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

