The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
November 21, 2016 — 3B

‘M’ captures 2K Classic title

NEW YORK CITY — For the 

past two seasons, the Michigan 
men’s basketball team has been 
thoroughly 
manhandled 
by Southern 
Methodist.

Last 
season 
in 
Dallas, 

the Mustangs (3-1) held the 
Wolverines scoreless for the last 
10 minutes of play to win, 82-58. 
The year before that, SMU won 
handily by 24 points.

But Friday night at Madison 

Square 
Garden, 
it 
was 
a 

completely different storyline.

Michigan (4-0) flipped the 

script from the past two seasons 
and came out strong, running 
up a 15-point lead with 3:43 left 
in the first half. The Wolverines 
never gave up that lead en route 
to a 76-54 win and a 2K Classic 
championship.

“The last loss to SMU, we got 

punked throughout the whole 
game,” said senior guard Zak 
Irvin. “We didn’t want that to 
happen this game, and we came 
out with a chip on our shoulder.”

Almost a carbon copy of 

Thursday night’s game against 
Marquette, Michigan came out 
swinging in all facets of the 
game in the first half.

Senior guard Derrick Walton 

Jr. came out on fire, starting 
the game with three made 
3-pointers in a row. Walton 
finished with 23 points to lead 
all scorers after not scoring at 
all against the Golden Eagles the 
night before.

“It was good to see (Walton) 

come 
out 
and 
play,” 
said 

Michigan coach John Beilein 
“He can be an elite shooter, and 
we’ve seen that. We try to create 
opportunities for him as well as 
(let him) lead the floor.”

Overall, 
Michigan 
shot 
a 

whopping 
57.1 
percent 
(16-

for-28) in the first half. The 
Wolverines continued the hot 

shooting into the second half 
and finished the game 27-for-51.

In 
the 
paint, 
sophomore 

forward Moritz Wagner and 
senior forward Mark Donnal 
produced a combined 12 points 
and 7 rebounds in the first 
half. Even more 
impressive, 
the 

duo held SMU 
forward 
and 

Duke 
transfer 

Semi Ojeleye to 
just 13 points, a 
far cry from the 
22.7 that he had 
averaged in the 
first three games 
of the season.

“(Michigan) 

did 
a 
really 

good job of taking us out of our 
rhythm,” said SMU coach Tim 
Jankovich. “I give them some 
credit, they took us out of some 
things, and we didn’t really 
handle it like we needed to.”

Added 
Irvin: 
“We 
know 

(Ojeleye) is a great player. We 
knew he was going to come 
out aggressive, so it was a good 
matchup with (Wilson), credit 
to DJ.”

Redshirt 
sophomore 
DJ 

Wilson, in his second start 

of the season, 
wasn’t able to 
replicate 
his 

10-plus rebound 
stat 
from 
the 

first three games 
of the season, 
but he had a 
respectable 
six points and 
four boards in 
39 
minutes 
of 

action.

On the other 

end of the court, the Wolverines’ 
aggressive defense held a team 
that had averaged just under 40 
points a half to 26 in the first 
half as Michigan went into the 
break up 19.

“We took pride in guarding 

our man,” Irvin said. “It was 
huge for us, and especially in the 
first half, we held SMU to two 
offensive rebounds.”

In the second half, SMU’s 

offense did a much better job in 
its half-court offense setting, 
but Michigan’s offense was up to 
the task. The two teams traded 
buckets for the first five minutes, 
but the Wolverines’ attack was 
too much for the Mustangs, and 
Michigan’s defense stayed steady 
and ran away with the game.

Many pundits labeled the 

Wolverines’ trip to New York as 
their first real test of the season. 
Leaving Madison Square Garden 
with two dominant wins, it’s 
safe to say Michigan passed 
with flying colors.

“We’re playing with a lot 

of confidence,” Donnal said. 
“Every single year, we’ve had 
these preseason tournaments, I 
think this is the first year we’ve 
actually won one. It says a lot 
about this group to start off 4-0.”

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Redshirt sophomore forward D.J. Wilson has been a breakout player for Michigan in the season’s opening games.

SMU
MICHIGAN 

54
76

MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

“That last loss 
to SMU, we 

got punked the 
whole game.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL
This Friday night
N

EW YORK CITY — The 
buzzer sounded, the 
celebration was modest 

and the 
theatrics 
were few.

Sure, the 

Wolverines 
got to stand 
behind a 
banner that 
dubbed 
them the 
champions 
of the 
2K Classic at the center of 
Madison Square Garden. And 
yes, senior guard Derrick 
Walton Jr. got to hold his 
team’s new trophy as pictures 
were taken to commemorate 
the moment.

There was no confetti. There 

weren’t fans storming the court. 
This wasn’t one shining moment 
— and we still don’t know if 
Michigan will even come close to 
having one.

In fact, there are a lot of things 

we still don’t know about the 
Wolverines.

Are they going to live and 

die by the 3? Is this new 
defense under assistant coach 
Billy Donlon sustainable? 
When are the freshmen 
going to make the impact 
Michigan coach John Beilein is 
expecting? Can they really stay 
healthy for a whole season?

Still, for 40 minutes Friday 

night, in the mecca of basketball, 
Michigan threw those doubts 
out the window. For 40 minutes, 
it imposed its will against 
Southern Methodist to the tune 
of a 22-point victory. And that’s a 
damn good start.

The Wolverines entered 

Friday night having played their 
best half of the season against 
Marquette, eventually beating the 
Golden Eagles by 18.

But the Mustangs were a whole 

different monster. It seemed no 
half of basketball could have been 
good enough for Michigan to 

forget recent history.

In 2014, SMU went onto the 

Wolverines’ home floor, poured on 
17 unanswered points in the last 
10 minutes and walked away from 
Crisler Center with a 62-51 victory.

And last season, the 

Mustangs didn’t just beat 
Michigan. They flat-out 
embarrassed the Wolverines.

Michigan traveled to Dallas, 

only to get outrebounded by 
25, lose by 24 and let SMU turn 
the game into a one-sided dunk 
contest.

But this Friday night, for the 

first time in a long time, it felt 
like the Wolverines had their 
swagger back.

This Friday night, redshirt 

sophomore forward DJ Wilson 
wasn’t just dunking. He was 
rocking the rim and then 
strutting the baseline as if to tell 
the fans he’d be doing it all night.

This Friday night, the college 

3-point line wasn’t quite difficult 
enough, as the Wolverines pulled 
up from NBA range time and 
time again.

And when they made it, they 

let SMU know.

With under a minute left to 

play in the first half, junior guard 
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman 
connected from deep. Then he let 
his hand stay in the air for just a 
few seconds extra.

This Friday night, Michigan 

boarded a plane with a trophy 
in tow.

There’s no telling if this is 

the preview of things to come. 
Entering the season, there was 
a sentiment that the Wolverines 
had the pieces for success in 
place. But those also came with 
the same doubts that will still 
exist tomorrow.

Yet this Friday night, Michigan 

put its pieces together. It did so 
against a team that has owned the 
matchup the past two years. And 
it happened in the World’s Most 
Famous Arena.

Doubts or not, that’s a hell of 

a start.

KEVIN 
SANTO

‘M’ tops USNTDP, 6-3

In its first action of the season, 

the Michigan hockey team played 
Windsor in a preseason game 
before beginning its regular slate. 
After a preseason filled with 
injury and uncertainty, freshman 
forward Nick Pastujov played for 
the first time against the Lancers, 
and with two minutes remaining 
in the first period, he scored 
the Wolverines’ first goal of the 
season on the power play.

Since that exhibition game, 

Pastujov had been held scoreless. 
Friday night, though, he found 
the net, and in an exhibition once 
again. With the game tied at two 
in the third period, freshman 
forward Steven Merl crossed 
the puck to the middle toward 
Pastujov, who knocked it past 
U.S. National Team Development 
Program goaltender and Michigan 
recruit Dylan St. Cyr for a 3-2 lead, 
one the 18th-ranked Wolverines 
would never relinquish, as they 
defeated the USNTDP at Yost Ice 
Arena, 6-3.

“I thought that this was far and 

away Nick Pastujov’s best of the 
game of the year,” said Michigan 
coach Red Berenson. “And it came 
at a good time.”

Two other Wolverine recruits 

played in the game for the 
USNTDP: center Josh Norris 
— a good friend of Michigan 
forward Will Lockwood — and 
defenseman Quinn Hughes.

“It was cool,” said freshman 

forward James Sanchez. “It was 
good to see what they got, and 
what they’re going to bring next 
year.”

For the first 10-plus minutes, 

the game moved rather slowly, 
with the teams nearly even 
in shots. Then with about six 
minutes remaining in the period, 
Lockwood earned a trip to the 
penalty box for hooking.

The Wolverines looked to kill 

the penalty as they cleared the 
puck to the opposite zone with 11 
seconds remaining on the power 
play.

Hughes skated toward the 

net and grabbed the puck before 
seeing a hole in the Michigan 

defense and passing the puck to 
a wide-open Jacob Tortora, who 
slapped it past senior goaltender 
Zach Nagelvoort. The USNTDP 
held onto that lead heading into 
the first intermission.

In 
the 
second, 
though, 

the Wolverines answered, as 
Lockwood struck to tie it at one.

“I thought we played well,” 

Pastujov said. “We were there 
last year, so we know no matter 
what the score is, we know they’re 
going to put up a fight ’til the end, 
and that’s what they did. I thought 
it was a good, high-paced, really 
smooth game.”

The 
USNTDP 
remained 

focused 
against 
its 
older 

opponents and continued to play 
aggressively throughout the game. 
With about a minute remaining 
in the second period, it pressed 
forward on offense. Norris skated 
to the Wolverines’ offensive zone 
and passed the puck across the 
ice to forward Brady Tkachuk. 
Tkachuk then hesitated, before 
feeding it to Tortora in the middle, 
who then backhanded it into the 
net to take the lead once again.

Michigan quickly responded 

and tied the game up about 
20 seconds later. Senior right 
wing Alex Kile zoomed to the 
USNTDP’s zone and fired a 
long pass to Luke Martin, who 
slapped the puck toward the goal. 
Fortunately for the Wolverines, 
freshman forward Adam Winborg 
managed to get his stick on it, 
tapping it in to tie the game at two.

It took until the third period for 

Michigan’s offense to really click. 
Two minutes after Pastujov’s 
early goal, Sanchez stole the puck 
in the corner of the USNTDP’s 
zone and deked out St. Cyr to 
make it a 4-3 game with his first 
goal of the third. His second came 
with five seconds remaining in the 
period. Kile added a goal off a pass 
from Winborg at the 15:59 mark.

“The game is on the line on the 

third,” Berenson said. “Tonight I 
didn’t think we got off to a good 
start. A week ago on Saturday 
we had a great first period, so-so 
second and not a good third. 
Tonight I thought our best period 
was the third. You want to be able 
to close out a game.”

ICE HOCKEY
Wolverines go on 52-0 run, beat Howard

Though 
the 
game 
was 

supposed to be a walk in the 
park, the Michigan women’s 
basketball team transformed 
it into a leisurely stroll on the 
beach — and made it into its top-
three scoring game of all time.

The 
Wolverines 
pounded 

Howard, 109-41, in the teams’ 
first-ever meeting Friday at 
Crisler Center. It was just the 
15th time in program history 
that Michigan has reached the 
triple-digit milestone — with the 
most recent being last weekend’s 
matchup with Niagara. This is 
the first time in school history 
that the team has gone three 
games in a row beating the 
century mark.

And a large chunk of that, 

expectedly, came from Katelynn 
Flaherty.

Before the first half was up, 

the junior guard tied her career 
high in assists at six. Flaherty 
went on to set her new record 
with a total of seven.

“For (Flaherty) to do that, it’s 

just like a typical day for her,” 
sophomore center Hallie Thome 
said. “She’s one of the most 
outstanding shooters we have 
and in the NCAA.”

Added 
Michigan 
coach 

Kim Barnes Arico: “She’s an 
incredible scorer. But when she 
finishes the night with (those 
statistics), she’s doing other 
things to help our team be 
successful. I think us having 32 
assists on the night shows our 
ability to be unselfish and our 
ability to make that extra pass 
and score the basketball.”

Barnes Arico chose to keep 

her starting lineup from the past 
two games: Thome, Flaherty, 
junior forward Jillian Dunston 
senior guards Siera Thompson 
and Danielle Williams.

The Bison started off with 

a quick 6-0 lead within the 
first minute — surprising the 
Wolverines, who have never 
trailed that much this season. 
But Flaherty, in the second 
minute of play, bumped the 
Wolverines up by three, quickly 
followed by another 3-pointer 
from Williams.

Thome pointed out that going 

forward it will be tougher to 
erase that deficit if the team 
trails that early, and by that 
margin, when facing future 
competition. 
To 
its 
credit, 

Michigan never let Howard take 
the lead again — or score another 
point in the first quarter. The 
Wolverines went on a 36-0 run 
for a final tally of 36-6.

The second quarter passed in 

much the same manner. By the 
end of the half, Flaherty led with 
17 points, and Gondzrezick and 
Thome followed her with 15 and 
12 points, respectively.

Michigan extended its run 

to 52-0 in the second quarter, 
but the streak broke with a pair 
of mid-range shots from the 
Bison around the four-minute 
mark. Barnes Arico said she 
didn’t even notice the streak, 
though, and only recognized the 
efficient play.

“I think it’s just exciting to 

see that we have a lot of people 
contributing to our (100-point 
streaks), and that’s exciting,” 

Thome said. “Any night can be 
anyone’s game.”

The 
Wolverines’ 
defense 

contributed to the standout 
performance with 16 steals for 
the night.

Thome set the mark with 

three turnovers. Dunston also 
was a force on the field and set 
the bar for rebounds, with a 
total of 13.

Barnes Arico also pointed 

out the all-around flexibility 
that sophomore guards Boogie 
Brozoski and Nicole Munger 
give the team. Combined, the 
two dished out 11 assists.

Freshmen were a large part 

of the depth on the team that 
Barnes Arico noted. Notably, it 
was freshman Kayla Robbins 
who made the breakaway layup 
to push the Wolverines over the 
99-point mark. It was guard 
KeAsja Peace who put Friday’s 
performance in a tie for the 
third-highest scoring game in 
program history. And it was 
guard Akenrieh Johnson who 
pushed the game over that mark.

Gondrezick 
finished 
the 

game with 22 points and went 
5-for-7 on 3-pointers, making 
her 
teammates 
notice 
the 

similarities between her and 
Flaherty.

“(Gondrezick) is hitting it 

lights out too,” Thome said. 
“Her and (Flaherty) on the court 
is something you just can’t mess 
with.”

Despite all the milestones in 

the game, Barnes Arico is still 
striving to tweak her team to get 
ready for heavier competition.

“Coaches 
are 
always 

pessimistic by nature,” Barnes 
Arico said. “I tell them to just 
take us on a run to the national 
championship 
and 
keep 
on 

taking those shots. I think our 
kids spend a lot of time in the 
gym and make an effort to be 
great shooters.

“It’s been really positive, but 

it’s important for us as coaches 
to keep everyone grounded. It 
was fun, let’s enjoy the moment, 
but tomorrow we get back to 
work.”

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Sophomore center Hallie Thome was a force on defense for Michigan in the Wolverines’ 109-41 win over Howard.

SYLVANNA GROSS

Daily Sports Writer

AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer

