8A — Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines brace for Northwestern
By SIMON KAUFMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Before addressing the media
on
Tuesday,
Michigan
men’s
basketball coach John Beilein
lightheartedly
noted
that
with
spring
approaching,
the days have
been
getting
longer.
“You
know
we’re getting 11
hours of daylight
every day right
now? You know
that?”
Beilein
said.
“That’s
a secret about
Coach
Beilein.
I keep track of
the sunrise and sunset, because
growing up in Buffalo, in the long
winters, you couldn’t wait to have
that sunshine.”
Outside, the sun may be on the
rise, but inside of Crisler Center
— where the Wolverines (9-6
Big Ten, 19-9 overall) practiced
Tuesday afternoon in preparation
for their Wednesday matchup with
Northwestern — the sun has been
setting on a season that began with
unclouded optimism.
Senior
guard
Caris
LeVert
— who opted to forgo the NBA
Draft and lead the team in his
final year — has instead played
just 11 minutes in 2016 due to a
lower left leg injury. Senior guard
Spike Albrecht has joined him
on the bench after announcing
in December he would be done
playing due to his own injuries.
With both of their seniors
on the bench, the Wolverines’
defensive struggles have caught
up with them during conference
play. Michigan’s opponents are
averaging 67 points per game —
the most opponents have averaged
against the Wolverines since the
2007-08 season, Beilein’s first at
Michigan.
With just three games left on
the schedule, Beilein said his
main focus is to emphasize better
defensive play.
“We still can’t plug the holes
in our defense right now,” Beilein
said. “We just cannot do it. And
we’ve just got to keep working at
it. We’re going to do some drills
today — like back to the beginning
in some things — because we’re
just having trouble with just the
idea of guys in the midst of action
getting into a stance and playing
really good gap defense or 1-on-1
defense.”
As a team, Michigan aims to keep
opponents under 40 percent from
the field. Lately, the execution has
faltered. Four of the Wolverines’
last six opponents have shot better
than 50 percent from the field.
Sunday, Maryland shot 54 percent
on field-goal attempts, edging the
Wolverines 86-82 and snapping a
50-0 mark that Michigan had in
games in which it scored 80 points
under Beilein.
“(We need to emphasize) really
being there,” said junior guard
Derrick Walton Jr. “Helping the
next guy, making it five against
the ball as opposed to — it’s been
basically just 1-on-1. The focus
going forward is playing better
team
defense.
I
don’t
think
individually we can point guys out
and say they’re not doing their job,
we’ve just got to do a better job
collectively.”
The Wildcats (5-9, 17-10) will
be coming off an eight-day break
after losing to Purdue on the road
on Feb. 14. Northwestern has just
five conference wins but has stuck
around in many of its losses and
even took a then-No. 7 Maryland
team to overtime a month ago in
College Park.
In a low point for the Wolverines
last year, the Wildcats edged them
in Evanston in a double-overtime
thriller.
Northwestern gets most of its
offensive production from guards
Tre Demps and Bryant McIntosh,
who are averaging 14.9 and 14.3
points, respectively. McIntosh’s
6.6 assists per game are second
best in the conference.
“They really are executing
well,” Beilein said. “I mean, you
look at all their games, they’ve
been out of only a couple games.
… They’re a good basketball team,
and I wouldn’t doubt if they’re
right in the middle of the Big Ten
based on looking at their schedule
going forward.
LeVert still out: Beilein said
that he does not plan on LeVert
playing on Wednesday.
“Do not expect Caris to be able
to play,” Beilein said. “I just talked
with him, and he’s not going to be
able to practice today, he still has
some discomfort. Going forward,
just plan on that he’s not going to
be playing until he’s ready to play
again.”
The coach said that he will not
shut down LeVert permanently
because the senior guard still
wants to play. Beilein wants
to give him the opportunity to
do so in his final season if he’s
healthy.
Donnal’s future on hold:
Before the season started, Beilein
reclassified forward Mark Donnal
from a redshirt sophomore to
a true junior. Donnal has been
Michigan’s best big man this
year and is coming off a 25-point
performance at Maryland. Despite
his stellar play of late, Beilein
said that any conversation of
reclassifying him again in order
to get four years of play out of
him would not be an immediate
decision.
“We probably will have that
(conversation) ongoing,” Beilein
said. “He’s really doing a great
job of earning his scholarship
this year. He’s doing a wonderful
job of working hard and doing
everything. But we’ll meet at
another time because it obviously
affects our scholarship situation
in 2017.”
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. emphasized the need for stronger team defense as the season winds to a close.
Demps remembers
double-OT thriller
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
If there’s one easy prediction to
be made about the Michigan men’s
basketball team’s matchup with
Northwestern on Wednesday, it’s
that there’s no way it can top what
happened in the two teams’ last
meeting.
When the Wolverines traveled
to Evanston on March 3, 2015,
their season was essentially lost.
Their two best players, then-junior
guard Caris LeVert and then-
sophomore guard Derrick Walton
Jr., were done for the year with
injuries, and Michigan had just
come off a brutal 1-6 record in the
month of February.
Facing the Wildcats — who
were then 5-11 in the Big Ten and
had already lost to the Wolverines
earlier in the season — seemed like
a chance for Michigan to snap out
of its funk and start a late-season
push for the National Invitation
Tournament. But what happened
instead was a double-overtime
thriller from which Northwestern
escaped with an 82-78 victory,
and the Wolverines missed out on
postseason play all together.
As Michigan slides closer
to
the
NCAA
Tournament
bubble, it faces another must-
win scenario this season when it
hosts the struggling Wildcats on
Wednesday.
To secure a win, Michigan
will have to hold in check the
hero of last year’s game: senior
guard Tre Demps, who pulled
off one of the most improbable
feats in recent Big Ten memory:
sinking not one, not two, but
three late clutch 3-pointers. The
first came with four seconds left
in regulation to send the game to
overtime, and then Demps struck
twice in the last 10 seconds of the
first overtime to erase a six-point
Michigan lead and force double
overtime.
The Daily caught up with
Demps at Big Ten Media Day in
October to discuss that wild game,
one of the biggest performances of
his career to date.
The Michigan Daily: Where
did that game against Michigan
last year rank as far as the craziest
games you’ve been a part of?
Tre Demps: It definitely was
the craziest. I think what a lot of
people don’t realize is I was really
struggling in that game prior to
what happened at the end, and
(senior center) Alex Olah was
carrying us throughout the game.
I just have to give all the credit to
my teammates and the coaches,
who trusted me at the end of the
game to take those shots.
TMD: After a game like
that, do you start to feel more
comfortable with the ball in your
hands in late-game situations?
TD: Yeah, you know, it’s
actually something I used to
practice with my dad all the time,
taking that big shot. We’d play
1-on-1 and pretend there was a
certain amount of time on the
clock. We practiced that from the
time I was in elementary school. I
think it gave me the confidence to
do it at this stage.
TMD: I heard you talking
earlier about how your team puts a
lot of emphasis on practicing late-
game situations. With so many
close Big Ten games last year and
probably coming up this year, do
you think that Michigan game is
a good indicator of how well your
team can perform in those?
TD: Absolutely. A lot of credit
goes to one of our assistants,
Coach (Brian) James, because
he draws up all our late-game
plays. He has all the specials, he
has a lot of plays you didn’t even
know even existed, to get you
open opportunities. It’s fun to run
those in practice, and hopefully
we’ll get to use them a lot during
the season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Wolverines top Wildcats
By LELAND MITCHINSON
Daily Sports Writer
Going
into
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
game
at
Northwestern
on
Tuesday,
freshman
center
Hallie
Thome was
ranked second nationally in field
goal percentage. And her offensive
efficiency was on display once
again against the Wildcats, as
the Wolverines raced to a 70-65
victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
For the second game in a row,
Thome registered 20 or more
points. Her 22 points on the night
led the Wolverines (9-8 Big Ten,
17-11 overall), and she was joined in
double-digit scoring by sophomore
guard Kateylnn Flaherty and
junior guard Siera Thompson,
who scored 17 and 13 points,
respectively.
The Wolverines were slow to
get going in the first half, scoring
just 13 points in the first quarter,
but they went into halftime with
a five-point lead and never looked
back.
“We’re a high-scoring team,
and tonight we couldn’t really get
the ball to fall in the basket,” said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico
in a postgame interview with Big
Ten Network. “We had to grind it
out on the defensive end and we
found a way to do that.”
Thome came out of the locker
room on fire, scoring six points in
the first 4:28 of the second half,
and the Wolverines extended their
lead to 50-39 by the time the third
quarter came to a close.
Though Michigan has had
a potent offense all season, the
Wolverines have struggled on the
glass. But Michigan didn’t have
any difficulty grabbing boards
against Northwestern (4-13, 15-14)
and, surprisingly, the Wolverine
guards led the way in that
category. Freshman guard Boogie
Brozoski paced the team with
seven rebounds and Thompson
added another five to the total.
With just over two minutes left
in the game, Brozoski drove the
lane, drawing the Northwestern
defenders and dishing it to Thome
for an easy layup. That assist was
one of Brozoski’s seven on the
night and slowed the momentum
the Wildcats had been building.
Northwestern was able to
come within four points with 39
seconds remaining and caused
further concern when it pressed
the Wolverines and stole the ball
back. But the Wildcats rushed
the shot and were forced to foul
when Michigan collected the
rebound.
With just 17 seconds remaining,
Thome picked up her fifth foul and
the Wildcats were able to cut the
lead to four once more. However,
the Wolverines stayed in control
and made the free throws they
needed in order to close out the
game.
“I think we’ve really improved
(our free throws),” Barnes Arico
said to MGoBlue.com after the
game. “The team as a whole, but
also getting the right people the
ball at the end of the basketball
game to be fouled.”
The
Wildcats
were
led
offensively
by
forward
Nia
Coffey, who had 22 points while
also creating problems for the
Wolverines in the paint, as she
compiled a career-high six blocks
on the night. Northwestern also
benefitted from 14 points from
forward Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah
and 11 assists from guard Ashley
Deary.
Tuesday’s win puts Michigan
above .500 in conference play for
the first time this season, as they
improved to 9-8.
DAVID SONG/Daily
Freshman forward Hallie Thome scored 22 points in the Wolverines’ 70-65 win over Northwestern on Tuesday.
MICHIGAN
NORTHWESTERN
70
65
CSG write-in votes could
elect Jim Harbaugh’s son
By MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editor
If
Jim
Harbaugh’s
2016
Central Student Government
presidential campaign really
is conducted with enthusiasm
unknown to mankind, voters
may be in for a surprise on
election day.
Last
year,
the
Michigan
football
coach
made
waves
when he placed fourth in the
CSG presidential election as
a write-in candidate, with 115
votes.
At
the
time,
Harbaugh
tweeted jokingly: “Disappointed
w/4th place finish 4 @umich
student body Pres. Competitive
juices flowing! Hat in the ring
for 2016 & will campaign w/
#EUTM”
Harbaugh’s
2015
votes
ultimately didn’t amount to
anything, but only because he
was not enrolled as a student.
This year could yield different
results,
though.
While
Jim
Harbaugh the football coach is
still not enrolled as a student,
his son, James Harbaugh, is
a freshman in LSA. Though
James Harbaugh is not officially
running for a CSG position,
as a student he is eligible to
be
elected
president,
vice
president or LSA representative
as a write-in.
In other words, if students
write in “Jim Harbaugh” on
their ballots, Harbaugh’s son of
the same name could be elected.
According to the election
results
available
on
the
CSG
website,
45
votes
for
Jim
Harbaugh
were
officially counted in the LSA
representative
race
in
Fall
2015, the younger Harbaugh’s
first semester at Michigan. The
lowest winning vote total for an
LSA representative in the Fall
2015 election was 535 votes.
These figures are from a
“weighted”
system,
which
awards a certain number of
votes to candidates based on
how high they are on the voter’s
list of preferred candidates. In
Fall 2015, Harbaugh appeared
on 24 ballots — 21 as a first
choice and three as a second
choice for a final tally of 45
votes.
There was also a single ballot
cast for “Jimmy Harbaugh,”
as well as another stray “Jim
Harbaugh” ballot, but those
votes were not counted. CSG
Elections Director Ben Reese
told The Michigan Daily this
week that those votes could,
and perhaps should, have been
consolidated with the other 45,
but since there were two clear
winners, it would not have made
a
difference
to the election
results.
“People
write in Jim
Harbaugh
in
every
election,”
Reese
said.
“The
write-
in is going to
be a write-in.
There’s
no
way I can control what people
write in there. If it’s clear
they’re voting the coach, like if
people write, ‘Coach Harbaugh,’
those aren’t going to be counted
toward (James).
“But if everybody is voting
for James or Jimmy, I don’t
know if I’ll combine ‘James’ and
‘Jimmy.’ It just depends what
the write-in ballots look like.”
Of course, Harbaugh’s son
is not required to accept the
position, even if he is elected.
In the case he were elected
as
an
LSA
representative,
and
he
declined,
the
LSA
Student
Government
would
simply
appoint
an
interim
representative
to
fill
his
vacancy until the next election.
Reese told the Daily last
week that James Harbaugh
would be eligible for election to
any position in the LSA Student
Government, as well as for
president or vice president of
the CSG Executive Committee.
He would not, however, be
eligible as a write-in candidate
for any position in schools he
is not enrolled in, such as the
College of Engineering or Law
School.
The CSG Election Code calls
for the dismissal of ballots
that are inappropriate. But the
precedent set in Fall 2015, in
which ballots with Harbaugh
were counted, suggests votes
for “Jim Harbaugh” could be
counted as legitimate votes for
Harbaugh the undergraduate.
“Given the choice between
invalidating
the ballot or
counting
the
ballot toward
someone who
can
actually
be
elected,
I
would
be
inclined
to
count
it
as
a
vote
for
someone who
can actually be
elected,” Reese said. “I would
prefer to count more ballots as
valid ballots than to assume
that every vote for Jim is a
vote for the coach. But they’re
welcome to challenge that in
(Central Student Judiciary) if
they disagree with me.”
CSJ hears any cases on
eligibility, election infractions
or
other
contested
issues
surrounding the election.
This year’s CSG elections are
slated to take place March 23 and
24. Given past results, it does not
seem likely that Harbaugh would
accumulate
enough
write-in
votes to make a serious threat at
winning a representative seat, let
alone the presidency. But given
the coach’s popularity, it’s not
impossible that, come March 25,
there could be a Harbaugh ready
to take office.
“People write in
Jim Harbaugh
in every
election.”
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Northwestern
at Michigan
Matchup:
Northwestern
17-10;
Michigan 19-9
When:
Wednesday
7 P.M.
Where: Crisler
Center
TV/Radio:
BTN