8 — Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan looking for answers after slow start
The
Michigan
men’s
basketball team is three games
into its Big Ten season, and there
are already questions swirling
about the Wolverines’ (1-2 Big
Ten, 11-5 overall) conference fate
this season.
Projected to be a relatively
average team before the year
began, Michigan made a fairly
big impression instead, going
10-3 in non-conference play
and capturing a 2K Classic
championship in New York City.
Aside from obvious hiccups at
South Carolina, against Virginia
Tech and at then-No. 2 UCLA,
the
Wolverines
combined
a
recalibrated
defense
with
emerging offensive options to
notch a double-digit win tally —
a majority of which were decided
by at least 20 points.
Sophomore forward Moritz
Wagner and redshirt sophomore
forward DJ Wilson have played
the role of breakout starters,
taking the place of the expected
pair of seniors Duncan Robinson
and Mark Donnal. Wagner and
Wilson have burst onto the scene
in full force, averaging 11.9 points
and 10.3 points, respectively, and
serving as a reliable combination
of big men. Robinson and Donnal,
meanwhile, have become dual
sixth men, boosting Michigan
with a strong dose of energy
and effort off the bench while
averaging 8.8 and six points,
respectively.
The cast of characters fit their
parts and created a cohesive
unit that steamrolled its non-
conference opponents, though
admittedly they weren’t elite
foes. But Big Ten play has been
an entirely different story.
The first two weeks of the
conference season have been
filled
with
surprises
across
the board. Notably, Minnesota
already has more wins and
Indiana already has almost as
many losses as they had all of
last year with three and two,
respectively.
What
is
most
striking about the situation the
Wolverines find themselves in
is just how easily it could be so
different.
In
a
seven-day
span,
Michigan
faced
off
against
Iowa on the road and Penn
State and Maryland at home.
In falling 86-83 in overtime to
the Hawkeyes and 77-70 to the
Terrapins on opposite ends of
a 72-69 win over the Nittany
Lions, the Wolverines revealed
a
crucial
flaw
that
could
potentially determine their fate
this season.
“The edge that a lot of great
teams have has been lacking
in some games, and there’s no
way we can win without that
edge,” said Michigan coach John
Beilein. “There’s just no way.”
In Iowa City, the outcome of
the game may have gone down
to the wire, but Michigan had set
the tone much earlier, and not in
a good way. While Iowa notched
a 53.3 shooting percentage from
the floor in the first half, the
Wolverines made just 40 percent
of their shots. Michigan had
Wilson
and
his
19 points in the
stanza to thank
for keeping the
Wolverines within
three
at
the
halftime break.
While Michigan
turned the tables
on the Hawkeyes
in the second half,
rediscovering
its
shooting
stroke
with
a
51.6 shooting percentage, key
defensive mistakes and late-
game mismanagements downed
the Wolverines in overtime. It
didn’t help that they couldn’t
stop Iowa guard Peter Jok from
going off for 25 points, including
four threes. Not even Wilson’s
career day of 28 points and 14
rebounds could save Michigan in
the end.
When
the
Wolverines
returned to Ann Arbor to take on
Penn State, they brought those
shooting
woes
back with them.
Struggling
to
establish
itself early in
the
ballgame,
Michigan
shot
42.3
percent
from the floor
and
knocked
down
just
one
3-pointer
on 10 attempts. The offense
looked stagnant all half, as the
Wolverines failed to spread the
floor, move the ball and make
good decisions. Beilein could
be seen on the sideline growing
more and more irritated every
time a low-percentage shot went
up early in the shot clock, only to
clank off the rim and bounce out.
It took until the halfway
mark of the second stanza
for
Michigan
to
turn
its
fortunes around. Following an
impassioned speech from senior
wing Zak Irvin at the media
timeout, the Wolverines put
together a 20-6 run kicked off by
a quick five points from Robinson
and punctuated by an alley-oop
slam from Wilson to take the
lead. Irvin then put his money
where his mouth was, pairing
with
senior
guard
Derrick
Walton Jr. to score Michigan’s
final 10 points and close out the
comeback victory.
Though
the
Wolverines
managed to pull out the win in
the end, it very easily could have
gone the other way, a fact that
was apparent to the team the
following day.
“We gotta have that sense of
urgency from the tip, and it can’t
be a reaction to going down,”
Robinson said. “I think we’ve
done it well some games. … But
it’s gotta be an everyday mindset,
every game mindset.”
Less than 72 hours after that
grand escape, Michigan put
itself in the position of needing
to replicate the feat against
Maryland.
While
posting
another
40-percent
shooting
performance in the first half, the
Wolverines also let the Terrapins
bully them around in the paint.
They fell behind by nine points at
the break — the largest halftime
margin of the three games.
Over the course of the second
half, Michigan attempted to
generate
enough
momentum
to mount a second straight
comeback.
Scratching
and
clawing their way back into the
game, the Wolverines narrowed
the deficit to three or fewer
points
multiple
times,
but
each time they did, Maryland
had a response at the ready.
Eventually,
Michigan
simply
ran out of gas.
“We had some moments there
where we don’t play with the
same IQ, the intensity that you
need,” Beilein said. “It just bites
you in this game. … What was
tough was when we made a big
play and cut it down, they made
one right back. It’s hard to keep
doing that.”
In their opening week of
Big Ten play, the Wolverines
played three close contests in
which they sat back and let the
opponent take the driver’s seat.
And as a result, they sit just
four points away from a winless
start.
After the turbulent week, Irvin
declared that Michigan can’t
afford to wait to be “punched in
the mouth” in order to fire up its
engine. In a conference season
as unpredictable as this one is
shaping up to be, the Wolverines
would be wise to heed his advice.
Until they learn how to execute
from start to finish, the questions
about their destiny this year
won’t be going anywhere.
Wolverines look to rebound against Hoosiers
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball team is looking for
redemption.
After traveling to No. 11
Ohio
State
and
dropping
their last game
96-87,
the
Wolverines (2-1
Big Ten, 13-4
overall)
are
eager to move
past their rival
loss.
A
win
against Indiana
(2-1,
12-4)
Tuesday night
could
prevent
a
season-
jarring loss of
momentum for
Michigan.
The
Hoosiers
played
the
Buckeyes on Dec. 31, also losing,
92-82. Their common loss, and
the closeness of the two team’s
records, make Indiana and the
Wolverines almost equals — the
perfect matchup for an exciting
game.
But
Michigan
may
take
the
edge,
as
junior
guard
and leading scorer Katelynn
Flaherty is expected to bring a
missed intensity to the court.
While
Flaherty
has
been
essential
in
every
game
this
season,
she
recently
went
through
a
lackluster
period compared
to
her
usual
high-scoring
self;
against
Wisconsin
on
Jan. 1, Flaherty
managed
just
eight
points.
But she found
her mojo once
more
against
Ohio State, when she stunned
everyone with a career-high
38-point performance.
Her eight 3-pointers against
the Buckeyes set a new school
record,
and
her
post-game
attitude showed that she was
confident in her capabilities — it
all stemmed from hard work.
“I just try to do what my team
needs me to do,” Flaherty said
Saturday after the game. “And
today it was scoring. So I think
I was really persistent with that,
and I knew that I need to score
to help us be successful.”
Added
Ohio
State
coach
Kevin Gruff: “That’s one of the
byproducts of letting (Flaherty)
get so comfortable early in the
game, now all the sudden you’re
dealing with her feeling good
the whole way out. I thought our
effort on her got better as the
game went, but she was feeling
so good that she was making
really tough shots. She’s a great
player.”
While a repeat performance
might
be
tough
to
attain,
Flaherty will have momentum
and confidence, which will be
a dangerous combination for
Indiana to defend against.
Junior
forward
Jillian
Dunston and senior guard Siera
Thompson were also game-
changers for Michigan against
Ohio State, and while they did
not sink quite as many baskets as
Flaherty, the duo was effective
in other areas of the court.
Dunston
has
been
an
important defensive presence
for the Wolverines all season,
and
with
her
double-double
last
game,
she
reminded
onlookers
that
she is effective
on
both
ends
of
the
court.
While
her
eight
defensive
rebounds and 10
points
weren’t
enough
to
shift
the
tide
of the game in
Michigan’s favor,
Dunston earned
double the defensive rebounds
as the next highest Wolverine.
Thompson
was
the
only
Michigan player to stay on
the court for all 40 minutes —
unsurprising to anyone who
has heard Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico discuss the impact
of her co-captain on the rest of
the team.
Against
the
Buckeyes,
Thompson dished out 10 assists,
and was just two points shy of her
own double-double. Thompson
currently has a team-high 92
assists on the season, and will
need to continue playmaking in
order for the Wolverines to win
against Indiana.
While Flaherty, Dunston, and
Thompson will attempt to build
on their successes of last game,
sophomore
forward
Hallie
Thome will be trying to rectify
her impact.
“Hallie Thome picked up her
second foul,” Barnes Arico said.
“I thought that was critical. We
were out-rebounding them in
the first quarter, and then we
lost our 6-foot-5 inside presence
and then we drastically dropped
down and went small. We
didn’t have the
same
defensive
or
offensive
presence that we
did with her in
the game.”
Despite
fouling
out,
Thome
picked
up
13
points,
making her 23
minutes
still
the
second-
most offensively
productive
performance for
Michigan.
Having Thome on the court is
necessary for the Wolverines to
win. Her field goal percentage
this season is 63.5 percent —
higher than any team average
in the NCAA. Thome’s Jan. 1
performance against Wisconsin
netted her 37 points, which
was
by
far
Michigan’s best
performance
of
the night, and
Thome’s
own
career high.
Even without
Thome,
the
main reason that
the
Wolverines
could not defend
against
the
Buckeyes
last
game
was
the
sheer
depth
that Ohio State
possessed, with
six different players scoring in
the double-digits. While that
type of game is an anomaly, it
proves that an entire team effort
is needed to be successful in this
league.
Michigan
cannot
rely
on
just
its
starting
five.
The
players coming off the bench,
like sophomore guard Nicole
Munger, have to be ready to
perform at their peak.
It
would
also
help
the
Wolverines
if
Flaherty
and
Thome played their best game
at the same time. Lately, it
seems as though they have been
alternating strong showings and
more restful games. Though
each player is capable of leading
Michigan on her own, a standout
performance from both leading
scorers in the same game could
certainly seal a win for the
Wolverines.
If Flaherty and Thome can
manage
that,
the
Hoosiers
should be ready for a barrage
of some of the most accurate
shooting they have faced thus
far.
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty is looking to build off a season-high 38-point performance against the Buckeyes when Michigan faces Indiana on Tuesday night.
I just try to do
what my team
needs me to do.
And today it
was scoring.
Hallie Thome
picked up her
second foul. I
thought that
was critical.
Indiana at
Michigan
Matchup:
Indiana 12-4;
Michigan
13-4
When:
Tuesday
6 P.M.
Where:
Crisler
Center
MAGGIE KOLCON
Daily Sports Writer
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Senior wing Zak Irvin believes that, after a slow start to Big Ten play, the Wolverines need to begin games with more intensity as the conference season unfolds.
BETELHEM ASHAME
Managing Sports Editor
That edge that a lot
of great teams have
has been lacking in
some games