8 — Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Walton dominates in Lincoln, earns Big Ten honors
LINCOLN — Amid a nearly
perfect game, there was a moment
Sunday night when Michigan’s
half-court set was launched into
disarray.
It was certainly a rare case
in Lincoln, as the Wolverines
dismantled
the
Cornhuskers
in front of a crowd of 14,071.
Michigan’s
36-point
victory
marked Nebraska’s worst losing
margin at home in the 121-year
existence of the program.
But it happened nonetheless,
largely because Derrick Walton Jr.
was playing too well.
The play blew up because
Michigan coach John Beilein had
called one play. Walton had called
another. Half the team followed
its coach’s orders, the other half
followed its senior guard’s lead. But
given all the issues that plagued
Michigan early in its season, there
were worse things that could have
happened for the Wolverines as
they rounded out their regular
season.
“That’s a good problem to have
right now,” Beilein said. “That
was Trey Burke-like out there, the
way (Walton) just controlled the
tempo.”
The Trey Burke comparison — it
has followed Walton for four years
now. He has never embraced it.
Neither have his teammates. And
Beilein hasn’t either.
Except there was one big
difference Sunday night. This time,
when Beilein drew the comparison
himself, it was about what Walton
is, not what the Michigan fan
base has, arguably unrealistically,
wanted him to be.
As the Wolverines prepared
to board the bus to the airport,
Pinnacle Bank Arena had long
been emptied. The only people that
remained in the stands were the
custodians, cleaning up the final
traces of what had been a long game
for the Nebraska basketball team.
And then there was a small
conglomerate of maize and blue
standing at the end of one of the
arena’s
tunnels.
That’s
where
Walton stood, talking to the
members of families that had made
the trip to Lincoln, basking in the
aura of what had been one hell
of a night. He was all smiles, and
rightfully so.
Michigan capped off its Big
Ten season with a win that looked
like the Wolverines were playing
against their scout team. And boy
did it get ugly.
Walton was the concertmaster
of it all, finishing with 18 points on
5-for-10 shooting and 16 assists to
break the single-game assist record
held by Gary Grant since 1987. The
performance earned him a nod as
the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week.
“It means a lot to me,” Walton
said of etching his name into the
program record book. “I’m a guy
who loves to make other people
better. So to see my guys happy
making shots and me being the guy
as one of the reasons why is a great
feeling.”
It’s been a season in which
saying Walton is helping his team
would
be
an
understatement.
Over the Wolverines’ seven-game
stretch in the month of February,
Walton averaged 17.3 points, 6.4
rebounds and 5.4 assists while
notching two double-doubles and
leading Michigan to a 5-2 record
that could have just as easily been a
perfect 7-0.
As Beilein described, if it were
football, his senior guard would be
calling half of the plays out of the
huddle.
Quite simply, Walton has been
playing like a man who knows
that his days are numbered, and
that the number of those days
are largely dependent on his own
performance. Sunday night was the
pinnacle of that.
Roughly two weeks ago, Beilein
stood at the podium in a state of
retrospection. He admitted that he
didn’t think there was someone on
Michigan’s roster that he could give
the ball to and tell them to go get
themselves a bucket.
He used to have two players
like that. He recalled the 2012-13
season, when he had the freedom
to let Burke and Mitch McGary
dictate games in their closing
minutes. For the majority of this
season, Beilein didn’t have that
option. On Sunday night, that may
have changed.
In the bowels of Pinnacle Bank
Arena, as he was reminded of his
comments about the Wolverines’
lack of a go-to scorer in light of
what Walton had just done to the
Cornhuskers, a grin cracked over
his face and he had five words that
said it all.
“It looked like it tonight.”
Derrick Walton Jr. will leave
Michigan with the honor of being
named one of the Big Ten’s best
players.
The
senior
guard
was
announced as a member of the
2016-17 second team All-Big
Ten, averaging 14.5 points, 4.7
rebounds and 4.5 assists per
game through the regular season.
While he consistently led the
Wolverines in scoring and assists
all season long, Walton’s form
picked up in conference play,
where his leadership both on and
off the court helped Michigan
close out the Big Ten regular
season on a high note.
Walton finished in the top-10
of individual conference scoring,
assists, free-throw percentage,
3-point percentage and defensive
rebounding. The senior’s impact
helped Michigan finish with
a 10-8 Big Ten record and win
six of its final eight conference
games.
Walton
finished
the
conference season earning four
double-doubles, scoring 20-plus
points in six outings and picking
up two Big Ten player of the
Week honors along the way.
The senior guard also became
the first Wolverine player and
just the 13th in Big Ten history
to record over 1,000 points, 500
rebounds and 400 assists in his
career.
Purdue
forward
Caleb
Swanigan, Wisconsin forward
Ethan Happ, Iowa guard Peter
Jok,
Maryland
guard
Melo
Trimble and Minnesota guard
Nate Mason were all selected to
the first team All-Big Ten over
Walton.
Walton is joined by Michigan
State forward Miles Bridges,
Illinois forward Malcolm Hill,
Northwestern
guard
Bryant
McIntosh,
Wisconsin
guard
Bronson
Koenig
(coaches
selection) and Nebraska guard
Tai Webster (media selection) on
the conference’s all-second team.
Senior guard Zak Irvin and
sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner also earned All-Big Ten
honorable mentions.
Irvin and Wagner finished
as the Wolverines’ second and
third highest scorers, averaging
12.6 and 12.4 points per game,
respectively. Wagner finished
with
the
conference’s
sixth
highest field goal percentage,
while Irvin led the Big Ten in
minutes played.
In
addition
to
his
all-
conference honors, Walton was
named co-Big Ten Player of the
Week following the Wolverines’
loss at Northwestern and win
against Nebraska. The senior
averaged 16.5 points and 11 assists
across both games and now is
the sole owner of Michigan’s
single-game assist record after
earning 16 helpers against the
Cornhuskers on Sunday.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. capped off the regular season with 18 points and 16 assists against the Cornhuskers, leading Michigan to a road victory in Lincoln.
Peppers confident in ability at Combine
It has been a busy few days
in
Indianapolis
for
former
Michigan football players.
While
their
season
may
have ended a couple months
ago in a 33-32 loss to Florida
State in the Orange Bowl,
these
ex-Wolverines
have
been participating at the NFL
Combine — an event which,
in this day and age, carries
close to as much importance
as on-field production does.
Michigan sent 14 players — the
most of any college team — to
the invitation-only combine.
For a week, players from
across the country underwent
testing
(both
physical
and
mental)
under
the
close
examination
of
NFL
front
office
executives,
coaches
and scouts. The combine is an
arduous,
uniquely-designed
job interview where a good
showing can result in a prospect
skyrocketing up draft boards.
On the other hand, any sort
of slip-up is scrutinized and
can negatively affect a player’s
position in April’s NFL Draft.
For the 12 Wolverines who
participated in the physical
drills (former tight end Jake
Butt and cornerback Jeremy
Clark sat out while undergoing
rehabilitation
for
injuries
suffered during the season), the
results were mixed. Some, like
former defensive lineman Taco
Charlton, posted eye-popping
numbers, while others tested on
the lower end of their position
groups.
Yet there may not have been
another Michigan player who
was watched more than Jabrill
Peppers,
a
fitting
outcome
considering all the hoopla the
former athlete generated in his
three years in Ann Arbor.
Peppers
—
a
do-it-all
Heisman finalist who played
in all three phases of the game
— had a particularly intensive
combine, testing with both the
linebackers and defensive backs
on consecutive days.
His is a special case; while
Peppers spent most of his time as
a linebacker for the Wolverines
last season, carving out a role
as a knifing, penetrating run
defender and edge-setter, NFL
prognosticators have debated
which position he will play once
he reaches the league.
One of the bigger questions
entering
the
combine
was
whether Peppers will stick
inside the box or become a
safety. The other side of the ball
is not out of the question, either.
NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread
tweeted two days ago that a
couple
teams
“have
asked”
Peppers about playing running
back or slot receiver.
But while Peppers did play
some offense last year, mostly
in a wildcat formation, the
most likely scenario is that
he sticks on defense — after
all, he played the bulk of his
snaps as a Wolverine there.
Peppers began his career as a
defensive back, moving into a
role as a nickel defender under
former defensive coordinator
DJ Durkin. In his first year as a
starter, he displayed a penchant
for disrupting wide receiver
screens
and
providing
run
support from the secondary,
while also playing a decent
amount of pass coverage (of
which results were mixed).
Then, when Durkin left and
was replaced by Don Brown,
Peppers moved even closer
to the line. Designated as the
SAM linebacker, he took on
even more of an attacking role
— blitzing often — and played
even fewer snaps in coverage.
It is a testament to Peppers’
athleticism that, amidst this
positional uncertainty, he has
remained in the first round
in most draft projections —
although that uncertainty may
have been cleared up at the
combine.
Peppers himself was quoted
at the combine Saturday as
saying he is a safety, and
his
physical
measurements
would imply the same. At
just under 5-foot-11 and 213
pounds with an arm length
of 30 and ¾ inches, Peppers
ranks in the third, zeroth and
eighth
percentiles
amongst
linebackers,
respectively,
according
to
mockdraftable.
com.
His 40-yard dash, 10-yard
split and broad jump were
all tops amongst linebackers
at the combine, but his size
may preclude a shift to the
secondary, where his speed and
agility still rank close to the top.
And though the question
of
which
position
Peppers
will play at the next level
may have a definite answer, a
move back to safety may give
way to additional queries. His
coverage skills will certainly be
among them; according to Pro
Football Focus, Peppers gave
up 58 receptions to opposing
receivers in 93 targets over
his three seasons at Michigan.
Scouts may point to his lack of
experience shadowing receivers
and tight ends and advise their
teams to opt for safer choices
in players who have roamed
the defensive backfield for the
entirety of their careers.
None of this, though, appears to
have outwardly affected Peppers.
“The bottom line is, I’m a ball
player, and I’m a hell of a ball
player,” Peppers said to assorted
members of the media on
Saturday. “I intend to run fast,
I intend to look smooth, doing
whatever it is that I’m asked to
do. After a couple of interviews,
I think these coaches pretty
much know what they’re going
to get.”
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
Former Wolverine Jabrill Peppers quieted concerns about his positional identity at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
BRANDON CARNEY
Daily Sports Writer
KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor
Wolverines await
Tournament fate
Typically, a team in the
position that the Michigan
women’s basketball team is
in would be grateful. The
Wolverines are a presumed
lock
for
their
first
NCAA
Tournament
berth
in
four
seasons, after being selected
for
the
Women’s
National
Invitational
Tournament
the past three years. With a
program record-tying 22 wins
thus far, Michigan’s season is
obviously nothing to belittle.
But for the
Wolverines,
a
state
of
uncertainty
exists as they are
left
searching
for
more.
On
Feb.
15,
with
four
games
remaining
on
their
schedule
plus the Big Ten
Tournament to
play in, they needed just two more
wins to claim sole possession of
the all-time program record for
victories in a season. Yet, their
1-4 jog to the finish line has put
that goal on hold.
Once
projected
as
high
as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA
Tournament, a solid end to
the
regular
season
could
have given Michigan a top-16
seed nationally, and with it, a
chance for home games come
tournament time. But it couldn’t
hold on, and are now focused on
resiliency rather than riding
momentum.
“So down the stretch here
we’ve had the tough part of our
schedule, and obviously we have
to regroup from that moving
forward,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “I think a
couple of days, obviously, off
will get the kids a break and get
them fresh again.”
With
no
regular
season
games remaining and one week
before the selection show, the
Wolverines can do nothing
but
practice
and
twiddle
their thumbs until their fate
is
revealed.
ESPN
predicts
Michigan as one of the last four
teams in the tournament as a
10-seed in the Stockton, Calif.
regional.
The Wolverines have shown
their volatility on the court, and
it is difficult to count them out of
any first round game. But their
sluggish Big Ten finish has left
much to be desired and brought
back
previously-unanswered
questions about their game
plan.
Its
second
loss
to
Michigan
State
this year — in
neutral territory
at the Big Ten
Tournament
— surely left a
sour
taste
for
Michigan.
But
it also inspired
a
yearning
to
bounce back.
“I think some
of these losses
are good for us,” said junior
guard Katelynn Flaherty after
the Wolverines’ loss to the
Spartans on Mar. 3. “Coach
says it kind of puts a fire in us.
It’s definitely disappointing to
lose (against Michigan State)
after coming off the past couple
of games where we haven’t
performed like we would have.
But we’re definitely determined
especially
after
losing
this
game.”
Added Barnes Arico: “Our
kids will bounce back. They still
have an opportunity to be a part
of the best team that’s ever been
at Michigan. And I think that’s
really important to (seniors)
Siera (Thompson) and Danielle
(Williams) to leave that legacy
behind.
“So I know that they’re going
to go out fighting and that we
are going to regroup. And if
we get selected... it will be the
first time anyone on our team
has ever been in the NCAA
Tournament.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
“I think some
of these losses
are good for
us”
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor