The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsMonday November 28, 2016 — 3B Michigan beats Mount St. Mary’s No matter how intricate a team’s offense may be — and John Beilein’s scheme is certainly among the most complex — the system can only work if players are making shots. So when No. 25 Michigan shot just 19.2 percent from the field against South Carolina on Wednesday, including a dismal 7.7 percent from behind the arc, the offense could only be described as sluggish. That certainly wasn’t the case early Saturday night, when the Wolverines returned to Crisler Center to beat Mount St. Mary’s, 64-47. Michigan (5-1) got off to a blistering start — shooting 7-15 on 3-pointers and 43.3 percent on all field goals — to stake themselves with a comfortable lead after a slow defensive start. “It was huge,” said senior guard Zak Irvin. “After how poorly we shot the ball in South Carolina, we definitely wanted to come out and set the tone. Big bounce-back game for us, so it was nice to see the first three of my shots go in. It was a good feeling.” The Mountaineers, led by nine early points from 5-foot-5 guard Junior Robinson, took an early 12-8 lead in the first half. But then junior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur- Rahkman knocked down a 3-pointer, senior forward Duncan Robinson hit a midrange jumper and senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. drained another 3 to give Michigan a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the night. The Wolverines ended the first half on a 25-4 run that was capped off by a personal seven-point spurt from Moritz Wagner, during which the sophomore forward’s offensive arsenal was on full display. Wagner drained 3-pointers with ease and took defenders off the dribble, creating hesitation with an array of pump-fakes and jab steps. After the Mountaineers opened up the second half with a quick 6-2 run to cut Michigan’s lead to 12, the Wolverines responded in kind off the strength of three more 3-pointers from Robinson and redshirt sophomore forward DJ Wilson. The improved shooting was even more impressive considering Mount St. Mary’s entered the game allowing its opponents to make just 29.9 of their long-range attempts. While Michigan shot well throughout the game, finishing with a 43.6 field-goal percentage and a 40.7 3-point percentage, the Wolverines struggled with turnovers. A sloppy few minutes toward the end of the game saw Mount St. Mary’s cut Michigan’s lead to just eight, bringing the Mountaineer bench to life. But Irvin, who finished with 14 points, stemmed the tide with a mid-range jumper from the elbow that seemed to snap his team out of its funk, and Michigan finished the game on an 11-2 run. “(Mount St. Mary’s) fought hard,” Irvin said. “They cut it back to, I think it was eight points, with four or five minutes to go, so for us to end it on an 11-2 run is huge. We always talk about finishing strong, and I was glad to play a part in that.” Added Beilein: “We have a big game with Virginia Tech on Wednesday. We get a day to rest. For us to travel to South Carolina ... (we) learned some valuable lessons from that game. And then to have this challenge right now, it was a bigger challenge than anyone would think, so we’ll take the ‘W.’ ” ICE HOCKEY Michigan salvages series split at Yost Freshman forward James Sanchez’s goal came out of nowhere. One second, everyone was watching two Lake Superior State players pass the puck. The next, Sanchez had taken the puck from the pass and shot it into the Lakers’ net for the Wolverines’ third goal of the night. This goal led to No. 16 Michigan avenging a 3-1 loss to Lake Superior State (7-6-0) on Friday. The Wolverines (5-5-1) turned the tables on the Lakers, cruising to a 4-1 victory Saturday. The contrast between the first period of both games couldn’t have been stronger. Where the Lakers outshot the Wolverines on Friday (8-6), Michigan dominated the first period Saturday, 12-5. Friday, it took the Wolverines the entire first period to get into motion, but Saturday, it only took them four minutes to score their first goal. One of the similarities between the two games, though, came from who scored that goal. Junior forward Tony Calderone scored both first goals — this time, though, the goal came four minutes into the first period, when a knot of Lakers and Wolverines formed in front of Lake Superior State’s goal. Calderone managed to push the puck into the net to put the Wolverines up, 1-0. “Obviously, we lost a lot of scoring (last year), so someone’s gotta step up,” Calderone said. “I’m just trying to do my best to fill the role, but I know (those) are pretty big shoes to fill, but I’m trying my best and we’ll see how it goes.” However, Laker forward C.J. Hayes canceled out Calderone’s goal with one of his own at the 15:17 mark. Diego Cuglietta brought the puck down the ice and close to the net on senior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort’s right, and passed it to Hayes on Nagelvoort’s left at the last minute to score the goal. The second period featured the same intensity as the first, with no break from either team. Junior defenseman Sam Piazza attempted a goal with a clean shot directly in front of the net, but Lake Superior State goaltender Gordon Defiel denied it with his arm. Laker forward J.T. Henke came close to a goal as he wrapped behind Michigan’s goal to tuck the puck into the net, but overshot it in front of Nagelvoort instead. It was finally senior defenseman Nolan De Jong who was able to break the tie off an assist from sophomore forward Brendan Warren. Warren snagged the puck and passed it to De Jong, who managed a clean shot directly past Defiel to push the Wolverines to 2-1 at the 9:16 mark. Lake Superior State attempted to close the gap multiple times throughout the remainder of the second period, but with no luck. Laker forward Jake Hand brought the puck close to the net, but Nagelvoort made a quick glove save to keep the Wolverines’ one- goal advantage headed into the third period. Like Friday, Saturday’s game boiled down to the final period. But this time, it favored Michigan. Sanchez’s goal pushed the Wolverines to a two-goal lead, one that the Lakers couldn’t break. Sophomore defenseman Nicholas Boka also managed to replicate the Lakers’ empty-net goal Friday, as he scored one with 49 seconds remaining in the game. And with no additional goals from the Lakers, the Wolverines switched places with Lake Superior State to claim a 4-1 victory. LANEY BYLER Daily Sports Writer LSSU MICHIGAN 1 4 AMANDA ALLEN/Daily Senior forward Zak Irvin scored 14 points and added four assists in Michigan’s win against Mount St. Mary’s. Wolverines use first-half run to coast to victory, rebound from Wednesday loss ORION SANG Daily Sports Writer “We definitely wanted to come out and set the tone.” MSM MICHIGAN 47 64 Wolverines finish 2-1 in Paradise Jam The Michigan women’s basketball team has made its mark in the record book early this season, scoring over 100 points in three straight games for the first time and going on a jaw-dropping 52-point run against Howard. But this weekend at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, the Wolverines finally met their match. They swept past No. 25 Gonzaga and Winthrop at the beginning of the tournament, and ended with their biggest game of the season thus far against No. 10 Florida State. Michigan couldn’t advance its winning streak to seven games, falling to the Seminoles, 76-62, in the Wolverines’ third game of the weekend. “I definitely thought that we got worn down a little bit,” said Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico. “We played against a really great team, and for a long period of time we were really even with them.” Early in the game, Michigan went down, 8-2, and spent the remaining seven minutes of the first period playing catch- up. The Wolverines spread the scoring out, with freshman guard Kysre Gondrezick coming off the bench at the 5:11 mark and contributing five points. After the first quarter, Michigan trailed by only one. In the second quarter, Michigan earned its first lead of the game thanks to a 3-pointer and jumper by junior guard Katelynn Flaherty, but wasn’t able to maintain it. Florida State’s scoring was relentless, and by halftime, the Wolverines were once again down, 32-28. Then, 15 second-half fouls killed Michigan’s momentum. The Seminoles never gave up the lead, despite double- digit efforts from Flaherty (18 points), Gondrezick (17) and sophomore forward Hallie Thome (13). “They’re a top-10 team, so they’re used to having these games,” Thome said. “They’re able to handle themselves and all the pressure and not freak out. Towards the end, unlike Gonzaga, when we played them we were able to handle ourselves and play with ease. I think for Florida State, we kind of just let it go. It could’ve been because we were mentally fatigued, so instead of just being on point with everything we kind of got a little freaked out.” Added Flaherty: “Coming out of that game we need to work on a lot of things. Especially defense, not fouling so much towards the end, and then offensively, executing plays, not having as many turnovers. Those helped their tempo of the game.” While the Wolverines’ first loss wasn’t how they would’ve liked to end the tournament, there were still plenty of positives throughout the weekend. Thome and Flaherty were both named to the all-tournament team, and Michigan notched its first win against a top-25 team since 2014. Friday vs. Winthrop (1-6): Friday’s game against Winthrop could have been another opportunity for Michigan to hit the century mark. Instead, the Wolverines fell 24 points shy of that number, but still won, 76-39. Even with the impressive margin, Barnes Arico was still not satisfied. “We couldn’t get going,” Barnes Arico said. “It took us definitely that first quarter to get going. I thought our second team really came in and gave us that energy and that burst that we needed.” Michigan went deep into the bench, allowing all four freshmen onto the court. Munger and Brozoski also played, with 22 and 21 minutes, respectively. Munger scored 11 points, breaking into double digits to join Thome, who had 12, and Flaherty, who scored 17. Despite their strong scoring, the Wolverines weren’t performing at their peak. “We talked about it at halftime,” Barnes Arico said. “We were short … everyone besides Hallie on all of their shots. But I didn’t mind that as much as I minded our energy and our turnovers. We talked about turnovers, we wanted to hold it to six and we had 11, and we said in the second half we wanted to try to keep it under five. And I think we did.” Thursday vs. No. 25 Gonzaga (4-2): Going into Thursday’s game, the Wolverines were facing their first ranked team of the season after a long flight. Still, they came out on top, beating the Bullldogs, 78-66. Michigan has struggled in the first few minutes of play in its last two home games, going down 6-0 against both Western Michigan and Howard. But against Gonzaga, the Wolverines showed up to play. After two minutes, Michigan was up 9-2, thanks to five points from Flaherty, two from Thome and two more from senior guard Danielle Williams. Those three got the ball rolling for the Wolverines, and they never let up, leading the game for the entire 40 minutes. Flaherty went off in the first half, tallying 17 points and ending the game with a team-high 22 points. She also tacked on seven assists to tie her career high. Senior guard Siera Thompson ran the court as well, scoring 21 points and going 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. She now has more 3-pointers than any Wolverine in history. The closest Gonzaga came to taking the lead was in the fourth quarter, when Michigan led by just four points. “We had a lot of games like last year that came down to the final minutes,” Thome said. “And this year we were able to beat the stats and just push through it. … It was just exciting to see that we were able to finish games when it came down to the last final minutes.” While Thompson and Flaherty show up in the box score as the difference makers, the players coming off the bench were a huge factor in the Wolverines’ win. “I think (sophomore guard Boogie Brozoski) and (sophomore guard Nicole Munger) really stood out, especially the first game,” Flaherty said. “Munger hit a big 3 in the corner and had a charge. Boogie has just been a great spark off the bench, she knows how to control the game and get everyone involved. I think she brings a swag to our team and makes us a lot tougher.” The road trips aren’t coming to an end, either. Coming off of the weekend, Michigan will practice for three days before jetting off to face Georgia Tech in Atlanta. “We’re going to take it game by game,” Thome said. “We’re going to be road warriors and just do what we usually do. … It doesn’t matter what gym we’re in or how many hours we’ve been on flights. It’s definitely a fun experience, but it is a tiring one, and I think we’re ready for it.” Michigan tops No. 25 Gonzaga and Winthrop, then falls to No. 10 Florida State WOMEN’S BASKETBALL “It’s definitely a fun experience, but it is a tiring one.” MAGGIE KOLCON Daily Sports Writer THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP-10 POLL 2. OHIO STATE: He was short. 1. ALABAMA: Led by Jalen “The Truth” Hurts, Nick Saban’s team could win its first national title since earlier this year. 9. PENN STATE: There’s going to be a mercy rule if the Nittany Lions matchup with Alabama in the CFP, right? 3. CLEMSON: What Dabo Swinney did to the Cocks was certainly not Christian. 6. WISCONSIN: As Ric Flair once said, “To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man. Unless you’re Wisconsin.” 5. MICHIGAN: Harbaugh: Keep it cool. Inner Harbaugh: Shatter the headset into a million pieces. 7. COLORADO: A win by the Buffs could send the Daily football beat to Pasadena. No pressure, though. 4. WASHINGTON: OK, but if they lose... 8. OKLAHOMA: Dede Westbrook isn’t the Heisman winner we need, but he’s the one we deserve. 10. WESTERN MICHIGAN: P.J. Fleck will row his boat all the way to Tampa if it means the CFP committee will finally acknowledge his team. Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes receiving nine and so on.