Michigan to take Georgia Tech in ACC/Big Ten Challenge
For the first time in program
history, the Michigan women’s
basketball team is headed to
Atlanta for a matchup against
Georgia Tech.
“Georgia Tech is a great team,
especially at home,” said Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico in an
interview with WKTA. “They
haven’t lost yet. They’re coming
off a win in (the Junkanoo Jam
tournament in Bimini, Bahamas)
and they won against their in-state
rival, Georgia, earlier this season.
They’re really off to a great start.”
The
Wolverines
shouldn’t
be fazed, though. The team is
entering the contest ranked first
in the nation in 3-point-field goal
percentage
(.455)
and
second
in field-goal percentage (.518).
Additionally, Michigan is No. 12 in
scoring defense and has received
votes in both the Associated Press
Poll and the USA Today Coaches
Poll.
Despite those numbers, the
Wolverines (6-1) are coming off of
a loss against No.10 Florida State at
the Paradise Jam tournament last
weekend in St. Thomas. Michigan
did manage to edge out No.25
Gonzaga in its first matchup of
three.
The tournament was the first
swing of a seven-game away series.
“We’re on the road again and
our schedule is incredibly tough,”
Barnes Arico said. “But we’re trying
to make our players really believe.
It’s going to make a difference for us
down the road moving into the Big
Ten Tournament, and hopefully
into the NCAA Tournament, to
play the schedule we’ve had.”
A large part of the team’s
early-season success stems from
Katelynn Flaherty. The junior
guard was named to the Naismith
Trophy Watch List on Nov. 30 and
is averaging 19.1 points per game on
a 53.6 percent shooting, including
44.0 percent from deep.
Adding
to
her
impressive
offensive statistics, Flaherty is
cushioning her stat line with well-
rounded performances, posting
4.1 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 27.7
minutes per game. She has already
been named to the Big Ten Player
of the Week Honor Roll twice this
season.
Flaherty
is
one
of
two
Wolverines to score in double
figures in each game. She is joined
by
sophomore
center
Hallie
Thome, who also leads Michigan
in minutes played (28.4) and total
blocks (2.1 per game).
The Yellow Jackets are 6-3 in
the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, while
Michigan is 7-2 all-time in the
series. Barnes Arico, herself, boasts
a 3-1 record. Georgia Tech coach
MaChelle Joseph, meanwhile, is
the all-time winningest coach in
program history and holds a 60.9
win percentage.
The Wolverines will have to look
out for guard Francesca Pan, who
averaged 20 points per game in the
Junkanoo Jam.
The Big Ten/ACC Challenge
pits Michigan against a team that
isn’t scared of fouling and playing
physical, according to Barnes
Arico. However, the coach doesn’t
think the physicality is unheard
of in the changing landscape of
the Big Ten, between adding new
teams and new coaches within the
past six years to the conference.
Notably, though, Michigan’s
bench has been outscoring its
opponents’ bench in every game
this year. Freshman guard Kysre
Gondrezick, who was named
Big Ten Freshman of the Week
on Nov. 14, leads the charge, but
sophomore guards Nicole Munger
and Boogie Brozoski round out the
effort.
“(Georgia Tech) will try to
pressure us and give us a different
look than we’ve faced so far,”
Barnes Arico said. “Full court,
really physical. They go deep
into their bench, and try to rotate
people in and try to pressure you.
“It will be a tough contest for
us.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Writer
Wolverines blow lead, fall to Virginia Tech
One week ago, Zak Irvin
was putting on one of the most
miserable performances he’s ever
had in a Michigan uniform.
The senior guard fouled out
after
shooting
2-for-13
from
the field and failed to show up
mentally,
committing
eight
turnovers in the Wolverines’ 61-46
loss to South Carolina.
Fast-forward seven days to
Michigan’s
matchup
against
Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten
Challenge, and No. 21 in maize
looked like a different player at the
start. Irvin drained his first two
shots, scoring 15 points in the first
half.
But the Wolverines have only
gone as far as Irvin has been able to
take them, and in the second half
the irrational shots and turnovers
that plagued Irvin against the
Gamecocks crept back into his
game.
With Michigan (5-2) down by
one with five seconds left, a miss
on an ill-advised fade-back jumper
would end up being the costliest of
all the shots the senior has taken in
both games.
After a pair of Hokie free
throws, a 3-point attempt at
the buzzer from redshirt junior
Duncan Robinson couldn’t lift
Michigan out of the hole. Virginia
Tech (6-1) completed its come-
from-behind
effort
to
down
Michigan, 73-70.
“We were trying to isolate him,
and they took him away a little bit,”
said Michigan coach John Beilein
on Irvin’s missed jumper. “We
know what to do when they take
him away and we didn’t do it. It’s
that simple.”
Added Irvin: “It’s part of my
game. I showed it through the
game, I was able to make that shot
two or three times. I felt confident.
It was there all night.”
The Wolverines once held a
15-point first-half advantage and
a nine-point halftime lead. But the
Michigan defense couldn’t stop
the Hokies in the second half, as
Virginia Tech was able to score on
59 percent of its possessions in the
period, while shooting 52 percent
from the field and a perfect 12-for-
12 from the free throw line.
When Virginia Tech came
within a point of grabbing the
lead halfway through the second
half, Michigan went on a 15-6 run
powered by Irvin and Robinson
that re-opened a 10-point lead.
That would be the largest the
Wolverines would extend their
advantage in the period.
The Hokies ultimately closed
the game on a 15-5 run over the
final five minutes, with a smaller
lineup led by Justin Bibbs, Zach
LeDay and Seth Allen scoring
the buckets in crunch time. It
only helped Virginia Tech when
redshirt sophomore forward DJ
Wilson fouled out with three
minutes remaining, allowing the
Hokies to stretch the floor with a
smaller lineup.
“They’re a veteran team,” Irvin
said. “They made a run. You know,
basketball’s a game of runs. We
weren’t shooting the ball as well
as we were in the beginning of
the game. Basically, on defense,
they were doing anything they
wanted.”
With 1:46 remaining, Virginia
Tech took its first lead of the
contest off of Allen’s jumper. The
guard put the Hokies up four on
the following possession with
a three from the top of the key.
Despite Robinson sinking a bucket
on the following possession that
brought Michigan within one,
Allen’s five-point spurt would be
enough for the Hokies to pull out
the road win.
“Thank goodness in my time
coaching I haven’t seen too many
games like there, where we
lead the whole game and can’t
make enough stops or finishes
offensively to win the game,”
Beilein said. “We just didn’t do
enough — we’re back again, 52
percent from the field, just doing
some strange things on defense. It
really cost us.”
Irvin
ultimately
led
the
Wolverines in scoring with 23
points on 10-for-20 shooting. It
was Irvin’s largest tally of the
season thus far, but his eight-point
second half saw him miss all four
three-pointers
he
attempted,
as well as the jumper with five
seconds left that would have put
Michigan back in the lead.
Robinson and junior guard
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman
followed Irvin in scoring with
15 and 13 points respectively,
combining
to
shoot
10-for-21
from the field. Robinson was the
Wolverines’ lone scorer off the
bench, as just six Michigan players
finished with points in the scoring
column.
Sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner was the only consistently
effective scorer for the Wolverines
in the second half, scoring seven of
his 11 points in the period.
Michigan will look forward
to a matchup with Kennesaw
State on Saturday to recover from
Wednesday’s
devastating
blow
before a difficult week when it
faces Texas and travels to No. 9
UCLA. With the non-conference
season winding down, there’s
no telling what sort of harm this
loss could do to the Wolverines’
tournament résumé come March.
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein watched his team lose after leading by as many as 15 on Wednesday.
BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan fails to take
advantage of post play
After leading for the entire
game,
the
Michigan
men’s
basketball team was down four
with under a minute to play.
Senior forward Zak Irvin got
the ball on the left wing, and the
stage was set for your standard
college basketball heroics.
But no one in Crisler Center
ever got to witness that show.
Irvin dribbled the ball back and
forth on the wing until the shot
clock wound down, pulled up for
a fadeaway and clanked one off
the rim. A make would not have
guaranteed victory, but it would
have forced the pressure back
on to Virginia Tech. Instead,
Michigan managed just one more
shot — a missed 3-pointer at the
buzzer by redshirt junior forward
Duncan Robinson.
“I really just wanted to drive
to the basket, try to use the free
throw line or look for Duncan
in the corner,” Irvin said. “But I
wasn’t able to get there, so at that
point I was just really trying to
make something.”
Irvin’s
attempted
go-ahead
basket was just a microcosm of
an issue that has been plaguing
the Wolverines through their last
three games: They seem to be
flirting with the idea that they will
live or die by the jumper.
And while the matchup against
Virginia Tech featured a greater
emphasis on playing through
the post, Michigan didn’t use
that
strategy
nearly
enough,
eventually leading to a 73-70 loss
against the Hokies.
In the first half, with the way
the Wolverines were shooting,
playing on the perimeter didn’t
appear to be an issue. They shot
55 percent from the floor and
connected on seven of their 14
shots from deep. If that weren’t
enough, Irvin, a senior wing,
looked poised for one of his typical
scoring nights, posting 15 points
in 17 minutes.
Down the stretch, though,
as the Hokies went on a 23-10
run in the final eight minutes,
shooting out of a slump proved to
be a problem — much like it was
against South Carolina.
During Virginia Tech’s run,
Michigan shot 3-for-12 from
the floor, and 10 of those shots
came from behind the arc or
mid-range. Of the three baskets
the Wolverines did make while
their lead dwindled away, two
were layups that developed from
cycling the ball down low.
Whether Michigan realized
it or not, it had the answer to its
problem in sophomore forward
Moritz Wagner’s play to open the
second half. The Hokies strung
together a 12-6 run in the opening
4:07 of the frame and without
Wagner, it could have been uglier.
Wagner
scored
Michigan’s
only three baskets until the 13:47
mark, and he did so however he
pleased. He took a defender off
the dribble from the perimeter,
flashed polished moves working
in the post and knocked down a
jumper to go with it.
“It was a conscious effort, I
would say,” Robinson said. “Mo’s
a tough player to guard inside.
I think we’ve got to utilize him
more moving forward. And I
think he definitely showed his
capabilities tonight — or a glimpse
of it — and I’m sure you’ll see it a
lot more moving forward.”
But as Virginia Tech’s second
run late in the half grew larger and
larger, the Wolverines resorted to
their old ways. The Hokies went
with a small lineup to close the
gap and Michigan could have
made them pay for it.
Instead, the jump shots kept
clanging off the rim on one end,
the basket got a little bigger on the
other, and before they knew it, the
Wolverines had squandered what
was once a 15-point lead.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Editor
6A — Thursday, December 1, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com