4B — February 20, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Trouble at the line dooms Michigan
MINNEAPOLIS
—
Uncharacteristic.
That’s how Michigan coach
John Beilein described the
Wolverines’ performance from
the free-throw line. It was also
how both redshirt sophomore
forward DJ Wilson and senior
guard
Derrick
Walton
Jr.
described it.
It was that kind of night for
the Michigan basketball team
(7-7 Big Ten, 17-10 overall), as
it shot just 50 percent (9-for-
18) from the charity stripe.
It was an overall dismal
performance
for
a
usually
good
free-throw
shooting
team — the Wolverines are
ranked No. 4 in the NCAA
with a 78.9 percent conversion
rate — as Michigan was dealt a
crushing 83-78 overtime loss to
Minnesota (8-6, 20-7) Sunday
afternoon at Williams Arena.
“It was very uncharacteristic
of us to go 9-for-18 at the foul
line,” Beilein said. “That was a
big point in the game.”
Added
Wilson:
“It
was
uncharacteristic of us to miss
those
free
throws
down
the stretch. I
think we shot
50 percent, and
we’re one of the
leaders in the
country as far
as
free-throw
shooting,
so
that’s
no
excuse.”
And
like
Wilson
said,
it was at the
most crucial times in the game
that the Wolverines failed to
convert from the line.
With 1:40 left in overtime,
junior guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rakhman went to the
charity stripe to shoot two
with Michigan down by one.
The junior guard put up
the first shot. The ball hit the
inside of the bucket before
rimming out.
Abdur-Rakhman
didn’t
have much luck on his second
shot either, as the ball rimmed
out once again, wasting a big
opportunity for Michigan to at
least tie the game.
Earlier in the game, senior
guard Derrick
Walton
Jr.
missed
three
straight
free
throws
—
including
the
front end of a
one-and-one
— to cast away
the possibility
of
putting
Michigan
ahead
with
less
than
10
minutes left in
regulation.
After
the
game,
Walton
had
no
answers
for
why
the
Wolverines’
free-throw
shooting
was
off
Sunday
afternoon.
“Just a very uncharacteristic
tonight when I miss three
big
critical
free
throws,”
Walton
said.
“Muhammad
missed
two
big
ones,
and
then
(junior
wing
Duncan
Robinson), out of
all of us, missed
one. It’s just one
of those games
where you can’t
really
describe
what’s going on.
“We
just
couldn’t
make
them. A lot of them rimmed
out halfway down the basket,
and they just came out. I don’t
think anybody changed their
routine, and everybody shot it
to make it, of course, but the
ball just didn’t go in.”
While Michigan struggled
from the free-throw line down
the stretch, the performance
was
in
stark
contrast
to
Minnesota’s night from the
charity stripe.
The
Golden
Gophers
struggled early, making just
5-of-12 free throws in the first
half. But Minnesota improved
down the stretch, hitting 15
of its last 16
free throws to
increase a lead
that
Michigan
couldn’t
come
back from.
“It’s
cliché,
but they don’t
seem to get too
high or too low,”
said Minnesota
coach
Richard
Pitino
of
his
team’s
resiliency.
“They’re a very mentally tough
group.”
But while the ball didn’t roll
Michigan’s way either from
the charity stripe or at the end
of the game, when Walton’s
potential game-tying 3-pointer
at the end of overtime rimmed
out, there were some positives.
Mainly, the fact that the
Wolverines were still in the
game despite their struggles
from
the
free-throw
line
against a top-25 RPI team.
“For me, it adds an little
extra boost of confidence to
know that we’re missing these
free throws and we’re still in
the game down the stretch,”
Wilson said.
While Michigan’s loss at
Minnesota won’t push them off
the NCAA Tournament bubble
— a conference loss on the road
to a top-25 RPI team shouldn’t
do that — there will come a
time when the Wolverines will
need to hit clutch free throws.
And the implications will
be much larger than they were
Sunday night in Minneapolis.
Wolverines split opening weekend
The
Michigan
baseball
team kicked off its preseason
tournament against Seton Hall
this weekend in a four-game
bout, with the frenetic weekend
ending in a 2-2 split. The series
was highlighted by two games in
which a single run decided the
outcome.
“Close
games
are
always
decided by one play, one pitch,
one swing,” said Michigan coach
Erik Bakich. “It seemed to be
back and forth, there was no quit
in either team.”
Junior left-hander Michael
Hendrickson took the mound for
the preseason finale that ended
in disappointment in the top half
of the last inning. The match
followed a 10-7 victory earlier
in the day over the Pirates in a
continuation of the previously
delayed game.
The Wolverines got off to a
slow start, as Seton Hall earned
three hits that culminated in
two runs in the second inning.
Responding
quickly
in
the
bottom of the second, senior
catcher
Harrison
Wenson
tripled, and was driven in from
an RBI groundout from senior
shortstop Michael Brdar to tack
on a run shortly after.
Sophomore second baseman
Ako
Thomas
started
the
offensive engine, though, in the
bottom of the third inning with a
single, before eventually stealing
third base. Junior first baseman
Jake Bivens reached first on a
walk, and redshirt sophomore
left fielder Miles Lewis drove
him in on an RBI single.
Lewis
and
junior
third
baseman Drew Lugbauer would
score in the same inning on back-
to-back RBIs to give Michigan a
5-2 lead.
Heading into the ninth inning,
the Wolverines led 6-3 due to a
run from Thomas off a Bivens
RBI and a Seton Hall run in the
fifth. Sophomore right-hander
Jack Bredeson came in to pitch
the ninth inning and gave up
five unanswered runs, featuring
a three-run home run from the
Pirates. They would go on to take
the last game of the series, 8-6.
“As a team, we did a good job
battling,” Wenson said. “We
played pitch-to-pitch and did
a good job with that. They’re a
really scrappy team and put the
bat on the ball.”
In its season opener in Port
St. Lucie, Fla., junior left-hander
and ace Oliver Jaskie took the
mound for his first start.
The Wolverines pounced first
in the third inning after Jaskie’s
two-inning shutout that included
only one surrendered double.
Sophomore first baseman Jimmy
Kerr jumpstarted their offense
with the team’s first hit of the
season on a one-out single.
Brdar
followed
in
Kerr’s
footsteps with a single, and
senior outfielder Johnny Slater
lofted a sacrifice fly to bring
in the pair. Thomas drove a
single into the outfield, picking
up another RBI and giving the
Wolverines a 3-0 lead.
The Pirates did not back down,
though, and in the third inning
drove in a lone run, followed by
three runs in the fourth to take
a 4-3 lead.
Michigan responded in style,
as right fielder Nick Poirer lofted
one over the fence to force the
game to a tie heading to the top
of the fifth inning.
Even with a one-out double
from Lugbauer, the Wolverines
could not drive in another run in
the contest, and they sacrificed
a run in the fifth inning that
ultimately was the dagger.
Junior
right-hander
Alec
Rennard
took
the
mound
Saturday to begin Michigan’s
doubleheader redemption day.
And redeem themselves they
did, as the Wolverines were able
to tie the series, 1-1, with a walk-
off single from Lewis.
“It was great,” Lewis said. “I
have to give credit to the guys
getting on before me and doing
their job.”
After a scoreless first inning,
the game started in similar
fashion to Friday’s debut. But
this time, Seton Hall struck first
with two runs in the top of the
second.
The trio of Wenson, who
started the surge for Michigan’s
comeback with a liner into left
field, sophomore right fielder
Jonathan Engelman, who went
3-for-4 on the contest, and
Lewis all led the charge for the
Wolverines.
Rennard forfeited an RBI
double in the top of the third
inning but Michigan was able to
dig itself out of the hole quickly
with two back-to-back runs
off RBIs from Engelmann and
Thomas, tightening the Pirates’
lead to one.
The Wolverines’ climb back
to victory took hold in the fifth
inning. Lewis earned a run off
a Wenson RBI, and Engelmann
followed with a two-run RBI
double to give Michigan its first
lead of the day, 6-5.
Under
the
dominant
performance of junior right-
hander
Jayce
Vancena,
the
Wolverines were able to sit down
Seton Hall and produce an RBI
single from Slater in the seventh
to give them a 7-6 lead. The
Pirates would not shut down,
though, and a run in the top of
the eighth inning would send the
game to extra innings.
In the bottom of the 10th inning,
Lewis chopped one to shallow
right field to drive in the winning
run from third base and earn
Michigan’s first win of the season.
In
their
second
game,
only going seven innings, the
Wolverines jumped out to an
extremely fast start with an
RBI double from Kerr that
highlighted a nine-run inning.
The Pirates responded in the
third with four runs and in the
fourth with three runs, but
Michigan added to its lead and
established a 10-7 advantage.
After a delay due to darkness,
the Wolverines never scored
or forfeited any runs, allowing
them to transition into the last
game of the weekend on a 15-hit,
10-7, win.
LIZZY XIONG/Daily
Redshirt sophomore left fielder Miles Lewis notched five RBI in the Wolverines’ opening weekend against Seton Hall.
ROBERT HEFTER
Daily Sports Writer
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
“It’s just one of
those games
where you can’t
really describe
what’s going on”
‘M’ shoots 50 percent from the line, falters in Minnesota
“It’s cliché, but
they don’t seem to
get too high or too
low.”