8A — Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Hoosiers blow past Michigan

By SIMON KAUFMAN 

Daily Sports Editor

For 
five 
minutes 
Tuesday 

night, the country’s second-best 
shooting team looked like a bunch 
of 
junior-

varsity kids 
who’d 
just 

been 
told 

to suit up for the varsity squad — 
eager to throw up shots without 
any real sense of how to do it.

Indiana took 10 shots in the 

first five minutes of its game 
against 
the 
Michigan 
men’s 

basketball team (7-3 Big Ten, 17-6 
overall) and made just two. The 
Wolverines, meanwhile, used a 
string of four-straight makes to 
jump out to an early 10-2 lead and 
pushed the margin to as many as 
11 in the first half at Crisler Center.

But then, the script flipped: The 

Hoosiers (9-1, 19-4) looked varsity; 
Michigan 
looked 
elementary. 

Indiana used a 28-0 run that 
stretched from the 9:05 mark in 
the first half to the 18:36 mark in 
the second to cruise to an 80-67 
win.

In the first five minutes, 

it looked like the stars might 
align 
and 
the 
Wolverines 

might pull off an upset over 
the 22nd-ranked Hoosiers. But 
Michigan’s stars faded, and 
Indiana needed only one star 
— senior guard Yogi Ferrell 
— who shined bright enough 
to guide the Hoosiers to their 
conference-best 
ninth 
win. 

Ferrell went 6-for-10 from the 
field and finished with a game-
high 17 points and nine assists to 
help pace an Indiana team that 
likes to move the ball quickly 
in transition. It’s the fifth time 
in six career games against the 
Wolverines that Ferrell has put 
up at least 14 against the maize 
and blue.

“It’s a flow sport. You don’t 

have a chance to huddle up all the 
time,” said Michigan coach John 
Beilein. “So we had some open 
shots, we missed them. They’re 
tremendous in transition. Like 

I said, Yogi Ferrell is as good a 
point guard as there is, because he 
can shoot off the bounce, he finds 
people, he’s playing team ball and 
they’ve got shooters everywhere.”

The 
Hoosiers 
finished 
50 

percent from the field.

But 
still, 
early 
on, 
the 

Wolverines 
looked 
like 
they 

could hang. With nine minutes 
left in the first frame, Michigan 
redshirt 
sophomore 
guard 

Duncan Robinson knocked down 
his second 3-pointer of the night 
to give Michigan a 24-20 lead. 
It would be the last basket the 
Wolverines would make until 
90 seconds into the second half, 
when Robinson hit a jumper to 
end a 10-minute scoring drought.

When 
Michigan 
stopped 

scoring, Indiana was just getting 
started and couldn’t miss. In the 
final 10 minutes of the first half, 
the Hoosiers went 12-for-15 from 
the field, including three made 

3s with less than two minutes 
left in the frame. Michigan’s one-
time lead disappeared faster than 
Donald Trump’s lead in Iowa did 
Monday night, and the Hoosiers 
headed into the locker room with 
a safe 45-24 lead.

In the second half, two free 

throws set the tone for the 
formality that was the final 20 
minutes 
of 
play. 
Sophomore 

guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman got fouled early in 
the second half, went to the 
free-throw line and missed both 
tries — continuing Michigan’s 
scoreless streak.

“It’s just draining when you 

have an 11-point lead against 
that team and everything’s going 
well,” said junior forward Zak 
Irvin, who led Michigan with 16 
points, “then just like that (it’s 
gone). Basketball’s a game of runs. 
A (28-0) run, that’s something 
that none of us saw coming.”

Indiana 
eventually 
cooled 

off — making just one of its first 
five shots of the second frame 
— but its first-half run was too 
great for Michigan to overcome, 
despite finding its touch in the 
second half. The Wolverines shot 
60 percent in the frame, but the 
most they could cut the Hoosiers’ 
lead to was 13 points, and even 
that came just seconds before the 
final buzzer sounded. 

After the game, Irvin and 

Robinson mentioned a lack of 
mental toughness as a reason for 
the loss, but Beilein didn’t buy into 
that. He thought Indiana was just 
better.

“People always throw that out 

there, mental toughness,” Beilein 
said. “Sometimes the other team 
is just damn better than you on 
that night, and I’m not the coach 
who’s going to point fingers at my 
players. We’ve got to get better, 
we’ll find a way.”

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily

Junior forward Zak Irvin led all Wolverines with 16 points in an 80-67 loss to Indiana at Crisler Center on Wednesday.

Bielfeldt returns

By LEV FACHER

Daily Sports Writer

Seven 
of 
Max 
Bielfeldt’s 

teammates outscored him Tuesday 
night, and six spent more time on 
the floor. But when Indiana coach 
Tom Crean took the podium to 
address reporters after a beatdown 
far more thorough than the 80-67 
score suggested, Bielfeldt was the 
first player he credited.

“I think, in the first half, Max 

had a plus-25 in the plus-minus,” 
Crean 
said, 
later 
mentioning 

Bielfeldt among a list of seniors 
who have provided his team, which 
has started the season 19-4, with 
“excellent leadership.” 

In layman’s terms: In the 18 

minutes 
Bielfeldt 
played, 
his 

Hoosiers outscored the Michigan 
men’s basketball team by 25.

The performance, however, 

was about far more than simple 
numbers. It was a homecoming 
for Bielfeldt, one that came 
on the heels of a controversial 
departure 
that 
has 
recently 

seen its nastier side bubble back 
toward the surface.

A senior with a year of eligibility 

remaining, Bielfeldt spent 2014-15 
with his status for the following 
season up in the air. He played his 
best basketball in the final stretch 
of 
a 
decidedly 
disappointing 

season, proving himself a capable 
post presence on a team starved 
for experienced big men.

None of it mattered. When 

the dust settled on a chaotic end 
to recruiting season, Michigan 
coach 
John 
Beilein 
had 
a 

scholarship available, yet, when 
push came to shove, Bielfeldt 
found 
himself 
in 
search 
of 

another program to call home.

A column Tuesday in the 

Indianapolis 
Star 
lambasted 

Beilein for the way he handled the 
situation. Beilein said Monday he 
didn’t regret the decision — it was 
one made with the future, not the 
past, in mind. 

Bielfeldt seems to have moved 

on quickly, averaging 8.1 points and 

4.6 rebounds with the Hoosiers. He 
gave Michigan fans a taste, however 
small, of what he could have given 
their team this year, pulling down 
a game-high seven rebounds and 
helping to charge a 28-0 run that 
left the Wolverines flailing.

“Walking down here in the 

visitor’s locker room is weird,” 
Bielfeldt said. ”I got out there, 
and (seeing) all the guys got 
my adrenaline pumping. It was 
definitely a unique experience, 
but I tried to calm down a little 
bit before the game, you know, go 
back to myself. Because I’m not 
the crazy, energetic guy out there 
all the time. I was trying to find 
myself.”

The 
Michigan 
fans 
who 

watched Bielfeldt jog out of the 
opposite tunnel for four years 
made sure his welcome was a 
warm one, giving him a rousing 
ovation as he entered.

Bielfeldt was all business. He 

acknowledged the students with a 
smile and a wave, said his hellos to 
his former teammates and trotted 
across the halfcourt line to warm 
up with the team wearing scarlet — 
a color conspicuously absent from 
his wardrobe throughout his four 
years in Ann Arbor.

The crowd at Crisler Center 

gave Bielfeldt an even lustier cheer 
when he checked into the game 
early in the first half, well before 
the wheels fell off in Michigan’s 
third Big Ten loss this season. 
They didn’t cheer for much longer, 
for Bielfeldt or for the Wolverines, 
who proved incapable of standing 
their ground as Indiana’s lead 
ballooned to 27.

The 
Hoosiers 
were 
well 

prepared for Michigan’s baseline 
cuts, its ball-screen action and the 
rest of its game plan. Among the 
potential concerns for Beilein was 
Bielfeldt’s ability to help game-
plan against a system he played 
in for four years. The fear proved 
legitimate — to an extent.

“I tried to help where I could, 

but it wasn’t extreme,” Bielfeldt 
said. “It was what you’d expect.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL

INDIANA 
MICHIGAN 

80
67

Signing Day primer: Top targets remain for ‘M’

Nation’s No. 1 

recruit Rashan Gary 

still considering 

Wolverines

By ORION SANG 

Daily Sports Writer

The No. 12 Michigan football 

team finished its season on a 
high note, beating No. 25 Florida, 
41-7, in the Citrus Bowl to cap 
a 10-3 season under first-year 
coach Jim Harbaugh.

Wednesday, the Wolverines 

will look to finish strong on the 
recruiting trail as well, with 
several top targets slated to 
announce on National Signing 
Day 
and 
Michigan 
strongly 

in contention for a top-5 class 
nationally.

In what will be Harbaugh’s 

first full recruiting cycle after 
being hired near the end of the 
2015 period, Michigan currently 
has the sixth-best recruiting 
class in the nation, according to 
247Sports.

The list of targets Michigan is 

after has a varied national flavor, 
with players from the Midwest, 
East Coast and West Coast all set 
to decide.

Chief among those prospects 

is Rashan Gary.

Gary is a defensive lineman 

who is ranked as the No. 1 
player in the nation according 
to the 247Sports.com Composite 
Rankings, a system that takes 
the rankings of all four major 
recruiting websites into account 
before creating a holistic list.

He attends the same high 

school, Paramus Catholic, that 
current 
redshirt 
freshmen 

Jabrill 
Peppers 
and 
Juwan 

Bushell-Beatty did.

Michigan 
linebackers 
and 

special 
teams 
coach 
Chris 

Partridge, who was recently 
promoted from director of player 
personnel in recruiting, used to 
be the head coach of Paramus 
Catholic, and the relationship 
between Partridge and Gary has 
often been cited as a key factor in 
Gary’s interest in Michigan.

Gary is the first recruit to 

be ranked No. 1 overall by all 
four major recruiting websites 
since Robert Nkemdiche in 2013 
and would be the highest-rated 
recruit Michigan has signed 
since the debut of the 247Sports 
Composite.

The primary contenders for 

Gary appear to be Michigan, 
Clemson 
— 
where 
Gary 

reportedly took an official visit 
this past weekend — Alabama 
and Ole Miss. According to 
the 247Sports Crystal Ball, 80 
percent of the predictions for 
Gary’s 
final 
destination 
are 

Michigan, as of the time of this 
article.

From his film, it is clear that 

Gary possesses a rare blend of 
power and speed for his size, 
can play all over the defensive 
line and seems like a good bet 
to crack the depth chart of any 
school he chooses.

But Gary isn’t the only highly 

touted 
defensive 
lineman 

Michigan is after.

Boss Tagaloa, the No. 13 

defensive tackle in the nation 
according to 247Sports, will 
also be announcing his decision 
Wednesday.

Tagaloa is from California and 

attends Concord De La Salle, 
the same high school as another 
highly-touted prospect that the 
Wolverines are 
after: 
Devin 

Asiasi.

Asiasi 
is 

rated the No. 
3 tight end in 
the nation by 
247sports, but 
could also be a 
defensive end. 
He’s a bulky 
yet 
athletic 

pass-catcher 
who even took snaps for his 
high school team as a wildcat 
quarterback.

Tagaloa 
and 
Asiasi 
are 

considering 
the 
Wolverines 

among a group of finalists, 
though most of the pair’s other 
finalists are closer to their home 

of Northern California.

The two have said they would 

like to attend the same school, 
but it is unknown whether they 
will follow through with their 
plans to be a package deal.

Michigan has not signed a 

recruit from De La Salle, widely 

regarded as a 
powerhouse, 
since 
quarterback 
Matt Gutierrez 
in 2002.

In addition 

to the De La 
Salle duo, the 
Wolverines 
will 
look 
to 

add 
another 

California 

prospect in Victor Viramontes. 
Viramontes was once a verbal 
commitment to Michigan but 
backed off his pledge in early 
December. He has positional 
versatility and could find time 
on the field as a quarterback, 
fullback, 
H-back 
or 
even 

linebacker.

Another prospect from the 

West who Michigan would love 
to add to its class is Connor 
Murphy, a long and athletic 
defensive end from Arizona.

Harbaugh 
also 
shares 
a 

personal 
relationship 
with 

Murphy’s 
family, 
having 

recruited Murphy’s older brother 
Trent while at Stanford.

Despite the national scope of 

their recruiting, the Wolverines 
have not forgotten about their 
home state. Michigan is after 
three prospects from the Great 
Lakes state in Lavert Hill, Quinn 
Nordin and Alaric Jackson.

Hill, the younger brother of 

current Wolverine junior safety 
Delano Hill, will announce at 
9 a.m. on Wednesday. He is a 
highly-rated cornerback from 
Detroit King High School, the 
2015 Michigan Division 2 state 
champions, and has taken official 
visits to Michigan, Michigan 
State, Penn State and Tennessee.

Hill, who was named the 

Lockheed Martin Air Defender 
of the Year by the U.S. Army 
All-American 
Bowl 
Selection 

Committee, has great agility 
and speed, and he could even 
contribute in the return game at 
the collegiate level.

Coincidentally, Nordin shares 

a recruiting tie with Hill — both 
were once verbal commitments 
to Penn State.

Nordin, 
ranked 
as 
the 

best kicker in the nation by 
247Sports, is also well-known 
for 
more 
than 
his 
kicking 

prowess — he received media 
attention this summer when he 
participated in a commitment 
video to announce his initial 
choice of Penn State.

He will presumably choose 

between the three schools he 
took official visits to: Michigan, 
Baylor and Southern California.

Jackson, a 6-foot-7 offensive 

tackle from Detroit Renaissance 
High School, was slated to 
choose his college destination 
Monday, 
but 
reportedly 

received a scholarship offer 
from the Wolverines the same 
day and postponed his decision 
until 
Wednesday. 
Detroit 

Renaissance coach Lou Beatty 
told the Daily on Tuesday that 
he did not know where Jackson 
would commit.

“(Jackson) is an athletic big 

man,” Beatty said. “He can move 
really well, and he’s a tenacious 
player.”

Jackson, who has been a 

basketball player for most of his 
life, could be the offensive tackle 
that replaces Devery Hamilton 
in Michigan’s class. Hamilton 
switched his commitment to 
Stanford this past weekend.

From the Summer Swarm 

camps 
to 
the 
overnight 

“sleepover” visits with recruits, 
Harbaugh and his staff have 
shown that they will leave no 
stone unturned in their efforts 
to secure the best possible 
recruiting 
class. 
And 
their 

seemingly unorthodox tactics 
have generated a lot of attention.

With so many prospects left 

to announce on National Signing 
Day, Michigan could make its 
final recruiting splash a big one.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh looks to top off an impressive recruiting class by signing more top recruits on National Signing Day on Wednesday

Gary possesses 
a rare blend of 

power and speed 

for his size.

