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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | February 6, 2017

Double trouble 

The Michigan men’s 

basketball team was plagued 
by both foul and rebounding 

trouble in its loss to the 
Buckeyes on Saturday.

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Real concerns
Mokhtar Al-Yamani’s future 
has become uncertain due 
to Donald Trump’s recent 
executive order.
» SportsMonday Column, 

Page 2B

 
 

Ohio State 6, Michigan 5

Ohio State 70, Michigan 66

The defensive problems were 

still there, and while that did not 
matter Friday night, it came back 
to bite the Michigan hockey team 
in the second game of its series 
against No. 11 Ohio State.

Just one night after nearly 

blowing a four-goal lead, the Wol-
verines surrendered six goals to 
the Buckeyes in the second game 
of the weekend series. On Friday, 
Michigan held on for a 5-4 vic-
tory, but it could not do the same 
Saturday, blowing a two-goal lead 
to fall, 6-5.

“... We have to play better in the 

third period,” said Michigan coach 
Red Berenson. “... They were the 
better team in 
the third period. 
Maybe they’re the 
better team on 
paper, but we’ve 
got to play better. 
I don’t care about 
the paper, what 
the paper says. 
Our team has to 
play better. We’ve 
got to play better 
in our own zone, 
and we’ve got to 
play better in their zone. We didn’t 
have enough push in this game, we 
didn’t have enough second efforts 

or leadership to make a difference 
in the game. Disappointing. That’s 
all I’ve got to say.”

The Wolver-

ines gave up too 
many power plays 
and too many 
chances from near 
the crease and in 
the slot — both 
recurring themes 
throughout this 
season — which 
made things dif-
ficult for Hayden 
Lavigne. The 
freshman goalten-

der was outstanding, stopping 29 
of 35 shots, and made big save after 
big save to limit the damage.

At times, Lavigne’s play ap-

peared to be enough. While 
Michigan’s defense struggled, its 
offense continued 
to play well — 
but just not well 
enough to make up 
for the defensive 
shortcomings in 
the end. The Wol-
verines (2-7-1 Big 
Ten, 9-13-2 overall) 
poured in five 
goals, keeping pace 
with the Buckeyes 
(4-5-1, 13-7-6) for 
most of the night.

“I think we were getting pucks 

to the net a lot more this week-
end,” said freshman forward Jake 

Slaker. “Probably these last two 
games were the most shots we’ve 
had in any game this season, so 

that’s something 
we’ve really 
worked on in prac-
tice, just getting 
pucks to the net 
and bodies to the 
net.”

Saturday’s game 

was a chippy, back-
and-forth affair, as 
both teams traded 
big hits and the 
lead.

The Buckeyes 

jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 
first period when forward Nick 
Schilkey sniped one past Lavi-

gne on an Ohio State power play. 
Michigan responded quickly, 
though, off sophomore forward 
Cooper Marody’s goal — his fourth 
of the weekend after a natural hat 
trick Friday — that tied things at 
one. The Buckeyes took the lead 
once more just three minutes later 
before Michigan responded in a 
big way.

Senior defenseman Sam Pi-

azza’s sixth goal of the season tied 
things up at two, and then Slaker’s 
power-play goal gave his team a 
3-2 lead.

Marody continued his hot 

streak on offense in the second 
period. His pass during a 2-on-1 

Derrick Walton Jr. has started 

over 100 games for Michigan in 
his career, and the Wolverines 
have needed every minute of 
his experience, leadership, and 
will to win in its recent stretch 
of games.

Walton came into Saturday’s 

contest against Ohio State (4-7 
Big Ten, 14-10 overall) averaging 
18.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 
Michigan’s past five games.

The senior guard had proven 

to his team and the Wolverine 
faithful that any hopes of a top-
half Big Ten finish and NCAA 
Tournament trip rested upon his 
shoulders.

So when Michigan (4-6, 14-9) 

faced a four-point deficit with 
just over half a minute to go, 

everyone knew who and where 
the Wolverines’ next shot was 
going to come from.

Within just a few ticks of the 

clock, Walton had the ball in 
his hands, positioned behind 
the 3-point line, 
corked to fire the 
shot that would 
bring Michigan 
within a point of 
digging out of a 
second-half hole 
it had dug itself 
into.

To no one’s 

surprise, Walton 
hit the shot, and 
after the Buck-
eyes missed a free 
throw on the other end, Walton 
had the ball in his hands again 
to potentially send the game to 
overtime or even win it outright.

But Walton, whose body was 

moving faster than anyone’s 

in Crisler Center on Saturday, 
rushed the shot, pulling up from 
two with 16 seconds remaining, 
and watched it clank off the rim.

Ohio State extended its lead 

to four following a pair of free 

throws, and time 
had run out for 
the Wolverines to 
come back, falling 
to the Buckeyes, 
70-66.

“I took a shot 

I thought was 
the best shot 
available,” Walton 
said. “I’ve made 
that shot a thou-
sand times. Kind 
of left it short, 

but, again, the ball just didn’t 
go in.”

Michigan had clawed back 

from multiple eight-point defi-
cits to make the game close in its 
final possessions. Walton spear-

headed the Wolverines’ effort, 
finishing with a season-high 25 
points and 10 rebounds. Sixteen 
of his points came in the second 
half, in which Michigan never 
had the lead, though it had tied 
the game on two 
occasions.

With 4:23 left 

on the clock, 
Walton hit one of 
his six 3-pointers 
on the night to 
knot the game at 
60. Two minutes 
later, redshirt 
sophomore for-
ward DJ Wilson 
dialed up from 
deep to tie the 
game at 63 — the closest the 
Wolverines would be to tasting a 
lead in the final 20 minutes.

Michigan’s struggles were 

exposed within the opening 1:08 
of the second half, when sopho-

more forward Moritz Wagner 
and Wilson had each picked up 
their third fouls. The Wolver-
ines had no choice but to rely 
on two bench players — senior 
forward Mark Donnal and red-

shirt junior wing 
Duncan Robinson 
— to carry the 
load for the two 
most productive 
players in their 
frontcourt.

Michigan 

had an 11-point 
advantage in the 
first half, but that 
lead evaporated 
as the Buckeyes’ 
big men began 

to bully the Wolverines’ post 
defenders down low. Ohio State 
went into halftime with a one-
point lead thanks to a massive 
20-8 advantage it had on the 
glass. Of the Buckeyes’ 20 first-

half rebounds, 10 came on the 
offensive end, allowing them 
to keep possessions alive and 
the ball away from Michigan on 
offense.

Ohio State ended up hand-

ily winning the contest on the 
boards, outrebounding the 
Wolverines 42-24 on the night, 
including a 16-7 advantage on 
the offensive glass.

“In a game when it looked 

like it was so under control from 
the first couple minutes of the 
game, things turned with all the 
missed shots they had and the 
offensive rebounds they got,” 
Walton said. “We just got to 
get back to the basics of being 
tough.”

With its two key big men 

in foul trouble and without an 
answer to the Buckeyes’ domi-
nance inside, Michigan knew 

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

See MICHIGAN, Page 4B

See MICHIGAN, Page 4B

“I took a shot 
I thought was 
the best shot 

available”

“We just got to 
get back to the 
basics of being 

tough”

“Maybe they’re 

the better team on 
paper, but we’ve 
got to play better”

“We’ve got to play 
better in our zone, 

and ... in their 

zone”

