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

