8 — Friday, February 3, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines look to rebound against Buckeyes;
Behind Enemy Lines: Ohio State Jae’Sean Tate
After thrashing Indiana by
30 at home, the Michigan men’s
basketball team followed the
impressive performance with the
polar opposite in East Lansing,
losing to Michigan State, 70-62.
Michigan stuck around for most
of the game, but poor shooting
against a stout defense did the
Wolverines in, and they missed out
on a chance to take sole possession
of fourth place in the Big Ten.
Now,
the
Wolverines
will
have to right the ship against a
struggling Ohio State team in
Crisler Center to keep their NCAA
Tournament hopes alive.
After a strong non-conference
showing, which saw the Buckeyes
start 7-1 with a narrow two-
point loss to No. 9 Virginia, Ohio
State stumbled out of the gate
in conference play, starting 0-4
with losses to Illinois, Purdue,
Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes recovered and
won their next two games against
Michigan State and Nebraska, but
they have gone just 1-3 since, most
recently losing to Maryland at
home.
Much like the Wolverines, Ohio
State coach Thad Matta’s team has
been plagued by its defense. Once a
stout unit in non-conference play,
the Buckeyes’ defense has wilted,
and their offense has struggled to
make up for its deficiencies.
Ohio State is led on offense by
forward Jae’Sean Tate, who leads
the team in scoring with 14.3
points per game. Tate put up a stat
line of 20 points, four assists, and
four rebounds against Maryland.
With Tate at the ‘3’, the Buckeyes
have forwards Marc Loving and
Trevor Thompson at the ‘4’ and ‘5’,
respectively. Thompson leads the
team with 9.2 rebounds per game,
while Loving averages 5.1 boards.
Thompson and his 7-foot frame,
especially, will be
a challenge inside
for
Michigan
sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner.
The Daily sat
down with Tate
at Big Ten Media
Day in October
to talk about the
2015-16
season
in
which
Ohio
State went 21-14,
the Buckeyes’ expectations this
season and his relationship with
Michigan freshman forward Ibi
Watson who, like Tate and former
Wolverine guard Caris LeVert,
attended
Pickerington
High
School Central.
The Michigan
Daily: Reflecting
on last season, a
little bit up and
down, what did
you
take
away
from a year when
the
team
was
young and you
still managed to
string
together
some success?
Jae’Sean Tate:
Last year, it was
definitely a humbling one and I
learned a lot from it. We learned
how important the summer is.
We learned how important out
of conference play is. We learned
how important buying into what
Coach Matta said is.
So
all
those
things right there
are the reasons
why we weren’t
successful,
why
we went to the
NIT.
We
were
what,
a
game
or
two
away
from
making
the
(NCAA)
Tournament?
Not being ready,
not preparing the
right way, not being ready to play
in the out of conference games,
that’s the reason why.
TMD: Do you think that came
from youth, from a little bit lack
of experience? What was it in your
mind?
JT: I felt it was
just preparation,
not
respecting
your
opponents,
not finishing our
games.
There
were some times
when we’d be up
at halftime or 10
minutes going in,
and we’d just lose
it. But also, I feel
like (it was) a little
bit of being young.
We made some of the wrong
decisions, but I feel like that year
— two years under our belt — will
help us. Also bringing in Coach
Jent, and Coach Matta taking a
different approach in coaching
and helping us learn on and off the
court, I feel like this year should
be a good one.
TMD: Where do you guys set
the bar for this year, given that
you’re still a young roster but
you’re young with experience?
JT: Just to know that we
can’t make the same mistakes
that we did last year. Like I said,
the preseason work and the
out of conference play matters.
Finishing out games matters. The
expectation is that we go into
every game ready. There were
some times during the season
where we weren’t ready to play
and we’d go down 10. Now we’re
in the hole (down by) 10 and we’re
fighting for our life.
TMD:
You
mentioned
a
difference in how you approached
the summer. Is it in terms of
attitude
at
those
(summer)
workouts or number of workouts?
JT: Not even that, it’s just
doing what you’re supposed to do.
Whether that’s not missing a rep,
being on time, doing work, being
on time to class — just being an
all-around good person you know
what I mean? Because it shows, if
you do what you’re supposed to off
the court, it helps you on the court.
TMD: I know you played with
Caris, but did you also play with
Ibi?
JT: Ibi played with my brother.
When I graduated he came to Pick
Central, but I’m still really good
friends with Ibi.
TMD: Off the top of your head,
is there anything you got to see in
him that impressed you?
JT: His shooting. He’s a great
shooter, he’s athletic and I feel
like he can have a great impact for
Michigan. There’s been countless
times I’ve went back to Pick
Central and played against him,
and he’s one of the better guys that
I’ve played against in his class.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Ohio State forward Jae’Sean Tate will go up against a Michigan team hungry to retun to its winning ways after suffering a loss to Michigan State on Sunday.
“Just to know
that we can’t
make the same
mistakes”
“It shows, if you
do what you’re
supposed to off
the court”
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
‘M’ returns home eager to
defend undefeated streak
At
Crisler
Center,
the
Michigan women’s basketball
team is known for its third-
quarter
dominance.
They
typically
outscore
opponents
in
the
first
ten
minutes
after
the half.
Yet,
the
Wolverines
recently
took
their prowess
on
the
road
to
Urbana-
Champaign,
scoring 26 out
of
their
86
total points in
the third.
Michigan
(7-2
Big
Ten,
18-5 overall) will now have
an opportunity to keep its
momentum going in Sunday’s
game against Iowa (5-4, 14-8).
The Wolverines have yet to lose
a game in their own arena, and
they will be looking to maintain
their home-court advantage.
The last time the two team’s
met was in last year’s Big Ten
Tournament,
where
the
Hawkeyes
managed
to
steal the game,
97-85.
“(Last
year’s
game)
was
a
great game in
the
Big
Ten
Tournament,”
Michigan coach
Kim
Barnes
Arico said after
the
Illinois
game.
“(Senior
guard Siera Thompson) got in
foul trouble in that game and I
thought that really hurt us.
“Iowa’s a great team. We
were up big early against on
them, and that hurt us.”
The Hawkeyes rank second
in the Big Ten, and 10th
nationally, in assists per game,
averaging
18.3.
Similarly,
Iowa is in third-place in the
conference for total assists
with 384. Michigan doesn’t
quite match up to the Hawkeyes
in this respect, averaging 17.0
per game in conference play.
Thompson leads the charge
with 124 total for the season.
Thompson
is
also
just
28
points
away
from
breaking
into Michigan’s
all-time scorers
list.
Freshman
guard
Kysre
Gondrezick has
the most after
Thompson’s
assists
efforts,
but she still has
a total of just 70.
Gondrezick
has
had
a
successful week, earning both
Big Ten Player and Freshman
of
the
Week
honors
after
helping
Michigan
dominate
Northwestern, 80-54, on Jan.
24. She tied her career highs
in both points with 22 and
rebounds with seven and sunk
a career-high six 3-pointers.
It was the first time she
earned the Player of the Week
award, but the
fourth time for
the
freshman
award.
The
performance
snagged
Gondrezick the
US
Basketball
Writers
Association
Freshman of the
Week
award,
too.
Gondrezick’s
offensive
efforts — she averages 13.7
points per game — are matched
by sophomore center Hallie
Thome
and
junior
guard
Katelynn
Flaherty.
Thome
averages 15 points per game,
and Flaherty a whopping 20.
Flaherty
will
have
to
measure up to Hawkeye guard
Ally Disterhoft, who ranks
third on Iowa’s all-time career
scoring list. She has amassed
1,876 career points and is on
the hunt for first.
Thome, Flaherty, Gondrezick
Thompson
and
junior
guard Jillian Dunston have
consistently started in the past
eight games this
season.
Senior
guard
Danielle
Williams
is
the only player
outside of the
starting five to
play
in
every
game
—
she
has a total of
409
minutes
this
season.
Williams
and
sophomore
guard
Nicole
Munger — who has played in
21 games for 261 total minutes
— have a 50-percent shooting
average on threes.
The
Wolverines
game
against the Hawkeyes will be
the culmination of Michigan’s
Alumni weekend.
“I think it’s going to be a
great basketball game because
we’re very similar in a lot of
ways,” Barnes Arico said. “But
we’re at home, so I think that’s
worth (something).”
Michigan
sits
firmly
in
third place in the conference,
whereas Iowa just managed to
claim fifth. The Hawkeyes had
their most recent win against
Rutgers
on
Thursday
after
falling to No. 3 Maryland on
Jan. 29 with a final score of
100-81.
If the Wolverines continue
dominating the third quarter
and match the offense led by
Iowa’s Disterhoft, they could
be in for a comfortable win.
“(The Hawkeyes) are a good
team,” Barnes Arico said. “We
just seem to be playing with
really good confidence at home.
We love our home crowd, we
love the fans we’ve been able
to get and our kids really enjoy
the
atmosphere
and
really
enjoy playing there.”
JEREMY MITNICK/Daily
Junior guard Jillian Dunston and the Wolverines will look to maintain home-court advantage Sunday against Iowa.
SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Editor
“We love our
home crowd,
and we love the
fans”
“I think it’s
going to be a
great basketball
game”
Iowa at
Michigan
Matchup: Iowa
5-4 Big Ten,
14-8 overall;
Michigan
7-2, 18-5
When: Sunday
2 P.M.
Where: Crisler
Center