From Page 10
would fit in this category.
The winner is the last of the
three, against the best opponent
in likely the biggest game. And as
coach Jim Harbaugh put it after
the game: “The fellas really came
out ballin’ right from the start.”
He
was
right.
Chesson
returned the opening kickoff 96
yards for a touchdown, but it was
thanks to the defense that those
points were the only ones the
Wolverines needed, even if they
did tack on 31 more. The defense
forced a three-and-out on the
ensuing possession and never
let up, harassing the Wildcats all
afternoon.
Northwestern managed just 13
first downs and 38 rushing yards.
It punted eight times, possessed
the ball for less than 23 minutes
and converted two third downs.
Michigan had one interception —
which Jourdan Lewis returned
37 yards for a touchdown — four
sacks and eight tackles for loss.
Much like they had with their
previous two opponents, the
Wolverines beat the Wildcats
into submission, forcing them to
use three quarterbacks.
By the end of the game, North-
western was out of answers,
and Michigan was rolling. As
the crowd at Michigan Stadium
begged for more even in the final
minutes, chanting “DE-FENSE!”
repeatedly, the game served as a
highlight of the Wolverines’ sea-
son.
Game of the Year: Michigan
72, No. 10 Indiana 69, March 11,
2016
On the morning of March 11,
the Michigan men’s basketball
team’s NCAA Tournament hopes
were on life support. Even after
all of the chances the Wolverines
had to lock up a return trip to
the “Big Dance,” they still need-
ed one more win in the Big Ten
Tournament quarterfinals.
That one more win had to come
against Big Ten regular-season
champion Indiana, which had
run Michigan off its home court
in the teams’ only prior meeting,
22 hours after the Wolverines
escaped with an overtime victo-
ry over No. 9 seed Northwestern.
And the game was in India-
napolis.
Still, Michigan scrapped and
clawed,
overcoming
another
poor shooting game and avoid-
ing runs like the 28-0 spurt that
proved fatal in the first matchup.
Duncan Robinson hit a 3-point-
er in the final minute to tie the
game at 69, and an Indiana turn-
over on the next possession gave
the Wolverines the final shot,
the closest they had been to a
marquee win in two months.
They needed one more play —
from point guard Derrick Wal-
ton, who ran the clock down near
midcourt,
or
perhaps
Zak
Irvin, or even
Robinson.
As it turned
out, that play
came
from
a
most
unlikely
source.
Wal-
ton drove right
and passed the
ball
to
Kam-
eron Chatman
— thinking he was kicking it to
Aubrey Dawkins — who hoisted
a desperate 3-point try and bur-
ied it.
The Michigan bench, right
behind Chatman as he shot,
mobbed him immediately. The
Wolverines all knew that shot
likely
made
the
difference
between them making and miss-
ing the NCAA Tournament. As it
turned out, they were right. They
made the field as one of the last
four teams in.
Freshman of the year: Kyle
Connor, ice hockey
It’s hard to believe Connor
was a freshman with the way he
so thoroughly dominated NCAA
hockey this season. His line
with Tyler Motte and JT Com-
pher was regarded as one of the
top in the nation, and with good
reason. By season’s end, they all
ranked in the top four nationally
in points, and they formed one
of the most feared combinations
in the country come tournament
time.
But it was Connor who stole
the show. His 71 points were
eight more than anyone else
in the country, and his near-
est challenger was his linemate,
Compher. The freshman sensa-
tion also led the country with
35 goals and was tied for third
nationally with 36 assists.
Among his many highlights
were a pair of memorable games
in the Big Ten Tournament. Con-
nor scored four goals in the semi-
finals before adding a one-goal,
three-assist encore in the Cham-
pionship the next day, leaving
a trail of exceptional plays and
stunned goaltenders in his wake.
He seemed to be the odds-
on favorite for the Hobey Baker
Award before Harvard senior
Jimmy Vesey was announced as
the somewhat surprising win-
ner. In any case, Connor’s season
speaks for itself, with or without
the Hobey.
Connor signed with the Win-
nipeg Jets this offseason, ending
a short but superb college career.
Coach of the year: Mike Bot-
tom
Technically,
this award is for
Bottom’s work
with the wom-
en’s swimming
and
diving
team, but would
anyone
com-
plain if it were
for the men’s
team
instead?
By this point,
Bottom has a case for this award
every year.
He rounded out his fourth
season coaching the women’s
team by leading the Wolverines
to their first Big Ten title in 12
years — and doing in front of the
Canham Natatorium crowd, to
boot.
The championship meet was
a fitting breakthrough, with a
contributions coming from stars
new and old to claim the title.
Ali DeLoof, who was a fresh-
man in Bottom’s first season,
fought through an illness that
week to finish second in the 100-
yard backstroke and anchor the
400-meter freestyle relay, while
freshman Siobhan Haughey was
named Swimmer of the Champi-
onships.
Bottom has improved the
women’s Big Ten finish each
successive year he has coached
them, and while there’s no way
to improve upon first place, it’s
hard to bet against the renowned
sprint coach to
hold the Wol-
verines
steady
at the top of the
conference for
the foreseeable
future.
Female Ath-
lete
of
the
Year:
Cindy
Ofili, women’s
track
Multiple
members on any one of Michi-
gan’s four Big Ten champion
women’s teams — women’s track
and
field,
softball,
women’s
swimming and women’s tennis —
could make a case here. But Ofili
has had a year that tops them all,
culminating with a trip to the
Olympics.
Last month, Ofili won her sec-
ond straight silver medal in the
100-meter hurdles at the Brit-
ish
Athletics
Championships.
This one qualified her for next
month’s Rio Games, where she’ll
compete alongside her older sis-
ter, Tiffany Porter, who beat Ofili
by two hundredths of a second.
Ofili has plenty to call her own
in Ann Arbor. After spending
most of her career rivaling her
sister, who also had an illustri-
ous career at Michigan, this was
the year Ofili broke through. On
March 12, at the
NCAA
Indoor
Championships,
she
won
the
national title in
the
60-meter
hurdles
after
failing to qualify
for the finals in
2015. It was her
first crown, and
her time, tied for
the sixth-fastest
in NCAA history, broke the last
program record her sister had.
Competing in the 100-meter
hurdles at the Outdoor Champi-
onships, she finished fourth, still
good enough for her fifth All-
American honor. Combined with
the indoor title, she had the best
season of her career in the two
events.
And for the last three years of
her career, she slowly picked off
Chatman’s last-
second shot
gave his team
the victory.
Ofili will
compete at
this summer’s
Olympics in Rio.
11
Thursday, July 21, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS