4C — January 4, 2017
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan falls short against Hawkeyes in overtime, 86-83

IOWA CITY — The Michigan 

men’s basketball team hadn’t 
won a game in Carver-Hawkeye 
Arena since 2011. Even then, the 
Wolverines needed five extra 
minutes to get the job done.

On the first day of 2017, 

Michigan (0-1 Big Ten, 10-4 
overall) found out overtime would 
not be in the formula to break 
that streak, as the Wolverines 
dropped their Big Ten opener to 
Iowa, 86-83.

Hawkeye guard Peter Jok, who 

entered Sunday’s contest leading 
the conference averaging 21.9 
points per game, hit a three with 
the game knotted at 81 and 1:18 to 
go that ultimately gave Iowa (1-1, 
9-6) the breathing room it needed 
to pull out the win.

The Wolverines had a couple 

of opportunities to catch up to 
the Hawkeyes to force another 
overtime period or even leave 
with the win. Down three, senior 
guard Derrick Walton Jr. stole an 
inbound pass and took it all the 
way to the rim to trim the deficit 
to one.

After a pair of Jok free throws 

brought Iowa’s lead back up 
to three with 19.7 seconds left, 
redshirt sophomore forward DJ 
Wilson missed a three with seven 
seconds to go. Wilson’s attempt 
was rebounded by senior guard 
Zak Irvin, who, after a couple 
passes, had the ball in his hands 
again. But he failed to get a shot 
off from behind the arc with 
Hawkeye defenders swarming 
him as the final seconds ticked 
away.

“It wasn’t really for me, it was 

more for (Walton) and (redshirt 
junior guard Duncan Robinson) 
rolling up,” Wilson said of his 
final shot. “I got the skip pass and 
I think I got a look and just shot 
it wrong.”

The Wolverines had a chance 

to prevent the game from going 
into overtime in the first place, 
when Michigan had the ball with 
the game tied at 74 and 15 seconds 
remaining. Walton let the clock 
wind down before driving toward 
the hoop and absorbing contact 
in the process. No foul was called 
and the ball went out of bounds, 
inevitably sending the game into 
overtime.

“I hated that,” said Michigan 

coach John Beilein. “We ran 
something that I (thought) would 
get (sophomore forward Moritz 
Wagner) open on a ball screen or 
to do something and we didn’t get 
rid of it quick enough.

“But that was my fault. We 

should have run something, we 

had just put it in the other day 
and I thought it would work. We 
should have run something we 
have run more.”

The 
Wolverines’ 
inability 

to put the game away against 
Iowa cost them an important 
conference road victory and a 
chance to find momentum early 
in the Big Ten season.

But there are some silver 

linings Michigan can leave Iowa 
City with.

Both Wilson and Wagner each 

had games to remember in their 
first career Big Ten starts.

Even in the opening minutes 

of Sunday’s matchup, it was clear 
Wilson was going to have a career 
day. With over four minutes 

left in the first half, the forward 
surpassed 
his 

previous career 
high of 16 points 
on his way to 
finishing 
with 

a double-double 
of 28 points and 
14 rebounds.

Wagner 

also 
had 
his 

own 
moments 

navigating the 
Hawkeyes’ 
defense in the 
post. He finished with 12 points 
on 6-for-10 shooting.

Walton and Irvin, on the other 

hand, had a difficult return from 
their holiday break. The pair shot 

1-for-11 in the opening half but 

found some rhythm 
in 
the 
final 
25 

minutes, finishing 
with a combined 
25 
points, 
nine 

rebounds and nine 
assists.

“Those guys are 

expected to do a lot 
of things,” Beilein 
said. 
“They’re 

guarding their two 
best players, then 
they have to turn 

around and score on offense. 
That’s the mindset a senior has 
got to have and I like the way they 
rebounded out of that.”

Robinson was also essential 

in Michigan’s effort down the 
stretch, scoring 15 points on 
6-for-12 shooting.

But even that wasn’t enough, 

as the Wolverines will once again 
leave Iowa City without a win, 
heartbroken they couldn’t finish 
in crunch time. Even when they 
had multiple opportunities to 
clinch a victory, Michigan fell 
short in the critical moments.

“The balls didn’t bounce our 

way sometimes, but that’s Big Ten 
play and we have to learn from 
it,” Beilein said. “Our guys are 
really disappointed, but we have 
17 more games in this league. 
Hopefully there are a lot of things 
we will learn and take forward to 
Penn State on Wednesday.”

BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Redshirt sophomore DJ Wilson scored a career-high 28 points and added 14 rebounds to notch a double-double in the Wolverines’ overtime loss.

Evans, freshmen disappointed 
to send seniors out with a loss

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — A 

half-hour after the Michigan 
football team’s season ended in 
a 33-32 loss, Chris Evans walked 
around the Wolverines’ locker 
room with an Orange Bowl 
program and a marker.

Looking like a young sports 

fan getting the chance to meet 
his heroes, the freshman running 
back went from locker to locker, 
asking for signatures on the 
program’s front cover.

Evans walked up to quarterback 

Shane Morris, a redshirt junior 
who is rumored to be playing 
elsewhere next year as a graduate 
transfer. He made his way to 
wide receiver Amara Darboh, 
a fifth-year senior who had just 
caught a 2-point conversion to 
give Michigan a three-point lead 
before Florida State ultimately 
snatched it away. And finally, 
Evans found the leader of his 
position group, senior running 
back De’Veon Smith, waiting for 
him in the middle of the room, 
happy to inscribe his name on the 
blue-and-white cover.

Those were just three of many 

players who were facing the end of 
their careers as Wolverines after 
the loss, and Evans wanted to 
make sure he remembered them 
all.

“I came into this game saying, 

‘I’m just gonna play for the seniors,’ 
so I feel like we let them down,” he 
said. “So I just wanted to get that. 
… (They were) really impactful 
on me. I came in to really nobody 
being there for me, to the seniors 
like De’Veon coming to me (all 
the time). So (if) I just keep riding 
with them, good things happen.”

Evans himself didn’t let anyone 

down with his play — his 49 yards 
on the ground and 6.1 yards per 
play both were team highs, and his 
30-yard touchdown in the fourth 
quarter nearly stood as the game-
winning score with under two 
minutes to play. (“I thought we 
had it in the bag,” he said.)

But the Seminoles answered 

with a go-ahead touchdown, 
and though another freshman — 
safety/linebacker Josh Metellus 
— contributed to Michigan by 
returning a blocked extra point 
for two points, the Wolverines 
couldn’t retake the lead.

Thinking 
about 
the 

heartbreaking ending for Smith 

and the rest of the seniors, Evans 
couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“It was all for the seniors,” he 

said. “All the hard work that we 
put in — especially for the young 
guys. The coaches were saying, 
‘Do it for the seniors, this game is 
for them.’”

It was especially personal for 

the running backs, who blossomed 
under senior leadership in 2016. 
Evans praised Smith’s openness, 
saying that he felt like he could 
go to him for anything, from “girl 
problems” to football questions.

Fellow freshman running back 

Kareem Walker — who redshirted 
and had to take some time away 
from football to catch up on his 
academics earlier this season — 
echoed the importance of having a 
role model to look up to during his 
tumultuous first year on campus.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s a very 

humbling experience. You’ve got 
guys like (Smith) who’ve really 
done a lot. … I could feel like 
I’m doing bad, and he’ll tell me, 
‘No, you’re not doing bad at all.’ 
Our relationship really got a lot 
stronger as the year went on, and 
things starting going well for me.”

Evans and Walker are part of 

what could be the first of many 
talented recruiting classes to 
come to Ann Arbor in the coming 
years, and the class has already 
shown plenty of promise. But 
when the Wolverines resume 
practice in the spring, Smith 
and the rest of this year’s senior 
leaders won’t be around to guide 
them anymore.

“I feel like next year I’ve gotta 

come back and be able to be a whole 
different player,” Evans said. “To 
fill the role of De’Veon, it’s gonna 
be hard. He’s so experienced in all 
the little things, and it’s just gonna 
be hard filling that hole.”

In the meantime, though, 

Evans will have his Orange 
Bowl program, a collection of 
all the names that helped carve 
the path for his class to follow. 
And with big shoes to fill and a 
season-ending loss hanging over 
the team’s heads, Evans says 
they already feel like it’s time to 
get back to work.

“We should 

have run 

something we 
have run more.”

JACOB GASE

Daily Sports Writer

Jake Butt suffers tragic injury in 
final game of his Michigan career 

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — 

Wednesday night, Jake Butt stood 
in front of a Brazilian steakhouse 
in Miami Beach and defended the 
decisions of two of his peers to sit 
out their bowl games for fear of 
injury. He was visibly ill and had 
given bland answers to most of 
the questions, but when the topic 
came up, he defended Christian 
McCaffrey 
and 
Leonard 

Fournette with gusto.

“Here we are, we’re living 

off rent checks, a guy sees an 
opportunity for a lifelong dream 
in the NFL, they make a business 
decision. I can’t judge anybody,” 
he said. “I don’t know what all 
went into that decision, and I’m 
not going to pretend to know. So 
I’m not going to judge or act on 
that. I support those guys, and 
best of luck to them.”

How cruel is fate? Some 50-odd 

hours later, Butt was writhing in 
pain on the 6-yard line at Hard 
Rock Stadium. The very risk 
McCaffrey and Fournette sought 
to avoid by sitting out their 
respective bowl games had struck 
Butt. Fighting for extra yards 
after he had already picked up a 
first down, Butt absorbed a hit on 
his right knee. His plant leg bent 
sideways.

Later, Michigan coach Jim 

Harbaugh revealed it was either 
an MCL or an ACL injury, though 
he did not know the severity. The 
injury could prove devastating.

“Irony, I guess,” said fifth-

year senior Ryan Glasgow. “Some 
twisted joke.”

Butt eventually walked off the 

field, giving the crowd a thumbs-
up on his way to the tunnel, but it 
was clear he wasn’t right. He did 
not return.

“Cruel fate is probably a good 

way to put it,” Glasgow said. “I 
mean, we are to the gods as flies 
are to wanton boys.”

There’s plenty of room to 

debate whether players ought to 
sit out bowl games, whether they 
owe it more to the school to play 
or to themselves to be safe, but 

this much is hardly up for debate: 
What happened to Jake Butt on 
Friday is tragic. It didn’t take 
Glasgow’s “King Lear” reference 
to see that.

Here was a player unwilling 

to judge his peers for their 
own decisions but still himself 
committed 
to 
playing. 
He 

somehow did right by both sides 
of the argument, and in the end, 
he paid the price.

We won’t know just how steep 

a price until later on, perhaps after 
an MRI, but Glasgow said, from 
what he’s heard, it “doesn’t look 
too good.” ESPN’s Darren Rovell 
tweeted Friday that Butt took out 
a $4 million disability insurance 
policy and a $2 million loss of value 
policy that he can start collecting 
if he falls beyond the second round 
of the NFL Draft.

That, at least, is a small 

consolation. But that was far from 
the minds of Butt’s teammates in 
the locker room.

“It’s horrible,” said senior 

cornerback 
Jourdan 
Lewis. 

“Especially when you have the 
desire to go out and play with 
your teammates, and when you 
have future endeavors that you’re 
thinking about that a lot of people 
wouldn’t understand if you didn’t 
play. It’s a horrible misfortune of 
events that it happened to Jake, 

and I’m just praying that he has a 
big bounce back, and I know the 
guy has great things in store for 
him.”

Added 
fifth-year 
senior 

defensive end Chris Wormley: 
“When you’ve put in as much 
work as he has, came back from 
an ACL injury a couple years ago, 
team captain, put his heart and 
soul into this team each and every 
day, sometimes you ask ‘Why?’ 
Sometimes you don’t understand 
why things happen to a good 
person like Jake.”

It seems beside the point 

that Michigan sorely missed 
its captain and Mackey Award 
winner in its 33-32 loss in the 
Orange Bowl, but it’s a safe 
bet that wasn’t far from Butt’s 
mind as the calendar turned to 
Saturday. “Never once crossed 
my mind to sit this game out,” he 
tweeted afterward.

Maybe, you could argue, it 

should have. Or maybe fate is fate, 
and, as Butt also tweeted, “God 
has a plan.” Maybe the guy just 
got sinisterly unlucky.

Wherever he was in the wee 

hours of Saturday morning, Butt 
was still taking the high road. 
But perhaps some part of him 
was more like his teammates — 
shocked, devastated and left to 
wonder, “Why?”

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Freshman running back Chris Evans scored a touchdown late in the game. 

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Senior tight end Jake Butt injured his ACL in the second quarter Saturday.

MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Writer

The Wolverines haven’t notched a win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2011 and dropped their conference opener Sunday.

