The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Monday, November 27, 2017 — 3B

Reality check

T

he sobering reality was 
clear well before Ohio State 
scored just prior to the final 

horn to cap off a brutal weekend for 
the Michigan hockey team.

This reality was especially 

sobering because it was a new 
one. For 
two straight 
nights, the 
Wolverines 
had been 
dominated in 
every facet of 
the game and 
run off their 
home ice. 
They didn’t 
try to deny it, 
either.

“Overall, it just came down to 

outworking us,” said sophomore 
forward Jake Slaker. “All weekend 
they outworked us, all six periods.”

Michigan coach Mel Pearson 

employed his own analogy.

“The makeup came off and 

we saw a lot of the blemishes this 
weekend,” Pearson said. “We were 
able to cover some things up, (but) 
this weekend we saw a little bit of 
some of the issues that we’re going 
to have going forward.”

As it turns out, the Wolverines 

had been applying plenty of 
makeup. And the Buckeyes were 
well-equipped to wash it off.

Some of Michigan’s blemishes 

were more obvious than others. 
The Wolverines haven’t allowed 
less than three goals in a contest 
since Nov. 2 against Ferris State. 
After this weekend, they rank 55th 
in the country in goals-against per 
game.

Pearson believed his maligned 

defense took steps forward “for 
two and a half periods” in Friday’s 
3-2 defeat. But the unit seemed to 
take those same steps backward a 
night later. Sloppy clearances and 
giveaways deep in the defensive 
zone have hurt Michigan all 
season. They were responsible for 
Ohio State’s second goal Saturday, 
when junior defenseman Nicholas 
Boka lost the puck behind his own 
net, and nearly resulted in multiple 
goals in the first period.

Prior to this weekend, the 

Wolverines were able to, in 
Pearson’s words, “outscore our 

mistakes.” That wouldn’t be the 
case — and wasn’t — against the 
Buckeyes, who have allowed the 
second-fewest goals and seventh-
fewest shots on goal per game in 
the nation.

A 5-4 or 6-6 slugfest — scores 

that Michigan has seen plenty 
of this year — wasn’t expected 
this weekend. And it’d be 
unfair to judge the Wolverines’ 
offense entirely on its last two 
performances.

But that doesn’t mean there 

weren’t flaws — lack of depth 
key among them. Michigan had 
been relying too heavily on junior 
forward Cooper Marody and senior 
forward Tony Calderone, who had 
combined for half of the team’s 
points last weekend at Wisconsin. 
Marody saw his eight-game multi-
point streak come to an end as he 
was kept off the stat sheet Friday, 
and the pair registered just two 
assists against the Buckeyes.

“They took Cooper’s time and 

space away, made it tough on those 
guys and we just couldn’t step up,” 
Pearson said. “And that’s what 
we’re asking from some other 
guys to get opportunities to give us 
some depth, and we haven’t taken 
advantage of that. That’s going to 
continue to be an issue, so we’re 
going to have to move some things 

around.”

If there’s any silver lining to the 

Wolverines’ showing this weekend, 
it’s probably the fact that it took 
place when it did, as they don’t 
have an official game this week. 
This gives Michigan a needed 
opportunity to try to shore up its 
numerous problems — a “good 
work-week” according to Pearson. 
Pearson even mentioned the idea of 
shaking up the top line of Marody, 
Calderone and senior forward 
Dexter Dancs, a line which had 
been so potent earlier in the season.

“They’ve been going pretty 

good,” Pearson said. “But you get to 
a point — you can’t break them up 
when they’re rolling, so this might 
be a good chance to experiment 
and see where we’re at.”

Sitting in the media room at 

Yost Ice Arena after Saturday’s 
defeat, Slaker was asked if his team 
could take away anything from the 
weekend, when taking the parallels 
between last year’s Michigan 
team and this year’s outfit into 
consideration.

“I don’t know if we can really 

compare last season and this 
season,” he replied. “I think it’s 
totally different teams.”

Of course, Slaker’s correct. 

These Wolverines are vastly 
different in terms of coaching, 

playing style and identity.

They’re different in terms of 

caliber, too. Pearson stated at 
Michigan’s media day that if he 
was a forecaster, he would pick 
the Wolverines — who won just 
13 games last season — to win the 
Big Ten. That was a much bolder 
prediction before they split with 
then-No. 15 Penn State in Happy 
Valley and recorded a win and a tie 
against then-No. 4 Minnesota.

But despite all of the concrete 

progress made, a good number of 
cracks were glossed over.

Certainly, there are three 

months of hockey left to be played. 
And a team in serious contention 
for a conference title is entitled to a 
rough couple games at some point.

But if the Wolverines truly are a 

Big Ten contender, as they believe 
they are, they’ll have to prove 
that those couple games were an 
exception rather than the rule. 
All of Michigan’s deficiencies this 
season were in full form against 
Ohio State, and those deficiencies 
manifested into a harsh wake-up 
call.

Cold reality hit this weekend, 

and the Wolverines weren’t ready.

Shames can be reached at 

jacosham@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Wagner, Matthews 
building chemistry

It’s becoming a theme for the 

Michigan men’s basketball team. 

Junior 
forward 
Moritz 

Wagner and redshirt sophomore 
forward 
Charles 
Matthews 

have mostly led the way for the 
Wolverines.

That was most evident in 

Michigan’s 87-42 drubbing of 
UC-Riverside on Sunday, and it 
started early in the game.

Wagner 
scored 
the 

Wolverines’ first three baskets, 
drilling a three, a midrange 
jumper and a layup – with the last 
two coming on Matthews assists. 
Then Matthews threw down a 
dunk, and away the Wolverines 
went. Both players finished with 
double-doubles. Matthews had 
17 points and 12 assists, while 
Wagner added 21 points and 10 
rebounds.

As Michigan’s most talented 

scorers, the duo often uses the 
pick-and-roll to get open looks 
for one another. After setting 
screens, Wagner gets his points 
by rolling to the hoop or popping 
to the three-point line, and 
Matthews gets his by pulling up 
for a jumper or turning the corner 
off and attacking the basket after 
coming off a screen.

The pick-and-roll continued 

to work on Sunday as four of 
Wagner’s first seven points came 
off the duo’s bread and butter. 
Matthews came off a screen from 
Wagner, drew a double team and 
fed the popping Wagner on the 
baseline. He hit the open jumper. 
Moments later, after setting an 
off-ball screen, Matthews drew 
another double team and found 
Wagner again. The junior spun 
and laid the ball gently into the 
hoop.

It’s a simple play, but to perfect 

it, the two needed time to learn 
each other’s games.

“We played with each other so 

much over the summer, in open 
gyms,” Matthews said. “So we 
just said we knew that we were 

going to be key components to 
this team and we wanted to get 
our chemistry down with one 
another.”

Added Wagner: “It’s still a 

work in progress, I think, … 
trying to figure out tendencies 
with each other, and there’s still 
some issues here and there. But 
I think we’re doing a really good 
job figuring it out right now, and 
now is a really good time to figure 
it out.”

For Wagner, there was an 

expectation 
of 
excellence 

entering 
this 
season. 
For 

Matthews, 
it 
would 
be 

understandable if he was rusty. 
After all, he hasn’t really played 
important minutes in two years.

But Matthews blew up in the 

Wolverines’ 
exhibition 
game 

against Grand Valley, and he has 
continued to build on that, scoring 
20 points in three of seven games. 
With that, expectations have 
risen to, and possibly exceeded, 
those of Wagner.

“(Matthews) never had to 

make decisions at Kentucky,” said 
Michigan coach John Beilein. 
“But the year that he was able to 
redshirt with us … he worked so 
hard on his game to get better. 
Now, the lights come on, and now 
he’s got to do it in real time. And 
(he’s) just learning. I mean, he’s 
a very young player with huge 
potential.”

So far, Matthews has proven 

he can produce in game action. 
His 
performance 
Sunday 
is 

an example of his burgeoning 
confidence on the court. Wagner 
has been right alongside him, 
averaging 6.9 more points per 
game and 5.3 more rebounds per 
game than he was at this point 
last season.

As 
the 
season 
progresses, 

perhaps 
Matthews 
and 

Wagner’s successes will open up 
opportunities for players around 
them. But for now, with games 
against the likes of North Carolina, 
UCLA and Texas coming up, the 
duo’s upward trend has surfaced 
at the right time. 

The good, the bad and the ugly: No. 8 Ohio State

“It would make the season, you 

know? This is what we play for — to 
beat Ohio State.”

That was what Michigan’s Noah 

Furbush said last Tuesday, just four 
days before The Game.

Everyone knows it, from the 

players and coaches. The season is 
a disappointment if the Wolverines 
don’t beat the Buckeyes. And by 
that metric, for the 13th time in 14 
years, Michigan’s season can be 
considered a disappointment after a 
31-20 loss.

And that’ll hurt Michigan even 

more given how close it was to 
making its season.

The Daily breaks down the good, 

the bad and the ugly from Saturday’s 
game.

The good
Michigan’s coaching staff pulled 

out all the tricks for this one. The 
Wolverines attacked the Buckeyes 
with multiple new formations, 
keeping Ohio State’s defense off-
balanced and confused. It was 
exactly what an underdog has to do 
to have a chance against a superior 
team, and for a while, things were 
working in Michigan’s favor.

The Wolverines fired off a 

13-play, 77-yard drive that tied for 
their longest touchdown drive of the 
season. A nifty play-action pass near 
the goal-line to Sean McKeon gave 
Michigan a 14-point lead. Later, a 
quick outside screen to Kekoa 
Crawford gained 43 yards, setting 
the Wolverines up for another 
touchdown.

Michigan got several stellar 

individual performances, as well. 
Chris Evans carried the ball 11 times 
for 67 yards, with several impressive 
runs that featured multiple broken 
tackles. Rashan Gary tallied 10 
tackles, three tackles for loss and 
two sacks, while Chase Winovich 
added nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for 
loss and one sack of his own. The 
pair anchored a defense that held 
its own for much of the game. Ohio 
State, in fact, had negative-seven 
total yards after the first quarter — 
the fewest after any quarter during 

Urban Meyer’s tenure.

Michigan was clearly ready 

to battle. But the highlights were 
outnumbered by the miscues.

The bad
The Wolverines have done a poor 

job of protecting their quarterback 
this year. As Wilton Speight and 
Brandon Peters stood on the sideline, 
both 
injured 
and 
spectating, 

Michigan struggled once again 
in pass protection. The Buckeyes 
tallied numerous pressures, racked 
up five sacks and in general, made 
life difficult for John O’Korn.

O’Korn, of course, didn’t make 

life easy for himself either.

He missed several throws in 

the first half. On the first drive, 
Michigan called a delayed route for 
Tyrone Wheatley Jr. in the middle 
of the field. Wheatley had acres of 
green turf in front of him. O’Korn 
simply missed him, and on came the 
punt team.

Then 
there 
was 
the 
late 

interception that came on the very 
first play of Michigan’s penultimate 
drive. At that point, the Wolverines 
had hope: they just had to move the 
ball 77 yards in 2:47. Difficult, but 
certainly achievable.

O’Korn, though, misread the 

coverage, Jordan Fuller recorded 
the easiest interception of his life 
and that was it.

To add further insult, Ohio 

State’s offense came on the field and 
shredded a deflated defense for one 
final touchdown.

The ugly
The coaching staff and players 

probably reviewed yesterday’s tape 
with thoughts of what could have 
been. For all the scheming that went 
into this week’s gameplan, there 
were simply too many mistakes.

The miscues began on offense, 

where the Wolverines continually 
left yards and points on the table 
thanks to simple mistakes. There 
was a fumbled snap. There was 
a botched handoff on which 
the quarterback got stepped on, 
tripped and fell down. That turned 
a 
manageable 
2nd-and-1 
into 

3rd-and-4. Two incompletions later, 
and the Wolverines had squandered 
a golden opportunity in Buckeye 

territory to win the game.

Earlier in the third quarter, 

Maurice 
Hurst 
made 
an 

uncharacteristic 
mistake. 
The 

fifth-year senior defensive tackle 
has been Michigan’s best player 
on defense all year. He’s one of the 
best players in the country. But on a 
2nd-and-7, he failed to keep contain 
while stunting — and that allowed 
Dwayne Haskins to scamper easily 
for 22 yards.

That 
entire 
drive 
was 
a 

backbreaker. After watching Ohio 
State’s J.T. Barrett exit with an 
injury, the Wolverines promptly 
gave 
up 
a 
time-consuming 

touchdown drive to his backup, 
who converted several tough third 
downs and marched his team down 
the field with ease. A J.K. Dobbins 
touchdown gave the Buckeyes their 
first lead of the game — a lead they 
would not relinquish.

Michigan 
might 
not 
have 

even been in that situation had it 
built on its quick start. Had Josh 
Metellus held onto the ball after 
Barrett threw it directly at him, the 
Wolverines might be celebrating 
their first win over Ohio State since 
2011. But the ball tumbled to the 
turf, Barrett strolled into the end 
zone just a few plays later and the 
Buckeyes’ comeback was on.

Those are all ‘what-ifs’ the 

Wolverines will be thinking about 
for the next year. And it seems that 
every year, that’s what Michigan is 
left to think about — what might, or 
could, happen in the next matchup.

That’s simply what happens 

when mistakes pile up — you lose, 
and then you’re left contemplating 
what could have been. For the 
Wolverines, that holds doubly true 
considering those mistakes came 
against Ohio State of all teams.

‘M’ tops UC Riverside

For the time being, the starting 

point guard spot is Eli Brooks’ to 
lose.

Just over four minutes into 

Sunday afternoon’s game, UC 
Riverside’s Dikymbe Martin drove 
towards the hoop and before 
the basketball could grace the 
backboard, it was met by the hand 
of Brooks.

The freshman point guard 

corralled the ball and charged to the 
other end, dishing it in the corner to 
fifth-year senior forward Duncan 
Robinson for a transition 3-pointer.

Two possessions later, Brooks 

was left alone in the corner for his 
first shot of the game. Splash.

“He makes the other four guys 

better right now. It’s that simple,” 
said Michigan coach John Beilein. 
“He just makes the other four guys 
better. … He seems to be what I 
call a ‘quick study,’ a guy that as 
we continue to go game to game to 
game that he can make really good 
changes.”

Brooks’ play was the type of 

smooth, intelligent performance 
expected from a starting point 
guard, as he finished with eight 
points and four rebounds. And the 
outing kickstarted the trajectory of 
the Michigan men’s basketball team 
87-42 drubbing of the Highlanders 
(2-3).

“Obviously we took the loss to 

LSU by two. We didn’t play the 
game we were capable of playing,” 
said freshman guard Jordan Poole. 
“Obviously we started getting on 
a stretch against Chaminade and 
VCU. Today we were getting to 
play comfortable, not thinking too 
much. … We’re just kinda out there 
just flowing.”

The first half was as clean 

of basketball as the Wolverines 
(6-1) have played all season. They 
assisted on their first 10 baskets, and 
held the advantage in nearly every 
category for a 41-17 halftime edge.

Perhaps the most promising sign 

gleaned from the first 20 minutes 
was the Matthews-Wagner pick-

and-roll 
combination. 
Wagner 

scored the contest’s first seven 
points in every way he knows how: 
a top-of-the-key trey, a mid-range 
corner jumper and a spin move to 
the basket for an easy layup.

For Matthews, it didn’t take long 

for him to set a career-high in assists. 
After dishing out a previous best of 
four assists against Chaminade last 
Tuesday, the redshirt sophomore 
forward needed just over seven 
minutes to notch five.

The second half offered much 

of the same. Wagner scored 
Michigan’s first five points — eight 
of its first 12 — and Matthews had 
three assists in the first five minutes. 
Matthews’ 12 total assists and 17 
points gave him his second career 
double-double, also his second in 
three games. Wagner also tallied a 
double-double with 21 points and 10 
boards.

“When you have a good game we 

know that there will probably be a 
bad game or worse game as well,” 
Wagner said. “… We can see it every 
day. We know that with this offense 
and the way we play and the type of 
players we have, it allows us to have 
good players every game that are 
different.”

While 
the 
all-around 

contributions were a welcome 
sign for the Wolverines, it doesn’t 
make Beilein’s job any easier. 
He 
has 
consistently 
stressed 

the importance of trimming the 
rotation down to eight or nine 
players, while all 16 players saw the 
court on Sunday.

“I’m seeing who’s gonna grow 

now. I’m seeing who’s gonna grow 
the fastest,” Beilein said. “... That’s 
up for grabs, and it’s still up for 
grabs. It will be every game. I’m 
just gonna go ‘Who practiced well? 
Alright, you practiced well. Go in.’ ”

The Wolverines can rest easy 

tonight about their lopsided win 
over UC Riverside, but they will 
have to put it in the past quickly. 
A date with No. 9 North Carolina 
awaits 
on 
Wednesday, 
and 

compared to the Highlanders, the 
two matchups are apples to oranges 
for Michigan.

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor

MEN’S BASKETBALL

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Rashan Gary’s 10 tackles were one silver lining for the Wolverines on Saturday.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Sophomore forward Jake Slaker was willing to admit that the Buckeyes outworked Michigan through all six periods.

JACOB 
SHAMES

