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March 22, 2017 - Image 8

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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

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