8 — Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Big Ten falls, but
Wolverines shine
at USA Challenge
For once, Big Ten swimmers
weren’t competing against each
other.
This
weekend,
swimmers
from the conference formed
a collective team and faced
select members of Team USA
in the USA College Challenge.
Representing Michigan on the
Big Ten team were five swimmers
from the men’s swimming and
diving team, along with four
members from the women’s
team. Michigan coach Mike
Bottom attended the dual-meet
in Indianapolis, overseeing the
women’s Big Ten team.
“It wasn’t really about our
teams. It was about us coming
together as a conference,” Bottom
said.
“We’re
all
competing,
but
yet
the
competition
is
making everyone better and
we have learned to appreciate
our competitors as well as the
competition.”
In spite of the united effort, the
Big Ten fell short of a win, losing
to Team USA, 349-247. Though
the Big Ten lost, the weekend was
still a success for the conference
as several collegiate records
were broken by swimmers from
all
schools.
Michigan
sophomore
Siobhàn
Haughey
beat
her
previous
Big
Ten
and
Michigan record
in the 200-yard
freestyle — the
same
event
she
competed
in
during
the
semifinals
of
the
2016
Rio
Olympics — by 0.42 seconds
with a time of 1:42.93. Haughey’s
time was the fastest recorded
time nationally in the 200-yard
freestyle this season.
Another
Wolverine
with
a standout performance this
weekend was freshman Charlie
Swanson. One of only three
Big Ten winners on Saturday,
Swanson finished first in the
400-yard individual medley with
a time of 3:46.09.
Also on Saturday, both fifth-
year senior Luke Papendick and
junior PJ Ransford placed third in
the 200-yard backstroke (1:43.71)
and in the 100-yard butterfly
(47.06), respectively. Junior Evan
White, recently coming off of an
injury, flirted with his personal
best of 46.56 in the 100-yard
butterfly (47.06), taking sixth in
the event this weekend. Coming
in seventh for the Big Ten in the
100-yard freestyle (44.15) was
junior Paul Powers.
Powers had the highest finish
for Michigan’s men’s swimming
on Sunday with a second-place
finish in the 50-yard freestyle
(19.79), his best time in this event
so far this season. Ransford took
third in the 1,000-yard freestyle
(8:55.40) while Swanson placed
seventh (9:22.93). Michigan had
another top-three finish with
White taking third in the 200-
yard individual medley (1:46.63).
In
the
100-yard
backstroke,
Papendick finished fifth with a
time of 47.41.
And the Wolverine women
had exceptional performances
too.
Junior
Gabby
DeLoof
competed against her sister and
former Michigan teammate Ali
DeLoof in the 400-yard freestyle
relay. Team USA won the event
with a time of 3:11.64, with Ali
DeLoof swimming as the leadoff.
Finishing second, Haughey and
Gabby DeLoof contributed to the
Big Ten’s relay team as the third
and fourth legs.
Sophomore Yirong Bi helped
the Big Ten with a third-place
finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Competing
in
the
100-yard
medley backstroke was junior
Clara Smiddy. Smiddy finished
sixth behind Ali DeLoof, who
beat the 51-second barrier with
a time of 50.99 in
the event.
“When
you
go
down
the
line in almost
every individual
(event),
we
swam
well,”
Bottom said. “As
a whole, the Big
Ten swam and
competed
very
well with a lot of
best times.”
Though the Big Ten ultimately
lost, multiple Big Ten relay
teams set top collegiate times,
demonstrating
the
potential
strength of a future national team
when some of these collegiate
swimmers unite. Top times were
recorded in the men’s 800-yard
freestyle relay (6:19.08), the 400-
yard medley relay (3:07.93) and the
400-yard freestyle relay (2:50.81).
For the women, top times were
recorded in the 400-yard medley
relay
(3:29.65),
the
800-yard
freestyle relay (7:00.40) and the
400-yard freestyle relay (3:13.29).
“The big lesson learned was
that if you come together for
a common goal, you can unite
people,” Bottom said. “We stand
in a world that’s really divided
right now and it’s fun to see what
happened at the meet, where Big
Ten teams that are competitive
came together in a way that really
was exemplary and what we’re
trying to do as a country.”
SWIMMING & DIVING
Haughey sets Big Ten record in 200-
yard freestyle, Swenson wins 400 IM
GRACE BOYLES
For the Daily
“It was about
us coming
together as a
conference.”
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Junior forward Dexter Dancs tallied a goal and an assist in Michigan’s two-game series against Boston University.
Dancs looks to build on weekend improvement
With just under 10 minutes
left in the first period of
Friday’s game against Boston
University, the Michigan hockey
team was on its second power
play. Freshman forward Will
Lockwood had just scored to put
the Wolverines up, 1-0, and the
team was looking to earn some
cushion against the fourth-
ranked Terriers.
Junior forward Dexter Dancs
received a pass from freshman
defenseman Luke Martin at the
blue line, and skated it up the
right boards. Dancs drew Boston
University’s
Bobo
Carpenter
toward him, but right before
Carpenter reached him, Dancs
dished a backhanded pass to
junior forward Tony Calderone,
who ripped a one-timer through
a crowd and into the back of the
net.
It was just what Michigan
needed.
The Terriers represented the
Wolverines’ biggest game of the
year, but there was one problem
entering the matchup — Michigan
was down a few seniors. Forwards
Alex Kile and Max Shuart,
defenseman Nolan De Jong and
goaltender Zach Nagelvoort were
suspended for “breaking team
rules,” and as a result, Michigan
coach Red Berenson and his staff
had to reshuffle their lines.
Dancs was one beneficiary of
the change. He was one of the
returners from last season that
was expected to make a leap
in productivity this year. But
because of a slow start — Dancs
had only one point through eight
games — the junior has spent
much of the season being moved
from line to line in an effort to
spark the offensive side of his
game.
Friday, Dancs was placed on
the first line with Lockwood
and freshman forward Jake
Slaker, who have been some of
the most consistent producers
for the Wolverines. As it turns
out, their performances may
have been contagious. Dancs put
together the best weekend of his
season, assisting Calderone on
Friday before tallying a goal for
himself on Saturday.
After notching two points on
the weekend, Dancs attributed
his performance
to
both
past
success
before
college
and
his
practice
regiment
this
season.
“Scoring goals
is what I used
to do before I
got here,” Dancs
said. “The past
two
years,
there’s been some players ahead
of me that are very good. And
I’ve gotten to watch them and
learn from them. And I’ve been
doing a lot of stuff with (assistant
coach
Brian)
Wiseman.
He
scored a lot of goals when he was
here, so he’s been helping me.”
While the offensive side of
Dancs’ game is important, it
wasn’t the only aspect in which
he was better this weekend.
Dancs also played a more physical
brand of hockey. He was involved
in multiple big hits, and was
often
chasing
and battling for
the puck in the
corners.
But
whether
it’s
with
physicality
or
finesse on the
offensive
side
of
the
puck,
perhaps the most
important thing
for Dancs is to
know his role on the team.
“I think he’s figuring it out,”
Berenson said. “He’s starting to
realize how he has to play to help
our team. Sometimes a player
comes out and they do what
they want to do. And if they’re
not doing what we need them to
do, then they can be out of sync.
And I think Dexter was out of
sync. And now he’s playing more
physical, he’s playing harder and
he’s playing better.”
Though
the
improvement
came to fruition this weekend,
there is still work to be done.
“If he plays his best, I think
he can be a top-six forward on
this team, but last year he ended
up playing mostly on the bottom
six,” Berenson said. “He’s just
now starting to show what he
was doing last year. And if he
develops — if he continues to
improve — he’ll have a better
role. He can help our power play
if he plays well, and he can help
our top six forwards.”
Added
Dancs:
“Coming
into this year, my goal was to
contribute
more
offensively.
Throughout the first few games,
it hasn’t gone that way for me.
But I know if I trust the process
and keep working hard, that’ll
come.”
MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer
“Scoring goals
is what I used
to do before
I got here.”
Five things we learned: Howard & IUPUI
The Michigan men’s basketball
team kicked off its season this past
weekend with two double-digit
victories over Howard and IUPUI
in the Ann Arbor regional of the
2K Classic.
Against Howard on Friday, the
Wolverines struggled to deal with
a matchup zone defense, a defense
Michigan coach John Beilein said
he had never seen in all his years
of
coaching.
The
Wolverines
overpowered the Bisons, though,
who ranked No. 328 in RPI last
season and were missing James
Daniel — the NCAA’s leading
scorer last season — to an injury.
Sunday
against
IUPUI,
Michigan strung together a 13-0
run to end the first half and went
on to beat the Jaguars, 77-65.
The Wolverines will now travel
to New York City to play in the
2K Classic Championship Round.
Michigan will play Marquette on
Thursday and either Southern
Methodist or Pittsburgh on Friday.
But until then, here are five things
we
learned
from
Michigan’s
season-opening weekend.
1. DJ Wilson is legit
During Michigan’s media day
back on Oct. 3, Beilein likened
the redshirt sophomore forward’s
potential to that of former Indiana
forward Troy Williams, who now
plies his craft in the NBA with the
Memphis Grizzlies.
No one, however, was expecting
to see a return on that statement so
early in the season. Friday against
Howard, Wilson was a force inside,
grabbing eight rebounds and
scoring nine points in 20 minutes
of action. Wilson continued his
solid play Sunday, notching career
highs in rebounds and blocks with
14 and five, respectively.
“His mindset is to get in
there and get rebounds, loose
basketballs, everything,” Beilein
said. “... If he says to himself, ‘I am
a rebounder and defender,’ he’ll get
baskets.”
2. The battle between Donnal
and Wagner is far from over
Going into the game against
Howard,
Beilein
stated
that
sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner would get the start. But by
the end of the game, it was redshirt
junior Mark Donnal who got the
advantage in minutes, playing
eight more than Wagner.
Sunday, Wagner started again,
but Donnal was given ample
playing time and both players were
on the court for 19 minutes.
“I think both offensively and
defensively, I just held my own and
tried to be an energy guy of the
bench,” Donnal said after Friday’s
game.
Beilein now has a conundrum
on his hands. While Wagner gives
him a better offensive presence,
he also also shows flashes of
immaturity on defense. Against
Howard, Wagner started the
second half, but was taken out just
seconds later for not picking up his
guard on a ball screen.
Moving forward, Beilein may
be forced to switch back and forth
between his two big men at the ‘5’.
3. Michigan is playing more
aggressively on defense
Assistant coach Billy Donlon
came to the team as a defensive-
minded coach, and that was
evident during both games, when
Donlon would get up from his seat
to bark orders when Michigan was
on the defensive end of the court.
This weekend, the Wolverines
forced a total of 27 turnovers for an
average of 13.5 per game, a far cry
from the 7.5 turnovers Michigan
forced per game last season.
Granted, it is still early and this
year’s average comes from a small
sample size, but there were visible
differences
in
the
Wolverine
defense from last season.
While Michigan was far more
aggressive on the defensive end,
it resorted to fouling at times.
Fortunately for the Wolverines,
Howard shot just 48 percent from
the line.
4. The Wolverines are still
relying heavily on the 3-point
shot
Over the past several seasons,
Michigan
has
put
a
heavy
emphasis on its ability to shoot
3-pointers. This weekend, the
Wolverines shot 35 percent from
behind the arc.
More interesting, though, was
how often Michigan shot the 3-ball.
Forty percent of the Wolverines’
shots were from deep, which is in
line with their performance last
year, when 43 percent of their
shots were 3-pointers.
5. Bold prediction: DJ Wilson
starts over Duncan Robinson
against Marquette
With how well Wilson has
played in the first two games of
the season, Beilein may be forced
to start Wilson at the ‘4’. Against
IUPUI, Wilson played 80 percent
of the minutes in the second half,
with
redshirt
junior
Duncan
Robinson to the bench for much of
the stanza.
“(Duncan’s) role will be varied,”
Beilein said. “Does he start? Does
he come off the bench? I love
having a gunner come off the
bench.”
Wilson still has plenty to
work on, including being more
aggressive
on
the
offensive
front. But with his length and
size, Michigan has a better
defensive option, and it wouldn’t
be a surprise to see Wilson in the
starting five on Thursday night in
Madison Square Garden.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Mark Donnal is battling with Moritz Wagner for playing time at center.
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor