4B — March 7, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘M’ loses on Senior Night
Wolverines’ NCAA
Tournament hopes
take hit with fourth
loss in five games
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
On an already bittersweet
night that saw the Michigan
men’s basketball team honor its
two injured
stars,
senior
guards
Spike Albrecht and Caris LeVert,
the mood at Crisler Center —
and
the
Wolverines’
NCAA
tournament hopes — quickly
took a turn for the worse.
Sitting squarely on the bubble
with 20 wins and 10 conference
wins,
most
bracketology
experts
labeled
Michigan’s
contest against No. 16 Iowa on
Saturday as a “must-win” for its
tournament résumé.
And though the Wolverines
fought
valiantly
down
the
stretch — including a 10-0
scoring run late in the second
half while holding the Hawkeyes
to a six-minute scoring drought
— Iowa’s timely shooting and
Michigan’s defensive struggles
ultimately proved too much
to overcome. The Wolverines
dropped the game, 71-61, and
now face the possibility of
missing the NCAA Tournament
for the second straight year.
Iowa forward Jarrod Uthoff,
a national player of the year
finalist,
had
his
way
with
Michigan all night, peppering its
defense with long-range jumpers
and finishing with a game-high
29 points.
Junior forward Zak Irvin and
junior guard Derrick Walton Jr.
combined for 25 as part of the
Wolverines’ comeback effort —
with Irvin scoring six straight
points as part of Michigan’s late
run — but Irvin also lost a costly
turnover with 4:10 remaining,
leading to a fast-break layup
that snapped the Hawkeyes’
scoring drought.
Walton answered quickly with
a jumper, but the Wolverines left
guard Peter Jok wide open on
the other end of the floor for a
3-pointer and allowed Uthoff to
convert an and-1 to suck the life
out of the rally.
“We have to be able to control
that (run), and we did not,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein. “We
took some bad shots. We just had a
couple times where we needed to
have more poise in that run. I get
it — everyone was all jacked up
and ready to go, but that’s not the
way we need to respond.”
Much like the two teams’
first meeting back on Jan. 17, the
game ended up as a classic battle
of scoring runs. Iowa nearly ran
away with the game early in
the first half, with Michigan’s
defense having no immediate
answer.
On
one
memorable
play, Jok successfully carved a
path through three Wolverine
defenders for an easy layup,
and Uthoff made his first three
baskets of the game (including
two 3-pointers) to help Iowa
jump out to a 22-12 lead.
The Wolverines started the
game
shooting
just
2-for-11
from three, but they battled
back with an 11-2 run that began
when Uthoff left the game for a
few minutes midway through
the half. Junior forward Mark
Donnal ignited the run with a
put-back hook shot and later
knocked down a wide-open
3-pointer in transition to get
Michigan’s
shooting
going
again. After a Walton 3-pointer
and a fast-break layup from
sophomore guard Muhammad-
Ali
Abdur-Rahkman,
the
Wolverines
suddenly
found
themselves within one point,
down 24-23 with fewer than
seven minutes to go in the half.
The
Hawkeyes,
though,
quickly recovered by turning to
their strong outside shooters.
Uthoff hit a 3-pointer to silence
the run, and after Irvin missed
back-to-back free throws with
a chance to tie the game, Jok
knocked down back-to-back 3s
near the end of the half to push
the lead back to six heading into
the break.
Iowa controlled the early
second half as well before
Michigan began its second major
comeback attempt. But just like
the first Wolverine run of the
game — and just like the game
two months ago in Iowa City —
the Hawkeyes snuffed out the
rally. Michigan never led after
the first minute of play.
“Tip your hat to them, they’re
a good team,” Walton said.
“They got out in transition and
did what they did. We answered
as many times as possible, but I
guess they had more bullets in
the gun than we did tonight.”
The Wolverines now have their
backs against the wall with regard
to their tournament chances
— in order to secure a bid, they
may require two wins in next
weekend’s Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan is locked in as the No.
8 seed, meaning it would have to
win its first game and then topple
conference champion Indiana to
accomplish that feat.
“We’ll
play
good
teams
there, and we have another
opportunity,” Beilein said. “I’ve
always felt that we need to get
more work done during this
time. That way, any questions
about us will be answered. ...
Let’s see what we do in Indy
and see what the (selection)
committee thinks.”
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Derrick Walton Jr. scored 14 points in a losing effort against Iowa on Saturday.
IOWA
MICHIGAN
71
61
Uthoff too much
for Wolverines’
reeling defense
Iowa’s star forward
scores 29 points on
11-for-19 shooting
to beat Michigan
By KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan basketball team
just couldn’t stop Jarrod Uthoff.
That
wasn’t
the
Wolverines’
only problem in a game in which
they tallied 11 turnovers, but
after having junior forward Zak
Irvin, redshirt sophomore guard
Duncan Robinson and sophomore
forward Kameron Chatman try
to defend the 6-foot-9 forward,
it was apparent that no one on
Michigan’s squad could deter him.
Uthoff scored 29 points in
Iowa’s 71-61 victory, and in a
way, the Wolverines (10-8 Big
Ten, 20-11 overall) may have
seen it coming.
While guards Caris LeVert
and
Spike
Albrecht
were
honored prior to the Senior
Night
game,
a
different
senior
from
Iowa
(12-6,
21-9)
had
a
night of his
own
while
the
two
Wolverines
watched from
the
bench.
Albrecht and
LeVert would
have been two of Michigan’s
best
defenders
this
season,
but after their careers ended
early, they watched a repetitive
problem unfold in front of them
throughout the season.
The Wolverines have trouble
defending long players, and it
was apparent all season long.
More recently, 7-footer Alex
Olah dropped 19 points on
Michigan on Feb. 24. Against
Maryland on Jan. 17, 6-foot-
9 Robert Carter and 6-foot-11
Diamond Stone scored 15 and
22
points,
respectively.
The
Wolverines didn’t make much
more of an improvement against
the two taller Terrapins in
the rematch on Feb. 21, either,
allowing the two to combine for
another 30 points.
Michigan,
meanwhile,
struggled to get its own big men
going Saturday, combining for 11
points.
“We had trouble seeing the
big man on the roll,” Beilein said.
“We just had trouble. Zak saw
him better than the other guys
did. We didn’t get those looks
that we’ve been getting that have
better balance to our game.”
The
Wolverines
tried
to
compensate and attempted 34
3-pointers, but they made just
eight.
Though Michigan outscored
the Hawkeyes in the paint,
28-26,
Iowa
hit
mid-range
jumpers
early
and
often,
silencing the Michigan crowd as
soon as it started to get loud.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery
knew that his senior would have
a big night the day before in
practice, saying that he finally
looked like himself in practice
after playing some down games.
“I saw Jarrod Uthoff early,”
Beilein said. “I mean, there are
some things at his length and his
size, I mean he hit the sleeper 3, I
think he hit another (3-pointer),
he hit a pull up. I mean, they’re
good at running it.
“(Iowa) is just playing to win,
and he played really loose.”
Added
Robinson:
“He’s
talented, he’s very talented. He
hit some tough shots, so credit
to him. We gotta do a better
job of staying locked into our
assignments, just being more
locked in as a team defensively.”
Though
Michigan
clawed
back from a 15-point deficit in
the second half with a 10-0 run
that lasted six minutes, it ended
with 4:10 left in the game when
guard Mike Gesell stole the ball
from Irvin for a fast-break layup.
The steal was a fitting turning
point in the Wolverines’ game.
The Hawkeyes stole the ball seven
different times
and
scored
12 points off
of
turnovers.
Following
Gesell’s steal,
Iowa
pulled
away
once
more, able to
master
both
Michigan’s
offense
and
defense.
“It’s a team that you really have
to focus on stopping because of all
the different action that they run
at you,” McCaffery said. “John’s
offense is well-known nationally.
He has all kinds of counters and
dribble-ats and blare screens and
ball screens — ball screen again.
I mean, you gotta really stay after
it if you want to stop them.
“We didn’t give up any
backdoors or really any easy
layups.”
The Wolverines have become
predictable in their losses, and
in a game that was considered
to be a must-win for their NCAA
Tournament chances, they didn’t
vary their formula enough to
change the outcome.
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Jarrod Uthoff (right) scored 29 points in the Hawkeyes’ 71-61 win Saturday.
“(Iowa) is just
playing to win,
and he played
really loose.”
WRESTLING
Wolverines take
sixth in Big Ten
By NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
wrestling
team walked into the Big Ten
Championships in Iowa City on
Saturday as the No. 8 team in the
nation and as the fourth-ranked
squad in the conference.
Thus, the Wolverines were
disappointed when they found
themselves in seventh place
after the first day of wrestling.
They recovered somewhat on
Sunday to climb one spot in the
final standings, finishing sixth.
“We hoped to have a better
tournament, but we had some
ups and downs,” said Michigan
coach Joe McFarland. “There
were a lot of tough matches,
especially Saturday evening.”
Top-ranked
junior
Adam
Coon
headlined
Michigan’s
showing
at
the
Big
Ten
Championships. He advanced
his way to the heavyweight
finals
with
three
straight
victories. In one of them, Coon
took a mere 38 seconds to pin
Wisconsin’s Brock Horwath.
But Coon fell short of a Big Ten
title as he lost, 7-4, to Ohio State’s
second-ranked Kyle Snyder.
“(The final) was a hard-fought
match, no question about it,”
McFarland said. “But you just
have to keep moving forward.”
In the 184-pound class, No.
1 junior Domenic Abounader
put up a strong showing of his
own with a 9-1 major decision
win against Wisconsin’s Ryan
Christensen in the quarterfinals.
He suffered a defeat at the hands
of
Nebraska’s
fourth-ranked
T.J. Dudley before rebounding
for two more wins to take third
place.
“Dom was the No. 1 seed, so
he was a little disappointed,”
McFarland
said.
“But
he
rebounded well.”
No. 6 junior Brian Murphy
knocked
off
his
first
two
opponents at 157 pounds, one
of whom was Rutgers’ No. 3
Richie Lewis. Murphy narrowly
lost, 5-4, to Illinois’ No. 2 Isaiah
Martinez, but notched a victory
over Ohio State’s No. 4 Jake
Ryan and Iowa’s Edwin Cooper
Jr. to place third.
“I definitely took a step up
in my last bouts this weekend,”
Murphy said. “And I’m excited
to build off of it for nationals.”
Sophomore
Alec
Pantaleo
notched two victories in his
first two bouts at 149 pounds,
including
a
3-2
win
over
Northwestern’s No. 4 Jason
Tsirtsis.
He was then pinned by Penn
State’s No. 1 Zain Retherford
2:45 into the semifinal match.
Pantaleo bounced back in the
consolation rounds with two
victories to take third place. One
of them was an overtime win
over Tsirtsis, who had beaten
him earlier in the season.
“I
didn’t
like
how
my
semifinal match went,” Pantaleo
said. “It showed that there is a
lot of work to be done. But it’s
always nice to avenge a loss.”
Redshirt sophomore Conor
Youtsey started off with a 9-1
major decision victory over
Northwestern’s Garrison White
in the 125-pound class. But it
was quickly followed by a 14-4
loss at the hands of Iowa’s No. 2
Tomas Gilman.
Youtsey
still
recovered,
though, netting three more
victories in the consolation
rounds. It was strong enough for
a fifth-place finish.
“I thought Youtsey had a
strong tournament,” McFarland
said. “He faced a lot of tough
guys and had a lot of close
matches. It was a whole new
tournament, a whole new season
for us.”
The Wolverines won’t have
much time to dwell on the Big
Ten Championships, though, as
the NCAA Tournament begins
March 17.
“If we find a way to bring
it together for (the NCAA
Tournament), I think we can
surprise a lot of people,” Murphy
said. “A lot of it is just getting
into a good place mentally.”
SOFTBALL
Michigan goes
5-0 in tourney
By ORION SANG
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 2 Michigan softball
team was holding onto a tight 4-3
lead in the bottom of the fourth
inning against Oregon State when
Tera Blanco stepped into the
batter’s box.
The sophomore had started the
day as the Wolverines’ pitcher,
giving up three runs in the third
inning, and taking over first base
duties in the fourth.
She redeemed her rough outing
on the mound with a pivotal at-bat,
lacing a triple into right field past
a diving outfielder to increase the
lead to 6-3 — a lead her team would
not relinquish on its way to a 9-3
win over the Beavers.
“I had two strikes a lot in my
at-bats today,” Blanco explained.
“I was just thinking about getting
a pitch near the zone and getting a
piece of my bat on it.”
Blanco’s
clutch
hitting
after
re-entering
the
game
as an infielder, though, was
representative
of
Michigan’s
weekend at the Judi Garman
Classic in California.
The team (18-2) found a variety
of ways to win en route to a 5-0
record at the tournament.
The
Wolverines
displayed
explosive and timely hitting.
They pitched three shutouts. And
they played dazzling defense.
“I thought we had a great
week,” said Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins. “We saw a lot. We’re
getting better in all phases of the
game. Being together for nine
days is quite a growing experience
just for us as a team. We showed
we could be a very tough team,
and I’m pleased with that.”
The
tournament
started
Thursday when the Wolverines
played No. 18 Missouri, their
highest-ranked opponent of the
weekend. The Tigers, though,
were no match for the Wolverines’
combination of clustered hitting
and dominant pitching on that
first day.
As junior Megan Betsa hurled
one of her best games of the
season, tossing five innings of
three-hit, shutout ball, Michigan
put
together
two
explosive
innings of offense, scoring five
runs in the second inning and
seven in the fourth on its way to a
13-0 run-rule victory.
Later that day, Blanco took the
mound and went the distance
against Long Beach State with a
complete game shutout, while the
offense scored five runs in both
the second and seventh innings,
giving Michigan an 11-0 win.
“I’m always getting better
every single weekend and getting
(more) confident in the circle,”
Blanco said. “I have confidence in
my team — it really helps with me
being relaxed out there.”
A 24-0 run differential after
two games had the Wolverines
cruising, but Friday’s matchup
against
California
posed
a
different challenge.
While Sara Driesenga pitched a
gem of a game, tossing a three-hit,
complete game shutout, the bats
cooled off, forcing the Wolverines
to grind out runs.
Two errors from the Golden
Bears led to two Michigan runs
in the first inning, before the
Wolverines
added
insurance
runs later in the game. The team
tallied just six hits on the day,
a departure from its first two
games, but was able to make them
count, emerging with a 4-0 win.
Later that day, the Wolverines
found themselves in need of a
comeback against North Carolina.
After scoring three runs in the
fourth inning to command a 6-2
lead, Michigan gave the lead right
back. But it showed its trademark
resilience in the fifth by scoring
five runs to take back the lead
once and for all, emerging with a
hard-fought 11-6 victory.
“We didn’t pitch our best, but
we had players step up to help
us get the win,” Hutchins said of
the North Carolina game. “That’s
what resolve is — you’ve just
gotta battle and not get caught
up in the outcome.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs. Iowa
23.5%
The Michigan men’s basketball team’s
3-point shooting percentage against
Iowa (8-for-34)
29
Points for Iowa forward Jarrod Uthoff,
a game high
8
Iowa turnovers, four of which came late
against Michigan’s 1-3-1 zone defense
43-35
Michigan’s advantage on the glass,
powered by 12 offensive rebounds