4B — January 30, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan stifled by Spartan defense in loss

EAST LANSING — With 

the Michigan men’s basketball 
team 
down 
by 
nine 
with 

10:32 left in the game, junior 
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman 
drained 
an 
open 

three to cut the deficit to six.

On the ensuing Michigan 

State possession, the Wolverines 
forced a turnover from Spartan 
guard Cassius Winston and 
bolted up the floor.

But with the chance to cut 

the lead even more, senior guard 
Derrick Walton Jr. dribbled into 
a crowded paint, lost the ball and 
the Spartans regained possession.

The 
next 
two 
Michigan 

offensive possessions saw more 
of the same, as senior wing Zak 
Irvin 
and 
Abdur-Rahkman 

each turned the ball over. 
Michigan State’s defense forced 
the Wolverines to turn over 
the ball on three consecutive 
possessions in under a minute.

And a minute after that, 

Spartan forward Miles Bridges 
slammed home a dunk to 
put Michigan State up by 12, 
effectively ending any chance 
of a Michigan comeback as 
the Spartans won 70-62 at the 
Breslin Center on Sunday.

Friday, 
Walton 
said 
the 

Wolverines had to be “borderline 
perfect” to win a game on the 
road. For Michigan, that crucial 
stretch of possessions in the 
second half was when it had to 
be perfect, and it wasn’t.

“There’s been two or three 

possessions that were not as 
good as we need to be,” said 
Michigan coach John Beilein. 
“That’s 
college 
basketball. 

This team’s going to have great 
challenges on the road, but 
that’s the way it is.”

After 
the 
game, 
Beilein 

attributed 
Michigan 
State’s 

defense as a big reason why the 
Wolverines turned the ball over 
nine times in the second half 
— Michigan was averaging just 
over nine turnovers per game 

entering Sunday’s contest.

“Their defense was terrific,” 

Beilein said. “We’ll look at (it), 
and we’ll try to find a way to 
do some things better. They’re 
good at it, and they’ve always 
been for years and years. When 
we were able to beat them, our 
offense was really clicking, 
and it wasn’t tonight. Credit 
Michigan State.”

Michigan poses a unique 

matchup for teams with two 
big men, as redshirt sophomore 
forward 
DJ 
Wilson 
and 

sophomore 
forward 
Moritz 

Wagner both shoot 3-pointers 
effectively.

But Michigan State came 

prepared.

The 
Spartans 
denied 

Michigan any “pick-and-pop” 
shots from the behind the arc, 
which forced the Wolverines to 
find other avenues for success.

While Michigan made an 

adjustment in the second half, 
evident in Walton nailing two 
3-pointers to start the stanza, 

the Wolverines still didn’t look 
comfortable.

“They weren’t giving us any 

catch and shoot threes,” Walton 
said. “They went home every 
time we drove. But we made an 
adjustment in the second half. 
We just didn’t hit the (shots) 
that we usually hit.”

The 
Spartans’ 
in-your-

face defense also forced the 
Wolverines into quick decisions, 
which sped up the overall pace 
of play, another issue that put 
Michigan off-balance.

“We came to the bench and I 

told myself and my teammates 
that I thought we were playing 
way too fast,” Walton said. “We 
were getting sped up.”

And with the team’s best 

“slasher”, 
Abdur-Rahkman, 

on the bench with foul trouble 
for most of the game, the 
Wolverines had a tough time 
driving on the Spartans.

Instead, Michigan settled for 

contested jump shots.

“We took some really tough 

shots when we were supposed 
to get to the basket,” Walton 
said. “We made an adjustment, 
but I wished we would’ve made 
it from the jump.”

Added Wagner: “We settled 

to the point where we thought 
there would be a bump when 
there wasn’t. I just think we 
need to play with better poise 
and take better shots.”

All in all, Michigan State 

dialed up the perfect defense 
to make the Wolverines just 
uncomfortable enough to put 
Michigan off its game.

Now, with nine days until the 

two teams will meet again at 
Crisler Center, the Wolverines 
will need to figure out how to 
break the defense that did just 
enough to throw them off their 
game.

“Michigan State is good,” 

Beilein said. “They’re a good 
team, whether it’s nine days 
from now or 29 days from 
now. It’s going to be a heck of a 
challenge to beat them.”

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner struggled to stay on the floor and make an impact offensively against the Spartans.

MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Editor

‘M’ falls to top-ranked 
Oklahoma on the road

After the men’s gymnastics 

team placed third in a six-
team field in the Windy City 
Invitational two weeks ago, 
Michigan coach Kurt Golder 
recognized the potential of his 
young team. But in order to 
combat their collective lack of 
experience, 
Golder 
increased 

the difficulty of their routines 
leading up to the meet on 
Saturday against No. 1 Oklahoma. 

That strategy might have hurt 

the Wolverines more than it 
helped them. No. 8 Michigan put 
up a new team best for total team 
score, but the experienced talent 
of the Sooners easily prevailed, 
430.050-400.800.

“I 
guess 
hindsight 
being 

20/20, I think we lost a little 
momentum,” Golder said. “We 
probably would’ve been better 
off (if we) just had another meet 
in there instead of a bye week. 
But you don’t know that until you 
have it scheduled that way, and 
then you find out that maybe that 
wasn’t the best way to approach 
it.”

From the get-go, Oklahoma 

was in the driver’s seat, and the 
Wolverines 
played 
catch-up 

throughout.

Though Michigan set season 

records in the vault and parallel 
bar events, scoring 70.950 and 
64.900, respectively, Golder was 
still displeased.

“(Oklahoma is) really good, 

but I was disappointed with our 
performance,” Golder said. “I 
know it can be difficult to go on 
the road, but that’s part of the 
game. You’ve got to go on the 
road for Big Tens and for NCAAs 
and you’ve got to perform. It is 
early in the season for us, it’s 

just our second meet and we are 
going against the No. 1 team, but I 
expected us to be a lot closer and 
have a lot better performances 
than we did.”

After an impressive outing 

at the Windy City Invitational, 
sophomore 
Emyre 
Cole 
led 

the Wolverines with dominant 
performances in floor, high bar 
and vault, where he stuck the 
landing on his Yurchenko 2.5. His 
execution earned him a 15.000, a 
tie for the night’s best score on 
vault and another event title. 
Cole also finished second on floor 
with a 14.750, falling to reigning 
NCAA champion Yul Mouldauer 
(14.850).

Despite 
the 
close 
loss, 

Golder believes Cole and his 
floor teammates — including 
senior Anthony Stefanelli and 
sophomore Anthony McCallum 
— are primed to be strong 
contenders in upcoming meets. 
Notably, 
Stefanelli 
was 
to 

perform an upgraded routine 
against Oklahoma, but rolled 
his ankle in practice last week, 
forcing him to “lay low” and 
revert to a previous routine.

Sophomores Samuel Su and 

Ryan Dunning also contributed 
with 
third-place 
finishes 
in 

pommel 
horse 
and 
rings, 

respectively.

But even after trying to build on 

the positives — as Golder and his 
coaching staff try to do after every 
meet — Michigan will be learning 
from its losses in preparation 
for next Saturday’s showdown 
against No. 6 Ohio State.

“We’re behind where I think 

we should be,” Golder said. “We 
have a bit to catch up on now. And 
it’s going to get a little tougher 
and little more demanding in 
practice so we can make up that 
ground.”

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

BENJAMIN KATZ

Daily Sports Writer

The Wolverines notched their new 
team-high score in a losing effort

Wolverines take full advantage of 
clock in victory over No. 10 Lehigh

On Sunday, everything was 

clicking in timely fashion for 
the Michigan wrestling team. 
With eight seconds left in his 
match, 
redshirt 
sophomore 

Malik 
Amine 
pounced 
for 

a 
successful 
takedown, 

propelling him to a win over 
Lehigh’s Laike Gardner, the 
11th-ranked wrestler in the 
nation in the 149-pound weight 
class.

Combining 
clutch 
late-

match points with signature 
hard-nosed 
wrestling, 
the 

14th-ranked 
Wolverines 

dominated No. 10 Lehigh on 
Senior Day, coming away with 
a 24-13 victory, increasing their 
winning streak to three.

Redshirt 
senior 
Conor 

Youtsey started off the meet 
for the Wolverines in the 125-
pound weight class. Lehigh’s 

Darian Cruz — ranked eighth 
in the country — utilized early 
riding time and a takedown to 
gain the advantage. Youtsey 
mounted 
a 
comeback, 
but 

with a late takedown and an 
escape, Cruz struck first for 
the Mountain Hawks with a 4-2 
win.

However, Michigan turned 

on the jets starting at the 133-
pound weight class, powering 
its way to five straight wins. 

“Our effort was there, our 

guys are doing a good job of 
imposing our will on theirs,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Joe 

McFarland. “If you do that and 
put yourself in the driver’s seat, 
we got a lot of momentum early 
on.”

Redshirt freshman Stevan 

Micic — the seventh-ranked 
wrestler at 133 pounds — 
started this push, firing off 
takedown after takedown and 
driving his way to a 21-4 victory 

via technical fall. 

But it was redshirt freshman 

Sal Profaci who jumpstarted 
the momentum of the whole 
dual with his 3-2 decision over 
Lehigh’s Randy Cruz in the 
141-pound match. Profaci shot 
early and claimed the first two 
points of the match. As Profaci 
seemed commanding, his foe 
was countering most of his 
shot attempts. Cruz scraped 
back two points to tie the 
bout, but Profaci’s control over 
the duration of the matchup 
awarded 
him 
the 
crucial 

winning point through riding 
time.

Amine, senior Brian Murphy 

and redshirt freshman Logan 
Massa 
followed 
suit, 
all 

prevailing through a decision, 
a fall and another decision, 
respectively. Murphy put the 
crowd on its feet with his pin 
at 1:50, capping off Michigan’s 
dominant start to the dual.

“I just trust the process, and 

honestly stay in the match and 
just battle,” Amine said. “The 
kid was tough and I knew it 
was going to be a close match. 
I was chipping away at him. 
… I scored the takedown and 
I think that was the turning 
point in the match.”

Redshirt 
freshman 
Myles 

Amine 
and 
redshirt 
junior 

Aaron Calderon both dropped 
the 
next 
two 
matchups. 

Amine’s loss of riding time and 
late forfeit of takedowns led to 
his 6-2 defeat, while Calderon 
allowed 
some 
escapes, 

ultimately resulting in his 6-4 
loss.

Redshirt 
freshman 

Jackson 
Striggow 
reversed 

the 
momentum, 
though, 

with his 9-0 major decision 
over Lehigh’s Tom Murray. 
Striggow’s 
multitude 
of 

takedowns paired with over one 
minute of riding time led to his 
success, effectively clinching 
the match for the Wolverines.

With a win over a top-10 

team, Michigan is peaking at 
the right time, while it capped 
its season at Cliff Keen Arena 
in style.

Murphy notches first pin of 
season in his final home meet

In the final home match of 

a collegiate wrestler’s career, 
emotions 
run 
high 
in 
the 

excitement of the day — from being 
introduced to rousing applause 
to playing in front of friends and 
classmates for the last time.

But for Michigan senior Brian 

Murphy, the nostalgia of wrestling 
in his final match at Cliff Keen 
Arena was not a concern. He 
didn’t focus on the pageantry 
— the photos, walking out of 
the locker room with his arms 
interlocked with his parents’ and 
the announcing of all his accolades 
to the crowd. He was focused on 
winning a dual meet against No. 
10 Lehigh.

“I just try to keep it like any 

other match because that’s how I’d 
compete the best,” Murphy said. “I 
don’t worry about it.”

Later, he added: “I think it 

actually helped me a little bit. It 
helped me loosen up, just talking to 
my parents — not about wrestling 
or anything — and staying calm 
because it’s not going to be good 
if you get too nervous before a 
match.”

Murphy’s focus showed on the 

mat. He dominated and pinned 
Lehigh’s Kent Lane just 1:50 into 
the first period of the final home 
match of his career following an 
early takedown.

It was the captain’s first pin 

of the season, which capped a 
run that saw the Wolverines win 
four consecutive matches to take 
a 17-3 lead at halftime. Redshirt 
freshman Sal Profaci and redshirt 
sophomore Malik Amine were 
both victorious, notching victories 
in the final moments of the third 
period.

But true to his no-nonsense 

demeanor, Murphy’s emotions 
didn’t take the upswing one would 
expect from a college athlete after 
a dramatic victory.

“Just staying on that track and 

staying loose — I don’t try to get 
too high or too low,” Murphy said. 
“I know that it helped the team 
in a big way, so I was happy about 
that. It just keeps that momentum 

going. I was happy I was able to 
get the pin; if I just get a decision 
there, maybe that momentum 
doesn’t roll through. Those guys 
did a great job.”

Michigan earned its fourth 

team win over a ranked opponent 
this season, improving to 7-4 
overall.

“The main part of our season 

is still ahead of us, though,” said 
Michigan coach Joe McFarland. 
“But this is a great confidence 
builder. It’s a great moment for us.”

Despite 
the 
excitement 
of 

Profaci and Amine’s major upsets, 
Murphy received the two largest 
ovations of the afternoon from 
the Wolverine contingent — the 
first after his introduction into 
the starting lineup, and the second 
following the referee’s decision to 
give the captain the pin and six 
team points for Michigan.

His value to the Michigan 

wrestling 
program 
didn’t 
go 

unnoticed by those watching the 

senior at Cliff Keen Arena for the 
last time.

“We have a great crowd,” 

Murphy said. “Alumni come and 
watch us every dual meet — it’s 
awesome. These fans are really 
knowledgeable about the sport, 
and it’s great to have that.”

And that value is certainly 

evident to his coach.

“He’s a class act, a great kid,” 

McFarland said.” It was great to 
see him get a pin for us going into 
intermission today.”

Murphy indeed is all about 

business 
when 
it 
comes 
to 

wrestling. He and the Wolverines 
still have three regular season 
matches before the Big Ten and 
NCAA Tournaments after an early 
Senior Day. But even Murphy 
couldn’t help himself from seeing 
the sentimental nature of his 
performance Sunday afternoon.

“I tried not to focus on it, but 

after the match, it felt pretty good 
getting a pin in my last one here.”

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Writer

ROBERT HEFTER

Daily Sports Writer

MAX KUANG/Daily

Senior Brian Murphy and the Wolverines made Senior Day count with an dominant upset victory over 10th-ranked Lehigh on Sunday at Cliff Keen Arena.

