8 — Thursday, November 30, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Poor rebounding,
defense sinks ‘M’
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — It
was a play that the Michigan
basketball team has practiced
defending hundreds of times.
Early in the second half
of the Wolverines’ 86-71 loss
Wednesday,
North
Carolina’s
Joel Berry II called for a screen at
the top of the key. Forward Luke
Maye obliged, setting the screen
and rolling to the basket.
The two Michigan defenders
involved — freshman point guard
Eli Brooks and fifth-year senior
forward Duncan Robinson —
both switched to the ball handler.
Berry then dribbled his way
into space and found Maye for an
open dunk, inciting roars in the
Dean Dome.
On a night when the Tar Heels
shot 55 percent from the floor,
those types of mistakes were
common in what amounted to
the Wolverines’ worst defensive
performance of the year.
“Just
(not
enough)
grit,”
Brooks said. “(We weren’t) able
to get down and dirty.”
After scoring just 45 points
against then-No. 4 Michigan
State on Sunday, the Tar Heels
connected for 51 points on
65-percent shooting in the first
half — a disastrous frame for
Michigan defensively.
“I don’t think we were ready
for the quickness with the speed
and precision that they run with,”
Beilein said. “We just weren’t
locked in. … We laid an egg for
most of the first half defensively.”
Part of the issue was the
Wolverines’ inability to match up
with Maye, who led the floor with
27 points on 11-for-16 shooting.
And when that mismatch was
combined with ball movement
and the sharp-shooting of guard
Kenny Williams, North Carolina
had a formula too potent for the
Wolverines.
“Yeah, they were really moving
the ball well,” said Michigan
coach John Beilein. “Luke Maye
is a really tough matchup for us.
We’re playing really small with
Duncan Robinson as a skinny-
four man. This was really a bad
matchup, and it really hurt us.”
But
even
when
Michigan
executed defensively, the Tar
Heels’ skill persisted.
Midway through the first half,
Berry drove from the key and got
a step on sophomore point guard
Zavier Simpson. Simpson, in an
impressive showing of quick feet,
caught up to cut off Berry — only
for the former Final Four MVP to
jump, lean back and kiss an eight-
footer off the glass.
“They
didn’t
miss
shots,”
Beilein said. “They’re not as well-
oiled as they were last year yet,
but they’ve got really good talent.”
But when the Tar Heels did
miss, their talent was further
magnified by their persistent
second chances.
Michigan allowed 20 points
off 10 offensive boards and lost
the overall rebounding margin,
37-31.
“They just did a great job of
getting second shots off offensive
boards,” Beilein said. “We just
weren’t good.”
Added
Brooks:
“I
think
just the physicality (was most
disappointing). Being able to
command the glass, and just
not playing physical inside. It
comes with the guards, even
those inside. We’ve got to get a
rebound, we didn’t do a good job
of rebounding, and that hurt us.
We just didn’t have enough dogs
out there to fight and compete on
the glass.”
Despite Michigan’s offensive
struggles Wednesday, it still
could
have
competed
with
the Tar Heels. Poor defense
and rebounding lapses simply
delivered the punches that left
the Wolverines bruised by the
game’s end.
“It’s one that we’ve got to
grow from,” Beilein said. “But
I’m disappointed that some of
the veterans right now weren’t as
gritty as they’ve been in the past.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Michigan can’t answer Tar Heels’ punches
CHAPEL
HILL,
N.C.
—
Duncan Robinson ran ahead of
the pack.
He had the ball in his hands,
and with it, an opportunity to
provide an answer to another
punch
that North
Carolina
(5-1)
had
thrown at the Michigan men’s
basketball team (6-2).
The 13th-ranked Tar Heels’
two stars, guard Joel Berry and
forward Luke Maye, had just hit
a three and a two, respectively,
to give North Carolina a 34-29
lead with about seven minutes
left.
Robinson
fought
off
a
defender with his off-hand,
gathered the ball with his right
hand and missed the layup off
the right side of the rim.
The Tar Heels ran the other
way, and forward Theo Pinson
finished the sequence with an
acrobatic reverse layup.
From there, the Wolverines
never found an answer and
were dominated in an 86-71 loss
Wednesday night.
“Exactly what I thought
this team’s weakness would be
this year is when we needed
somebody to settle down and
make a play,” said Michigan
coach
John
Beilein.
“We
weren’t ready to make a smart
play at that time. It would turn
into hero basketball, and it
would end up (creating) offense
for them. That’s exactly what
happened.”
Added
junior
forward
Moritz Wagner: “It was very
disappointing, the way we put
our heads down once we got
down 10. Instead of making it
a tough game, all of a sudden, it
looked like a blowout.”
After amassing a 14-point
lead heading into the halftime
break, North Carolina flexed
its muscles at the outset of
the second half. It went on a
16-2 run that included and-
one dunks, open layups and
bruising post moves that blew
the game wide open.
Beilein
shuffled lineups
often, but none
of the rotations
yielded
strong
results,
and
his team shot
a meager 35.1
percent from the
floor in the final
20 minutes.
“I don’t know
who those next
guys are,” Beilein said. “We’re
trying to figure it out, and that’s
why we said, ‘To heck with the
second half. Heck, you’re down
30. Let’s let the young guys
play.’ ”
Though the game ended in a
blowout, it didn’t seem like that
would be the case early. At that
point, everything was falling
for both teams.
The Wolverines made their
first eight shots.
The eighth came
on a fadeaway,
bank-in
three-
pointer
from
redshirt
junior
forward Charles
Matthews.
Michigan
took
the Tar Heels’
repeated blows
until there were
eight
minutes
left in the first half.
Then, as North Carolina
stomped its foot on the pedal,
the Wolverines couldn’t keep
up. Robinson missed his layup,
and the rest of the team missed
nearly everything else.
Michigan will return home
Saturday for its Big Ten opener
against Indiana. It will be an
opportunity for the Wolverines
to forget a game that could have
been a launching pad for the
rest of their season.
But it wasn’t, and like they
were
on
Wednesday
when
everything was going wrong,
Michigan is still looking for
somebody who can step up and
right the ship.
“I think the most important
thing … is that we can’t sit in
the locker room and have our
heads down, because that’s
weakness,”
Wagner
said.
“That’s my big point, and I
think our coaching staff’s going
to take care of the rest.”
2017 Season in Review: Tight ends, fullbacks
With the Michigan football
team’s 2017 regular season in the
books, the Daily looks back at the
performance of each unit this year
and looks ahead to the future in
2018. In this edition: tight ends
and fullbacks.
Ever since Jake Butt became an
integral part to Jim Harbaugh’s
offense, everyone knew tight
ends would be a featured position
in Michigan’s system for seasons
to come.
Butt, a former All-American,
would obviously be hard to
replace, but two frontrunners
emerged
as
the
Wolverines’
leading tight ends. They did a fair
job making up for Butt’s absence.
Sophomore tight end Sean
McKeon led the team with three
receiving
touchdowns,
and
finished the regular season as the
team’s second-leading receiver
with 285 yards. McKeon was a
frequent target for both redshirt
freshman quarterback Brandon
Peters
and
fifth-year
senior
quarterback John O’Korn.
The
team’s
third-leading
receiver — behind wideout Grant
Perry and McKeon — was another
tight end. Redshirt sophomore
Zach Gentry collected 276 yards
and two touchdowns.
It
was
the
first
season
that
Gentry
and
McKeon
saw significant playing time,
and the pair both served as
reliable targets for Michigan’s
quarterbacks.
The Wolverines had little luck
in the air this year — O’Korn and
Peters couldn’t hit receivers on
the deep ball very often — but
they continuously hit McKeon
or Gentry rolling off of the line.
Those passes were much easier
to make, and the quarterbacks
utilized them regularly.
At
the
fullback
position,
Michigan
saw
the
same
contributions for the most part
that it had the year before.
When Michigan needed a
short gain, either for a first-down
conversion or a touchdown push,
fifth-year senior Khalid Hill was
there to punch it home.
The ‘Hammering Panda,’ as
his nickname goes, had three
touchdowns this season on just
17 rushing attempts. In contrast,
the team’s two main running
backs each ran the ball over 120
times.
Hill’s efficiency proved to be
important again this season for
Michigan.
HIGH POINT: One of the best
fullback moments of the year
actually came on a play where
Michigan chose not to hand the
ball to Khalid Hill.
In College Park, from second-
and-goal on the three-yard line,
Peters handed the ball to fifth-
year senior fullback Henry Poggi.
Poggi, a Maryland native, dove
across the goal line and scored
his first career touchdown. His
fellow fifth-year senior center
Patrick Kugler and senior left
tackle
Mason
Cole
quickly
surrounded him in celebration.
The score was not only Poggi’s
first Michigan touchdown, but
also his first rush attempt of the
entire season. He wasn’t used
as often as Hill or freshman
fullback Ben Mason, but Poggi’s
touchdown against the Terrapins
gave him a highlight moment to
look back on.
The Maryland game also saw
positives from the tight ends, as
both McKeon and Gentry scored
touchdowns.
McKeon’s
came
on a short three-yard rollout,
his only catch of the game, but
Gentry racked up 63 receiving
yards on three catches to boost
the Wolverines to a road win.
LOW POINT: One tight end
in particular never fully showed
his worth.
Sophomore
Nick
Eubanks
opened the season with two
catches for 61 yards against
Florida, but didn’t catch another
pass all season after falling
victim to injury.
Harbaugh
never
disclosed
what that injury was specifically,
but the Wolverines certainly lost
a weapon without him on the
field.
THE FUTURE: At fullback,
the future is in the hands of Ben
Mason. Recruited as a linebacker
out
of
high
school,
Mason
converted to fullback. Harbaugh
even said he was “born to play”
the fullback position.
Mason
brings
a
lot
to
Michigan’s run game. He’ll be
crucial in blocking, which he
displayed an ability for midway
through the season when he
barreled a Rutgers player 10
yards into the end zone to pave
the way for the Wolverines’
running back.
Mason
was
the
only
underclassman fullback to see
playing time this year, and his role
will likely expand going forward
as Hill and Poggi move on.
For the tight ends, not much
is going to change in 2018.
Gentry and McKeon will both
be back, and in addition, redshirt
sophomore Tyrone Wheatley Jr.
and Eubanks, who both made
contributions this year, could see
additional playing time.
Ultimately,
the
tight
end
carousel revolves quickly. Gentry
and McKeon rode it all this year,
but with Eubanks back and
healthy, wherever the carousel
stops turning, the Wolverines
will be just fine.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Sophomore tight end Sean McKeon and redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry emerged as reliable threats in 2017.
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson missed a pivotal basket that could have changed the course of the game.
MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor
The Wolverines kept up with North Carolina in the early stages of the game,
but once they fell behind, they could never catch up in an eventual blowout
MICHIGAN
N CAROLINA
71
86
We weren’t
ready to make
a smart play at
that time
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior forward Moritz Wagner and the Wolverines were outplayed down low.
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Writer