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.