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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 9, 2017
Still family
Michigan hockey alumni
returned to Yost Ice Arena
on Saturday night to support
former Wolverine Scott
Matzka in his fight against
ALS.
» Page 3B
Some perspective
The Michigan football and
basketball teams have left
something to be desired in
their respective seasons, but
they have come a long way.
» SportsMonday Column,
Page 2B
After the Michigan men’s
basketball team came out sluggish
Wednesday before clawing back
to beat Penn State, there was a
consensus from the Wolverines
that they needed to find a way to
come out strong from the start.
Saturday against Maryland,
(2-1 Big Ten, 14-2 overall)
Michigan came out with a bit
more energy but couldn’t find
its shooting stroke — at one
point shooting just 33 percent
from the field and 15 percent
from behind the arc.
Though their offense found
new life in the second half, the
Wolverines (1-2, 11-5) couldn’t
recover from the early deficit,
losing 77-70 at Crisler Center
on Saturday.
Michigan improved its offense
in the first half by attacking the
rim, but its defense left much to
be desired and Michigan went
into the halftime break down,
37-28.
“It’s
just
very
frustrating,”
said sophomore forward Moritz
Wagner. “When you’re out there on
the court and work your butt off,
and then get beat at home like that.
“There
are
just
moments
where it seems like we fall asleep
collectively.”
Junior
guard
Muhammad-
Ali Abdur-Rakhman and senior
guard Zak Irvin led the team
in the first half with six points
each, while Maryland forward
Damonte Dodd led all scorers
with 11 points.
Michigan caught a break with
Maryland’s Michal Cekovsky,
a 7-foot-1 forward, out of the
lineup Saturday. But Dodd,
who stands at 6-foot-11 and
had been averaging just 5.9
points per game before entering
Saturday’s contest, filled in
nicely for the Terrapins and
finished with 15 points.
The second half was a bit
more favorable for Michigan.
The Wolverines started the half
on a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to
one.
But every time Michigan got
close,
Maryland
responded.
The
Wolverines
closed
the
deficit to two multiple times in
the second half, but each time,
the Terrapins answered with a
bucket of their own to extend
their lead.
“It was tough,” Beilein said.
“When we made a big play to cut
(the lead) down, they’d make one
coming right back. It’s hard to
keep doing that.”
A lot of that was because of
Maryland’s Melo Trimble, who
started to heat up in the second
half and finished with 13 points
and 6 assists.
Forwards Justin Jackson and
Jared Nickens also added 15 and
12 points, respectively, for the
Terrapins.
Maryland ended the game
shooting 51.9 percent, and made
10-of-15 from behind the arc.
“Today, we were locked in,”
said Maryland coach Mark
Turgeon.
“We
made
shots
today.
“We made some tough ones.
We’re a really good shooting
team and we’re still getting
used to each other. … But we
made shots today.”
On the other side of the court,
Wagner led all scorers with 17
points.
While another Big Ten loss isn’t
crippling for Michigan’s NCAA
Tournament hopes, it leaves little
room for error the rest of the way.
But in the meantime, the
Wolverines have a lot of work to
do, mainly on the defensive side
of the ball.
“We have to really close out
on shooters,” Beilein said. “We
need to get the shooters. Like
today, (Maryland guard Kevin
Huerter), Jackson and Nickens,
those are not guys you close out
short and contest, you just run
them off the line. Well, a couple
times, we closed out short and
dared them to shoot it, and
that’s what they do well.”
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
NO ESCAPE.
Maryland 77, Michigan 70
Well, a couple
times, we closed
out short and dared
them to shoot it
There are just
moments where it
seems like we fall
asleep collectively