8A — Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily

Senior guard Caris LeVert has missed 10 straight games with a leg injury, but did practice for an hour Monday.
Wolverines head 
back on the road

With LeVert still on 
the mend, Michigan 

visits woeful 

Golden Gophers

By SIMON KAUFMAN

Daily Sports Editor

Michigan men’s basketball 

coach John Beilein keeps a 
ledger of how many practices 
his team has had and how many 
more 
it 
has 

left. Entering 
Tuesday, 
the 

count read 82 
down, 
18 
to 

go. It’s not a 
countdown 
to the end of 
the 
season, 

he says, but a 
way to keep 
track of how 
much time the 
Wolverines 
(7-3 Big Ten, 
17-6 
overall) 

have 
to 

improve.

After a rough week at home 

in which Michigan got played 
out of its own arena twice 
— first by Indiana and then 
by Michigan State — Beilein 
probably wishes the number in 
the second column was greater. 
With the Big Ten Tournament 
in just four weeks, Beilein is 
tasked with turning around 
a team that’s headed in the 
wrong direction after getting a 
reality check last week.

“You only seem to be as good 

as your last game, and that just 
weighs on you,” Beilein said 
Tuesday. “And we weren’t very 
good our last two games. … You 
just got to keep trying to refresh 
yourself and get better, but you 
have to get a win somewhere 

along the line again to feel good. 
Any type of win at any place 
against anybody.”

Lucky 
for 
Beilein 
and 

the 
Wolverines, 
their 
next 

opportunity for a win comes 
Wednesday 
night 
against 

Minnesota. 
The 
Golden 

Gophers (0-11, 6-17) still haven’t 
won a conference game and 
haven’t won a game at all since 
Dec. 16. However, Minnesota 
has played a handful of tight 
games over the last month 
despite being unable to turn 
any into wins.

Since falling to Michigan 

in Ann Arbor three weeks 
ago, the Golden Gophers have 
hung in against the likes of 
Illinois, Purdue and Indiana. 
They 
forced 
a 
21st-ranked 

Boilermakers team into a game 
that came down to the final 
seconds and nearly took down 
a 19th-ranked 
Hoosiers 
squad 
on 

the 
road 
a 

few 
days 

later 
before 

ultimately 
falling, 74-68. 
But Thursday, 
Minnesota 
still 
proved 

extremely 
vulnerable, 
getting 
blown 
out 
by 
an 

unimpressive 
Northwestern 

team.

In its meeting earlier this 

year, Michigan squeezed out a 
74-69 win despite lacking energy 
on the court and shooting just 37 
percent from the field. Another 
lackluster 
effort 
could 
still 

potentially earn a win for the 
Wolverines — Minnesota shoots 
just 41 percent as a team — but 
after two sluggish showings last 
week, another would add to a 
list of problems Michigan has 
faced lately.

Despite 
the 
two 
straight 

losses, Beilein says team morale 
isn’t down.

“(There’s been) really good 

energy in practice, and there’s 
nobody hanging their heads 
in practice,” Beilein said. “The 
attitude is good as far as getting 
the improvement. How we’re 
getting there is so slow, and 
that’s what’s so frustrating.”

Also 
frustrating 
for 

Michigan is the extended time 
senior 
guard 
Caris 
LeVert 

has missed with a lower left 
leg injury. The All-American 
candidate has missed 10 games 
since suffering the injury on 
Dec. 30. Beilein hasn’t been 
specific about a timetable for 
his potential return but offered 
more optimistic news Tuesday, 
including that LeVert practiced 
for an hour Monday and is 
pain-free. Beilein also said that 

the 
decision 

as 
to 
when 

he returns is 
completely 
up to LeVert 
and 
could 

even come as 
late as during 
Michigan’s 
shootaround 
Wednesday.

“We’ll 
go 

into practice 

today, and we’ll have some 
actions for him defensively 
and offensively that he’s got to 
learn, and then you just don’t 
know what it’s going to be like,” 
Beilein said. “It’s extremely 
important that he plays when 
he’s ready to play and that he’s 
not risking any further injury. 
So it’s a puzzle.”

With 
just 
17 
practices 

remaining after Tuesday’s, the 
time to put the pieces together 
and assemble a finished product 
that qualifies for the NCAA 
Tournament is running out.

Michigan at 
Minnesota

Matchup: 
Michigan 17-7; 
Minnesota 
6-17

When: 
Wednesday 
9 P.M.

Where: 
Williams 
Arena

TV/Radio: 
BTN

“You have to get 
a win somewhere 

along the line 

again to feel good.”

Home stretch will ease up on ‘M’

By TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

The schedule makers didn’t 

take it easy on the Michigan 
women’s basketball team.

A heavily front-loaded Big Ten 

schedule — with the toughest 
games in the first half of the 
conference season — has put the 
Wolverines (5-7 Big Ten, 13-10 
overall) in a hole that may not 
be indicative of how good they 
actually are. 

Currently in 10th place in the 

Big Ten, Michigan has just six 
games left to boost its standing 
ahead of the Big Ten Tournament.

One of those games is against 

Maryland, the No. 6 team in 
the country, but beyond that, 
the 
Wolverines 
still 
have 

matchups against opponents like 
Northwestern, Wisconsin, Penn 
State and Rutgers, which are all 
below or even with Michigan in 
the conference standings.

The remaining game pits the 

Wolverines against Purdue. The 
Boilermakers 
opened 
up 
the 

Big Ten season in Ann Arbor on 
Dec. 31, narrowly leaving Crisler 
Center with a win after hitting a 
go-ahead 3-pointer in the last six 
seconds. Michigan had the chance 
to tie it from the line, but freshman 
Boogie Brozoski hit only one of 
three free throws.

Michigan’s two best players, 

sophomore 
guard 
Katelynn 

Flaherty and freshman center 
Hallie Thome, both said Sunday 
that they were looking forward 
to finishing this campaign strong, 
touching on its importance leading 
up to the postseason.

“I’m excited to try and play 

Maryland again,” Flaherty said. 
“Rutgers, going home is always 
fun. Purdue, we lost in the last 
second. 
Each 

game, I think 
we 
can 
win 

every 
single 

game we have 
left, and I think 
if we do, it 
will really be a 
turning 
point 

with us. 

“I think we 

really 
could 

win the Big Ten 
Tournament, and I think it’ll come 
down to if we go in there with 
momentum.”

Maryland, of course, is the 

toughest 
opponent 
left 
on 

the schedule, but even in the 
Wolverines’ seven-point loss back 
on Jan. 14, they hung around until 
the Terrapins sealed it with free 
throws late in the game.

On the road, there’s no question 

it will be a tougher matchup, but 
there is still no reason to believe 
Michigan couldn’t finish out the 
Big Ten with a winning record.

The Wolverines don’t have to 

worry about Ohio State, Nebraska 
or Michigan State until they 
potentially meet these teams 
again in Indianapolis the first 
week of March.

“Our schedule, the first half, 

was a tough one,” said Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “But 
we don’t want to look past any 
opponent.

“We try not 

to 
emphasize 

(the schedule) 
too 
much, 

because 
we 

don’t 
want 

them to think 
that 
anything 

is easy. So this 
part is not easy, 
I mean, because 
just how could 
you lose on any 

given night … So the kids know, 
they read (the Daily), they read the 
paper and they read the Internet. 
They know who’s really good and 
who’s not, but I don’t emphasize 
that too much.”

The Big Ten Tournament begins 

March 2, when the four lowest-
ranked teams in the conference 
play each other for the chance to 
advance to the next day. Michigan 
stands ahead of that pack for now, 
and over the next three weeks, 
it will do everything it can to 
separate itself even further.

SINDU KILARU/Daily

Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty is confident Michigan can still beat each of the six teams left on its schedule.

“I think we 
really could 

win the Big Ten 
Tournament.”

‘M’ tied atop Big Ten

By JUSTIN MEYER

Daily Sports Writer

Just over half of the Big Ten 

hockey season is in the books, and 
the conference is split into two 
distinct camps.

Michigan, 
Minnesota 
and 

Penn State have separated from 
the pack as the only teams left in 
real contention for the regular-
season crown and the No. 1 seed 
in the conference tournament. 
Ohio State, Michigan State and 
Wisconsin are lagging far behind 
— a discouraging result for the 
conference in its fourth year.

The Daily breaks down each 

team below.

The Contenders

Michigan (8-2-2-1 Big Ten, 17-4-

4 overall)

The sixth-ranked Wolverines 

tore 
through 
the 
last 
four 

conference series despite a miscue 
Friday night in Detroit. Michigan 
dropped an overtime heartbreaker 
to Michigan State in that game, but 
hasn’t recorded a regulation loss 
since Dec. 12 against Minnesota.

In that stretch, the forward 

line of freshman Kyle Connor and 
juniors JT Compher and Tyler 
Motte has become perhaps the 
most elite in all of college hockey. 
The 
offensive 
explosion 
was 

complemented by better cohesion 
in the defensive zone and a marked 
improvement by senior netminder 
Steve Racine.

The run has propelled the 

Wolverines to a tie with the Golden 
Gophers atop the Big Ten standings. 
Both teams have 27 points and will 
meet in Minneapolis again in late 
February.

Minnesota (9-3-0, 14-13-0)

The Golden Gophers used Big 

Ten play to salvage what looked to 
be a lost season, but they’ll need to 
do more for any chance to play in 
the NCAA Tournament.

Heading 
into 
December, 

and the first conference series, 
Minnesota was 4-7. Now above 
.500, the Gophers are tied for the 
lead in the Big Ten despite lacking 
a true quality win.

They split four games with Penn 

State, but those two wins are the 
most impressive in a schedule that 
was packed with tough opponents. 
Minnesota’s strength of schedule 
is sixth in the nation, but that 
alone isn’t enough to combat the 
dismal season record.

The 
Gophers 
are 
still 
in 

contention for the regular-season 
title for two reasons. The first 
is 
freshman 
goaltender 
Eric 

Schierhorn, who has a .915 save 
percentage and is ranked third in 
the conference. The other reason 
is the ridiculous rate at which 
the team is converting shots into 
goals. The team’s .125 shooting 
percentage in conference play is 
tremendous, tied with Michigan’s 
prolific offense.

The Gophers have a chance 

to make up some ground in the 
national rankings with two home 
games left against Michigan, but 
will still likely require a first-
place finish in the conference 
tournament to sniff a chance at 
the postseason.

Penn State (7-5, 17-8-3)

The Nittany Lions are sitting 

in third place, six points back in 
the Big Ten regular-season race 
despite a No. 15 ranking in the 
national poll.

After a blistering start to the 

season, Penn State squandered 
an opportunity to climb the Big 
Ten leaderboard in its series with 
Michigan. The Nittany Lions lost 
by a score of 13-7 in that weekend, 
putting the team’s postseason 
hopes in serious jeopardy.

NCAA 
at-large 
teams 
are 

generally representatives from the 
top 10 of the RPI, and that leaves 
Penn State on the outside looking in.

Coach 
Guy 
Gadowsky 
has 

puzzled many with his decisions in 

net, though. Freshman goaltender 
Eamon McAdam owns a .923 save 
percentage this year, but continues 
to split time with Matt Skoff. Skoff 
is a senior with a significantly 
poorer goals-against average (3.18) 
and save percentage (.900).

The Bottom Feeders

Ohio State (3-5-2-1, 8-14-2)

Sitting in fourth place, you could 

say the Buckeyes are exceeding 
expectations this season. But the 
team has managed just three wins 
in conference play — such is the 
state of Big Ten hockey.

Ohio State is a better team than 

its 1-7 start to the season indicated, 
though. An upset win against 
Penn State and another against 
Michigan, this one by shootout, 
are marquee wins for a program 
that isn’t historically strong.

Michigan State (3-9-0, 7-19-2)

A win over Michigan at Joe 

Louis Arena on Friday night 
and another respectable contest 
against 
the 
Wolverines 
on 

Saturday may mark a turning tide 
for the Spartans, but it is certainly 
too little, too late.

After finishing second in the 

Big Ten last year, winning the 
conference tournament is now 
Michigan State’s only chance of 
making the postseason —and that 
seems like a long shot.

Wisconsin (1-7-2-1, 6-12-6)

It has been a dismal two years 

for the Badgers’ hockey program. 
After winning just four games 
last year, Wisconsin opened this 
season with a six-game winless 
stretch and never recovered.

Wisconsin’s best result of the 

season came early, in a 3-1 win over 
No. 3 North Dakota. Since then, 
the Badgers have shown few signs 
of life, and it is anyone’s guess how 
the program will recover from a 
historically awful two-year run.

ICE HOCKEY

