4B — December 5, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan throttles Kennesaw State
John Beilein said the defense
in the last four minutes of each
half in the Michigan men’s
basketball
team’s
73-70
overtime
loss against Virginia Tech on
Wednesday night was “some of
the worst defense (he’d) ever
seen.”
For
the
Michigan
head
coach and his team, Saturday
afternoon’s
start
against
Kennesaw State (3-6) wasn’t
much better.
The Owls took advantage of
a couple missed assignments
by Michigan and coupled them
with some big shots to start
the game strong. At one point,
Kennesaw State found itself up
by two with 11:15 remaining in
the first half. But the Wolverines
(6-2) righted the ship after that,
beating the Owls, 82-55.
“We bounced back today,”
Beilein said. “We answered
(Kennesaw
State’s)
first
10
minutes
when
they
played
straight up.”
Unlike the last four minutes
of Wednesday’s game, though,
Michigan’s offense played much
better, shooting 57.1 percent in
the first half.
After
a
big
night
for
sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner against Virginia Tech
that saw him score 11 points on
5-of-6 shooting, he followed it
up with another strong offensive
performance. Wagner put up 14
points in the first half to lead
Michigan and ended the game
with a career-high 20 on 7-of-8
shooting, which included 3-of-4
from beyond the arc.
But Wagner was quick to point
out the Wolverines’ defensive
prowess.
“I’m very happy about the
(scoring) obviously,” Wagner said.
“But I’m more happy about how
we got out there defensively.”
“They usually score a good
amount of points, in the 80s, and
we held them down to 55.”
Kennesaw State held serve
for most of the first half, much
to the credit of
guard Kendrick
Ray, who led all
scorers in the
opening period
with 15 points.
Ray
finished
with 24 points.
“(Ray
is)
a
really
talented
player,”
Beilein
said. “A fifth-year
guy, averaging 22
points per game, and he’s one of
the better guards we’ll see this
year in terms of scoring guards.”
The Wolverines started to
pull away with just under five
minutes remaining in the first
half. Wagner rattled home a
3-pointer with 4:29 to go in the
half, initiating a 17-2 run from
which the Owls couldn’t ever
fully recovered. Michigan led,
47-29, at halftime.
The Wolverines carried their
solid
defense
into the second
half, when they
held
Kennesaw
State
to
no
points for almost
five
minutes.
Michigan
limited the Owls
to just 26 points
total
in
the
second frame.
After redshirt
sophomore forward DJ Wilson
registered just two points and
one rebound Wednesday against
Virginia Tech before fouling
out, he responded with 15 points
and 11 rebounds for his second
career double-double.
“I like that (Wilson) has some
athleticism and a desire to get in
there and mix it up,” Beilein said.
“For him to get a double-double,
it’s good that he’s mixing it up.
That was not happening a couple
years ago. He was drifting out by
the (3-point line).”
And after putting up 23 points
on Wednesday, senior forward
Zak Irvin replicated his offensive
performance, scoring 19 points,
with many of his points coming
on drives to the basket.
Saturday marked the second
time that the Wolverines have
emphatically responded to a
crushing loss in their young
season. And with Texas and
No. 11 UCLA, which upset No. 1
Kentucky on Saturday, looming
in the upcoming week, the
question for Michigan will be if
it can replicate its performance
in the next couple games.
Late first-half run lifts Wolverines to bounce-back victory at Crisler Center
EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner poured in a career-high 20 points Saturday against Kennesaw State.
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
“We answered
(Kennesaw
State’s) first
10 minutes.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Wagner helps put
‘M’ back on track
Last Saturday, coming off
its first loss to South Carolina,
the Michigan men’s basketball
team needed someone to lead
the way in order to put up a
strong response in its next
game against Mount St. Mary’s.
The Wolverines found their
man in sophomore forward
Moritz Wagner, who rose to
the occasion with a 13-point
performance — the second-
highest total of the night — in a
64-47 win.
Providing
the
aggressive
inside presence Michigan sorely
missed against the Gamecocks,
Wagner went 5-for-8 from the
floor with six rebounds and
two blocks, in addition to going
3-for-5 from downtown.
On Saturday, coming off
a
stunning
73-70
loss
to
Virginia Tech, the Wolverines
needed another boost against
Kennesaw State. This time, the
same story came to fruition, and
then some.
Wagner
topped
himself
against the Owls, setting a new
career high with 20 points, as
Michigan
easily
dispatched
Kennesaw State, 82-55.
“I just try to stay focused
regardless of the opponent,
regardless of the situation, and
especially after a loss,” Wagner
said. “It’s very important for me
that the team comes out strong
and shows strength because a
loss can happen, but two losses
hurt way more. So I’m happy we
could make these adjustments.”
Scoring 14 of those points in
the first half alone to exceed his
tally from a week ago, he led
the Wolverines in the category.
Often finding himself open on
the perimeter, Wagner didn’t
hesitate to pull the trigger.
Almost
half
of
his
points
came from distance, where he
finished 3-for-4, including a trey
to open the game and set the
tone for the afternoon. But he
was quick to deflect the credit
to his teammates for creating
space for him to operate.
“They’re all very aggressive
(and) they’re all very talented,”
Wagner said. “It doesn’t give
the defense a lot of opportunity
to focus on a certain guy. … The
spacing and the way we move,
it’s just really hard to guard.”
With
a
more
aggressive
approach going to the basket
once again, Wagner took charge
of the middle. He went after
Kennesaw State, slicing his
way through the defense and
imposing his will in the post.
Three of his points also came
from the charity stripe.
While
the
offense
isn’t
designed
to
run
through
him, Wagner has a knack for
making his own opportunities.
Michigan coach John Beilein
has a plethora of offensive
weapons to choose from, and
Wagner may not have been
considered one of the top
options before the season began,
but he is starting to change that
narrative.
“He’s got a great ability to
both shoot from the outside
(and) drive a little bit, and
we’re just trying to find these
windows that we could use him
offensively,” Beilein said. “He’s
just maturing as a player.”
Though he is still figuring out
his role on the team, his play at the
‘5,’ which Beilein called “one of
the most difficult, if not the most
difficult, positions on the court,”
has become crucially important to
the Wolverines of late.
Playing a starring role in both
games to help Michigan bounce
back from tough losses, Wagner
has come up big when the
Wolverines needed him the most.
BETELHEM ASHAME
Daily Sports Editor
KENN. STATE
MICHIGAN
55
82
THE MICHIGAN
DAILY TOP-10 POLL
2. OHIO STATE: Rural Meyer.
LOL, get it?
1. ALABAMA: Bama in the
playoffs is as inevitable as
death itself. You know it’s
coming, and it’s not fun for
anyone involved.
9. USC: The Trojans had to
watch two teams they beat
play for the conference title
on Saturday. Can you even
imagine?
3. CLEMSON: They’re in the
playoff, but rumor has it the
Tigers are about to trade
J.D. Martinez and Justin
Verlander.
6. PENN STATE: Strange that
the best team in the Big Ten is
this low in the rankings.
5. MICHIGAN: At least the
Lions will make the playoffs...
7. OKLAHOMA: Baker
Mayfield is coming back next
year, because missing one CFP
just wasn’t enough.
4. WASHINGTON: Browning…
in the Peach Bowl… playing a
bruising defense… yeah we’ve
got nothing.
8. WISCONSIN: The Badgers
are without a paddle after their
last loss. Luckily, they face
Western Michigan next.
10. WESTERN MICHIGAN:
Kalamazoo is looking like a
much more attractive landing
spot for Brian Kelly after his
inevitable firing.
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with
first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place
votes receiving nine and so on.
to a tie at 19. With Oregon
leading 23-22, Kieffer-Wright
put away two kills to put the
Wolverines a point away, and
junior outside hitter Carly
Skjodt then punctuated the set
with a block to finish off the
tense, back-and-forth affair.
“We spent a lot of the
season one or two points
behind,” said freshman setter
MacKenzi Welsh. “So we’ve
gotten really good from those
small deficits. That block was
a huge turning point for us,
and we’ve practiced that all
season.”
However,
the
Ducks
weren’t finished, starting the
fourth set by roaring to a 6-2
lead. But as always, Michigan
was
undeterred,
rattling
off the next five points and
eventually going on top by
as much as five, picking up
intensity with every rally.
At 21-17, the Wolverines
began their final push. Skjodt
stepped back to serve and
drilled two consecutive aces
to bring the Wolverines a point
away, and Davis closed out
the hard-fought match with a
kill to clinch Michigan’s first
appearance in the Round of 16
since 2012.
With
the
win,
the
Wolverines
will
travel
to
Austin, Texas, to take on
Creighton on Dec. 9, with
the winner of that matchup
playing either No. 5 Texas or
BYU for a place in the Final
Four.
“I’m really proud of how
our players looked after (the
first set),” Rosen said. “We
served really aggressively, we
out-assisted them, we started
defending them and we made
some really good adjustments
with blocking because they
were picking us apart a little
bit. I’m just really proud of
how we fought through.”
“Fought through” is an
apt description of Michigan’s
performance on Friday night.
It was a slugfest between two
talented teams, and at no point
was it easy. But the Wolverines
earned the right to continue
their season.
VOLLEYBALL
From Page 1B
Home crowd sparks victory
With the second set tied
at one, junior middle blocker
Claire Kieffer-Wright hurried
from the middle of the court
to the right side, swung herself
into the air and came down
mercilessly on the volleyball,
burying it past the Oregon
players to bring a 2000-strong
Crisler Center crowd to life.
And Kieffer-Wright didn’t
stop there: She assisted on a
block and followed with two
consecutive kills en route to a
9-1 run. The shift led to three
consecutive set victories and
an eventual 3-1 win for the
Michigan volleyball team in
the second round of the NCAA
Tournament, advancing to the
Sweet Sixteen.
Throughout
a
victorious
opening stanza for the Ducks,
Oregon’s
bench
and
small
contingent of fans were able
to match the yells and cheers
of the Wolverines and the
home crowd Friday night. “Go
Blue” chants were silenced
by the performance of the
Ducks’ attackers and a sloppy
set from Michigan, which had
a
lackluster
19.4
attacking
percentage on 12 kills in its first
set defeat of the championship.
“On the first set, they really
attacked us from the right side,”
Kieffer-Wright said. “But once
we made our adjustments, I
think (the second) was a good
turning point for us.”
Oregon, however, commanded
the start of the fourth set by
jumping out to a 5-1 advantage.
Enter Kieffer-Wright, who once
again came in off the bench to
block two shots and kill two
more hits, giving the Wolverines
an 8-6 lead and forcing a Ducks’
timeout and corresponding roars
from the crowd.
“Obviously,
it’s
a
big
advantage playing at home,”
said senior middle blocker
Abby Cole. “(The crowd) was
just a reminder that we’re at
home, and this is our house
— that’s kind of a pride thing.
We’re not going to be beaten in
our house.”
Shifting
the
match’s
momentum
at
the
most
vulnerable points for Michigan
— both after the team was down
a set and when Oregon looked
poised to force a tie-breaking
fifth frame — was just part of the
night for Kieffer-Wright, who
set career highs with 20 kills
on a 72 attacking percentage.
But the junior doesn’t want to
limit, or dwell upon, the best
match of her Wolverine career,
statistically.
“I think it was a good one, but
there’s more to come,” Kieffer-
Wright said. “I don’t want to
hang my hat on this match,
but I’m happy that we got the
win. I think it’s just a credit to
my team. I couldn’t get 20 kills
without a great setter, a great
defense and all of their support.
“I’m really excited for what’s
to come.”
Michigan coach Mark Rosen
noted that the middle blocker’s
effort opened doors for other
players to contribute as well.
“Individually, Claire did an
unbelievable job of just finding
ways to get kills — she’s really
efficient,” Rosen said. “And
then that fed everybody else
because (Oregon) had to focus
too much on her, it just opened
everything else up.”
Freshman
middle
blocker
Cori Crocker and Cole added
seven and 11 kills, respectively,
while sophomore outside hitter
Carly Skjodt killed eight hits of
her own.
With the victory, Michigan
will travel to Austin, Texas, for
a match against Creighton in
the NCAA Regional Semifinals
on Friday. Much to the elation
of the Wolverines, the Blue
Jays upset No. 5 Kansas in the
second round, making the path
to a national championship
at least seemingly easier for
Michigan.
And while the home crowd
won’t be with the Wolverines
for
the
remainder
of
the
postseason, Kieffer-Wright will
— and that could just be enough
to spark Michigan to a deep run
in the NCAA Tournament.
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Claire Kieffer-Wright (left) and Michigan stifled Oregon at Crisler Center.
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Writer