4B — Monday, January 29, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan upsets No. 4 Iowa on the road

“(Iowa’s) atmosphere there is 

unreal,” said 197-pound fifth-year 
senior Kevin Beazley. “Their fans 
are ruthless.”

That is the atmosphere the 

seventh-ranked 
Michigan 

wrestling team had to face 
Saturday night. Any dual meet 
against a top five team is difficult, 
but facing the fourth-ranked 
Hawkeyes in their venerated 
Carver-Hawkeye Arena is another 
task entirely.

The Wolverines didn’t start 

the meet with any particular 
gumption, as three out of their 
first four matchups ended in 
defeat. 
The 
run 
included 
a 

technical fall in the first match 
at 125 pounds by third-ranked 
Hawkeye Spencer Lee against 
freshman Drew Mattin and 149-
pound redshirt sophomore Ben 
Lamantia getting pinned in the 
second period by second-ranked 
Brandon Sorensen.

From a team perspective, the 

lone bright spot for Michigan 
in those four matches was 133-
pound redshirt sophomore Stevan 
Micic, who won his match by 
major decision.

Heading into the fifth match 

the Wolverines were down 14-4 
and every bit lifeless.

Coming 
alive, 
however, 

redshirt junior Alec Pantaleo 
shifted the tide with a two-point 
takedown and two-point reversal 
consecutively, to win 5-2.

“I don’t think he wrestled that 

first period the way he wanted 
to,” said coach Joe McFarland. 
“I’ll tell you what he did a great 
job of though, is he rode that kid 
the second period. I think that 
put him in the driver’s seat. He 
accumulated his riding time and 
opened it up a little more in the 
third period. That was a big win 
for us.”

Even though Michigan saw 

a 14-7 deficit heading into the 
visitor’s locker room at the 
halfway point, spurred on by 
Pantaleo’s 
performance, 
the 

second part of the lineup began 
to shift the momentum in its 
direction.

“We were pretty calm going 

into halftime,” Beazley said. “We 
knew they had some studs that 
could put up some points against 
us, but we knew where our horses 
were and that we could finish 
strong.”

The Wolverines’ “horses” came 

through in a big way. Excluding 
a loss by 165-pound redshirt 
sophomore Logan Massa in a 
close match, Michigan won the 
last four matches to close out the 
dual meet.

Among these were three highly 

anticipated matchups. Following 
a win by 174-pound redshirt 
sophomore Myles Amine, and 
Domenic Abounader — a fifth-
year senior and the fifth-ranked 
wrestler in the 184-pound weight 
class — won his matchup against 
No. 20 Mitch Bowman by a score 
of 4-1.

Arguably the biggest result of 

the night, however, came in an 
upset win by Kevin Beazley over 
No. 5 Cash Wilcke. It was a back-
and-forth match with takedowns 
from both wrestlers throughout 
the first two periods. Ultimately, 
Beazley was able to score an 
escape in the third period and 
clinch a victory by a single point.

“I knew 197 was going to be 

really close,” McFarland said. 
“We felt we could control 174, 184 
and even heavyweight. We knew 
197 was going to be one of those 
toss-up matches. We knew it was 
going to be a great match, and I 
thought Kevin did an exceptional 
job.”

Now down by just two points, 

the Wolverines sent out their ace, 
heavyweight Adam Coon, to take 
control of the meet once and for 
all. The fifth-year senior was able 
to score a pivotal takedown early 
in the first period that proved 
too much for the third-ranked 
heavyweight in the country, Sam 
Stoll, to overcome.

The victorious finale — thanks 

to Coon — was enough to push 
Michigan over the line and leave 
Iowa City with an upset win, 19-17.

“Carver’s 
a 
hostile 

environment,” McFarland said. 
“It’s a loud crowd. It’s a tough 
place to win. But I’m proud of the 
way the guys did it. We did it the 
tough way. We did it the hard way. 
We were able to dig down deep 
and win those matches we needed 
to. It’s nice to come away with a 
win. I’m proud of the guys.”

CONNOR BRENNAN

For the Daily

CAT MYKOLAJTCHUK/Daily

Fifth-year senior Kevin Beasley was a big part of his team’s win, upsetting fifth-ranked Cash Wilcke.

Michigan rolls Northwestern, 80-59

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team is letting the good 
times roll.

The 
sixteenth-ranked 

Wolverines (8-2 Big Ten, 19-4 
overall), added onto what is now 
a six-game winning streak on 
Saturday, beating Northwestern 
(2-7, 9-14), 80-59. They took their 
first lead two minutes into the 
game and never gave it up.

Junior center Hallie Thome 

was the early catalyst, as Michigan 
spent the first half feeding her in 
the post. She started the game 
with two straight hook shots and 
didn’t slow down. The Wolverines 
built up a 21-9 first quarter lead 
through a cascade of spin moves, 
drop 
steps 
and 

hook 
shots, 
all 

from Thome.

By 
the 
end 

of the first half, 
Thome’s tally was 
up to 19 points on 
8-of-11 
shooting, 

more 
than 
she 

totaled 
in 
four 

of her last five 
games. The rest 
of the Wolverines 
combined for 18 in the same span.

“Her 
footwork 
was 
so 

outstanding and we were able to get 
her the ball,” Michigan coach Kim 
Barnes Arico told MGoBlueTV. 
“And that’s something we talked 

about before the game — we need 
to establish her.”

As Thome dominated, however, 

the Wildcats managed to stay 
in the game. A Bryana Hopkins 
floater at the first quarter’s buzzer 
kept the margin at a manageable 
13 and Northwestern cut it to 10 
midway through the second.

From there, it was a familiar 

formula: an entry pass, a post-
up, a left-handed hook shot, two 
more points. Though Thome 
piled up seven more points late 
in the half doing just that, the 
Wildcats stayed within reach by 
limiting everybody else. Senior 
guard Katelynn Flaherty was the 
Wolverines’ second-leading scorer 
with seven points in the first 20 
minutes, and even that was on 
3-of-11 shooting.

In 
the 

second 
half, 

that 
changed. 

Northwestern 
started 
to 

double-team 
Thome, but the 
rest of the offense 
subsequently 
revved up.

“When 

(Thome’s) 
in 

one-on-ones, she 

can score every single time and I 
think that’s what changed things 
for us in the second half, cause 
they really had to double her,” 
Barnes Arico said. “... And then 
that opened things for our guards 

on the outside.”

Junior guard Nicole Munger 

and Flaherty began to heat up 
almost immediately. The former 
found the latter to set up a 
transition layup early in the third. 
A few possessions later, Flaherty 
hit a trademark 3-pointer from 
well beyond the arc. What had 
been a nine-point lead quickly 
turned to 15.

By the end of the third, 

Michigan led 63-47, having scored 
two more points than the Wildcats 
averaged 
per 
game 
coming 

into Sunday. Needless to say, a 
comeback wasn’t in order.

After struggling throughout the 

first half, Flaherty finished with a 
typical 27 points and six assists, 
hitting five-of-seven triples and 
kickstarting 
the 
Wolverines’ 

transition attack. This was the 
third time in her last four games 
she finished with over 25.

In addition to keeping the 

winning streak going and staying 
a game behind No. 14 Maryland 
in the Big Ten loss column, the 
victory also marked Kim Barnes 
Arico’s 
400th 
as 
Michigan’s 

head coach. In the locker room, 
the Wolverines greeted her with 
cardboard cutouts spelling out 
the milestone, as well as one of her 
own face.

“It just means I’m getting 

old,” joked Barnes Arico. “I think 
that’s what it means. But it’s nice 
that 300 and 400 weren’t that far 
away.”

DARBY STIPE/Daily

Junior center Hallie Thome dominated in the post against Northwestern, scoring 19 points in the first half alone.

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

Junior center 
Hallie Thome 
was the early 

catalyst.

Northwestern comes to Ann Arbor in desperate need of a resume boost

The history of Northwestern 

basketball operates in two 
realms: before the 2016-17 
season and after.

Prior 
to 

last 
season’s 

magical 
run, 

the 
goal 
of 

reaching 
the 
NCAA 

Tournament 
for 
the 
first 

time in school 
history 
reigned 
over 

everything. 
Success 
was 
heavily 

predicated 
on 
breaking 

through 
that 

ceiling. 

“That 
was 

as 
great 
a 

pressure as I probably ever 
have been a part of with a 
team,” 
said 
Northwestern 

coach Chris Collins at Big 
Ten Media Day. “Just with the 
media and the fan base and the 
alumni and everybody wanting 
it so bad.”

Then it happened. 
The Wildcats ripped off 

a magical run — including 
a dramatic, buzzer beating 
win over Michigan — on the 
way to an NCAA Tournament 
berth. 
Not 
stopping 
there, 

they 
topped 

Vanderbilt 
in 

the first round 
and 
nearly 

upset 
No. 
1 

seed 
Gonzaga 

in the second 
round. 
The 

loss 
couldn’t 

mitigate 
the 

most 
historic 

season 
in 

program 
history.

But expectations are merely 

a product of past success. So 
when one goal is achieved, 
it becomes a baseline for the 
future. Beyond a single NCAA 

Tournament 
appearance, 
Collins 
sought 

sustainability.

“I can tell you 

when I came to 
Northwestern, 
the 
NCAA 

Tournament was 
a goal,” Collins 
said, 
“but 
it 

wasn’t the end 
goal.”

With 
guards 
Bryant 

McIntosh and Scottie Lindsey, 

and forwards Vic Law and 
Dererk Pardon, returning for 
another season, expectations 
shot through the roof. The 
four 
veterans 

accounted for 68 
percent of the 
team’s 
scoring 

during its 2016-
17 campaign. 

The heart of 

the team — the 
“cour fore,” as 
Collins 
called 

them 
— 
that 

captivated 
the 

hearts of fans 
and national media was back. 
It seemed the most successful 

team in program history could 
only improve. 

But even from the beginning 

of the year Collins cautioned 

against 
that 

sentiment 
of 

inevitability. 
A 
long-time 

assistant 
under 
Duke 

coach 
Mike 

Krzyzewski and 
son of long-time 
NBA coach Doug 
Collins, 
the 

Wildcats’ coach 
knew 
better 

than to assume anything.

“We don’t talk about last 

year,” Collins said. “I told the 
guys, like, ‘there’s nothing 
to talk about.’ Every team 
is different. Every season is 
different. … And 
if you don’t have 
that edge, if you 
don’t have that 
chemistry, 
the 

fine line from 
winning 
and 

losing 
in 
this 

league is a very, 
very 
narrow 

margin.”

Perhaps more 

often 
than 

expected, Collins and his team 
have found themselves on the 

wrong side of that narrow 
margin. 

Northwestern 
enters 
the 

game Monday bruised and 
battered, sitting below .500 
in conference play and with a 
middling 13-9 record overall. 
Short of contending for an 
increasingly doubtful NCAA 
Tournament bid, a veteran-
laden Northwestern team is 
merely left contending for its 
pride.

While 
McIntosh, 
Pardon, 

Lindsey 
and 
Law 
have 

sustained 
their 
statistical 

success, the team as a whole 
has largely fallen flat.

Slowly but surely, though, 

the Wildcats are starting to 
play up to snuff.

Last Saturday, they avenged 

an early-season loss to Penn 
State, 
topping 
the 
Nittany 

Lions 70-61. Three days later, 
they went to Minneapolis and 
took down the Golden Gophers 
for the second time.

“There’s no room for more 

slip-ups,” Collins told media 
this past week. “We know 
there’s a lot of ball left, we 
know all the goals we had are 
still attainable.”

Any 
hope 
of 
attaining 

the 
most 
immediate 
goal 

— returning to the NCAA 
Tournament 
— 
hinges 
on 

Monday’s 
game 
at 
Crisler 

Center. 
A 
resume-boosting 

win at Michigan would send 
the Wildcats toward a frenzied 

finish 
to 
the 

season. A loss 
would 
almost 

certainly doom 
them.

And 
that’s 

the 
reality 
of 

Northwestern 
basketball 
post 
2016-17. 

There’s a new 
foundation 
for 
success, 

and close is no longer close 
enough.

FILE PHOTO

Northwestern coach Chris Collins led his team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance last season. This season has not gone nearly as well. 

After the Wildcats’ historic 2016-17 season, this year’s campaign has been less fruitful for Chris Collins and his squad

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

“That was as 

great a pressure 
as I ... ever have 
been a part of.”

“(The NCAA 
Tournament) 
wasn’t the end 

goal.”

“We know all 
the goals we 
had are still 
attainable.”

Northwestern 

at Michigan

Matchup: 
Northwestern 
4-5 Big Ten, 
13-9 overall; 
Michigan 
6-4, 17-6

When: 
Monday 7 
P.M. ET

Where: Crisler 
Center

TV/Radio: 

FS1

