The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, January 12, 2017 — 5A
Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
ACROSS
1 Buccaneers’
home
6 Silly bird
11 Revolting word?
14 Plane read
15 Large grouping
16 Pen user
17 Miss America
runner-up?
19 Part of a royal
flush
20 Anastasia __,
“Fifty Shades of
Grey” character
21 Emergency
signal
22 Frosted flakes
23 Called up
25 “Unsafe at Any
Speed” author
27 Put in order
30 Fab alternative
32 Special Forces
trademarks
35 Legendary horse
tale setting
36 Passage for the
birds?
38 Gold, in Granada
39 “My bad”
41 Wartime prez
42 Little Jack
Horner’s dream?
44 Proofreading
mark
45 Overwhelm
46 Biological
building block
48 Flight-related
prefix
49 Emerged
51 Carrier that
doesn’t fly on the
Sabbath
53 Order with
tzatziki sauce
55 Some Samsung
TVs
57 “Yay, me!”
61 Fishing __
62 Emulating the
writing style of
“The Quiet
American”?
64 Weaken,
perhaps
65 Jack’s links rival
66 Start a correction
process
67 Secret
competitor
68 Bounded
69 Ice cream
purchases
DOWN
1 Hardy heroine
2 Minimally
3 Lawn disruption
4 “The parent of
revolution and
crime”: Aristotle
5 Cub Scout leader
6 Yak
7 Miner matters
8 DuPont acrylic
9 Mexican buffet
feature
10 Contact’s spot
11 “Tell me about it”
12 Nickname for
late-night host
O’Brien
13 Didn’t just think
18 Russo of “The
Intern”
22 Feudal grunt
24 Comprehend
26 Shoot down
27 Ripped off
28 Longtime Utah
senator Hatch
29 Area for urban
growth
31 Get around
33 Potato, e.g.
34 Look after
37 Goddess of
peace
39 Red cup brand
40 Like some oil
rigs
43 Mark’s successor
44 “Amadeus”
narrator
47 Eccentric Sacha
Baron Cohen
persona
50 Twin Cities
suburb that
hosted the 2008
U.S. Women’s
Open
52 Madison Ave.
agent
53 Snatch
54 Discipline with
poses
56 Cut
58 Big man on
campus
59 Caltech, e.g.: Abbr.
60 Golf tournament
souvenirs
62 Country miss
63 Comprehend
By C.C. Burnikel
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
01/12/17
01/12/17
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 12, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
1 BEDROOM APTS Near N. Campus
Fall 2017‑18 ‑ $900/m + $25/m Utilities
Each unit has one parking space.
909 & 915 Wall St.
Deinco Properties 734‑996‑1991
2 BEDROOM + Study Fall 2017
2 Parking Spaces Washer/Dryer
Max occupancy is 4
935 S. Division ‑ $2250 + Utilities
Cappo Mgmt 734‑996‑1991
2017‑2018 LEASING
Apartments Going Fast!
Prime Student Housing
761‑8000. www.primesh.com
Efficiencies:
344 S. Division $855
610 S. Forest $870 ‑ 1 Left
1 Bedrooms:
511 Hoover $1045/$1065
508 Division $945
*Varies by location: Full Furnished,
Parking Included, Free Ethernet
4 BEDROOM HOUSE Fall 2017
3 Parking Spaces Washer/Dryer
827 Brookwood ‑ $2900 + Utilities
Deinco Properties 734‑996‑1991
5 BEDROOM APT Fall 2017
Washer Dryer, 3 Parking Spaces
1014 Vaughn #1 ‑ $2900 + Utilities
Deinco Properties 734‑996‑1991
EFF, 1 & 2 Bdrm Apts Fall 2017‑18
Many locations near campus
Rents from $850 (eff) ‑ $1415 (2 bdrm)
Most include Heat and Water
www.cappomanagement.com
734‑996‑1991
FALL 2017‑18 Apts @ 1015 Packard
2 Bedroom ‑ $1370 ‑ 2nd floor
3 Bedroom ‑ $1380 ‑ basement
1 parking space avail for $50/m per unit
Deinco 734‑996‑1991
WORK ON MACKINAC Island
This Summer – Make lifelong friends.
The Island House Hotel and Ryba’s
Fudge Shops are seeking help in all areas:
Front Desk, Bell Staff, Wait Staff, Sales
Clerks,
Kitchen,
Baristas.
Dorm
Housing,
bonus, and discounted meals.
(906) 847‑7196.
www.theislandhouse.com
FOR RENT
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
Want to cover Michigan athletics?
Join the
Daily’s
sports staff!
Mass meetings
Jan. 19, 23, 26 and 30
7 p.m. at 420 Maynard St.
or
contact our editors at:
sportseditors@michigandaily.com
ICE HOCKEY
Cecconi makes return
to ‘M’ defensive unit
Joseph
Cecconi
doesn’t
remember
much
of
what
happened after the final goal.
What the sophomore defenseman
does remember is skating from
his team’s bench to its goal faster
than he ever has before.
After Cecconi and the rest
of the United States national
junior team notched a 5-4
shootout victory over Canada
in the 2017 IIHF World Junior
Championship, the post-game
celebration could have been
best described as raucous, and
rightfully so — four long years
had passed since the Americans
last captured gold.
“(United States) hockey is
getting better,” Cecconi said.
“It’s always been good, but I
think there’s more and more
players who are getting better
in this country and want to
represent (the country).”
For Cecconi, the opportunity
was the realization of a long-
time dream. He had made it his
personal goal to play for the team
since learning about it a few
years ago.
The process of making the
team was a long one. Cecconi
first attended a camp with nearly
40 other players last summer,
before he was invited back
before the tournament. Then, he
made it past a final round of cuts
to join the team.
Cecconi called the overall
experience “fantastic”, and also
said that the tournament gave
him a chance to enter the second
half of the season with some
momentum.
In Canada, he also had the
opportunity to play with some of
the United States’ most talented
players, such as Luke Kunin,
Kieffer Bellows and Charlie
McAvoy. After playing alongside
so many elite players, Cecconi
learned
lessons
from
their
different playing styles. The
higher level of talent helped him
improve his hockey IQ as well,
among other aspects of his game.
“I think coming into the
second half, I have a lot more
confidence than I did in the
first,” Cecconi said. “I did have
confidence the first half of the
season, but after playing in this,
I feel like I’ll be an even better
player for the team.”
Cecconi
wouldn’t
be
the
first Michigan player to heat
up after returning from the
tournament. Dylan Larkin and
Zach Werenski each finished the
season on a tear after playing for
the United States in 2015 and
2016, respectively.
Larkin had just three goals
and 16 points before leaving for
the World Juniors. After the
tournament, he erupted for 12
goals and 31 points — perhaps
one of the reasons why his career
at Michigan lasted only one
season.
“(Larkin) was okay in the
first half,” said Michigan coach
Red Berenson. “Second half, he
came back from that tournament
and he played really well. He
just took off. Put him right in
Detroit.”
Werenski’s sabbatical from
the Wolverines had a similar
effect. The former defenseman
wasn’t having the impact that
Michigan had expected of him
entering the season, but turned
things around upon his return.
After tallying just four goals and
12 points before the tournament,
Werenski posted seven goals and
24 points after the break.
While Cecconi may not have
the offensive ability of Werenski
— he has posted just eight
points in 54 career games —
defensemen don’t need to put up
points to be difference-makers,
and Berenson believes Cecconi
will still make an impact in his
return to the team.
“When you play on a gold-
medal winning team and you
realize what it’s like to sit in that
locker room with guys that win
and what it takes — and not that
our team is far off the mark —
but I think he’ll come back with
an added confidence,” Berenson
said. “Confidence in himself,
confidence in how to play, and
so on. And maybe he can add
that to our defense corps — pride
in defense, and how important
it is to play good on defense.
I’m hoping he’ll add that to our
team.”
Winning tight games essential
to Michigan’s postseason hopes
Last
year,
the
Michigan
women’s basketball team had
ambitions of securing a berth
in the NCAA Tournament. But
in large part due to their six
losses by ten or fewer points, the
Wolverines fell short and were
forced to settle for their third
consecutive NIT appearance.
In one of them — a 77-69
overtime defeat at the hands
of Indiana last January — the
Wolverines held a nine-point
lead with four minutes to go in
regulation yet were unable to
sustain their lead in the most
important moments.
On Tuesday, Michigan faced
Indiana for the first time since
that heartbreaker. Once again,
the Wolverines held a nine-point
advantage late in the fourth
quarter.
But
this
time,
Michigan
successfully found a way to
close out the game. Senior guard
Siera
Thompson
made
four
critical free throws in the final
15 seconds to solidify a 78-74
victory over the Hoosiers.
“That was a game we really
talked about a lot last year,”
said
Michigan
coach
Kim
Barnes Arico on
WTKA
radio.
“Moving
into
this
year
and
how we wanted
to
grow
and
how we wanted
to improve, we
knew
closing
out games like
this was going
to
be
really
important.
We
found a way to
inbound the basketball, which is
something we struggled with in
last year’s game.”
Thanks to the performance
of sophomore center Hallie
Thome, who notched her third
double-double of the year with
21 points and 11 rebounds, the
Wolverines managed to secure
the victory.
More
importantly
for
Michigan,
she
committed
only one foul in the first half,
which allowed her to play for
36 minutes. In the Wolverines’
prior game — a 96-87 loss at
No. 11 Ohio State — Thome was
called for two fouls early in the
second quarter, which forced
her off the floor and allowed the
Buckeyes to win the rebounding
battle, 47-34.
With
games
against
Minnesota,
which
sits
in
the top 30 in
the
Ratings
Percentage
Index, and No. 3
Maryland on the
horizon, keeping
Thome
out
of
foul trouble will
be of the utmost
importance for the Wolverines.
“That was the difference in
the game,” Barnes Arico said on
WTKA about the game against
Ohio State. “At the end of the
first quarter we were up 12-6
in rebounding. We were really
getting
the
second-chance
opportunities.
We’ve
been
working the past several days on
becoming a better rebounding
team, even when Hallie gets into
foul trouble.”
Another
key
factor
that
Michigan will need to monitor
as conference play progresses
is the amount of playing time
its reserves see. On Tuesday, all
five of the Wolverines’ starters
played at least 35 minutes.
While
that
arrangement
worked
for
Michigan
against
Indiana, Barnes
Arico
knows
that
it
is
an
unsustainable
formula
and
promised more
reserve
action
against
the
Golden Gophers
on Sunday.
“I
definitely
think (the rotation) will be
expanded again,” Barnes Arico
said. “I think it depends a lot
on matchups. We knew that
Indiana would be a difficult
matchup
for
some
of
our
younger
kids.
They’re
an
experienced team that makes
you pay for your little mistakes.
I foresee as the conference
schedule goes on, we’re going
to have some more people that
will get into the rotation and
impact our team.”
One wild card the Wolverines
have up their sleeve is the
addition of senior center — and
former volleyball player — Abby
Cole, who Barnes Arico hinted
may see the court in the near
future. Cole, in addition to
Thome,
would
give
Michigan
a
favorable
size
advantage,
especially
on
defense.
“We
think
(Cole)
will
be
ready
to
go,
hopefully within
the next week,”
Barnes
Arico
said.
“She’s
just resting her
legs and resting her shins after
coming off of the last year of
playing volleyball.”
Regardless of whether or not
Cole plays anytime soon, the
Wolverines will need to find ways
to replicate their performance
from Tuesday night in tight
contests if they plan to reach
the NCAA Tournament for the
second time in Barnes Arico’s
five-year tenure.
ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico has been emphasizing rebounding in the Wolverines’ practices as of late.
NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
That was a
game we really
talked about a
lot last year
We were really
getting the
second chance
opportunites
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor