkman drew the short
end of the stick.
“Muhammad-Ali
did
a
wonderful job with just staying
with Barber and keeping him
from getting the ball in the places
he likes it,” Beilein said.
Barber, who is averaging 20.3
points per game this season,
finished with 16. He dealt with
second-half foul trouble, and
his efforts proved too little to
complete a late comeback attempt.
Abdur-Rahkman was quiet in
terms of scoring, recording just
four points on 2-for-4 shooting
from the field, but slowing Barber
and providing another capable
ball-handling presence in the
backcourt proved to be his biggest
contributions.
As
injuries
go,
Walton’s
is well-timed. The toughest
portion of the Wolverines’ non-
conference schedule is behind
them, and Michigan has just one
road game — Tuesday’s visit to
Southern Methodist — between
now and its Big Ten opener at
Illinois on Dec. 30.
Beilein, however, doesn’t see
things in that light.
“You’re not going to hear that
from me,” he told WTKA radio’s
Matt Shepard, who suggested that
Michigan would have no trouble
without Walton in its game at
SMU.
“It was certainly
a hellfire day.”