The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 — 7A

Lockwood out for year 
after shoulder surgery

Three 
weeks 
ago, 
Will 

Lockwood faced a choice: He 
could attempt to play through 
his 
latest 
shoulder 
injury 

and have surgery once the 
Michigan hockey team’s season 
was over, or have surgery as 
soon as possible.

Rather 
than 
delay 
the 

inevitable, 
Lockwood 
chose 

the latter.

After 

Tuesday’s 
practice, 
Michigan 
coach 
Mel 

Pearson 
said that the 
sophomore 
forward 
had 

undergone 
surgery 
Tuesday 
morning, and he will not play 
again this year.

“(I) was just talking to his 

family, and everything went 
extremely well,” Pearson said. 
“Now that that’s done he’s on 
the road to recovery, and one 
day closer to being on the ice, 
whenever that is. Definitely out 
for the year but he should be 
ready to go next fall.”

While playing for the United 

States national team in a Dec. 

29 game against Canada at the 
World Junior Championships, 
Lockwood took a hit from 
behind and fell hard on his 
left shoulder. He was initially 
ruled out for the remainder of 
the tournament, and was later 
told that surgery was necessary 
after 
being 
evaluated 
by 

Michigan’s medical staff.

In 16 games this season, 

Lockwood registered four goals 
and seven assists, primarily 

playing alongside 
sophomore 
Jake Slaker and 
freshman 
Josh 

Norris 
on 
the 

Wolverines’ 
second forward 
line. 
Junior 

Brendan Warren 
has 
mostly 

filled in during 
Lockwood’s 
absence, 
and 

has found success, scoring five 
points in his last six games.

Lockwood previously missed 

five games his freshman season 
due to an injury on the same 
shoulder, 
and 
underwent 

surgery during that offseason. 
When healthy, Lockwood was 
a key player for Michigan, 
especially 
on 
offense. 
He 

tallied 20 points in his 30 
games in 2016-17, the second-
best total of any Wolverine.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Sophomore forward Will Lockwood had shoulder surgery Tuesday morning.

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“Now that 

that’s done he’s 
on the road to 

recovery.”

Struggling power play getting back to basics 

Talk to anyone on the Michigan 

hockey team — or really, anyone 
on any hockey team — and you’ll 
probably hear the phrase “pucks 
to the net,” or some variation 
thereof.

If you get enough pucks to the 

net, some of them will inevitably 
go in. It’s an idea that’s easy to 
understand and easy to repeat. 
But it’s not as easy a concept to put 
into practice.

There 
aren’t 
many 
better 

examples 
of 
this 
than 
the 

Wolverines’ power play unit. 
After last weekend’s sweep at 
the hands of No. 6 Ohio State, 
Michigan ranks 47th out of 
60 teams nationally in power 
play percentage, scoring just 15 
percent of the time with a man 
advantage.

It’s a perplexing statistic, at the 

very least. The Wolverines rank 
13th in the country in scoring and 
take more shots on goal than any 
team in the Big Ten, save for Penn 
State’s 
frenetic, 
trigger-happy 

attack. Michigan has its share 
of individual firepower — senior 
forward Tony Calderone is tied 
for the Big Ten lead in goals and 
junior forward Cooper Marody 
ranks second in assists.

But 
in 
power 
play 

situations, where you’d expect 
this 
playmaking 
talent 
to 

shine 
through 
even 
more, 

the 
Wolverines 
have 
been 

inconsistent at best. Seven times 
against the Buckeyes they went 
to the power play, and seven 
times they failed to score. Over 
Michigan’s last 14 power plays, 
they have only scored once.

“We’ve got a bunch of good 

players, so we should be able 
to have more success than we 
have (on the power play),” said 
freshman 
defenseman 
Quinn 

Hughes. “Sometimes, you never 
know, hockey is a strange game.”

A team should have an easier 

time scoring when it has an 
additional player on the ice. 
There’s 
nothing 
complicated 

about the math behind it. Maybe 

that’s why Michigan coach Mel 
Pearson has stressed simplicity 
when 
addressing 
his 
team’s 

special teams struggles.

His answer? Getting pucks to 

the net.

“Just try to outnumber them at 

the net instead of trying to make 
these fancy, tic-tac-toe plays,” 
Pearson said. “Just go low to high, 
get three guys going to the net and 
one of our two guys up top gets 
something to the net.

“We need more shots. We’re on 

the perimeter too much, trying to 
make these fancy plays, and we 
slow it down and we don’t get any 
shots.”

Of course, if it was easy to make 

the easy play, the Wolverines 
would be ranked much higher in 
power play percentage.

Pearson stated that his team 

showed well in power play 
scenarios 
during 
Tuesday’s 

practice. 
But 
he 
cited 
the 

difference in atmosphere between 
practices and actual games, and 
the lack of actual chances to 
convert — Michigan averages 
3.8 power plays per game for the 
season, but has seen just 2.9 per 
contest since Jan. 5. During that 
same span, the Wolverines have 
recorded just 1.1 shots per power 

play, compared to 1.8 for their 
opponents.

“All it takes is one goal to get a 

little momentum,” Pearson said 
Tuesday. “We haven’t had many 
opportunities. Even in the games 
this weekend, (Penn State) we 
didn’t have many, Minnesota we 
didn’t had many, so we haven’t 
had a lot of time to really work on 
it in game-like situations, which 
we could use more of.”

Meanwhile, 
the 
scoring 

prowess of Marody and Calderone 
has forced opponents to key in on 
them much more closely. Physical 
play and close checking have been 
on display from opposing teams 
more and more throughout the 
season — Pearson noted how 
successful the Buckeyes were in 
taking away Marody’s time and 
space in both of their meetings.

“(Marody) and Tony have 

really drawn a lot of attention 
and rightly so, because they’re 
two really good hockey players, so 
teams are really watching them 
close,” Pearson said. “Even on the 
power play, (they’re) going to take 
those two guys away and let one 
of the other three guys beat you.”

But no matter what reasons 

may be behind Michigan’s power 
play struggles, Pearson and his 

players all came to the same 
solution: Less time spent on the 
perimeter, more hard work in and 
around the crease and more shots 
on goal.

“We’re 
over-handling 
the 

puck, I think overthinking it, 
trying to get too cute, trying to 
make the great play instead of 
just taking what they’ve given 
you,” Pearson said. “... We know 
we have the personnel. Some of 
it’s mental, some of it’s physical. I 
think a lot of it’s mental. You get 
down, you get discouraged, you 
get frustrated. And you can’t, you 
just have to get ready for the next 
power play.”

Added Marody: “I think we 

need to get back to outworking 
the penalty kill. It’s easy on a 
power play to just get a little 
lackadaisical and not keep your 
feet on the gas. If we (outwork the 
penalty kill), we’re going to have 
success.”

The Wolverines know what 

they need to do to turn their 
scuffling power play unit around. 
The keys to doing so are simple, 
and they’ve known them for some 
time.

But as this season has shown, 

simplicity can be deceptively hard 
to attain.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Junior forward Cooper Marody has been skilled all season, but all the Wolverines have struggled on the power play.

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

Matthews working to find balance offensively

Everything was seemingly 

going 
to 
plan 
for 
Charles 

Matthews.

Through 
December, 
the 

redshirt junior guard averaged 
over 16 points-per-game and 
shot a remarkable 56 percent 
from 
the 
floor. 
Using 
his 

6-foot-6, 
200-pound 
frame, 

Matthews could slash around 
weaker defenders throughout 
non-conference play for the 
Michigan 
men’s 
basketball 

team.

That addressed a certain 

level of unpredictability that 
surrounded Matthews before 
the season. After transferring 
from 
Kentucky 
and 
sitting 

out last season, his fit within 
the Wolverines’ offense was a 
mystery.

But 
15 
games 
into 
his 

Michigan 
career, 
Matthews 

was 
a 
mystery 
no 
longer. 

Instead, he proved himself as 
the Wolverines’ best scorer.

“I think he’s starting to 

understand how it all fits 
together,” 
said 
coach 
John 

Beilein after Matthews scored 
29 
points 
against 
Alabama 

A&M on Dec. 22.

Fast forward five weeks, and 

it’s been a different story for the 
Chicago native.

Matthews’ 
numbers 
have 

dipped. In the nine conference 
games since the New Year, 
he’s shooting 44 percent and 
averaging 11.6 points per game 
— third on the team behind 
junior center Mortiz Wager and 
senior 
guard 

Muhammed-
Ali 
Abdur-

Rahkman.

The 
drop 

led to a key 
conversation 
between 
Matthews and 
his coaches.

“The coaches 

let 
me 
know 

that I had to 
find the balance between not 
forcing it, but then not over 
‘letting-it-come-to-me.’ 
” 

Matthews said. “I had to find 
that medium, and coaches are 
still working with me on that.”

Matthews 
failed 
to 
find 

that balance against Maryland 
earlier 
this 
month. 
He 

frequently relied on off-balance 
jump 
shots, 
going 
3-for-10 

from the floor with a pair of 
turnovers.

“I want him to hunt,” Beilein 

said. 
“But 
there’s 
certain 

shots that (he) hunts that are 
tough twos — just not good 
analytically, and it’s proven 
they’re not good shots to take.”

On Monday in Michigan’s 

win 
over 
Northwestern, 

Matthews avoided many of 

those 
tought 

twos. 
In 
a 

performance 
reminiscent 
of 

those early in the 
season, he led 
the 
Wolverines 

with 14 points 
on 
6-for-11 

shooting.

But 
most 

impressive 
was 
Matthews’ 

offensive awareness that has 
escaped him at times. Twice 
he broke a stifling defense by 
getting behind the back line 
of the Wildcats’ 2-3 zone for 
dunks.

That awareness was also 

paramount to Matthews’ ability 
to facilitate for others. Faced 
with a double-team roughly 
midway through the first half, 

for example, Matthews found 
sophomore center Jon Teske 
before Northwestern’s defense 
could rotate completely, leading 
to a bucket and a foul.

It was one of five assists 

on the night for Matthews — 
the second straight game his 
passing ability has impressed 
his coach.

“He had six assists at Purdue 

(last Thursday),” Beilein said. 
“That was a monumental move 
for him to see that and score 
some points.”

Matthews’ 
blending 
of 

scoring and passing has made 
Beilein’s own balancing act even 
tougher. 
Matthews, 
Abdur-

Rahkman and freshman Jordan 
Poole are all strong scoring 
assets, but Beilein can’t play all 
three simultaneously without 
sacrificing the presence of a 
true point guard on the court.

When Matthews committed 

his first foul early in Monday’s 
contest, Poole was the first off 
the bench. Frequently, Beilein 
employs a flip-flopping of the 
two.

“We understand that — that’s 

why 
we’re 
both 
laughing,” 

Matthews 
said. 
“We 
have 

that great relationship where 
it’s like, ‘He better not make 
this shot, because I know I’m 
coming in.’

“I call him J.R. Smith — the 

human microwave. He loves 
that. In fact, I’m not going to 
call him that because he wants 
to be called that.”

Just as it is for Matthews, 

balance is the key for Poole, 
who doesn’t find many shots he 
doesn’t like. Sometimes, that 
draws ire from his coaches. 

But if he and Matthews can 

find a happy medium — both 
with the ball and in their usage 
— it could lead to more offensive 
harmony for Michigan.

“We both have these crazy 

scoring mindsets,” Matthews 
said. “Every time we get open, 
we want to shoot, but there’s a 
whole offense as well. I try to 
mentor him as well, just trying 
to balance it all.” 

MEN’S GYMNASTICS
‘M’ freshmen impress 
despite losing in debut

Nerves are always a part of 

sports.

Whether an athlete has 

been competing for decades or 
making a competitive debut, 
it’s hard to stay calm. The 
freshmen on the Michigan 
men’s 
gymnastics 
team, 

in 
particular, 
faced 
that 

challenge as they went up 
against No. 1 Oklahoma. The 
Sooners haven’t lost since 
2014.

Despite an overall team 

loss, two freshmen were a 
bright spot for the Wolverines: 
Cameron 
Bock 

and 
Jacob 

Moore.

Bock 

competed 
in 

three events: the 
pommel 
horse, 

parallel bars and 
the high bar. His 
slow handstands 
and bent knees 
on the parallel 
bars 
reduced 

his score to a 12.75, and his 
fall on Tkatchev during his 
high barroutine plummeted 
his score down to 10.6. But 
Bock’s best moment came on 
the pommel horse. He kept his 
feet together well, had good 
swings and stuck his dismount 
to earn a team high 13.55 on 
the event.

“They weren’t as nervous 

as normal freshmen would 
be,” said junior Uche Eke. 
“Cameron Bock hit a really nice 
pommel horse set. They were 
hitting good sets in the gym 
so it just showed that practice 
reflects your competition.”

Moore competed in four 

events on the day — scoring 
14.05 on both the vault and 
floor. He had great height 
during his floor routine, and 
pumped his fist after sticking 
his dismount.

“Floor, I consider that my 

strongest event so I don’t 

really have any nerves there,” 
Moore said. “Before I go I take 
a deep breath and I just go into 
autopilot. To get that triple 
full stick dismount, that felt 
great.”

Michigan coach Kurt Golder 

had nothing but praise for his 
freshmen and looked forward 
to their growing involvement 
as the season progresses.

“About a third of the routines 

today were from freshmen and 
that number will probably go 
up as Jake and Cameron Bock 
recover from their surgeries 
that they had either over the 
summer or recently,” Golder 
said “And yeah, we’re going 

to be counting 
on them a real 
lot.”

Both 
Bock 

and 
Moore 

competed 
in 

a 
combined 

seven 
events 

and 
got 
a 

taste 
of 
the 

collegiate 
atmosphere.

“It 
was 

really fun,” Moore said. “You 
know, I wanted to kind of come 
out here and get the season 
started, just have a good time, 
and I think we did that.”

Though 
Oklahoma 
beat 

Michigan down the stretch 
due to strong performances 
on the parallel bars and the 
high bar, the Wolverines were 
pleased at how they competed.

“I think last year we were 

kind of lacking that energy as 
a team, you know,” Moore said. 
“I think this season’s going to 
be a lot different and we’re 
going to show some people 
what Michigan’s made of.”

If 
the 
Wolverines 
can 

continue 
to 
work 
hard 

and 
make 
the 
necessary 

improvements on the parallel 
bars and the high bar, this 
pair of freshmen will have 
the opportunity to announce 
themselves to the rest of the 
country.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Redshirt sophomore guard Charles Matthews played well against Northwestern after struggling in Big Ten play.

“I think last 
year we were 
kind of lacking 
that energy.”

AMIR ALI

Daily Sports Writer

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Editor

“There’s certain 
shots that (he) 
hunts that are 
tough twos.”

Redshirt sophomore guard struggling in conference after strong start to season

