4B — March 20, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan’s big men take over in win
INDIANAPOLIS — Seventeen
agonizingly long seconds stood
between the Michigan men’s
basketball team and victory as DJ
Wilson stepped to the line for two
crucial free throws.
A
miss
by
the
redshirt
sophomore forward on the front
end of the one-and-one would have
given the Cardinals ample time to
tie the game — or even win it.
But Wilson was ready for the
moment, sinking both shots to
keep Michigan up by four.
Louisville,
though,
wasn’t
ready to give up, as guard
Donovan Mitchell — who led the
Cardinals with 19 points — sliced
his way down the court to close
the gap to two.
On
the
ensuing
inbounds,
again, the Wolverines got the ball
to Wilson, and he was quickly
fouled. Just eight seconds had
elapsed between his last trip to the
charity stripe, and the result was
the same.
Wilson
sank
both
free
throws, finally icing the game as
Michigan moved on to the NCAA
Tournament Sweet Sixteen with
a 73-69 win over Louisville at
Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
In most situations this season,
it has been the guards who have
received that inbounds
pass.
Whether it is senior guard Derrick
Walton, senior wing Zak Irvin
or junior guard Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rakhman, the Wolverines’
guards have been the ones to go to
the line to ice the game.
But on this night, it was Wilson
who came up clutch.
“I saw a gap in their press late
in the second half,” Wilson said.
“(Irvin), luckily inbounded me
the ball, and I knocked (the free
throws) down.”
That was the theme of the
game. The Cardinals defensive
game plan going into the contest
was to not switch on Michigan’s
screens in order to stay out on the
shooters. But with the length of
Louisville’s big men, the Cardinals
ended
up
switching
anyway,
effectively neutralizing Walton
and company in the process.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino
regularly rotates centers Mangok
Mathiang and Anas Mahmoud
and forwards Jaylen Johnson
and Ray Spalding, and the four
players were great at defending
Michigan’s guards.
When Louisville switched on
ball screens, its big men made it
tough for the Wolverines’ guards
to operate. They also crashed
the offensive glass all game long,
making life difficult for Michigan,
nearly shifting the balance of the
game in the process.
“They’re
long
and
they’re
quick,” said junior wing Duncan
Robinson. “They move well for
guys their size, and they have such
great length. It’s easier for them
than other bigs.”
But at halftime, Michigan coach
John Beilein told his big men to
slip off the ball screen, and that
was the key to the Wolverines’
success in the second half.
It gave the Wolverines’ big men
a chance to feast, and they took
full advantage, winding down
Louisville’s eight-point halftime
lead to win.
Wilson finished with 17 points
on 6-of-13 shooting, but he wasn’t
even the star of the show for
Michigan.
Sophomore forward Moritz
Wagner,
who
had
scored
a
combined 11 points in his last two
games, exploited Louisville off
the pick-and-roll on his way to a
game-high 26 points on 11-of-14
shooting.
“We’ve been working a lot on
switching defenses,” Wagner said.
“DJ and I have the confidence to
do our thing. (Louisville) stayed
with the shooters and gave us a
lot of room, and we were able to
finish plays.”
Added Wilson: “We could
catch them in the middle of a
screen and hit Moe or myself on
a roll to the basket. Moe benefited
from that a lot in the second half. I
think he had three or four baskets
from that.”
It wasn’t just Wilson and
Wagner who had success —
Michigan’s third big man, redshirt
junior Mark Donnal, also had
some success off the bench.
Donnal hit a crucial three
early in the game to keep
Louisville at bay, while also
providing cover for Wagner
when he was in foul trouble.
“It’s great having a ‘5’ like that
coming off the bench that can
stretch the defense,” Wilson said.
“He got a block, a couple rebounds
and kept them off the glass. And
then he hit that big time three.
Mark is just as good of a shooter as
anybody on the team.”
The ironic thing about Sunday’s
game was that many viewed
Louisville’s
frontcourt
as
its
biggest advantage over Michigan
going
into
the
game.
The
Wolverines, though, made sure
that wasn’t the case.
In the bigger picture, the
Wolverines’ seventh straight win
came in a much different fashion
than their last six.
Last weekend in the Big Ten
Tournament, it was Michigan’s
defense and guard play that led
it to victory. Friday, it was the
Wolverines’
3-point
shooting
that led them to a victory over
Oklahoma State.
Against Louisville, it was all big
men.
“Next man up” — it’s a
sentiment that the team has
preached all year long. And
Sunday, on the biggest stage thus
far, they proved exactly why.
“We don’t see ourselves as a
shooting team,” Wagner said. “We
know we can shoot, but that’s not
the only thing we can do.”
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
‘M’ moves
on in WNIT
The revenge tour will continue
for
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball team.
While
nothing may
alleviate
the sting of getting snubbed
from the NCAA Tournament on
Monday, the Wolverines (24-9)
have survived the first two games
of the Women’s National Invitation
Tournament, enduring a fourth-
quarter scare to win their second
round game over Wright State (25-
9), 71-66, on Saturday.
“In March, anytime you’re
playing a tournament — it doesn’t
matter what tournament — people
are gonna come and give you their
best shot. Wright State did that
tonight.” said Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico. “But for us to find a
way to win at this point in March,
I was really proud of the way that
were able to do that down the
stretch.”
The direction of the game
seemed to be apparent from the
opening tipoff. Michigan had
the clear height and strength
advantage down low, attacking the
paint often for its first 14 points of
the match — eight from sophomore
center Hallie Thome — before the
Wolverines went to the free-throw
line. Michigan’s defense followed
suit in the first quarter, limiting
the Raiders to just a 21.9 shooting
percentage from the field to end
the frame ahead, 23-12.
The second quarter proved to be
much of the same — stingy defense
and production from Thome, who
hit her first seven field goals of the
game. Wright State attempted to
double Thome, but it ultimately
spaced the floor to allow other
Wolverines
like
junior
guard
Katelynn Flaherty and freshman
guard Kysre Gondrezick to drive
to the hoop. Neither Flaherty nor
Gondrezick established a rhythm
from beyond the arc throughout
the game, but still managed to
combine for 29 of Michigan’s
points.
The Raiders were able to
capture some momentum toward
the end of the half by capitalizing
on six Wolverine turnovers to
narrow their deficit to 10, but that
swing quickly came to a close after
Gondrezick buried a halfcourt
buzzer-beater to give Michigan a
45-32 lead headed into halftime.
“We practice that every day
at shootaround,” Barnes Arico
said. “As coaches we were taking
votes on who is our best halfcourt
shooter and Kysre was my pick, so
I was glad she had the ball in her
hands. … She knew the situation
and made a play.”
Wright State turned up the pace
in third quarter, running a full
court press and charging toward
the basket every time it brought the
ball up the floor. The Wolverines
struggled to adjust, and their lead
dwindled to as little as four points
until a Gondrezick trey halted the
Raiders’ run. That seven-point lead
would hold for the remaining five
minutes of the quarter.
The final period began as a back-
and-forth battle, but Wright State
eventually mounted an 8-0 run
to take its first lead of the game
with 4:52 remaining. A number
of Michigan’s shots circled the
rim during the run and there was
visible frustration on the court,
but junior forward Jillian Dunston
utilized a timeout to rally the
Wolverines.
“She kept going to the huddle
and she was being positive (saying)
‘Coach, we’ve got this,’ ” Barnes
Arico said. “She was telling the
team ‘Hey, we’ve got this, just get
stops on the defensive end. Let’s
just go continue to play hard, we’re
okay.’ ”
Added Dunston: “I think we get
uptight. Our layups were in and
out, our shots were in and out, we
couldn’t get a stop. Once we calmed
down, the game went in our favor.”
After the timeout, an and-one by
Thome gave Michigan a lead that it
wouldn’t give it up, as the Raiders
scored only once more in the game.
They pulled within one in the
final minute, but a Thome putback
with 40 seconds remaining and a
defensive stop solidified the win.
The victory sets up a possible
third-round match with St. John’s,
where Barnes Arico was the
head coach for 10 seasons before
assuming the same position with
the Wolverines in 2012.
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
WRIGHT ST.
MICHIGAN
66
71
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Thome reaches 1,000
points, lifts Michigan
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team
narrowly
squeaked
by
Wright
State
in the second round of the
Women’s National Invitation
Tournament
on
Saturday.
Sophomore
Hallie
Thome
was a major factor in the
Wolverines’ 71-66 win. With
her 23 points, the 6-foot-5
center surpassed the 1,000-
point mark, becoming just the
third sophomore in school
history to do so.
“It’s definitely exciting to
reach 1,000 points,” Thome
said. “But all my shots are
worth
two
points, so there
are 500 assists
out there that
I couldn’t have
reached
it
without.”
Right
from
the
start,
Thome
put
her
stamp
on the game,
scoring
the
first two layups for Michigan
and making her first seven
shots in a row. She tallied 14
points by halftime and proved
to be a difficult mark for the
Raiders to guard down low.
Her teammates took advantage
of her length by lobbing passes
inside — some of which looked
impossible to catch — which
Thome buried.
“I
thought
Hallie
was
incredible,”
said
Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “She
came out of the gates scoring
every which way. Just really a
tough matchup for them. She
has such great hands. She has
such great finishing around
the rim and she made some big
plays for us down the stretch.”
Despite Thome’s efforts, the
Wolverines let a 20-point lead
slip away completely, and it
nearly cost them the game.
Michigan
went
down
64-63 with 4:52 left in the
fourth quarter — the first time
Wright State took the lead all
game. But Thome brought the
Wolverines out of their deficit.
Her signature layup and 61.5
percent field goal percentage
allowed her teammates to trust
her and get her the ball, even in
an intense postseason scenario.
“Our
game
plan
didn’t
change,” said junior guard
Jillian Dunston. “As you can
see, Hallie still killed it in the
second half.”
Thome’s
reliability
goes
beyond just making baskets.
She
earned
seven
boards
against the Raiders, second
only to Dunston’s 11. Dunston
leads Michigan
in
rebounds,
with 251, and
Thome
is
right
behind
her with 238.
Each of them
has over 100
rebounds more
than any other
Wolverine.
Despite
her
massive
contributions, Thome also has
the highest number of fouls,
with 93 on the season. Notably,
she only picked up one foul
against the Raiders, meaning
she was not forced to play
conservatively.
“I tend to get in a little bit of
foul trouble,” Thome said after
playing Kent State on Thursday
night. “(When you get in
foul trouble) its definitely a
different style of play. You kind
of have to change your game
to make sure you don’t pick up
another one.”
Without Thome on the court,
Michigan
has
unexceptional
height and less inside presence,
and it is forced to rely more
heavily on its guards. When she is
in the game though, she is always
effective. For the Wolverines to
win the WNIT, Thome will need
to continue avoid foul trouble,
and keep on scoring.
MAGGIE KOLCON
Daily Sports Writer
“She came out
of the gates
scoring every
which way.”
‘M’ wins Big Ten title
It was a big week for the
Michigan women’s gymnastics
team. Not only did five gymnasts
make the All-Big Ten first team
but it also clinched its fourth Big
Ten Championship in a row.
Honorees
for
first
team
included seniors Nicole Artz
and Talia Chiarelli, junior Paige
Zaziski and sophomores Olivia
Karas and Emma McLean. Junior
Lauren Marinez was honored on
the second team.
The Wolverines traveled to
Piscataway to compete against
five other teams at the Rutgers
Athletic
Center
and
they
dominated the meet, winning
four individual events.
Artz
won
the
all-around,
McLean won vault, Chiarelli won
balance beam and Karas won the
floor exercise.
“I thought we did really well
on beam, and that just opened
it up for us to have fun and be
aggressive and just really enjoy
floor and vault,” Michigan coach
Bev Plocki said. “Emma was just
the exclamation point at the end
of a great meet.”
McLean finished off the meet
with a beautifully executed vault
and stuck the landing, earning
a score of 9.975 to tie her career
high and secure the individual
title.
“I knew I was going to be the
last competitor from Michigan
pretty much and everyone else
had hit their vaults. So I just did
what I do and it worked out,”
McLean said.
As the season winds down,
the Wolverines are starting to
compete in more meets with
multiple opponents, which is
different from their regular-
season dual meets .
And
with
the
extra
competition,
the
gymnasts
attribute their success to the
energy created in the arena which
gave them the extra edge they
need to compete.
“The energy in the arena is
outrageous,” Artz said. “There’s
nothing you can compare to that
and then to have the opportunity
to compete on podium makes it
even that much more fun. “
McLean
agrees
with
her
teammate,
noting
that
she
hopes the atmosphere will carry
through in upcoming meets.
“We build off the energy
the entire meet, and we kept
it going the entire time and it
was amazing,” McLean said.
“Hopefully moving forward, we
can keep that energy as well.”
The two leaders on the team
are the two seniors Artz and
Chiarelli. They have dedicated
four years to the team and have
four Big Ten Championship rings
to show for it.
The
two
captains
have
also collected a plethora of
individual accolades over the
years. This season they both won
individual titles at the Big Ten
Championships and Atrz was
named Big Ten Gymnast of the
Year.
Both Artz and Plocki have
described the season ending
as bittersweet, saying they are
looking forward to the future but
will miss the team a lot.
“These
two
seniors
have
been so incredibly strong and
consistent all four years, and it’s
bittersweet because you look to
see where they are now and what
they’re going to be going off to
do,” Plocki said. “It’s really going
to be sad to lose them at the end
of the year.”
SARAH HURST
Daily Sports Writer
EVAN AARON/Daily
Redshirt sophomore forward DJ Wilson helped Michigan’s frontcourt dominate the second half to lift the Wolverines.
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Senior Nicole Artz won the all-around title at the Big Ten Championships at Rutgers on Saturday.