8A — Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines prepare for winless Scarlet Knights

By KELLY HALL

Daily Sports Editor

Wednesday, 
the 
Michigan 

men’s 
basketball 
team 
will 

play its second game against a 
winless Big Ten 
team, this time 
in the form of 
Rutgers. While 
the Wolverines 
(5-2 Big Ten, 
15-5 
overall) 

have 
played 

teams at both 
the 
top 
and 

bottom of the 
conference, 
they’ve 
had 

close 
games 

against 
teams 

from both ends 
of the spectrum: They hung in 
the game before falling to No. 3 
Iowa and, more recently, barely 
hung on to beat 0-8 Minnesota.

The Scarlet Knights (0-7, 6-14) 

will look to replicate the Golden 
Gophers’ scrappy play, seeking 
a better result. Michigan coach 
John Beilein, in typical fashion, 
said 
regardless 
of 
Rutgers’ 

undesirable record, the Scarlet 
Knights will still be a challenge 
for the Wolverines. 

“They may beat us,” Beilein 

said. “Our hope is that if they 
beat us, it’s only because they 
played great and we didn’t 
overlook 
anyone. 
That’s 
the 

message. Everyone’s a Division 
I player, everybody can run and 
dunk and (make a) 3-pointer and 
(with) foul trouble, anyone can 
win a game.”

The Scarlet Knights have 

played down to the wire against 
No. 17 Indiana, which has lost 
only one game in the Big Ten, 
but they don’t have very many 
other 
notable 
performances. 

Jan. 18, they were crushed by 
No. 21 Purdue, allowing the 
Boilermakers to score 107 points.

Guard Corey Sanders leads 

Rutgers with 14.1 points per game 
on 40.4 percent shooting, but the 
freshman is also averaging 3.5 

assists per game. Sanders has 
two teammates who also average 
double-digit scoring, guard Mike 
Williams and forward Deshawn 
Freeman. 

Rutgers has lost 22 straight 

games to Big Ten opponents, and 
it’s not likely that the streak will 
stop on Wednesday. 

Michigan should be able to 

catch its breath during its next 
two games against Rutgers and 
Penn State before it returns 
home for a two-game homestand 
against Indiana and No. 12 
Michigan State.
BEILEIN 
USES 
TWITTER 

FOR A CAUSE 

Beilein helped raise funds 

for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine 
Glioma research through the 
ChadTough Foundation, the rare 
form of pediatric brain cancer 
that Chad Carr passed away from 
in November.

Now, through ESPN’s Infiniti 

Coaches’ 
Charity 
Challenge, 

Beilein is raising money for the 
ChadTough Foundation again. 

“We had a great first round,” 

Beilein said. “I did a little video 
message today, however, that 
they don’t give trophies after the 
end of the first quarter. We have 
three more quarters to play here 
to be able to win this.

“I personally tweeted it today 

as well — I’m going to tweet it, I 
haven’t actually tweeted it yet. I 
haven’t hit the send button yet. 
I 
had 
never 

heard 
the 

letters 
DIPG 

before in my 
life, until about 
a year ago. … 
Every 
week 

I’m 
hearing 

more. 
It’s 

something that 
I really want to 
support.”

When 

asked about his Twitter usage 
further, the 62-year-old Beilein 
responded that he usually drafts 
his own tweets, albeit with 
some uneasiness thanks to his 

Catholic-school upbringing. 

“I do (tweet by myself) 

most of the time,” Beilein 
said. “Every now and then, 
(Associate Basketball Director 
Tom Wywrot) tries to do one 

and I end up 
redrafting 
it 

anyhow, 
so 

I 
just 
said, 

‘I’ll 
just 
do 

it by myself.’ 
But 
I 
don’t 

like doing it 
because 
I’m 

just 
worried 

about 
one 

grammatical 
error, 
which 

the nuns and priests would 
be mad at me for, 30, 40 years 
later, or I’m just going to say 
something stupid. I’ve gotta 
look it over and look it over and 

look it over. I wish I could be 
like some people and send out 
more.”
DONNAL GETS PUMPED

As most Michigan fans are 

aware, forward Mark Donnal 
has had a breakout junior season 
since Big Ten play began. 

Before 
his 
impressive 

performance against Illinois on 
Dec. 30, Donnal was averaging 
3.9 points and 2.1 boards per 
game. Now, the big man is 
shooting 57 percent and grabbing 
3.8 boards per game.

“If you look at (Donnal’s) 

offensive rebounding numbers 
right now, they’d be at the 
top of the league … in limited 
minutes,” Beilein said. “He is 
just working his tail off for the 
dirty rebounds, just for the ball 
that nobody else can get. He is 
controlling what he can control. 

I think he probably came in here 
thinking he was going to shoot a 
bunch of 3s, and that’s the way 
he was going to get on the court. 
Defense was just something you 
had to play. He likes playing 
defense and for a center, that is 
not an easy task.”

His teammates have seen a 

change in his play over the past 
year, so they aren’t surprised 
when they see him produce on 
the court.

But according to sophomore 

forward 
Aubrey 
Dawkins, 

they’re still taken aback when he 
diverges from his usual reserved 
self. 

“It catches me off guard when 

he does (get fired up),” Dawkins 
said. “He’s usually really calm 
and just quiet, but when he gets 
going, you’re like, ‘Oh, OK, let’s 
do this.’ ”

LEVERT ALERT

Senior guard Caris LeVert, 

who is a midseason Wooden 
Award finalist, has missed the 
last six games following an 
injury to his lower-left leg, but it 
appears that the end to his time 
on the sideline is near. Though 
he 
won’t 
play 
Wednesday 

against Rutgers, it wouldn’t be 
surprising to see him suit up as 
early as Saturday for Michigan’s 
matchup with Penn State at 
Madison Square Garden. 

“Caris has had more testing,” 

Beilein said. “Things continue to 
go in the right direction, but he 
is not ready to play yet. We hope 
he is very soon, but he’s moving 
in the right direction. … For the 
first time, we have a timeline that 
we’ve established. When you see 
him on the court, you’ll know 
what that timeline will look like.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Junior forward Mark Donnal has surged to the forefront of the Wolverines’ center rotation since Big Ten play began, averaging 12 points per game since.

Rutgers at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Rutgers 6-14; 
Michigan 15-5

When: 
Wednesday 
7 P.M.

Where: Crisler 
Center

TV/Radio: 
BTN

“Everyone’s a 

Division I player, 
everybody can 
run and dunk.”

East Coast natives looking 
forward to New York game

By KEVIN SANTO 

Daily Sports Writer

The game itself has enough 

hype around it already.

The Michigan hockey team 

will battle the Nittany Lions for 
a crucial position in the Big Ten 
standings, as both teams are 
currently tied for second place 
in the conference.

But this weekend, the city 

that never sleeps will play host 
to Wolverines, adding even more 
of an aura around Michigan’s 
matchup. The Wolverines will 
complete their series against 
Penn State in Madison Square 
Garden for the Big Ten Super 
Saturday — an event in which 
the two schools’ basketball 
teams will also square off.

To add more drama to the 

contest, Penn State has been 
largely responsible for keeping 
the Wolverines out of the 
NCAA Tournament for the 
past two years. The Nittany 
Lions handed Michigan two 
ugly losses just before the Big 
Ten Tournament last year, 
knocking them out of the 
conference tournament in the 
first round with a 2-1 overtime 
win the year before that.

The stage can’t get much 

bigger, as the Wolverines will 
take the ice in one of the most 
historic arenas in sports.

But 
for 
a 
number 
of 

Michigan’s 
players, 
the 

opportunity will be a little 
more special.

“Some of the guys, it’ll be a 

good homecoming-type event 
for them, going back out east,” 
said 
junior 
forward 
Tyler 

Motte. “I’ve never been there. 
I know our class and the guys 
under us haven’t played in 
many events quite like this. 
It’s a new thing for the Big Ten 
as well, having the back-to-
back here with basketball and 
hockey, which I think will be 
good for the conference.

“I think it’ll be something 

that (the Big Ten will) be able 
to turn to in the next couple 
years — playing two sports in 

the same day. I think that’s 
something that really could 
separate the Big Ten from other 
conferences.”

Five Wolverines are among 

the group that will be returning 
home.

Senior 
forward 
Justin 

Selman — an Upper Saddle 
River, N.J., native — isn’t far off 
from the Empire State.

Senior 
goaltender 
Steve 

Racine is from Williamsville, 
N.Y., and spent the summer 
interning on Wall Street.

Freshman 
defenseman 

Joseph 
Cecconi 
calls 

Youngstown, N.Y., his home, 
and junior defenseman Kevin 
Lohan hails from Cold Spring 
Harbor on Long Island.

Though Lohan grew up a 

fan of the National Hockey 
League’s New York Islanders, 
he is still looking forward to 
playing in the Garden, which 
houses the Islanders’ chief 
rival, the New York Rangers.

Senior 
forward 
Cristoval 

‘Boo’ 
Nieves 
is 
from 

Baldwinsville, but the contest 
will hold even more weight 
given that he has been in the 
New York Rangers’ system 
since 
being 
selected 
59th 

overall in the 2012 draft.

Even Michigan coach Red 

Berenson has spent his fair 
share of time in the Big Apple, 
playing 
49 
games 
for 
the 

Rangers in 1966 and 1967.

But the Wolverines’ seasoned 

leader is more enthusiastic 
about 
the 
opportunity 
it 

provides his players. To him, 
it’s more important for the 
team to gain experience in 
rinks that foster environments 
similar to what they may face 
in the future, whether it be in 
the National Hockey League or 
NCAA Championship games.

“The game in New York will 

be important for (Selman and 
Nieves),” Berenson said. “But 
they had that when they were 
freshmen, too. When you have 
these games, you really need 
to take advantage of them. 
Hopefully, it really jumpstarts 

both of them. They’ve both 
played well, but I’d like to see 
this be like a coming-out game 
for them.”

The 
last 
time 
Michigan 

entered the Garden was Nov. 
24, 2012, when the Wolverines 
suffered a 5-1 dismantling at the 
hands of then-No. 13 Cornell.

The 
crowd 
favored 
the 

locally favorited Big Red that 
day, but that advantage may 
sway in Michigan’s favor this 
go around — at least according 
to the East Coast players.

“I think my parents ended up 

buying — on my mom’s side — 
almost like 50 tickets,” Selman 
said. “My family has a suite at 
(Madison Square Garden), so 
I think they filled that up, and 
then probably bought a couple 
more too, so it should be close 
to 100 people.”

Added Lohan: “There will be 

a lot of people — friends, family, 
family friends. It should be a 
good weekend.”

No one was willing to claim 

the title of team tour guide for 
the little, if any, downtime the 
Wolverines will get in the city, 
but Nieves suggested splitting 
the team into four between 
himself, Selman, Lohan and 
Racine.

Lohan echoed the sentiment, 

explaining that each New York 
native has their own go-to 
spots.

But Nieves couldn’t pinpoint 

the one place he would take his 
group if given the time.

“I can’t name one,” Nieves 

said. “There’s just too many 
good brunch and bagel places 
to name one.”

And on fitting the New York 

bagel snob stereotype: “Oh 
yeah, you have to be.”

So while Michigan will miss 

the Children of Yost during 
Thursday’s matchup in State 
College, the Wolverines may 
have a different fan section to 
fill the role Saturday.

And with a warm welcome 

expected, the Wolverines have 
a chance to make a statement 
against Penn State.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Boo Nieves will get to play in his home state of New York when Michigan plays at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

