The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, February 2, 2017 — 5A

Have you 
purchased 
the 
Football 
Book 
yet?

Do the 
crossword,
then order 
one.

store.michigandaily.com

Classifieds

Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

ACROSS
1 Brewski
5 Scrubland
succulent
10 Skate park
protection
14 “__ something I
said?”
15 Bounded
16 Settled on the
tarmac
17 Headline during
an African
wildfire season?
19 “¿Qué __?”
20 Peach or orange
21 Snitch
22 Rental duration
24 Former NASCAR
Cup sponsor
26 Pass along
27 Go over again
29 Kind of key
33 Bro
36 Tolkien villain
37 “This feels
familiar” feeling
38 Corner office fig.
39 Casual parting ...
and a hint to this
puzzle’s four
longest answers
41 Had too much
42 Satisfies, as thirst
44 Reduction
45 Attending
46 Fable teller
47 “Challenge
accepted!”
49 West Coast pro
51 Possible reason
for an empty seat
55 Picture of health?
58 Profession,
casually
59 Hosp. area
60 __ clarinet
61 Collector of some
Spanish art?
64 Tactic
65 Barn-raising sect
66 Latin I word
67 County bordering
Sonoma
68 Core belief
69 Out of shape

DOWN
1 Punjabi
monotheists
2 Burn through
3 Eatery often
named for its
owner

4 Foul spot
5 Seemingly
eternal burden
6 Joint ailment
7 Abbr. in car ads
8 Unloaded a
burden
9 Old lemon
10 Artist Jasper
during his tropical
period?
11 Cumming of “The
Good Wife”
12 CD part
13 Sit tight
18 “Rule, Britannia”
composer
23 License info
25 Farmer’s
possible reply to
“What beans are
you planting this
year?”?
26 Pit visitor
28 Before,
poetically
30 Green gem
31 Wrapped up
32 Deserving a slap,
maybe
33 Badlands
landform
34 Shaft with
bushings

35 Genteel
gatherings
37 Couple’s break
from the kids
40 “Delish!”
43 Amazing, in
dudespeak
47 Biological map
subject
48 Slime
50 Pester
52 Card table
request

53 Where some
large schools
may be found
54 Rathskeller fare
55 Aye-catcher?
56 Trattoria’s “in the
style of”
57 Firebird roof
option
58 Military center
62 Half a cosmic
whole
63 Check

By Chuck Deodene
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/02/17

02/02/17

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, February 2, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

2 BEDROOM + Study Fall 2017
2 Parking Spaces Washer/Dryer
Max occupancy is 4
935 S. Division ‑ $2250 + Utilities
Cappo Mgmt 734‑996‑1991

BROADVIEW: 
GREAT 
LOCATION 
with rents starting at $1110. Call now to 
reserve for Fall 2017! 734.741.9300

712 W. HURON: Perfect location with 
great 
pricing! 
With 
rents 
starting 
at 
$1400, 
call 
today 
to 
secure 
your 
home 
for 
the 
fall. 
734.741.9300. 

 ARBOR PROPERTIES 
Award‑Winning Rentals in Kerrytown,
Central Campus, Old West Side, 
Burns Park. Now Renting for 2017. 
734‑649‑8637. www.arborprops.com 

4 BEDROOM HOUSE Fall 2017
3 Parking Spaces Washer/Dryer
827 Brookwood ‑ $2900 + Utilities
Deinco Properties 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
*Varies by location: Full Furnished, 
Parking Included, Free Ethernet

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

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

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

GEDDES HILL‑ PEACEFUL Location 
Adjacent to the Arboretum – Huge Con‑ 
temporary 
Apartments with Unforgettable 
Amenities! Pricing starting at $1800. Call 
today! 734.741.9300

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

Lavigne draws from 
past, fights adversity

There 
wasn’t 
a 
specific 

play that Hayden Lavigne was 
injured on. Rather, it was the 
“accumulation of the game,” 
the result of facing 27 shots 
from then-No. 9 Minnesota, 
made only worse by improper 
care of his groin.

Regardless 
of 
how 
it 

happened, it felt tight after 
the game, and the freshman 
goaltender 
missed 
the 

Michigan hockey team’s series 
the 
next 
weekend 
against 

Michigan State.

It was the second stretch 

this season that Lavigne has 
missed extended time. The 
first took place over two weeks 
in 
November 

and December, 
when Lavigne 
was sick and 
missed 
both 

the 
series 

against 
Lake 

Superior State 
and then-No. 6 
Penn State.

Both 

the 
illness 

and 
injury 

couldn’t have 
happened at worse times for 
Lavigne. Before falling sick, he 
looked poised to grab the lead 
in 
Michigan’s 
still-ongoing 

goaltender 
competition. 
He 

had posted two shutouts in 
his first four starts and led the 
team in both save percentage 
and goals-allowed average by a 
wide margin.

When he returned from his 

first ailment in the Wisconsin 
series, the opening results 
weren’t pretty. He gave up six 
goals on 27 shots as Michigan 
suffered a 7-4 loss against the 
Badgers.

“I think he was getting 

confidence 
and 
momentum, 

and he got sick and he missed 
four games in a row,” said 
Michigan coach Red Berenson. 
“... It’s the same thing with any 
of our guys that are out for any 
time. If you’re out for a couple 
weeks, it’s tough to get your 
legs going and your head going 
and get your confidence back 
right away.”

Lavigne, though, recaptured 

some 
of 
his 
early-season 

momentum 
the 
following 

night. He saved 34 of 35 shots 
as the Wolverines salvaged a 
split against Wisconsin. Then, 
Lavigne stopped 36 shots in 
the Great Lakes Invitational, 
giving his team — in a game in 
which its offense went missing 
— a chance to beat Michigan 
Tech.

But as soon as he had gotten 

back on his feet, the Minnesota 
game 
and 
resulting 
injury 

followed. Now, Lavigne is back 
in the same position he found 
himself while sick: trying to 
fully recover while maintaining 
his level of play from earlier in 
the season.

Still, 
the 

adversity 
he’s 
faced 

this 
season 

is 
nothing 

compared 
to 
the 
path 

he 
took 
to 

Michigan.

After 

committing 
to 
Michigan 

in 2013, Lavigne spent nearly 
three years bouncing between 
teams in the United States 
Hockey League. He was cut 
from his first two teams — 
the Tri-City Storm and the 
Waterloo Black Hawks — all 
while 
Michigan’s 
coaching 

staff delayed his enrollment, 
waiting for Lavigne to emerge 
as the player they recruited.

At 
one 
point, 
while 

transitioning from one team 
to another, he sat in the stands 
for over a month, watching 
his team play without him. 
He eventually caught on with 
the 
Bloomington 
Thunder, 

putting up the best stats of his 
junior career, and joined the 
Wolverines this fall.

“Obviously, it’s not the same 

type of adversity I’ve been 
through, but at the same time, 
going through those trades 
and cuts taught me how to be 
mentally tough and deal with 

adversity,” Lavigne said. “…
That really taught me to be 
invested in practice and doing 
what I can, controlling what 
I can control, not stuff that’s 
outside of myself. Those things 
definitely prepared me for the 
injuries that I’ve had this year 
and the illnesses.”

Lavigne’s 
early 
successes 

surprised some because of 
his long-winding path to Ann 
Arbor. 
Senior 
goaltender 

Zach Nagelvoort is the most 
experienced of Michigan’s trio 
in net, while freshman Jack 
LaFontaine was a third-round 
pick by the NHL’s Carolina 
Hurricanes. Yet, Lavigne has 
arguably outplayed both when 
he’s been given the chance.

“Hayden’s done a nice job 

coming in here,” 
said 
assistant 

coach 
Billy 

Powers. “I think 
obviously 
his 

numbers 
bear 

that out. … I just 
think the start 
that he’s gotten 
off to is a credit 
to his ability to 
handle adversity 
and stay focused. 
That, clearly, I 

think has been an advantage 
for him having three years 
of junior experience. Clearly, 
all the work he put in prior to 
Michigan and dealing with the 
highs and the lows have really 
helped him be ready for this.

“... I would be willing to bet 

Hayden probably brushes small 
things off like nothing because 
he’s 
been 
through 
much 

worse.”

Added Berenson: “... I liked 

what 
(Lavigne) 
was 
doing 

in his early games. We had a 
bad team game in Vermont 
that didn’t help him any, but 
outside of that, I thought he 
was making progress. … Now, 
who was going to surface (in 
the starting competition), I 
don’t think we were in a rush at 
that point, but Hayden made a 
good first impression. Let’s put 
it that way.”

While it would be easy to 

imagine a freshman player 
fretting over whether he fell in 
the pecking order because of 
his illness and injury, Lavigne 
continues to remain unfazed. 
His struggles in the USHL have 
shaped him into the player he 
is today. A tight groin, after all, 
is a much different ordeal than 
spending three years in small 
Midwestern rinks waiting for 
your shot.

“I think that’s helped him 

a lot more than he knew at 
the time,” Berenson said. “He 
didn’t know at the time how 
this story was going to be 
played out, and I think now, his 
experience is going to be huge. 
Hopefully, he doesn’t have any 
more adversity this year, but 
what he’s gone through so far, 
he seems to have handled it 

pretty well.”

So 
Lavigne, 

equipped 
with 

the lessons of his 
junior 
travels, 

did 
what 
he 

knows best: He 
went 
back 
to 

work, 
whether 

it was rehabbing 
his 
groin 
or 

watching 
film. 

He 
started 

practicing 
once 
again 
this 

past week and may play this 
weekend against No. 11 Ohio 
State.

And once again, he’ll try to 

return to his early-season form 
— or better.

“I think I’ve just got to put 

that in the back of my head 
and know that that’s how I can 
play,” Lavigne said. “But at the 
same time, that’s the past and 
people are only going to look at 
how I finish the rest of the year. 
I don’t want to be that guy that 
started off really hot and fell 
apart.”

Added Berenson: “(Lavigne) 

knows he can do it. He’s got 
some confidence. … Of course, 
every day in practice is kinda 
like trying out for your position 
in the game. … We’ve got 
players that are trying out 
every day just to get into the 
lineup, and I think it’s a similar 
thing for Hayden.”

ICE HOCKEY

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

“I don’t want to 
be that guy that 
started off really 
hot and fell apart”

“I think that’s 
helped him a lot 

more than he 

knew at the time”

Evaluating the first half of 
Michigan’s Big Ten season

Last season, the Michigan 

men’s 
basketball 
team 
flew 

through 
the 
first 
half 
of 

conference play en route to a 
7-2 record before subsequently 
managing just three victories 
over its final nine games. The 
Wolverines ultimately finished 
with a 10-8 conference record 
that secured them an eighth-
place finish in the Big Ten — the 
lowest of any team above .500 in 
conference play.

This season, Michigan (4-5 Big 

Ten, 14-8 overall) currently sits 
in a four-way tie for seventh place 
halfway through the conference 
season. The Wolverines lost 
only one of those games by 
double digits, against Illinois in 
Champaign on Jan. 11, but they 
also won only one by that margin 
— against Indiana at Crisler 
Center last Thursday.

While many of those contests 

came down to the wire and could 
have gone either way down the 
stretch, the bottom line is that 
Michigan didn’t do enough to 
win more games than it has lost.

Before the Wolverines kick off 

the second half of their Big Ten 
slate Saturday versus Ohio State, 
the Daily evaluates Michigan’s 
performance so far in 2017.

Offense: B+
Through 
their 
first 
nine 

games, the Wolverines have been 
carried by their offense. Boasting 
an average of 74.1 points per 
game — good for sixth-best in the 
conference — Michigan has the 
ability to score from anywhere 
on the court.

The Wolverines are shooting 

47.8 percent from the floor and 
38.8 percent from beyond the 
arc, ranking them second and 
fifth, respectively, in the Big 
Ten. They crossed the 90-point 
plateau twice, in wins over 
Nebraska and Indiana. While 
Michigan needed to score that 
many to beat the Cornhuskers 
in a shootout, it blitzed the 
Hoosiers while holding them to 
just 60 points.

Four 
of 
the 
five 
players 

in 
the 
Wolverines’ 
starting 

lineup 
average 
double-digit 

scoring totals. Senior guard 
Derrick Walton Jr. leads the 
way with 15.1, while wing Zak 
Irvin averages 13.2. Both have 
capitalized on the impulse to 
make their final seasons count, 
coming up clutch in crunch time 
on multiple occasions, often from 
the free-throw line.

Redshirt 
sophomore 
DJ 

Wilson and sophomore forward 
Moritz Wagner have emerged 
as viable options for Michigan 
inside 
the 
paint. 
Averaging 

13.4 and 12.4 points per game, 
respectively, the pair of big men 
provide an interior presence that 
the Wolverines sorely lacked a 
year ago.

The duo replaced redshirt 

junior guard Duncan Robinson 
and senior forward Mark Donnal 
in the first rotation, but the two 
veterans continue to make their 
presence felt off the bench. 
Junior 
guard 
Muhammad-

Ali Abdur-Rahkman, the sole 
starter who averages less than 10 
points per game, has struggled to 
duplicate his breakout campaign 
from last year, but still averages 
7.6 points from the ‘2’ spot.

While the offense is far from 

Michigan’s point of weakness, it 
still has room for improvement in 
the second half of the conference 
season.

Defense: D+
In order for the Wolverines 

to turn their Big Ten fortunes 
around, the defense needs a 
serious adjustment. Michigan 
sits dead last in the conference 
in both opponents’ field-goal and 
3-point 
field-goal 
percentage, 

allowing a rate of 51.8 and 48.9 
percent, respectively.

While the Wolverines haven’t 

given up absurdly high point 
totals often — the most scored 
against them was 86, and that 
was in an overtime loss to Iowa 
— their losses have come in 
moments when they are beaten 
on that side of the floor.

In four of its five losses, 

defensive lapses came along 
with poor timing for Michigan. 
Against both Iowa and then-
No. 17 Wisconsin, late defensive 
breakdowns cost the Wolverines 

relatively 
winnable 
games. 

Meanwhile, in the first half 
against Maryland and in the 
second half against Michigan 
State, substantial runs swung 
the momentum in the direction 
of the opposition. Only at Illinois 
did the Wolverines fall apart on 
defense throughout the entire 
game.

Though 
Michigan 
has 

struggled to stop its opponents 
from scoring, its strong suit 
is keeping them from scoring 
second-chance points. Forceful 
on the backboard, the Wolverines 
average 31.4 rebounds per game, 
good for second in the Big Ten. 
Wilson leads that effort with 
an average of 5.6, and Walton 
bolsters him with the next best 
average of 5.1 per game. 

While rebounds seem to 

come naturally on the defensive 
end, Michigan sits in dead last 
in the conference in yet another 
statistic, 
with 
a 
minus-3.7 

rebounding margin because the 
Wolverines average just eight 
offensive rebounds per game.

Without a major improvement 

on the defensive side of the 

ball in the second half of the 
season, Michigan will struggle to 
contend in the Big Ten.

Second half outlook:
Though 
the 
Wolverines 

currently sit under .500, they 
have the potential to finish out 
the conference season on a much 
higher note.

Michigan 
should 
have 

winnable games left against Ohio 
State (3-7), Minnesota (3-6) and 
Rutgers (1-9). It already defeated 
Indiana (5-5) and Nebraska (4-5) 
and has the ability to replicate 
those feats, even though the 
Wolverines will go on the road 
where they have yet to win a 
game this year. They were within 
striking distance of Wisconsin 
(8-1) and Michigan State (5-4) 
in Madison and East Lansing, 
respectively, and playing at home 
in those rematches could provide 
the 
difference. 
That 
leaves 

Northwestern (7-2) and Purdue 
(6-3) as likely losses.

Last season, Michigan started 

strong and then fell apart. This 
season, a reversal could be in 
store.

Predicted record: 11-7

BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein’s team has nine games to improve its standing.

