8A — Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Walton selected for 
3-point competition

It may not be for the reason 

that he hoped, but Derrick 
Walton Jr. is going to Phoenix, 
Ariz. after all.

The field for the 29th State 

Farm College Slam Dunk & 
3-Point 
Championships 
was 

announced Tuesday afternoon, 
and Michigan’s senior point 
guard found his name among the 
eight-player group that will be 
competing in the event’s 3-point 
contest. The event will take place 
at 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 
30 at Grand Canyon University 
Arena, and will be aired on 
ESPN. It will also feature the 
dunk contest and the women’s 
3-point contest.

Walton will be competing 

against UCLA’s Bryce Alford, 
Arizona State’s Torian Graham, 
Villanova’s Kris Jenkins, Iowa’s 
Peter Jok, Duke’s Matt Jones, 
Iowa State’s Nazareth Mitrou-
Long 
and 
Grand 
Canyon’s 

DeWayne Russell.

This 
season, 
Walton 

notched a team-high 98 made 
3-pointers — good for the 
third-best single season mark 
in Michigan’s program history. 
He also notched a 42.2 field goal 
percentage from beyond the 
arc, second only behind Duncan 
Robinson (42.4) among players 
who attempted more than 100 
shots from 3-point range.

Walton’s long-range shooting 

was a significant improvement 
from his junior season, during 
which he made just 63 treys and 
shot 38.7 percent from beyond 
the arc.

Thursday 
will 
mark 
the 

final time that Walton has an 
opportunity to represent the 
Wolverines. He finishes his 
career as the only Michigan 
player to record at least 1,000 
points, 500 rebounds and 400 
assists in a career, having played 
127 total games. Walton also 
finished with 499 assists — good 
for fourth in program history — 
and claimed the single-game 
assist record with his 16-assist 
performance against Nebraska 
on March 5. 

BY THE NUMBERS
Derrick Walton Jr.’s Michigan career

98 

Made 3-pointers during the 2016-

17 season.

16

Assists against Nebraska, good for 

a single-game program record.
3,152 %

University students received 

Michigan Promise scholarships in 
2007-08, the most recent data

42.2

Percent shooting from beyond the 

arc in his senior year.

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

499

Career assists, good for fourth in 

program history

The senior guard will travel to 

Arizona, represent ‘M’ for final time

Wolverines one game shy of WNIT final

If it’s true that those who 

forget the past are doomed to 
repeat it, then it’s time that the 
Michigan women’s basketball 
team sharpens its memory.

On Wednesday night, the 

Wolverines (11-5 Big Ten, 26-9 
overall) 
will 

host Villanova 
(11-7 Big East, 
20-14) 
at 

Crisler Center 
in 
what 
is 

Michigan’s 
third straight 
trip 
to 
the 

Women’s 
National 
Invitation 
Tournament 
semifinals 
— 

a 
game 
the 

Wolverines 
have 
lost 

the last two 
seasons. 
With 
an 

NCAA Tournament snub still 
on their minds, Michigan is 
just two games away from 
claiming their first WNIT 
Championship and proving the 
Selection Committee wrong. 
The Wolverines have already 
put up a legitimate case with 
four convincing WNIT wins.

“Our 
team 
is 
probably 

playing 
some 
of 
the 
best 

basketball it (has) played all 
season long,” said Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico after 
Saturday’s 
quarterfinals 

win over Virginia Tech. “I 
think our chemistry has been 
outstanding, and I think people 
have picked up the slack and 
picked up the minutes.”

The Wildcats, though, are 

coming off of an impressive 
69-57 victory over Indiana, 
where they hit 10 first-half 
3-pointers. While their 3-point 
shooting was impressive, it 
has been sporadic at times 
this season — Villanova ranks 
in the bottom third of scoring 

offenses in Division I. The 
Wildcats’ offense is generated 
by 
how 
they 
value 
each 

possession, as they boast the 
fewest turnovers per game in 
the country (9.5).

“(Villanova 
is) 
really 

a 
3-point 

shooting team, 
they have five 
people that can 
shoot 
threes,” 

Barnes 
Arico 

said. 
“They 

run a lot flare 
screens, motion 
offense, 
five 

out. … It’s very 
difficult 
to 

defend, and I 
can see why a 
lot of teams have had a tough 
matchup with them thus far.

“They’re 
an 
interesting 

matchup for us. We’ve gotta 
try to play our style and still 
be able to get out in defensive 
transition, we’ve gotta try to 
offensive rebound a little bit 

to give ourselves some more 
possessions 
and 
limit 
our 

turnovers.”

Villanova’s 
backcourt 
of 

Alex 
Louin 
and 
Adrianna 

Hahn could pose problems 
for the Wolverines, who have 

been 
juggling 

their 
guard 

play 
in 
light 

of 
freshman 

guard 
Kysre 

Gondrezick’s 
absence 
for 

personal 
reasons. 
The 

duo 
comprises 

nearly half of 
the 
Wildcats’ 

scoring and is 
their 
greatest 

threat beyond the arc. The 
Wildcats 
are 
efficient 
on 

the defensive side of the ball 
however, surrendering just 61.6 
points per game. But stodgy 
low-post defense has plagued 
them in the past — getting 
nearly doubled in points in 

the paint against Creighton 
and Mississippi State earlier 
this season, for example — and 
will be especially vulnerable 
against 
Michigan’s 
potent 

offense.

The 
Wolverines 
typically 

best teams with their 3-point 
shooting — which ranks fifth 
in the nation — but to beat 
the Wildcats they will have 
to generate offense down low, 
something Michigan is not 
unfamiliar with. Sophomore 
center Hallie Thome has a 
three-inch height advantage 
over Villanova’s tallest player, 
and has been turning up in the 
WNIT, boasting 20.5 points per 
game in her last four contests.

The Wolverines have had 

a 
program 
record-breaking 

season with 26 victories thus 
far, and a win over the Wildcats 
would put them just one step 
closer to doing something that 
they have never done before: 
hang a banner in the Crisler 
Center rafters. 

Michigan’s offense explodes in rout of Toledo

The No. 22 Michigan baseball 

team’s Big Ten opening series at 
Maryland last weekend didn’t 
exactly go 
according 
to 
plan, 

as 
the 

Wolverines dropped two out of 
three games to the Terrapins. 
But Tuesday told a totally 
different story, as Michigan put 
on a picture-perfect display. 

In their return to Ray Fisher 

Stadium, just about everything 
went right for the Wolverines 
against Toledo, as Michigan 
(1-2 Big Ten, 18-6 overall) 
cruised past the overmatched 
Rockets 
(0-3 
Mid-American 

Conference, 5-19) for a 12-0 
victory.

The Wolverines’ offense was 

the star, as Michigan put up 
its highest scoring total since 
defeating Loyola Marymount, 
14-2, 
on 
March 
1. 
Junior 

catcher Drew Lugbauer went 
3-for-4 with three runs batted 
in and senior centerfielder 
Johnny Slater contributed with 
two hits and three RBI to lead a 
15-hit, 10-walk onslaught.

However, big moments on 

defense were what set the tone 
before the Wolverines got on 
the scoreboard. Slater slid to 
make a basket catch for the 
game’s first out, and in the 
second inning, sophomore left 
fielder Miles Lewis sprawled 
to the turf to catch a hard-hit 
liner.

“It doesn’t just affect the 

hitters, it affects the pitchers 
too,” said junior first basemen 
Jake Bivens, who went 3-for-5 
with two stolen bases. “When 
they’re working their butts 
off and throwing good pitches 
it’s good to make plays behind 
them, and that carries over to 
offense to string quality at-bats 
together.”

That’s 
exactly 
what 

happened in the bottom half 
of the second inning, when 
Michigan had four singles, 
two walks and two stolen 
bases. 
Sophomore 
second 

baseman Ako Thomas put the 

Wolverines on the scoreboard 
first by drawing a bases-loaded 
walk and later scored on senior 
shortstop Michael Brdar’s two-
out, two-run single to center. 
Lugbauer kept the inning going 
for the Wolverines with an RBI 
single to right field, forcing a 
Toledo pitching change and 
putting Michigan ahead early, 
4-0.

After impressing in his first 

start of the season last week 
against 
Western 
Michigan, 

starting 
right-hander 
Jayce 

Vancena was sharp again. The 
junior was commanding and 
methodical, striking out six 
batters and throwing just 56 
pitches in five innings, 42 of 
which went for strikes. Most 
notably, he didn’t surrender a 
single walk, and has yet to do 
so in 21 innings this season.

“He lets his defense work, 

and he’s very efficient with his 
pitches,” said Michigan coach 
Erik Bakich. “He gets to strike 
one and strike two very quickly. 
Position players like playing 

defense behind him because he 
keeps them engaged because he 
forces contact. He’s not a guy 
that nibbles — he works fast 
and gets action behind him.”

After two scoreless innings 

on both sides, Michigan struck 
in the fifth inning. Bivens, who 
had led off the 
second 
inning 

with a single, 
kickstarted 
the Wolverines 
again, 
ripping 

a 
line 
drive 

between center 
and right field 
for 
a 
leadoff 

double. After a 
walk and a hit 
batter, Thomas 
and Slater hit back-to-back 
singles with the bases loaded 
to drive in three runs.

Michigan didn’t slow its 

roll with the middle of the 
order stepping up to the plate. 
Brdar got enough air under a 
fly ball for Thomas to score on 
a sacrifice fly, and Lugbauer 

roped a liner down the right 
field line the following at-bat to 
extend the Wolverines’ lead to 
9-0. The final margin would be 
reached the next inning, with 
two singles and a walk giving 
Michigan insurance that it 
never would be in danger of 

losing.

With the game 

essentially out of 
reach, Michigan 
took 
the 

opportunity 
to 

get an extended 
look 
at 
many 

freshmen 
and 

scarcely-used 
reserves. Junior 
catcher 
Brock 

Keener 
earned 

his first hit as a Wolverine, 
driving 
in 
Bivens 
in 
the 

sixth inning, while redshirt 
freshmen 
infielders 
George 

Hewitt and Joe Pace and 
freshmen 
infielder 
Dominic 

Clementi and outfielder Jack 
Weisenburger 
also 
received 

at-bats.

On the mound, freshman 

right-hander Karl Kauffman, 
the first hurler out of the 
bullpen, was in control, striking 
out four in two innings, while 
redshirt sophomore left-hander 
Grant Reuss and sophomore 
right-hander 
Jack 
Bredeson 

both contributed, tossing one 
scoreless inning each.

“Anytime we can separate 

and have a margin, we want to 
get the guys that train just as 
hard and invest just as much 
time the reward of playing 
time,” 
Bakich 
said. 
“They 

certainly deserve it. When we 
have opportunities to get those 
guys some opportunities to 
play, we’re certainly going to 
do it.”

All 
in 
all, 
Tuesday’s 

performance was an ideal way 
for Michigan to kick off its 
18-game 
homestand, 
which 

will continue on Wednesday 
against Central Michigan, and 
later this week with its Big 
Ten home opener against Penn 
State.

‘M’ stays
unbeaten

The Michigan women’s tennis 

team beat Indiana and Purdue 
this weekend to stay undefeated 
through three Big Ten games this 
season.

Throughout the weekend, the 

Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, 11-3 
overall) put together a series of 
solid performances in the singles 
which propelled the team to 
victory in both games.

Sophomores Brienne Minor 

and Kate Fahey, along with junior 
Mira Ruder-Hook, led the way for 
Michigan in both the singles and 
doubles play. 

In the Wolverines’ 4-0 victory 

over Indiana (1-3 Big Ten, 10-8 
overall) on Saturday, both Minor 
and Ruder-Hook defeated their 
opponents in straight sets in the 
singles matches.

Michigan 
coach 
Ronni 

Bernstein was pleased with her 
team’s performance outdoors, 
an early look at what an eventual 
postseason appearance would 
feel like.

Despite a relatively easy victory 

against Indiana, Michigan faced a 
much more formidable challenge 
Sunday after Purdue (0-3 Big 
Ten, 5-9 overall) took an early 2-0 
lead after a pair of victories in the 
doubles.

But the singles play would save 

the day for the Wolverines.

Minor, Fahey, Ruder-Hook 

and freshman Chiara Lommer 
handled their opponents in two 
sets, and junior Alex Najarian 
defeated hers in three.

“(Ruder-Hook) is the one 

coming through for us,” Bernstein 
said. “She’s been showing up 
every day.”

Ruder-Hook 
was 
an 
All-

American in the doubles category 
last season, and has demonstrated 
her prowess once again.

Despite 
Michigan’s 
strong 

record, 
Bernstein 
is 
looking 

for 
improvements 
from 
the 

Wolverines moving forward.

“I think we can always get 

better,” Bernstein said. “All the 
kids have something to work on.”

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Villanova at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Michigan 
11-5 Big Ten, 
26-9 overall; 
Villanova 
11-7 Big East, 
20-14 overall

When: 
Wednesday 
7 P.M. ET

Where: Crisler 
Center

TV/Radio: 

BTN Plus

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

CHRISTIAN NEUBACHER

Daily Sports Writer

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Sophomore center Hallie Thome is averaging 20.5 points per game through her last four contests in the WNIT.

“They have 
five people 

that can shoot 

threes.”

AARON BAKER/Daily

Junior first baseman Jake Bivens notched three hits with two stolen bases and scored three runs against Toledo on Tuesday at Ray Fisher Stadium. 

TOLEDO
MICHIGAN 

0
12

“He gets to 

strike one and 
strike two very 

quickly.”

