4B — January 9, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan’s depth an issue against Terps
Forward Zak Irvin and guard
Derrick Walton Jr. both entered
Saturday’s
game
against
Maryland
ranked in the top-five of minutes
played per game in the Big Ten.
While the pair of seniors have
insisted that they can handle
the marathon of spending so
much time on the court, their
seemingly bottomless gas tanks
finally hit empty.
It wasn’t just Walton and
Irvin
who
were
challenged
by the workload down the
stretch versus the Terrapins,
junior
guard
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur Rahkman and redshirt
sophomore forward DJ Wilson
each sat just three minutes of
Saturday’s contest.
After
facing
a
nine-point
deficit at the half, Michigan had
the muscle to reduce Maryland’s
lead to within a single possession
multiple times. But the Terrapins
took advantage of their depth
and week-long break, finding
the energy to overcome the
Wolverines’ comeback attempts
time-and-time again to down
Michigan at Crisler Center, 77-70.
“I was concerned about the
third game in (seven) days,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
“We came back 10 days ago.
We haven’t really had a day off,
and I was concerned about that
coming in.”
Added Maryland coach Mark
Turgeon: “I thought we had the
deeper team today. Our guys
were great in the first half and
gave us great depth, and we
had some fresh legs down the
stretch.”
The Wolverines used just three
substitues the entire game, and
the trio combined for 35 minutes
— the lowest amount of bench
minutes thus far in Michigan’s
three conference games.
Redshirt junior guard Duncan
Robinson barely played in the
second half, primarily because
he wasn’t giving the Wolverines
the production they needed on
the defensive end to close the
deficit.
Robinson
logged
just
11
minutes, and in that time, had
just three points from three
shots with a plus/minus of
minus four. He wasn’t adding
enough offense
or
defending
the
perimeter
well
enough
to
be
relied
upon down the
stretch. Beilein’s
only
option
to
make
the
defensive stops
the Wolverines
needed was to
stick with his
starting five and
manage his timeouts well.
“I thought that was our best
defensive team on the floor,”
Beilein said. “If you noticed, I
called a timeout so we can use
the (media) timeouts. When
you have eight minutes to go,
you’re going to have two media
(timeouts), and I called a timeout
and
(Maryland)
called
one.
There’s no reason to make a
change.”
One option Beilein did have
that could deliver defensively off
the bench was freshman guard
Xavier Simpson. The freshman
has seen a rise in his minutes
the past couple outings, and he
showed that he had the skill and
confidence to disturb Maryland’s
guards.
“(Simpson
has)
made
the
progress
in
practice,”
Beilein
said
“It’s
good
to
have
(Walton)
be a little more
rested. We got to
find another way
to have (Walton)
play some off-
guard at times,
or maybe have
those guys out there together.”
Simpson’s final contribution
was nearly picking the pocket of
Maryland guard Melo Trimble
from behind, but the ball went
out-of-bounds
before
any
Michigan defenders could come
up with it. Simpson was replaced
by Walton following the play,
and
Walton
subsequently
left Trimble open to drain a
3-pointer seconds after play
resumed.
Allowing Simpson to ride out
the momentum he had found
for just a few more plays could
have stopped the Terrapins from
scoring those critical points in
such a close contest. It could have
also given Walton and Abdur-
Rahkman a few more seconds of
rest and a chance to regain some
mental sharpness to lead the
Wolverines in crunch time.
As the Big Ten schedule rolls
on, Beilein will need to challenge
his bench players, especially
Simpson and Robinson, to make
up for their shortcomings and
enter games ready to contribute.
While
Michigan’s
starters
have shown they can carry the
workload, they can still fall
victim to fatigue.
The Wolverines won’t be able
to go nine-deep in their rotation
like the Terrapins did Saturday.
What will matter most is the
quality, rather than the quantity,
of minutes they can receive from
their bench.
If the quality is high enough,
Michigan may have the ability to
overcome, or even prevent, the
setbacks it has experienced early
in the conference season.
BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer
MARYLAND
MICHIGAN
77
70
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Freshman guard Xavier Simpson has been working to become a viable option off the bench this season.
I was concerned
about the third
game in (seven)
days
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
Michigan’s perfect conference start
ruined by road loss to the Buckeyes
COLUMBUS
-
Entering
Saturday’s
matchup,
the
Michigan women’s basketball
team and No. 11 Ohio State were
two of just three undefeated
teams that
remained
in
the
Big
Ten.
After
the
matchup,
though,
only one team maintained their
untainted
conference
record,
as the Buckeyes defeated the
Wolverines, 96-87.
In
its
quest
to
remain
undefeated, Michigan faced Ohio
State in what will be the only
meeting between the two teams
this year. It was the Wolverines’
second consecutive Big Ten road
game, and thus far, they haven’t
fared well away from home.
With the loss to the Buckeyes,
Michigan is now 5-4 away from
Crisler Center.
“I thought it was a great
basketball game, a great rivalry
game,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “We started
out terrific, but I think (Thome)
getting into foul
trouble
early
really
turned
the
tides
and
went
in
Ohio
State’s
favor.
But
they
did
an
outstanding
job
rebounding
the
basketball
and that was an
area we really
struggle with.”
The Wolverines (2-1 Big Ten,
13-4 overall) quickly raced to a
10-3 lead against the Buckeyes
(4-0, 14-4) within the first
four minutes of play, as junior
guard Katelynn Flaherty and
sophomore center Hallie Thome
notched six and four points,
respectively.
By the end of the first
quarter, Flaherty had already
soared to double-digit scoring,
surpassing—by a large margin—
her total of eight points in the
Wolverines’
most recent win
over Wisconsin.
By the end of the
game,
Flaherty
had
a
season-
high 38 points
— good for the
second
most
points scored in
program history.
“Katelynn has
been
working
extremely hard,” Barnes Arico
said. “She might be the hardest
working kid I’ve ever been
around in my entire coaching
career. So we knew as a staff and
a team she was going to break out
of (her recent scoring struggles)
and tonight, she did.”
Ohio
State
guard
Kelsey
Mitchell changed the game with
three minutes left to play in the
second, pushing the Buckeyes
ahead for the first time all game,
33-32. It was a close lead Ohio
State wouldn’t give up.
While freshman guard Kysre
Gondrezick led a Wolverine
comeback that tied the game at
40 in the second, it was the last
time Michigan wouldn’t trail for
the rest of the contest.
“Kysre has been outstanding,
she’s great for us,” Barnes Arico
said. “I think tonight, when you
come into an atmosphere of a
top team in the country, on their
home court, that was a little eye-
opening for her. She’s going to
have a wonderful career for us.”
By the end of the half, the
Wolverines were trailing 45-43,
despite
tallying
double-digit
triples — marking the sixth time
this season that the team has
done so. Flaherty, herself, went
8-for-15 from behind the arc to
claim a program record for most
3-pointers in a single game.
“She’s always moving,” said
Ohio
State
forward
Shayla
Cooper. “She gets one step
advantage on you, it’s hand
down, man down. She’s going to
lock down the shot.”
The Wolverines closed the
deficit to eight to begin the fourth
quarter, but even that proved to
be too large for Michigan to come
back.
It
was
ultimately
the
Buckeyes’ defense that hindered
Michigan. The Wolverines have
consistently
shown
scoring
depth off their bench, Ohio State
limited them to 11 points in the
final five minutes.
Despite a double-double from
junior forward Jillian Dunston,
a team-high 10 assists from
senior guard Siera Thompson
and Flaherty’s 38-point outburst,
Michigan didn’t have enough
to steal a win in Columbus —
pushing the Buckeyes’ all-time
series advantage to 53-11.
SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Editor
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty recovered from a shooting slump in a matchup with Ohio State on Saturday.
MICHIGAN
OHIO STATE
87
96
Despite Flaherty’s 38 points, the Wolverines suffer defeat in Columbus
I thought it was a
great basketball
game, a great
rivalry game
Mitchell too much for ‘M’
COLUMBUS
—
The
Michigan women’s basketball
team and No. 11 Ohio State
rely heavily on their two star
guards,
juniors
Katelynn
Flaherty and Kelsey Mitchell,
respectively. Both players wear
the number three, are in the
conversation for All-American
honors, and are the keys to
success for their teams this
season.
The pair of standouts lived
up to their lofty billing Saturday
in the battle of the final two
undefeated
teams
in
the
conference. While both led their
respective teams in scoring,
Flaherty outscored Mitchell,
38-26. However, the Buckeyes
would ultimately outscore the
Wolverines,
96-87.
“I
think
everyone
around
the
country
who
caught
that
game got to see
a great matchup
of two of the
best guards in
the
country,”
said
Michigan
coach
Kim
Barnes
Arico.
“(Flaherty) was kind of in a
struggle as of late, but that’s
not typical of her.”
Added Ohio State coach
Kevin McGuff: “She’s a really
good player. She can score in a
variety of ways, she has a really
quick shot and she is incredibly
accurate.”
Flaherty
came
out
hot
against the Buckeyes, scoring
10 points in the first quarter
— two more than she tallied
in the entire contest against
Wisconsin
on
Jan.
1.
But
Mitchell answered Flaherty
with eight points of her own,
which kept Ohio State within
one at the end of the quarter.
Mitchell took the lead in
the second quarter, continuing
her
ferocious
attack
with
eight more points, including
a 3-pointer that gave the
Buckeyes a 33-32 advantage
with 3:30 to go until halftime.
But
Flaherty
countered
Mitchell
with
eight
more
points as well, which featured
a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to
cut Michigan’s deficit to 45-43
at halftime.
On the other side of the
break, Mitchell responded to
Flaherty’s three with a trey of
her own. She went on to score
five points in the quarter to
push Ohio State’s lead to 69-59
entering the fourth.
“(Mitchell) is a great player,”
Flaherty said. “She can score at
will. A lot of our game plan was
to stop her. Even though she
still scored a decent amount, I
thought we did a pretty good
job.”
The Wolverines might have
been run completely out of the
gym during that
frame if not for
Flaherty’s
11
points, nine of
which
came
from beyond the
arc.
Flaherty
added 10 more
points in
the
fourth quarter,
but
it
wasn’t
nearly
enough
to
overcome
Michigan’s
deficit.
“I just stayed in the gym and
kept shooting,” Flaherty said.
“I built my confidence back up,
and my teammates found me
in great positions today. That’s
what really got me going.”
Even though their individual
performances stood out the
most, Flaherty and Mitchell
were certainly not the only
contributors on their respective
teams. Junior guard Jillian
Dunston notched her second
double-double of the season,
and the Buckeyes had five
players score at least 10 points,
including forward Stephanie
Mavunga, who nearly netted a
double-double of her own with
12 points and nine rebounds.
But while the stars of both
teams lived up to their hype in
Saturday’s contest, only one of
the pair came out on top.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
She can score at
will. A lot of our
game plan was
to stop her
Wolverines fall short
to open their season
For the past 13 years, Utah has
had a perfect record against the
Michigan women’s gymnastics
team. That trend continued on
Saturday, as the Wolverines
lost their first season opener
since 2009. However, Michigan
coach Bev Plocki described the
showdown as a perfect start for
the team.
“Had
we
had
an
uncharacteristically great meet,
I think that people would have
been pretty satisfied with what
they are doing,” Plocki said. “I
think it would have negatively
affected us down the road.”
With plenty
to improve upon
in the upcoming
season,
the
seventh-ranked
Wolverines fell
to
the
sixth-
ranked
Utes,
196.625-195.525,
in
Salt
Lake
City.
Three
freshman
—
Maddy
Osman,
Polina
Shchennikova
and
Lexi
Funk — got a taste of national
championship-caliber
competition
facing
Utah
in
their collegiate debuts. The
three competed in front of over
14,000 people, with Osman in
the lineup for vault and floor,
Shchennikova in bars and Funk
on the beam.
Despite the loss, the meet
had no shortage of highlights
for Michigan. Senior captain
Talia Chiarelli had a stellar
performance on the vault, floor
and beam with scores of 9.850,
9.800 and 9.850, respectively.
Her scores earned her a nod as
performer of the meet for the
Wolverines.
Although junior Paige Zaziski
had some hiccups early on in the
meet, she bounced back, with
an impressive routine on the
beam. The Wolverines followed
her lead, putting together a solid
overall rotation.
The 2016 Big Ten Champion
on bars, junior Brianna Brown
kicked off the season with
a strong start, finishing as
Michigan’s top scorer in the
event with a 9.850. She followed
it up with a strong performance
on beam, scoring a 9.825.
Sophomore Emma McLean
and senior Nicole Artz also had
standout showings in the meet.
McLean earned a
career-high vault
score with a 9.850
and
performed
an exciting floor
routine
that
secured
her
a
9.825.
Six-time
All-American
Artz
earned
a
team-high score
of 9.875 for her
floor routine.
Plocki, who is in her 28th
season at the helm, attributed
Michigan’s opening loss to the
young nature of her team, which
is still learning the ropes of the
college stage.
“Until the freshmen gain more
confidence
and
competitive
experience, there’s bound to be
a few mistakes here and there,”
Plocki said.
Though Utah continued its
streak, the Wolverines can take
away the competitive experience
of the meet heading into this
week’s practices, as they prepare
for their upcoming quad meet
against Ohio State, Washington
and Kent State next weekend.
ANNA MARCUS
For The Daily
There’s bound
to be a few
mistakes here
and there
Michigan loses to Utes for 14th
straight time in as many years