8A — Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
in a 61-56 win against Purdue.
LeVert was expected to play in
his final regular-season visit to
his home state but was instead
forced to watch his former high
school
teammate,
Jae’Sean
Tate, account for the margin of
victory and then some with a
13-point effort.
Beilein
reiterated
after the game
that
“pain
is
(LeVert’s)
guide,”
and
said
LeVert
was too sore
to practice in
the
wake
of
the 11 minutes
he
played
against
the
Boilermakers. The Wolverines
had hoped the two days between
the Purdue win and the trip to
Columbus would have allowed
for some sort of continuity, but
they found no such luck, as
LeVert once again was unable to
play after giving it a try during
shootaround earlier in the day.
“There’s been an effect (from
the absences of) him and Spike
all year,” Beilein said, asked if
LeVert’s absence changed his
game plan. “No. Ohio State had an
effect on our game plan today.”
Michigan fell into a hole with
Abdur-Rahkman on the bench,
and its foul troubles came back
with a vengeance in the second
half.
The
Wolverines
recorded
six
team
fouls
in
the
period’s
first
five
minutes,
including
two
in
a
four-second
stretch
from
sophomore
guard Aubrey
Dawkins. Redshirt sophomore
guard Duncan Robinson and
Dawkins also finished with four
fouls apiece, limiting Beilein’s
options in the game’s final
stretch.
It may not have mattered,
as Michigan’s shooters went
a
combined
5-for-24
from
3-point range, including a 1-for-
5 performance from Robinson,
who has struggled as of late.
Junior
forward
Mark
Donnal proved Michigan’s only
consistent source of scoring, as
Michigan’s
backcourt
juniors
— forward Zak Irvin and guard
Derrick Walton Jr. — shot a
combined 10-for-28 from the
field. Donnal did well to score
in the paint and finished with
17 points, but his performance
wasn’t nearly enough as the
Wolverines’
perimeter-centric
offense sputtered around the
3-point arc. Irvin finished with
15 and Walton finished with 13.
The
loss
cuts
deep
into
the
Wolverines’
margin
for
error as they vie for an NCAA
Tournament bid.
With the loss, Michigan likely
needs a win at home against
Northwestern as well as one out
of three versus No. 4 Iowa, at No.
6 Maryland and at Wisconsin to
be secure in its standing for the
68-member field.
BASKETBALL
From Page 1A
“Ohio State had
an effect on
our game plan
today.”
Fatigue plagues Michigan in Columbus
Foul trouble, LeVert
injury force Walton,
Irvin to play 75
total minutes
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
COLUMBUS — Down the
home stretch of the Big Ten
men’s basketball season, it seems
averaging nearly 36 minutes
per conference game has finally
caught up with junior guard
Derrick Walton Jr. and junior
forward Zak Irvin.
Walton already fell victim to a
cold spell just three days ago in
Michigan’s victory over No. 18
Purdue, a game in which Irvin
played the hero with 22 points
and the go-ahead basket. But
Tuesday at Ohio State, neither
player could get a rhythm going,
and each finished 5-for-14 from
the floor in the 76-66 loss.
The Wolverines’ two on-court
leaders did reach double-digit
scoring
with
some
late
baskets in the
second
half,
and
junior
forward Mark
Donnal tallied
a
team-high
17
points
of
his own. But
Michigan consistently struggled
to keep up with the Buckeyes,
who made 54 percent of their
shots and caused the Wolverines
to commit several quick fouls,
especially in the second half,
while also holding them to
39-percent shooting.
“Derrick was still fatigued from
the Minnesota game on Saturday,
and now (he had to) go back (and
play) again,” said Michigan coach
John Beilein. “They did almost
nothing on Sunday, so we could
really get some rest for them,
but there’s a lot of minutes being
logged out there.”
Continuing a common theme
from
Michigan’s
losses
this
season, the Wolverines found
themselves unable to solve an
opposing defense that imposed
its length on them, forcing
them to take low-percentage,
contested shots. Walton and
sophomore
guard
Duncan
Robinson
—
two
generally
prolific 3-point shooters — shot
just 2-for-12 combined from
beyond the arc, and tired legs
certainly didn’t help.
“When an elite shooter like
Derrick
goes
2-for-something
the last couple games, it’s a bad
number,” Beilein said. “Duncan as
well. Ohio State’s defense is really
good. We’ve played four or five
teams in this league (like that).”
The most tangible evidence of
Michigan’s fatigue didn’t even
come from the players on the
floor — it came from the notable
face missing.
Senior guard Caris LeVert,
who made his return and played
11 minutes Saturday after being
sidelined for six weeks with a
lower-left leg injury, was unable
to
practice
yesterday after
feeling
sore,
leaving him out
of the lineup
for
Tuesday’s
game.
Beilein
declined
to
specify
whether
it
was the injury flaring up or just
general soreness; LeVert hinted
toward the latter when he spoke
with reporters Monday.
Slowly working LeVert back
into the lineup was supposed
to be a major focus for Beilein
over the final few games of the
regular season, but with so
much uncertainty surrounding
his status, the Wolverines have
been unable to settle on a plan of
attack or establish clear depth in
the rotation.
“We were very hopeful that
with those two days in between,
we’d be able to do some things to
give us some type of continuity of
what we’re going to run against
these guys in the future,” Beilein
said. “We couldn’t dummy with
(LeVert) or anything yesterday,
just because we want to be
so cautious knowing we have
another game Sunday.”
And that game Sunday won’t
be a picnic either — Michigan
will travel to College Park to face
No. 6 Maryland, which has only
lost one home game this season
despite being upset in Ann Arbor
in January.
Having a few more days off
should benefit the exhausted
Michigan
team,
but
no
matter what Beilein says, the
Wolverines themselves refuse
to acknowledge their weariness
down the stretch as they battle
for an NCAA Tournament berth.
“I think every team goes
through this, three games in seven
days,” Irvin said. “I don’t really
want to use fatigue as an excuse.”
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Junior forwards Mark Donnal (top) and Zak Irvin (bottom) combined for 32 points at Ohio State on Tuesday night.
“There’s a lot of
minutes being
logged out there.”