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Sports
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 — 7
NCAA Tournament: Breaking down the Midwest Region
By winning the Big Ten
Tournament,
the
Michigan
men’s basketball team earned
an automatic bid into the NCAA
Tournament.
Once
on
the
bubble, the Wolverines ripped
off 10 wins in 12 games to make
it into the field as the No. 7 seed
in the Midwest Region.
Michigan
kicks
off
its
NCAA Tournament on Friday
afternoon at 12:15 p.m. ET in
Indianapolis, where it will take
on No. 10 seed Oklahoma State.
If the Wolverines make it out
of Indianapolis, they will head
to Kansas City for the Sweet
Sixteen and potentially the Elite
Eight. The Final Four will be
held in Phoenix.
With
that,
the
Daily’s
basketball beat breaks down
the top six seeds in the Midwest
Region as well as the team we
think has the best chance to
write a Cinderella story.
No. 1 Kansas
The
Jayhawks
may
not
have finished their season as
the champions of the Big 12
Tournament — falling to TCU,
85-82, in the quarterfinals —
but don’t let that fool you. The
Midwest Region’s top seed is
still very dangerous.
Though Kansas fell short
against
the
Horned
Frogs,
it did so without freshman
phenom Josh Jackson, who was
suspended one game after being
cited for three traffic violations.
The Jayhawk forward is second
on the team in both rebounding
and
scoring,
averaging
7.2
boards and 16.4 points per game,
respectively.
Led by senior guard Frank
Mason III — who averages
20.2 points per game — Kansas
ended its regular season on an
eight-game win streak. Though
the
Jayhawks
surely
would
have wanted to take hardware
home with them from the Sprint
Center, they are poised to make
a run at the trophy every team
in the Big Dance is looking to
claim.
Should the Wolverines make
a run to the Elite Eight this
postseason, they could likely
find the Jayhawks standing
between them and a Final Four.
No. 2 Louisville
If
Michigan
can
manage
to
defeat
Oklahoma
State,
Louisville
will
likely
await
in the tournament’s second
round as a rematch of the 2013
National Championship game.
Just like the team that faced
the Wolverines four years ago,
this version of the Cardinals is
built upon sound defense and
strength in numbers. Louisville
has
the
nation’s
sixth-most
efficient defense and plays with
a 10-man rotation that will help
give the Cardinals the physical
edge over most any opponent
they face.
Leading
the
charge
for
Louisville is guard Donovan
Mitchell. The sophomore was
a first-team all-Atlantic Coast
Conference selection, and led
the Cardinals in points, steals,
three-pointers
and
minutes
played. Mitchell is the engine
behind
Louisville’s
offense,
while also one of the ACC’s
toughest lock-down defenders.
Alongside Mitchell in the
backcourt is junior Quentin
Snider, who will also provide a
difficult matchup for the guard
assigned to him on both ends of
the court.
The Cardinals have one of the
more
interesting
frontcourts
Michigan could possibly face, as
Louisville splits its post minutes
fairly
evenly
between
four
different players. Anchoring the
Cardinals’ frontcourt is center
Anas Mahmoud. The seven-foot
Egyptian finished second in the
ACC in blocks per game (2.1) and
is an imposing presence for any
opposing offense waiting in the
paint.
No. 3 Oregon
For the Ducks, there is more
bad news than good news.
They are fresh off a loss
in
the
Pac-12
Tournament
championship, received a lower
seeding than many expected
and
got
news
that
senior
forward Chris Boucher is out for
the season with a torn ACL that
he suffered in the semifinals
of the conference tournament
against California.
Boucher
was
a
steadying
force for Oregon, averaging
11.8 points, 2.5 blocks and 6.1
rebounds — good for second on
the team. Even with Boucher,
the Ducks were mediocre on the
offensive boards and even worse
at keeping opposing offenses
from hitting the glass hard.
Without
Boucher,
Oregon
will be forced to rely even
heavier on Dillon Brooks and
Tyler Dorsey, who are currently
first and second on the team in
scoring with 16.3 and 13.3 points
per game, respectively.
If Michigan and the Ducks
can both advance past the
opening
weekend,
the
two
teams will face off in the Sweet
Sixteen in Kansas City.
No. 4 Purdue
The regular season Big Ten
champion, No. 15 Purdue (25-
7) glided through much of the
conference season, but turned it
up a notch in the second half. The
Boilermakers won eight of their
final nine regular season games
— falling only to No. 23 Michigan
in Ann Arbor — to finish just
ahead of No. 25 Wisconsin in the
conference standings.
But Purdue’s joy ride came
to a crashing halt in the
postseason, as the Boilermakers
lasted all of one day in the Big
Ten Tournament after earning
a double-bye. Facing off against
Michigan once again in the
quarterfinals, the Boilermakers
suffered a 74-70 loss but still
received a No. 4 seed in the
NCAA Tournament.
No. 5 Iowa State
No. 17 Iowa State (23-10)
weaved
its
way
through
a
challenging Big 12 conference,
finishing the regular season
tied for second place with
No. 12 Baylor and No. 13 West
Virginia. Though the Cyclones
fell to then-No. 2 Baylor and
then-No. 2 Kansas in January,
they bounced back in February
to knock off the then-ninth-
ranked Bears and then-second-
ranked Jayhawks.
After winning six straight
games, Iowa State lost its regular-
season finale to then-No. 10 West
Virginia. But the bump in the road
didn’t keep the Cyclones down
for long, as they blitzed through
the Big 12 Tournament all the
way to a title. Iowa State topped
Oklahoma State and TCU before
capping off the run with a victory
over the then-eleventh-ranked
Mountaineers to receive a No. 5
seed in the NCAA Tournament.
No. 6 Creighton
Creighton was one of the
country’s hottest teams from
the
nonconference
season
through
mid-January,
once
owning an 18-1 record with the
lone loss coming against then-
no. 1 Villanova.
That all changed when senior
point guard Maurice Watson
tore his ACL at Xavier and was
ruled out for the rest of the
season on Jan. 17.
The Blue Jays finished the
regular season winning just five
of their final 12 games, which
included an ugly 20-point loss to
Georgetown and one-possession
defeats
against
Xavier
and
Providence.
Creighton
did
exact
revenge
against
both
those teams in the Big East
Tournament, and reached the
championship game where the
Blue Jays fell to the Wildcats for
the third time this season.
Though Watson’s 12.9 points
and 8.5 assists per game have
been missed, junior Marcus
Foster has been carrying the
Blue Jays offensively where
Watson once would have. Foster
now averages 18.3 points per
game and will have to keep
leading Creighton if the Blue
Jays are to find any success in
the NCAA Tournament.
Cinderella: No. 11 Rhode
Island
With
five
losses
in
the
Atlantic Ten, the Rams went into
the Atlantic Ten Tournament
squarely on the bubble.
But
Rhode
Island
didn’t
leave its NCAA Tournament
spot up to the committee. The
Rams won three games in
three days — including over
fellow tournament team, VCU,
to clinch the Atlantic Ten
Tournament championship and
solidify an automatic bid to the
Big Dance.
Rhode
Island’s
biggest
strength comes on the defensive
end on the floor, where it is
ranked No. 32 in the country.
It guards the 3-point line
exceptionally
well,
allowing
just 29 percent on shots behind
the arc, which ranks No. 2
in the country. Entering the
tournament with seven straight
wins, the Rams will look to keep
rolling and bust some brackets
in the process.
No Big Dance for ‘M’
There had been 45 minutes
of
chatter
and
giggling
from the Michigan women’s
basketball team as it watched
ESPN’s selection show for the
NCAA Tournament.
But after the final region
was
announced
with
the
Wolverines missing from the
bracket, the room immediately
fell silent.
Michigan waited patiently
for its name to be called Monday
night. When they realized that
moment would never come,
the players uniformly stood
up and huddled around fifth-
year coach Kim Barnes Arico,
who stressed the importance
of resiliency in the face of
disappointment.
Athletic
director
Warde
Manuel
hugged Barnes Arico as she
said goodbye to her team for
the night.
Just three weeks ago, the
Michigan women’s basketball
team was a top-25 team in the
country on the verge of having
its best season in program
history.
And
yet,
Monday
night, it was left in an all-
too-familiar position — with a
Women’s National Invitation
Tournament
matchup
with
Kent
State
scheduled
for
Thursday. it was no wonder
that the feeling of uneasiness
filled every crevice of the
room.
Despite losing four of their
last five games and suffering
an early exit from the Big Ten
Tournament,
the
Selection
Committee’s decision to leave
the
Wolverines
(11-5
Big
Ten, 22-9 overall) out of the
tournament left Barnes Arico
and her players scratching
their heads. Instead of the
Tournament, Michigan will
enter the WNIT, where the
Wolverines
will
host
the
Golden Flashes in Ann Arbor
for the first round.
“(I
am)
surprised,
devastated, really disappointed
— especially for our senior
class, who has worked so hard
and done things that haven’t
been done in our program for a
long time,” Barnes Arico said.
“I just wanted them to have
the opportunity to play in the
NCAA Tournament. I thought
we put ourselves in a really
good position to be selected.
“We’ve never not been in all
season long. We were a top-25
team at one point. We played
the No. 1 conference schedule.
There were a couple of teams
that came up that were not in
the bracketology that would
knock some teams out, but we
didn’t think it would be us.”
The Big Ten had just four
teams make the tournament,
and most of the qualifiers
were not seeded favorably.
Maryland — a top-five team for
almost the entire season and
one of just two teams to lose
by single digits to powerhouse
Connecticut — was slotted
as a No. 3 seed. Ohio State,
Michigan State and Purdue
rounded out the Big Ten
representatives, seeded at No.
4, No. 9 and No. 9, respectively.
“When that first bracket
came out and Maryland was
a three in the UConn bracket
it wasn’t a good sign for us.
... It’s just disappointing how
they voted our league,” Barnes
Arico said.
For much of the season, the
Wolverines received votes in
both the Associated Press and
Coaches Poll, ranking as high
as No. 20 in the Feb. 13 poll,
and finished in third place in
the regular season Big Ten
standings — points that surely
will fuel the fire for Barnes
Arico’s team the rest of the
way.
“They’re gonna take it and
take advantage to prove the
rest of the country wrong,”
Barnes Arico said.
The Wolverines have proven
that they can run with nearly
any team in the country, but
after their sluggish finish,
they will have to iron out their
flaws with a lot to prove as
they prepare for their WNIT
game
against
the
Golden
Flashes.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
Freshmen prepare for first B1G Tournament
The Michigan hockey team
is on a roll heading into the
Big
Ten
Tournament.
The
Wolverines have won four of
their last five games and just
capped off their first weekend
sweep of the season against No.
15 Penn State.
With Michigan getting set
to take on the Nittany Lions
again Thursday in its first-
round matchup, it would be
reasonable
to
assume
the
Wolverines are prepared for
the familiar opponent. But
almost
immediately
after
Michigan beat Penn State 4-0
on Saturday, senior goaltender
Zach Nagelvoort was quick
to say that Thursday could be
completely different.
“We’re going to talk about
this Monday when we show
up to the rink; what we played
tonight, the game is going to be
so much more intense than that
next
Thursday,”
Nagelvoort
said. “It’s just a whole different
animal when you get to the
playoffs. We’ve seen it every
year when we’ve gotten to
the Big Ten (Tournament).
So that’s what we’re looking
forward to. Yes, we’re playing
the best hockey, but we’re
going to continue to grow and
play even better hockey if we
want to make it last longer than
a game.”
Most
of
the
Wolverines
have experienced the change
of
pace
that
comes
with
playoff hockey. Yet, as has
been the narrative all season,
the freshmen on the team are
expected to contribute heavily.
For them, this weekend will be
the first time they’ve played in
the conference tournament.
According
to
Michigan
coach Red Berenson, whether
or not the freshmen, and as a
result the whole team, will be
ready for Thursday depends
on their preparation up to this
point.
“This time of year, you just
can’t turn on a switch and
say, ‘I’m going to turn on last
year’s
switch,’
”
Berenson
said. “You’ve got to build up
momentum during the year,
and even this week. This is a
time
to
just
focus on this
one
game.
Like, we might
only have one
game left, and
we’ve got to be
ready for it.”
A
few
of
the
freshmen
have
their
own
playoff
experiences
from their time playing juniors.
Forward Jake Slaker tallied
12 points in 10 playoff games
with the Bloomington Thunder
in the United States Hockey
League last season.
But just as the transition
from juniors to college hockey
requires
some
adjustments,
Slaker knows that the Big Ten
Tournament
will
bring
an
intensity he hasn’t seen yet.
“I know it’s a whole different
game,” Slaker said. “Right now
we have some confidence with
these last few weekends. We
got some big wins against some
better teams. I
think right now
we know it’s a
new season.”
For
those
who don’t have
experience, this
weekend
will
not just bring a
competitiveness
they
haven’t
experienced
before,
but
it could also bring a larger
workload than what they’re
used to. After all, if things go
how the Wolverines want them
to, they will be playing in three
games in three days.
To prepare for this potential
stress on their bodies, Michigan
has put an emphasis on making
sure its conditioning is where it
needs to be.
“Our goal is to play three
games this weekend,” said
freshman
forward
Will
Lockwood.
“…
We’ve
been
taking some time out of the
weight room and focusing on
being on the ice, being in good
shape, but being well rested at
the same time. So just having
that confidence coming into
the weekend and knowing that
we’re going to want to play
three games, everyone’s got to
take care of themselves and be
ready.”
All
of
this
has
been
discussed all year, though.
The Wolverines have known
throughout this tumultuous
season
that
they
need
to
improve, and this week is no
different.
“I don’t think we have to do a
lot of scouting,” Berenson said.
“It’s more about understanding
our opponent, but really getting
the most out of our group. We
know that we can play better,
and we have to play a lot better.
... They’re a really good team,
and we have to play better.”
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Freshman forward Jake Slaker is leading the Wolverines in points heading into this weekend’s Big Ten Tournament.
MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor
“Our goal is
to play three
games this
weekend”
As Michigan looks to play spoiler, it will need contributions from underclassmen
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
The Michigan men’s basketball team is the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis.
DAILY BASKETBALL BEAT