Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 5, 2017 — 5A
Wolverines capture first B1G victory against Penn State
Redshirt sophomore forward
DJ Wilson spent what seemed
like an eternity suspended in
mid-air, but
when
he
came down
to
earth,
he had an alley-oop pass from
senior guard Derrick Walton
Jr. in his hands. Slamming it
home with authority, Wilson
gave the Wolverines a 61-60 lead
with just under three and a half
minutes left on the clock and
sent the Crisler Center crowd
into a frenzy.
Wilson’s
dunk
put
an
exclamation mark at the end of
the Michigan men’s basketball
team’s 20-6 run, in which the
Wolverines roared all the way
back from a 13-point deficit to
take their first lead since the
16-minute mark of the first half.
“As a point guard, I remember
a lot of plays, and that one I
think was probably the most
ecstatic Crisler has gotten for
us,” Walton said. “It was such
a big play because of the way it
happened and the run we (were)
on.”
A
chaotic
end-of-game
sequence ensued, but with clutch
performances from Walton and
fellow senior captain Zak Irvin,
Michigan managed to hold on
to beat Penn State, 72-69, for its
first Big Ten win of the season.
In
the
remaining
three
minutes, the Wolverines (1-1
Big Ten, 10-4 overall) kept
trying to put the game away, but
the Nittany Lions wouldn’t go
down with a fight. Irvin hit two
tough jump shots and Walton
knocked down both of his free
throws, but Penn State (1-2,
9-7) answered back with a trey
to close the lead to two with 46
seconds left on the clock.
Walton responded with two
more free throws, but another
Nittany Lion three made it a
one-point game with just five
seconds left. Irvin finally sealed
the deal with two more free
throws to give Michigan its
winning score of 72-69, as Penn
State’s half-court buzzer-beater
attempt fell short.
“Our seniors, who were not
on their ‘A’ game, were certainly
nothing short of spectacular in
those last five minutes,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
“They made the foul shots, they
made the big plays, they threw
the (alley-oop), they did a lot of
great things.”
The Wolverines fell behind
early in the contest, struggling
to generate an offensive push
throughout the first half. They
shot just 42.3 percent from the
floor and went 1-for-9 from
3-point range. Outside of Wilson
and sophomore forward Moritz
Wagner, who scored eight and
seven points, respectively, in the
first half, Michigan looked lost
on the offensive side of the ball.
Michigan
continuously
settled for forced shot after
forced shot, leaving coach John
Beilein visibly frustrated on the
sideline. The lack of movement
around the perimeter and the
lack of penetration by the ball
handlers cost the Wolverines
multiple
opportunities
to
develop any sort of rhythm.
Those struggles were only
amplified at the other end of the
court, as Penn State had its way
in the paint. The Nittany Lions
— particularly forward Lamar
Stevens, who had 13 points in
the first half alone — sliced
through Michigan’s defense at
will. The Wolverines missed
several defensive assignments,
giving Penn State a number of
clear looks at the basket.
“They drove us where they
wanted to in the first half, and
we let them,” Beilein said. “We
were not physical defensively
at all in the first half. Our
starting five is not a physical
team
defensively.
We
must
become that. … That’s the only
way you’re gonna survive at this
level.”
The Nittany Lions took a
36-29 lead into the locker room
at the half, but it could have
been much worse for Michigan
had it not been for Penn State’s
seven turnovers — off of which
the Wolverines scored eight
points.
Michigan
made
multiple
attempts to put itself back into
the game in the second half,
with Wagner acting as the
main catalyst of the comeback
effort.
In
rapid
succession,
the sophomore made a tough
layup, forced an over-and-back
violation, and knocked down a
3-pointer to shrink Penn State’s
lead to just two with 17:42 left in
the frame.
But
the
Nittany
Lions
answered right back, as forward
Mike Watson imposed his will
in the paint while catalyzing the
offense on the perimeter. His
teammates reaped the benefits,
sinking three straight 3-pointers
to open up a 14-point lead.
When it looked as though
hope might be lost, with some
Michigan fans beginning to
head toward the exits, redshirt
junior guard Duncan Robinson
emerged
with
five
straight
points, including one of his
trademark 3-pointers, to reduce
the lead to eight.
“Duncan got a quick five, and
it was down to eight,” Irvin said.
“... It changed the whole game.
All the momentum swung our
way and at that point, we really
just took off with the game.”
That 20-6 run, from the 11:22
minute mark to the 3:28 minute
mark — which Robinson ignited
and Wilson emphatically ended
— made all the difference in
a game the Wolverines could
easily have lost. Instead, they
found a way to win, and to top
it all off, they gave Beilein the
200th victory of his Michigan
career.
“We just thanked him and
he thanked us,” Walton said.
“We’ve won a lot of games
together, and we’re just proud of
him, happy for him. He’s a great
coach, future Hall of Famer in
my opinion, and he deserves
every bit of it. He’s worked
really hard to get where he is.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Thome serves as sign
of Michigan’s identity
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball team is familiar with
the added intensity of Big Ten
basketball.
After a solid 9-3 start to non-
conference play in the 2015-16
season, the Wolverines faltered,
going just 8-10 against conference
foes and narrowly missing the
NCAA Tournament.
This
year,
Michigan
had
another hot start. It went 11-3 in
non-conference play this season
and hopes to improve upon its Big
Ten record from a year prior. It
already has two double-digit wins
against
conference
basement
dwellers Rutgers and Wisconsin.
But upcoming games against
top-25 teams like Maryland and
Ohio State may paint a clearer
picture of the kind of team that
the Wolverines really are. But
sophomore center Hallie Thome’s
promising play in her first two Big
Ten games this season revealed
two completely different styles of
play that Michigan can execute at
a high level.
Against the Scarlet Knights,
Thome was quiet but efficient.
The 6-foot-5 center posted 10
points and five rebounds, with
most of the offensive damage
coming
from
the
long-range
shooting of freshman guard Kysre
Gondrezick and junior guard
Katelynn Flaherty.
It wasn’t the most noteworthy
outing for Thome, but just four
days later, she flipped the script.
Thome had a career game
against the Badgers on New Year’s
Day, registering 37 points on
13-for-15 shooting and 14 boards
as Michigan cruised to an easy
win. Even though Wisconsin had
the height to match Thome — with
five players over 6-foot-2 — she
still managed to have her way
down low and tally over half of the
Wolverines’ 73 points.
Her dominance also improved
her season totals to 14.6 points
and 6.9 rebounds per game, and
earned Thome her first career Big
Ten Player of the Week honor.
“(Thome)
ran
the
floor
extremely well in transition,”
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. “She has such great hands
and such great touch around the
basket. She hadn’t had a game like
that yet this season (or even) in her
career. ... She was an incredible
player.”
This Michigan team is known
for its outside shooting. It is
seventh in the country in 3-point
field goal percentage (40.5) and
has three effective scoring guards
in its starting lineup. But Thome’s
timely performance revealed that
the Wolverines have the capability
to be not just a threat beyond the
arc, but all over the court.
According to Barnes Arico,
her team’s offensive efficiency
and Thome’s outburst can be
attributed to putting Gondrezick
in the lineup, who has been able
to spread the floor and prevent
double teams on often-targeted
players like Flaherty and Thome.
Thome’s offensive onslaught
also provided assurance that
Michigan’s depth could rival
more competitive teams. Even
with four players in foul trouble
— including Thome — going into
halftime against the Badgers, the
Wolverines still found a way to
make adjustments and score 73
points.
“The third quarter seems to
be our quarter this year,” Barnes
Arico said. “In both league games
so far, we’ve been able to adjust.
It’s taken a little bit of time, but in
the third quarter we’ve been able
to take advantage of opponents.”
Sixteen games into the season,
and with one of its best starts
in program history, it seems
that Michigan is finally starting
to form its identity. And to the
misfortune of opposing teams,
that identity is rooted in its
circumstantial
malleability
—
Michigan is able to modify its play
to match the conditions of a game.
But the question that remains to
be answered is if it can do it right
after tipoff, before its tougher
conference games get out of hand.
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan seniors step up in crunch time
At the under-12 minute media
timeout during the second half,
the Michigan men’s basketball
team found itself down 12 with
a Penn State one-and-one free
throw opportunity coming.
The
Wolverines
huddled
around senior wing Zak Irvin,
who repeated over and over
that Michigan wasn’t going to
fall short and drop to 0-2 in the
Big Ten.
“Our
emotional
leaders
said we’re not going to lose
this
game,”
said
redshirt
sophomore forward DJ Wilson.
“(Michigan)
coach
(John
Beilein) drew up some great
plays for Duncan (Robinson)
and he knocked them down. …
From there on out, we had all of
the momentum.”
Beilein then intervened in the
timeout before play resumed
and drew up a play to get his
3-point
specialist
Robinson
open.
The Wolverines (1-1 Big Ten,
10-4 overall) ran the play on
the ensuing possession, getting
Robinson open for an open
jump shot.
Michigan quickly got the
ball back the following play
and found Robinson open again
behind the arc. Robinson hit
the shot to close
the
deficit
to
seven
as
the
Wolverines
came
roaring
back
to
win,
72-69,
against
the
Nittany
Lions (1-2, 9-7)
at Crisler Center
on
Wednesday
night.
“The
team
really looks for the seniors,
especially Derrick (Walton Jr.)
and myself, especially during
those moments,” Irvin said. “I
knew something needed to be
said to be able to motivate our
guys and light the fire under us.
I’m happy it worked.”
Added
Beilein:
“I
didn’t
have to say anything. The
(players) were all charged up
and extremely upset with each
other. I didn’t have to say a
whole lot … and the rest took
care of itself. We needed that.”
As
Wilson
mentioned,
it
was the seniors who led the
huddle
during
the
under-12
timeout.
But
they
also
led
out on the court
with their play.
Besides
an
alley-oop
dunk
from
Wilson
that was assisted
by Walton, the
upperclassmen
trio of Wilson,
Walton and Robinson scored
the
majority
of
Michigan’s
points in the final 12 minutes.
The two seniors — Walton
and Irvin — especially, were key
to the Wolverines’ victory down
the stretch.
“Our seniors, who were not
on their ‘A’ game, were certainly
nothing short of spectacular in
those last five minutes, ” Beilein
said. “They made the foul shots,
they made plays, they threw the
(alley-oop). They did a lot of
great things and committed to
their defense.”
After putting up a combined
stat line of six points, two
boards and no assists in the first
half, the duo changed course,
finishing the second half with
a combined 22 points, eight
rebounds and six assists.
“We knew we had to make
adjustments (at half),” Irvin
said.
It was a similar performance
to Michigan’s last game against
Iowa on New Year’s Day, when
the Wolverines lost an 86-83
heartbreaker in overtime.
In Iowa City, the duo also
combined for 22 points in the
second half and overtime after
Walton mustered just three
points in the first half. Irvin
didn’t fare much better against
the Hawkeyes, as he was held
scoreless in the first frame.
But Wednesday, while the
trend was the same, the result
was different — the Wolverines
escaped with a victory on the
back of timely shooting from
their most experienced players.
It’s
an
encouraging
sign
from a team that seemingly
plays better when its emotional
leaders shoot well.
“It’s everything (when the
seniors
are
playing
well),”
Wilson said. “It’s big time.
They’re our leaders vocally, and
they lead by example. So when
we see them getting it going at
the end like they did at the end
of the second half, it changes
everything.”
The question now is if the
seniors can string together a
complete game — something
they proved they could do in
New York City — on a consistent
basis.
If
they
can,
Thursday
night showed Michigan has a
favorable Big Ten slate ahead
of it.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Senior wing Zak Irvin scored 14 points and tallied four rebounds in Michigan’s win against Penn State on Wednesday.
PENN STATE
MICHIGAN
69
72
Michigan comes back, hangs on late against Nittany Lions to give John Beilein his 200th career win with the program
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein earned his 200th win at the helm of the program, as the Wolverines defeated Penn State at Crisler Center on Wednesday night.
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
“They’re our
leaders vocally,
and they lead
by example.”
Irvin, Walton combine for 22 points, eight rebounds, six assists in second half
BETELHEM ASHAME
Managing Sports Editor