8 — Friday, January 15, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Donnal thinking less, playing more
Junior excelling
through three
games of return to
starting lineup
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Three games into the season,
junior forward Mark Donnal lost
his confidence and his starting
spot in the lineup.
Donnal tallied just 12 points
in the Michigan men’s basketball
team’s first three contests. In the
Wolverines’ next game against
Connecticut at the Battle 4
Atlantis in the Bahamas, Donnal
wasn’t just scratched from the
starting rotation — he didn’t play
at all. He quickly dropped from
Michigan’s top big man to its last
option off the bench.
His minutes were dwindling
and so was his focus. He was
overthinking the game.
Then Big Ten play began, and
suddenly he wasn’t.
“I’m not necessarily sure what
exactly it was (that changed),”
Donnal said. “But I got the
confidence
rolling
after
the
Illinois game and just kind of
built off that.”
After impressing Michigan
coach John Beilein in practice
leading up to Michigan’s Big
Ten opener against the Illini
two weeks ago, Donnal got an
opportunity to put his refocused
game on display. After coming
off the bench in Champaign,
he dropped eight points in 11
minutes of first-half work and
earned a spot in the starting
lineup in the second frame. He
finished the game with a career-
high 26 points and his old spot
in the starting five. Three days
later, Donnal continued to make
his case, dropping 16 points at
home against Penn State.
Tuesday
night,
Donnal’s
think-less, do-more game plan
worked again, helping Michigan
edge No. 3 Maryland, 70-67. He
had just eight points and went
0-for-3 on 3-point attempts, but
he did the little things right.
“I’m just going out, playing
my game, being a ball player,”
Donnal said after the win.
“That’s what I got recruited for,
and I think that’s a big thing for
me, just playing my game. I’m
not traditionally focused on all
the X’s and O’s and overthinking
things — I think I’ve just done a
better job of playing my game.”
With Michigan up six points
late in the first half, Donnal had
two blocks in 12 seconds. With
less
than
a
minute
left,
he stepped up
and got a hand
on
the
ball
as
Maryland
guard Rasheed
Sulaimon
drove to the
hoop, knocking
the ball out of
bounds. After
the Terrapins
inbounded the ball, forward
Robert Carter Jr. tried a jumper
from inside the paint only to have
the ball swatted by Donnal, who
snuck in from behind him.
The
Wolverines
recovered
the loose ball and, after calling a
timeout, set up their offense for one
final shot at the end of the frame.
Junior guard Zak Irvin missed a
3-pointer from straightaway, but
Donnal was right under the hoop
and, amid a handful of Maryland
bodies, tipped in Irvin’s miss as
time expired.
He took the hand he had just
tipped the ball in with, clenched
it, pumped his fist and yelled. He
marched over toward Michigan’s
bench and was greeted by high
fives and chest bumps. The
Wolverines were headed to the
locker room up 37-29 on the
third-ranked
Terrapins, and
Donnal — the
same guy who
was
benched
three
games
into the season
— had a lot to
do with it.
Late
in
the
second
half,
Donnal
came
up
big
again. With less than 15 seconds
remaining, he fought off two
Maryland defenders to grab an
offensive board off a missed layup
by junior guard Derrick Walton
Jr. Michigan called a timeout, and
after Donnal received the inbound,
the Terrapins were forced to foul.
The junior made only the front
end of the 1-and-1 opportunity,
allowing Maryland an opportunity
to tie the game late.
The
Terrapins
brought
the ball down the court and
an
offensive
screen
forced
Michigan to switch on defense,
pinning Donnal on Sulaimon
— Maryland’s best option from
behind the arc. Sulaimon backed
up and fired from deep over the
outstretched arm of Donnal, but
the shot missed, clinching the
victory for the Wolverines.
“He’s playing with a little
swag. And we all need that, but
there’s some young men that
probably need that more because
they’re just gentle giants, and
you can’t survive this league
being a gentle giant,” Beilein said
on the Huge Show on Thursday.
In the four games since
conference play has started,
Donnal’s combined 57 points
are more than he had the entire
first half of the season. He’s done
thinking about the little things
on the court and is just focused
on playing the game.
“It’s one of those things that
comes with college basketball,”
Donnal said. “All the different
terminology
and
different
plays
and
everything
that’s
being thrown at you, it’s easy to
overthink, but today we were
just playing basketball.”
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Junior forward Mark Donnal has been a success in the starting lineup since he regained his spot Jan. 2 against Penn State.
“He’s playing
with a little
swag. And we
all need that.”
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty beat her scoring average by one with 23 points against Maryland, but the Wolverines lost, 74-67.
Michigan’s upset bid falls short
By TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team
needed
something special if it was going
to beat No. 8 Maryland. And it
got that, in
part,
from
Katelynn
Flaherty’s 23 points. But even
those types of performances have
become rather commonplace for
the sophomore guard.
The Wolverines (2-3 Big Ten,
10-6 overall) fell, 74-67, to the
Terrapins, who finally pulled
away in the fourth quarter.
Michigan hasn’t beaten a top-10
opponent since January 2012 but
gave Maryland one of its toughest
games of the season on Thursday.
It took almost the full 40
minutes for the Terrapins (4-1,
15-2) to decisively grab the edge,
but they eventually did so in the
fourth quarter. After trailing by
just three to start the quarter,
Michigan couldn’t keep pace with
Maryland’s speed.
The Wolverines scored just five
field goals and two free throws in
the last quarter.
The win drops Michigan back
below .500 for conference play.
And despite not being able to
win a third straight game, the
Wolverines may have put on one
of their best performances.
“I said this at the beginning
of the season: We can play with
anyone,” Flaherty said. “We can
win the Big Ten. Looking at all
the games in the Big Ten, you can
see how people lose and there are
upsets. It’s just a reminder that we
can still win.”
Flaherty’s biggest help came
from
the
two
post
players,
freshman center Hallie Thome
and
senior
forward
Kelsey
Mitchell, but foul trouble had
both in dangerous territory.
The pair combined for 24 points
and 7 blocks, but each collected
their fourth personal foul early in
the final quarter.
“That really hurts us both
offensively
and
defensively,”
Flaherty
said.
“(Maryland)
had two or three big girls
down there, and I know we got
outrebounded … and they get
second-chance points.”
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico was forced to switch
Mitchell and Thome in and out
in the fourth quarter, and the
lack of a dominant post presence
hurt Michigan late. Maryland
outrebounded Michigan, 15-5,
in the fourth quarter. A trio of
double-digit scorers for Maryland
carried the Terrapins.
Her
performance,
though
high-scoring, also included a
3-for-15 shooting effort from
the 3-point line. Eight of those
attempts came in the fourth
quarter, when the team was in
need of a comeback.
“I don’t recall too many terrible
shots, but when we’re down 10,
and we’re trying to crawl back,
and she has a open look, she has
the green light,” Barnes Arico
said. “We’d like her to make a little
bit more than that, but she always
has the green light.”
After
last
year’s
26-point
blowout
loss
to
then-No.
5
Maryland, Michigan improved
immensely to end the season.
The final result doesn’t come as
a surprise, but it aches for the
Wolverines, because for most of
the game, they were up to par with
a team considered one of the best
teams not only in the conference,
but in the nation.
MARYLAND
MICHIGAN
74
67
Offense falters
with forwards
in foul trouble
Mitchell, Thome
forced to sit for
most of second half
of Wolverines’ loss
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Editor
With the Michigan women’s
basketball team down by two
points, Hallie Thome caught
the ball under the basket and
dropped it.
Surrounded by Maryland’s
defense, the freshman center
scrambled to pick the ball back
up and banked it into the basket
while also drawing a foul. After
draining her free throw to
complete the and-1 play, Thome
put her team
up
by
two
points
with
5:25 left in the
third quarter.
But
those
were the last
points that the
Wolverines
scored for the
next six and a
half minutes.
In fact, it was
Thome’s last shot until just eight
seconds remained in the game,
when she scored an irrelevant
layup in Michigan’s loss to the
eighth-ranked
Terrapins
at
Crisler Center.
Though Thome ended the
game with five boards and 15
points on 7-for-11 shooting, she
picked up her fourth foul just 22
seconds into the fourth quarter.
Instead of earning a third
straight double-double, senior
forward Kelsey Mitchell picked
up her fourth foul a minute after
Thome, finishing with just nine
points and three rebounds.
The Wolverines were without
their bigs, and Maryland quickly
saw the opportunity to stretch a
six-point game into a 16-point
game, as Michigan’s offense
went cold for five more minutes.
“We wanted to take away
(Mitchell’s) tendencies,” said
Maryland coach Brenda Frese.
“We knew she was very active,
and we wanted to attack inside
and be really aggressive.”
Added Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico: “For both of
them to go as long as they did
in the game was great for us. …
(But Maryland was) just so big,
strong and physical inside.”
On
the
inside
for
the
Terrapins was center Brionna
Jones, whom the Wolverines
double teamed. But Jones still
scored 13 points alongside seven
rebounds, just slightly under her
season average.
Jones’
physicality
—
as
well as that of the rest of the
Terrapin squad — was too big of
a challenge for Michigan, which
was outrebounded, 43-38.
Without size, the Wolverines
reverted to using their speed
as an advantage in the waning
minutes of the final frame,
putting in players such as
freshman guard Nicole Munger
and sophomore forward Jillian
Dunston, the latter of whom
collected
eight
boards
and
helped clean up for Michigan’s
two primary bigs.
Throughout
the
season,
Barnes
Arico
knew
Thome
would need to step up her size
and physicality when going up
against Big Ten competition —
nothing she had ever dreamed
of seeing in high school. Despite
dealing
with
foul
trouble,
though, Thome’s performance
Thursday
night
greatly
impressed Barnes Arico.
“Hallie’s biggest challenge
right now is to gain that
experience and to go against
the best people of her size in
the country,” Barnes Arico said.
“For a freshman to come out and
do that against
the No. 8 team
in the country
is
pretty
impressive.
But
from
a
coaching
perspective,
I
always
want her to
continue
to
get better and
be a presence
on the defensive end and really
try to get stronger.
“That’s
obviously
not
something
that’s
going
to
happen overnight.”
Added Thome: “Usually, the
bigger the girl, the slower they
move. I have to make sure I stay
low so I can do my moves fast
and just go up strong, because
I’m not used to the physicality of
it. I’m getting there.”
Suddenly
lacking
size
and strength on the court,
Michigan’s offense crumbled
and went scoreless for more
than 10 minutes in the second
half. What could have been a
dramatic upset in Crisler Center
turned into a seven-point defeat
as the Wolverines’ small guards
were denied scoring chances
when driving into the paint.
At this point in the season,
though, it won’t get any easier.
For Michigan to find success in
the Big Ten, it must to protect its
bigs and keep them in the game.
“Hallie’s biggest
challenge right
now is to gain
that experience.”
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Freshman center Hallie Thome found herself in foul trouble again Thursday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs. Maryland
8
Combined rebounds for Michigan
freshman center Hallie Thome and
senior forward Kelsey Mitchell
8
Combined fouls by Thome and Mitchell
in 52 minutes
-15
Michigan’s rebounding margin against
Maryland (43-28)
2012
The last time Michigan beat a top-10
team, a 73-62 win over No. 8 Ohio State