8A — Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wagner ready to introduce himself to nation

For Moe Wagner, it’s show 

time every time he steps on the 
basketball court.

The sophomore’s play has 

been eye-popping recently. What 
other 6-foot-11 forward can euro 
step to the hoop on a fast break, 
fool opponents with a patented 
behind-the-back dribble and nail 
a fade-away three with relative 
ease?

As 
Wagner’s 
play 
grabs 

more and more attention over 
Michigan’s 
postseason, 
his 

personality and emotions make 
him one of the Sweet 16’s must-
watch players.

Over the past few weeks, 

Wagner has been seen laughing 
on the bench, roaring after 
putting down a huge dunk and 
looking appalled after getting hit 
with a surprise foul call.

Now in the Sweet 16, Wagner 

finally has a stage big enough 
to fit his bursting personality in 
America.

“One of my youth coaches 

used to say that I was someone 
who sees the basketball court 
as a stage and really enjoys it,” 
Wagner said. “Last year I really 
started to understand what that 
really means and embraced that 
this year. That’s just me. I really 
love it and I really enjoy it. I try to 
use it as my advantage.”

In the Wolverines’ win over 

Louisville on Sunday, Wagner 
put on one of his most signature 
performances of the season. The 
forward scored a career-high 26 
points while shooting 75 percent 
from the field. He showed scalpel-
like precision cutting through the 
Cardinals’ long, lengthy and deep 
frontcourt and helped Michigan 
overcome an eight-point halftime 
deficit to stay alive and advance in 
the tournament.

Also on display Sunday was 

Wagner’s 
unique 
personality. 

No one rode the emotional roller 
coaster of that game to higher-
highs 
and 
lower-lows 
than 

Wagner.

The sophomore was relishing 

every moment, yelling whenever 
he got inside and finished a dunk 
or layup at the hoop. He was seen 
embracing his partner in the 
frontcourt — redshirt sophomore 
forward DJ Wilson — when the 
pair combined for a big play. And 
when it was all over, Wagner 
stopped and kneeled down on the 
court where he stood, and shed a 
couple tears as his teammates ran 
over to celebrate.

But that’s all the good stuff.
Wagner 
has 
struggled 
to 

contain his negative emotions 
at times, and he showed his 

emotional 
cracks 
against 

Louisville. After scoring baskets, 
senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. 
had to remind Wagner multiple 
times to get back and play 
defense.

“You 
can 
see 
(Walton),” 

Wagner said. “He always hits me 
in the chest like I’m a tree. I’m 
like ‘Dude, chill, relax.’ I guess 
you can do that with me because 
I’m so emotional. I think that’s 
how it is supposed to be. We’re 
so close with each other, we give 
(each other) a lot of crap and we 
all love each other after the game 
when we win.”

And then there are Wagner’s 

reactions when he’s called for 
controversial 
fouls. 
Coming 

from Europe, Wagner wasn’t 
accustomed to hearing so many 
whistles when he first began to 
adjust to the college game. While 
he’s gotten better about it, the 
sophomore still has moments 
when he’ll freak out or put on a 
very surprised face that stands 
out to everyone.

One 
of 
those 
reactions 

happened against the Cardinals 
toward the end of the first half. 
Wagner was called for a reach-in 
foul on a play that looked like a 
clean steal upon replay. Shocked 
by the call — which was his 

second foul of the half — Wagner 
kept running down the court 
displaying a face of disbelief.

“I saw in the (Louisville) film 

I got called for a foul before 
halftime,” Wagner said. “I just 
ran and kept running. In the NBA 
two years ago, that’s a technical 
foul. So I’ve got to stop. I guess 
that’s a lot to experience, just 
keep working on it.”

Wagner realizes he needs 

to limit moments like that, 
especially as the stage gets bigger 
and bigger for the Wolverines.

“I’m still in the process of 

learning how to control my 
emotions,” Wagner said. “It’s 

really good at sometimes having 
good 
emotions, 
just 
being 

positive, and helping the team 
with that. At the same time, 
negative 
emotions 
can 
take 

energy and can be dangerous to a 
team’s chemistry during a game. 
I’m still trying to figure out the 
right balance.”

But if there’s anyone who’s 

ready to star for Michigan when 
it takes the court for the Sweet 
16 on Thursday, it’s Wagner. The 
German is ready to let America 
get to know him, especially if it’s 
in the context of the Wolverines 
continuing their postseason hot 
streak in Kansas City.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner has made a name for himself throughout the postseason, and that should only continue when the Wolverines play Oregon in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.

BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Editor

Hockey season in review: Offense takes steep dive

With the Michigan hockey team’s 

2016-17 season in the books, the 

Daily looks back at the performance 
of each unit this year and looks 
ahead to the 2017-18 season. 

Offense: (No. 5 Big Ten, No. 

42 NCAA)

Entering 
the 
season, 
the 

main question surrounding the 
Michigan hockey team was how 
it would replace all the offensive 
firepower it had lost from the 

2015-16 season. The Wolverines 
were returning only one of their 
top seven scorers — senior forward 
Alex Kile — and the rest of their 
offense was made up of largely 

unknown commodities.

Michigan never really found 

an answer to that question, 
either. Freshmen forwards Jake 
Slaker and Will Lockwood led 
the Wolverines in scoring with 
21 and 20 points, respectively. 
But that mark wasn’t nearly 
good enough to fuel the offense 
to success, as they didn’t even 
break the top 30 in the Big Ten in 
points.

The 
returning 
Michigan 

players that were expected to 
contribute fell short, too. Junior 
forward Tony Calderone led 
the team with 15 goals, but Kile 
finished with just 14 points total, 
and though sophomore forward 
Cooper Marody showed flashes 
of brilliance, he missed the entire 
first half of the season due to 
academic ineligibility. He also 
finished with 14 points.

The one place where the 

Wolverines 
had 
success 

offensively was on the power play 
— they finished the year with the 
17th-ranked unit nationally. But 
that wasn’t enough to salvage 
Michigan’s offense overall, as it 

struggled to maintain consistency 
in terms of putting the puck in its 
opponent’s net all season.

Defense: (No. 4 Big Ten, No. 

44 NCAA)

With the offense in a rebuilding 

process from the start of the 
season, 
it 
seemed 
that 
the 

Wolverines would rely on their 
slightly more experienced defense 
and its highly-touted freshmen 
goaltenders to keep them in 
games.

But right from the beginning 

of the season, Michigan struggled 
with shot suppression, and it 
ended up giving up the eighth-
most shots against in the country, 
putting a lot of pressure on its 
goaltenders.

At times, the netminders were 

up to the challenge. Freshman 
Hayden Lavigne earned a shutout 
in his first career win against 
Union and followed it up with 
a shutout win against then-No. 
4 Boston University. Freshman 
Jack LaFontaine helped his team 
to a win against Ferris State with 
a stellar effort, too. Then, at the 
end of the season, senior Zach 
Nagelvoort finished with two 
shutouts of his own in his final 
four starts.

But it turned out that the 

trio’s flashes of brilliance were 

unsustainable 
for 
the 
entire 

season. They were ultimately 
unable to keep up with the 
enormous amounts of shots they 
faced on a night-to-night basis, 
accruing 
a 
3.12 
goals-against 

average.

The Wolverines struggled on 

the penalty kill, too, as that unit 
ended the year No. 37 in the nation. 
 

Overall: (No. 5 Big Ten, No. 37 

Pairwise)

Even with all the question 

marks coming into the season, 
Michigan entered the season 
ranked No. 11. But it was quickly 
evident 
that 
the 
Wolverines 

weren’t going to be able to live up 
to that ranking, and, other than 
goaltending, they didn’t answer 
any of their preseason questions.

After finishing fifth in the Big 

Ten standings and No. 37 in the 
country, Michigan still doesn’t 
know if it will be able to keep up 
offensively or defensively next 
season, and, in addition, it may 
have a coaching vacancy to fill 
this offseason, as rumors persist 
that coach Red Berenson may 
retire.

All in all, the 2016-17 season 

was a disappointment for the 
Wolverines, and it is unclear if 
things will be getting better for 
them soon. 

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson has been rumored to be mulling retirement following the 2016-17 season.

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

