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.”