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