8 — Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines prep 
for loud road test 
at Pegula Arena

Michigan working 
on defense, getting 
healthier heading 
into State College

By MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

Before the Big Ten’s “Super 

Saturday” in New York City, the 
No. 6 Michigan hockey team 
will travel to 
State 
College 

to take on No. 
15 Penn State in a big matchup of 
two teams vying for the Big Ten 
regular-season title.

But at the Pegula Ice Arena, 

a hockey rink known for its 
raucous crowd, the Wolverines 
will have their hands full.

The arena, capable of fitting 

5,782 fans, was built three 
years ago, aligning with the 
Nittany 
Lions’ 
inaugural 

season in Division I. The rink’s 
construction was made possible 
by Terry and Kim Pegula, who 
also own the Buffalo Bills of 
the National Football League 
and the Buffalo Sabres of the 
National Hockey League.

Led by The Roar Zone, which 

is Penn State’s hockey student 
section, the loud fans give the 
Nittany Lions an advantage at 
every home game, especially 
this season. Penn State is 11-3-
1 on home ice in its 2015-16 
campaign so far.

“It’s 
a 
loud 
rink,” 
said 

senior forward Justin Selman. 
“Definitely a rink we want to 
keep quiet. We need to get a 
good start and keep them down. 
They’re pretty loud when they 
score goals there, just like 
the student section at Yost, so 
they’re going to look to use that 
to their advantage.”

FIRST 
LINE 
SUCCESS: 

Since the first line of junior 
forwards Tyler Motte and JT 
Compher and freshman forward 
Kyle Connor was formed after 
Thanksgiving break, the trio 
has been on a tear. The line 
has combined for 64 points in 
10 games, and both Connor 
and Motte are tied for second 
nationally in goals with 18.

One reason Michigan coach 

Red Berenson thinks the line 
has played so well has been 
due to Connor switching from 
his spot on the right wing on 
the second line to his natural 
position of left wing.

Connor has been the perfect 

fit on a line in which everyone 
brings something different to 
the table.

But no one has been able to 

pinpoint one reason why the line 
has played so well.

“I don’t know if there’s one 

thing,” Motte said. “We all bring 
something different to the line. I 
think that’s really what it is. We 
don’t overthink things. We just 
go out and play hockey.

“It’s 
worked 
well 
with 

Connor’s 
skill, 
his 
ability 

to 
make 
plays 
and 
finish 

opportunities. JT’s grinding 
ability, he’s a good two-way 
center man, helps a lot in 
the D-zone and on faceoffs. 
 

(Compher’s) ability to make 
plays is unbelievable, and I 
just try to give those guys the 
puck, and try to put away my 
opportunities when I get them.”

SHORING 
UP 
THE 

DEFENSE: With the offense 
playing as well as it has been, 
the Wolverines have been able to 
skate by with a set of blueliners 
that ranks No. 44 in the nation 
defensively.

But blame can be spread out 

across all players.

For offensive players especially, 

the 
Wolverines 
have 
been 

working on clearing rebounds.

“We gotta get rid of second-

chance opportunities,” Motte 
said. “We need to really bear 
down, box guys out in front of 
the net. When our goalies are 
making tough saves and that 
rebound’s laying there, we gotta 
be able to clear it out, get it into 
the corner.”

Another 
area 
Berenson 

noticed the Wolverines could 
improve 
after 
their 
series 

against Ohio State was the 
penalty kill.

Michigan killed off only one 

of four power plays against the 
Buckeyes.

“I thought our penalty killing 

(was) not as good as it needed to 
be,” Berenson said. “I thought 
our goals against — there was 
one or two that we could’ve got 
back. There were too many goals 
against on the weekend.”

INJURY UPDATES: During 

Michigan’s 
exhibition 
game 

against 
the 
United 
States 

National 
Team 
Development 

Program on Thursday, Berenson 
sat sophomore defenseman Zach 
Werenski with a bruising injury 
and freshman forward Cooper 
Marody, who was sick.

Marody is still out with 

sickness, but Werenski practiced 
Monday and will be in the lineup 
this weekend.

In addition, Connor slammed 

hard into the boards during the 
exhibition and didn’t play for 
the remainder of the game.

However, Connor will practice 

Tuesday and will be ready to play 
against the Nittany Lions.

Senior 
defenseman 
Kevin 

Lohan was also practicing with 
the team Monday, and Berenson 
said that he has a good chance 
to play this weekend. If Lohan 
does return, he will help a 
defense that will be missing 
sophomore defenseman Cutler 
Martin, who is suspended for 
the 
weekend 
following 
his 

involvement in the brawl after 
Michigan’s second game against 
Ohio State. Sophomore forward 
Dexter Dancs is suspended for 
just Thursday’s game for his 
part in the brawl.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Tyler Motte leads a red-hot first line into this weekend’s series vs. Penn State.

NOTEBOOK

Walton, Wolverines adjust to 
opposing looks on perimeter

By LEV FACHER

Daily Sports Writer

As wins go, the Michigan men’s 

basketball 
team’s 
Wednesday 

squeaker over Minnesota was an 
underwhelming one. The Golden 
Gophers entered Crisler Center at 
0-6 in the Big Ten, having already 
suffered 
three 
conference 

losses by double-digit margins. 
Nonetheless, 
the 
Wolverines 

failed to put Minnesota away 
until the game’s final minutes and 
struggled to shoot the basketball 
all night, finishing just shy of 37 
percent from the field.

After that game, and again 

after Michigan’s 81-68 win at 
Nebraska on Saturday, Michigan 
coach John Beilein and the 
centerpieces of the Wolverines’ 
backcourt-centric offense offered 
the 
same 

explanation for 
their periodic 
struggles.

In 
both 

games, 
Michigan’s 
options on ball 
screens — one 
of its offensive 
staples — were 
limited in ways 
they hadn’t been at any point 
this season. In an attack heavily 
reliant on the 3-pointer, any 
impediment to the Wolverines’ 
perimeter ball screens presents a 
major roadblock. 

“I knew they were going to 

be challenging for us because 
of 
their 
overall 
quickness,” 

Beilein said after the win against 
Minnesota. “They defended (the 
ball screen) differently than 
anybody has defended it all year 
long. I’m not going to put it out 
there, but we’ve got to have a 
different strategy or be better at 
what we do.”

Ever 
cryptic, 
Beilein 
did 

little more to walk the average 

basketball mind through the 
mechanics of what Nebraska 
and Minnesota did on the 
defensive end. Some aspects of 
the defensive efforts, however, 
were 
apparent. 
The 
Golden 

Gophers employed an atypically 
nimble set of low-post defenders 
on ball-screen switches, stifling 
the room Michigan’s shooters 
typically 
enjoy. 
Nebraska, 

meanwhile, made sure not to 
leave the post-screen trailer 
with any space at all.

“Going in, we knew that they 

guarded the ball screen a certain 
way — they didn’t really allow us 
to throw it back to what we call the 
‘bulldog’ guy for the open jumper,” 
said junior guard Derrick Walton 
Jr. of the Cornhuskers. 

While Nebraska’s consistent 

perimeter pressure closed doors 

for open jump 
shots 
from 

range, 
the 

Wolverines 
took 
advantage 
once 
they 

found 
room 

on the other 
side 
of 
the 

wall. Walton, 
passing 

through height on the perimeter, 
made 
sure 
the 
ball-screen 

pressure translated to more room 
on the inside, particularly for 
junior forward Mark Donnal on 
the pick-and-roll. 

“Mark 
was 
setting 
great 

screens all night and rolling as 
fast as possible,” Walton said. 
“He made my job a lot easier. At 
that point, all I had to do was give 
him the ball and let him do what 
he does.”

Walton’s 
six 
total 
assists 

helped Donnal to a 14-point 
effort, his third double-digit 
scoring performance in seven Big 
Ten games. Since his 26-point 
outburst against Illinois on Jan. 2, 

Donnal is averaging 12 points and 
has been markedly more involved 
in the Wolverines’ offense.

“As Derrick said, we knew they 

were going to play a certain way 
on ball screens,” Donnal said, 
“so there were some open passes 
that he was able to make (that) I 
converted on once I could.”

The 
Wolverines 
certainly 

did better capitalizing in the 
interior against Nebraska, but 
the added perimeter pressure 
prevented redshirt sophomore 
guard Duncan Robinson from 
getting the type of looks he 
has grown accustomed to from 
3-point range.

Robinson shot just 3-for-10 

from beyond the arc during the 

Minnesota game, but Beilein saw 
a silver lining in his long-range 
struggles. Tailed nonstop around 
the perimeter, Robinson’s off-
ball movement has taken a major 
leap, as has his ability to finish at 
the rim.

“What he’s realizing now is 

that people are going to play 
him a certain way, and his 
movement without the ball is 
going to be really important,” 
Beilein said Saturday after 
watching 
him 
make 
three 

2-point shots. “He’s learning 
— all the video, all the synergy 
— that people are going to sit on 
him different ways, and he’s got 
to do more than stand and wait 
for people to get him open.”

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Derrick Walton Jr. has adapted to opponents’ focus on Michigan’s ball screens.

“We knew they 

were going to play 
a certain way on 

ball screens.”

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Freshman center Hallie Thome has developed as one of Michigan’s best offensive threats, but she is still working on improving her defense in the low post.

Thome’s defense still developing

By TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

Hallie Thome is 6-foot-5, but 

she still has room to grow.

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball 
team’s 
freshman 

center isn’t having her way with 
opponents like she did throughout 
the non-conference schedule.

The “pass her the ball, she 

can’t miss” trend hasn’t slowed 
down, but Thome’s unlucky 
tendency to get into foul trouble 
in important games is haunting 
the Wolverines.

Sunday’s 93-81 defeat against 

Nebraska 
was 
Michigan’s 

worst loss so far in the Big Ten. 
After giving up 21 points to the 
Cornhuskers in the first five 
minutes, the Wolverines stormed 
back to nearly tie the game early 
in the third quarter. A few minutes 
later, the Cornhuskers had again 
widened the lead to 10, and Thome 
collected her fourth personal foul. 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico 
took her off the court.

Before the end of the quarter, 

Nebraska would extend that lead 
to 17.

Thome 
finished 
with 
an 

impressive 
24 
points, 
two 

blocks and six rebounds, but 
she also fouled out of the game, 
leaving Nebraska’s strong post 
presence unmatched for most of 
the final quarter.

The Cornhuskers, much like 

No. 5 Maryland did on Jan. 14, 
put Thome in difficult matchups. 
Thome accumulated four fouls 
going up against the Terrapins’ 
center Brionna Jones and wasn’t 
able to have as much of an impact 
as Michigan would’ve liked, 
scoring 15 points, but grabbing 
just five boards.

Thome has been clutch at times 

with her offensive consistency, 
but the Wolverines’ (3-5 Big Ten, 
11-8 overall) problems arise when 
she starts to rack up fouls.

“Hallie’s 
a 
heck 
of 
a 

freshman,” Barnes Arico said. 
“And hopefully over the course 
of Hallie’s career, she’s going 
to continue to improve and 
continue to be a better defender 

and rebounder.”

Thome 
has 
averaged 
15.1 

points 
and 
six 
rebounds 

through 
the 
opening 
eight 

games of the Big Ten season. 
She 
scores 
profusely, 
ranks 

second nationally in field-goal 
percentage at 64.8 percent and 
wins almost every opening tip.

Since the season opener, the 

Wolverines have been able to rely 
on her. Against then-No. 20 UCLA, 
she put up a career-high 24 points 
and seven rebounds. She then had 
her second career double-double 
against No. 7 Ohio State with 21 
points and 12 rebounds.

She has developed a strong 

touch around the rim, and she 
continues to impress with her 
spinning peel-back moves around 
the basket. Thome has been the 
tallest one on the court in every 
game this season, but adapting 
to the gritty toughness that some 
of her opponents possess has 
proven to be difficult.

“We need to be tougher on 

the glass,” said senior guard 
Madison Ristovski. “We gave up 

a lot of offensive rebounds.”

Added junior guard Siera 

Thompson: “I think we just 
need to get tougher all the way 
around. Not giving them second-
chance points.”

That word “tougher” comes 

up a lot when talking about 
rebounds, and at the center of it 
all is Thome.

Michigan’s competition seems 

to have picked up on the formula 
to taking down the Wolverines’ 
towering 6-foot-5 center.

Let Thome touch the ball in 

the post, and she will probably 
score on you. Isolate her in the 
post when she is on defense, and 
there’s a decent chance you will 
go to the charity stripe.

Largely due to Thome’s ability 

to dominate at the ‘5’ spot, 
Michigan ran out of the gates 
this season with a record-tying 
seven straight wins. Since then, 
the Wolverines have gone 4-8.

They will need Thome to 

regain 
the 
dominance 
she 

exhibited so many times if they 
want to win down the stretch.

