The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, February 13, 2018 — 7

There for the taking

M

el Pearson’s timing was 
interesting, to say the 
least.

Sitting in 

the bowels of 
Little Caesars 
Arena on 
Saturday 
night after 
Michigan 
had defeated 
Michigan 
State, 3-2, to 
claim the Iron 
D Trophy, 
Pearson was 
asked how significant the victory 
was to his team.

“Huge. You can’t say it enough,” 

the Wolverines’ coach replied. 
“We want home ice in the playoffs. 
I think we were picked to finish 
sixth in the conference, so we’ve 
got something to prove.”

It’s a noticeably different 

tone from the one Pearson 
struck earlier this season. That 
was months ago — back when 
Michigan’s dismal 13-19-3 
campaign of a year prior was still 
poignant, rather than the wisp of 
a memory it is now.

Back then, the Wolverines, 

curiously, didn’t act like a team 
with a ton to prove. Yes, they were 
picked to finish second-to-last in 
a loaded Big Ten. No, that didn’t 
mean much to them at all. Pearson 
said at Michigan’s media day in 
late September that he would pick 
his team to win the league if he 
were a forecaster.

“We don’t try and look too 

much into that,” said senior 
forward Dexter Dancs at media 
day. “But it’s obviously a little bit 
of an ‘F you,’ I guess you could say, 
to us. … It was a little bit of a topic 
of conversation, but, you know 
what, we’re not looking too much 
into it.”

And it’s been that way 

all season. Preseason 
prognostications clearly brought 
some motivation, but the 
Wolverines’ success this season 
has never really felt like a rags-
to-riches, chip-on-shoulder 
underdog story. This was further 

evidenced when Michigan took 
down then-No. 4 Minnesota on 
Nov. 11. After that game, Pearson 
was asked if his team made a 
“statement” with the win. His 
response was firm and definitive.

“No, no, no,” he said. “I told 

our team we expect to win every 
night, so it’s not a statement game. 
We’ve got a lot of games, but it’s a 
good win.”

Last Saturday, then, was the 

first time in a good while that 
Pearson or any of his players had 
sought validation.

The timing is interesting, 

because Michigan has already 
proven itself.

There are just four games 

left in the Wolverines’ regular 
season, and at least six when you 
include the Big Ten Tournament. 
After 30 games and all the twists, 
turns, ups and downs that came 
with them, Michigan has nearly 
escaped the Big Ten gauntlet 
relatively intact.

With the victory over the 

Spartans, the Wolverines moved 
to third place in the conference 
standings and 14th in the Pairwise 
rankings, putting themselves 
firmly on the NCAA Tournament 
bubble. It’s a position that few 
outside of Ann Arbor would have 
imagined they’d inhabit five 
months ago.

The hard work needed to get to 

this point, however, has already 
been put in.

Michigan can proudly list a 3-1 

record against Penn State and a 
road sweep at Minnesota on its 
resume. It arguably outplayed 
then-No. 2 Notre Dame when the 
two teams met for a home-and-
home series in early January. The 
Wolverines have battled through 
adversity, such as the absence 
of key players Josh Norris, Will 
Lockwood and Quinn Hughes 
for three games due to the World 
Junior Championships in January, 
and the loss of Lockwood for the 
entire season after a shoulder 
injury.

In his first season on the job, 

Pearson has completely revamped 
Michigan’s offense. In 2016-2017, 

it languished, ranking 57th out 
of 60 teams in Corsi percentage 
— a measure of puck possession 
and shot differential — and 
42nd in goals per game. The 
Wolverines are up to 21st and 14th, 
respectively, this year.

While the first four months 

of Michigan’s season haven’t 
always provided a consistent 
narrative from game to game, 
a wholesale overview of those 
30 games clearly reveals what 
the Wolverines have proven to 
be — young, talented and much-
improved, strong in some areas 
and shaky in others, with a very 
real chance at the postseason.

This weekend brings two 

clashes — one home and one 
away — with the Fighting Irish. 
Michigan shouldn’t, and maybe 
won’t, be punished excessively if 
they suffer a sweep at the hands 
of the No. 1 team in the nation. 
But a victory would likely do 
wonders for the Wolverines’ 
hopes.

“We’ll be ready and I know 

Notre Dame will be ready,” 
Pearson said Saturday. “But we 
had two good games with them, 
and we’ll look forward to it.”

After that, however, Michigan’s 

schedule offers no such ambiguity. 
The final regular season home 
series is a non-conference set 
against Arizona State. And the 

Wolverines are guaranteed a 
best-of-three quarterfinal series 
in the Big Ten Tournament, 
likely against either Penn State, 
Wisconsin or Minnesota — which 
Michigan, three points ahead of 
the fourth-place Gophers, is likely 
to host.

A sweep against the Sun Devils, 

who rank 56th in Pairwise, feels 
imperative. As does a first-round 
tournament victory in a series 
against the Nittany Lions or 
Badgers — the loser of which 
likely would see their tournament 
dreams vanish.

If Michigan accomplishes 

both of those feats, a semifinal 
matchup against Notre Dame or 
Ohio State likely awaits. Win then, 
and it becomes nearly impossible 
to picture the Wolverines failing 
to snag an at-large bid. But at that 
point, why not just win the Big 
Ten and remove all doubt?

It’s past the time for validation. 

At this point, Michigan’s identity 
is all but finalized. What’s left 
requires putting that identity into 
action.

The Wolverines have earned 

their spot on the bubble. 
Everything after that is there for 
the taking.

Shames can be reached at 

jacosham@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Michigan coach Mel Pearson believes last weekend’s wins were important.

JACOB 
SHAMES

Wolverines struggle in
Match Play tournament

The Michigan men’s golf team 

opened up its spring season on 
Thursday 
at 
the 
prestigious 

Hammock Beach Golf course in 
Palm Beach, Fla.

After 
a 
three-and-a 
half 

month hiatus, the Wolverines 
matched up against Ohio State 
in the opening round of the Big 
Ten Match Play Championship. 
They 
struggled 
against 
the 

Buckeyes, ultimately falling, 5-1. 
Sophomore Brent Ito was the only 
successful golfer for Michigan, as 
he notched a 4-2 victory.

“Although we started off slow, 

there were still a lot of positive 
things we saw from the guys,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Chris 

Whitten.

Following the loss to Ohio 

State, 
the 
Wolverines 
saw 

massive improvements against 
top-seeded Purdue. The squad 
became more familiar with the 
course, but still fell, 4-2. Junior 
Nick Charlson offered a bright 
spot in his matchup, which came 
down to the final holes before he 
eventually prevailed, finishing 
two up on his opponent.

“The team played much better 

against 
the 
Boilermakers, 
I 

thought,” Whitten said.

Sitting in last place in the 

division 
heading 
into 
the 

weekend, Michigan looked to 
shape things up going into its 
matchup 
against 
Maryland. 

The tournament, however, got 
interrupted by a fog delay, thus 
reducing the match from 18 holes 
to nine. This did not bode well for 
the Wolverines, as they lost a pair 
of matches coming down to the 
final few holes.

“Today was a lot of situational 

things,” Whitten said. “One putt 
you needed for momentum just 
never fell our way.”

The 
Wolverines 
faced 

Nebraska in one last consolation 
match Saturday afternoon.

Freshmen Henry Spring and 

Charlie Pilon each tallied victories 
against the Cornhuskers. Spring 
won his match, 6-4, while Pilon 
sank 
Nebraska’s 
Sean 
Song, 

4-3. The match proved to be the 
most competitive of the day, as 
the Wolverines finished with 2.5 
victories. However, this was not 
enough, as the Cornhuskers came 
out on top, 3.5-2.5.

Michigan faces a two-week 

break before its next action at the 
Southwestern Jones invitational. 
And it’s clear there is a lot of 
improvement to be made before 
then. 

“We need to get back into the 

rhythm for our next tournament,” 
Whitten said.

MICHAEL HERSHENHORN

For the Daily

FILE PHOTO/Daily

The Michigan men’s golf team lost all four of its matches this weekend.

Wolverines need to find their flow
O

n Jan. 23, the Michigan 
women’s basketball team 
put 

Michigan 
State to 
shame with a 
26-point vic-
tory. When 
the two sides 
met again last 
Sunday, the 
Wolverines 
started the 
game with a 
7-0 run and 
looked like they might cause fur-
ther humiliation to their rivals.

That didn’t happen. Michigan 

quickly lost its touch and fell to 
the Spartans, 66-61.

After the game, Michigan 

State coach Suzy Merchant best 
described the Wolverines’ fallout:

“They couldn’t get into a flow,” 

Merchant said.

Come to think of it, when was 

the last time No. 23 Michigan (9-5 
Big Ten, 20-7 overall) was in its 
flow?

Yes, the Wolverines won 

their prior contest against 
Northwestern in dominant 
fashion, by 21 points. Senior guard 
Katelynn Flaherty and junior 
center Hallie Thome had silenced 
the offensive critics, tallying 36 
and 25 points, respectively. But at 
12th in the conference and 184th 
in the RPI rankings, the Wildcats 
aren’t exactly the most skilled 
team.

A team like Michigan is 

expected to dismantle opponents 
of Northwestern’s caliber. While 
the lopsided victory may have 
boosted the Wolverines’ morale, 
they hardly reached their flow.

Michigan surely wasn’t in its 

flow the week before that, either. 
The Wolverines were upset, 63-56, 
by Rutgers on the road, and also 
blew a 16-point fourth quarter 
lead in an overtime loss to Purdue.

While these two teams are a 

step up from Northwestern, they 
still aren’t anywhere close to the 
top of the pack in the conference. 
The Scarlet Knights are ninth in 
the Big Ten and were on a four-
game losing streak at the time. 

And against the Boilermakers, 
Michigan was cruising — as 
expected — but completely fell 
apart. Both were contests the 
Wolverines — who have been 
nationally ranked all season — 
should have easily won.

The three matchups prior were 

all blowout victories. One was 
against Illinois — who is last in 
the Big Ten standings — and the 
others were against the Spartans 
and the Wildcats.

Though Michigan outscored 

its opponents by an impressive 91 
points through these three games, 
nothing less was expected. For 
instance, the main reason the 
Wolverines dominated Michigan 
State in the first meeting was 
because the Spartans were 
burdened by injuries. The second 
matchup perhaps seemed more 
indicative of the true result.

Through this lens, the last time 

Kim Barnes Arico’s team won a 
meaningful game was almost a 
month ago in Columbus. On Jan. 
16, the Wolverines topped then-
No. 8 Ohio State, 84-75. They shot 

over 53 percent from the floor in 
that game and attacked the basket 
well. It was a signature win. 
Michigan was in its flow.

The recent loss against 

Michigan State marked the 
Wolverines’ third defeat in their 
last four games.

“We battled till the end,” 

Barnes Arico said after the game, 
“but were never really able to 
recover.”

The season is spiraling out of 

control. Michigan is still hanging 
on to its NCAA Tournament 
aspirations, but just barely.

With two games left in the 

regular season, the team still 
has a chance to get redemption. 
Recovery will be tough, though, 
as it will face Minnesota on the 
road and No. 10 Maryland at 
home.

To make the most out of what’s 

left, the Wolverines must keep 
battling and find their flow.

Kumar can be reached at 

kumarrp@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @rohantoocold.

‘M’ comes up short at 
Indoor Championships

Heading into the weekend 

ranked No. 10 in the nation, 
the Michigan women’s tennis 
team knew it would have to 
get past tough opponents at 
the ITA National Team Indoor 
Championship. What it didn’t 
anticipate was a disappointing 
1-2 weekend record.

Hoping to get four points 

against Georgia Tech just like 
it had done in an invitational 
to kick off the season, the 
Wolverines came up just short 
when it counted.

“We went in knowing they 

were a really tough team, but 
I think we took 
some confidence 
from when we 
played them in 
our invitational 
about a month 
ago,” said junior 
Kate 
Fahey. 

“We knew we 
could hang with 
them, but they 
honestly 
just 

played 
better 

(Friday).”

After an uncontested first 

day of doubles matches, when 
Michigan dropped the point 
to Georgia Tech, it came out 
with a different fire the next 
day. Facing No. 12 Auburn, 
the Wolverines took no time 
to 
make 
adjustments 
and 

get started on the right foot, 
claiming the doubles point 
with 6-0 and 6-1 victories.

“Obviously 
the 
coaches 

were a little disappointed in 
our doubles, and we talked 
about it and realized it can 
only go up from here,” Fahey 
said. “We all played with no 
pressure. We played to win, 
and I think that was the 
difference.”

However, 
Michigan 
was 

not able to keep its lead for 
long, losing tight matches at 
the last four singles positions. 

No. 6 Bella Lorenzini and No. 
4 Mira Ruder-Hook dropped 
their final sets in tiebreakers, 
giving Auburn the two points 
needed for victory.

“(Mira) did a really good 

job. She went down 5-2 in 
the third set, but she really 
stayed tough,” Fahey said. “I 
heard (associate head coach 
Teryn Ashley-Fitch) tell her 
to be aggressive and keep 
going for her shots because 
that’s really her game and 
what she does well. The other 
girl just played a really good 
tiebreak.”

With one more match left 

against the host Wisconsin, 
Michigan faced the unusually 

disastrous 
prospect 
of 

a 
winless 

record. 
Its 

thirst 
for 
a 

win showed in 
the box score, 
sweeping 
Wisconsin, 
4-0.

“We 
did 

have some fire 
in 
our 
belly 

after losing two in a row,” 
Fahey said. “We wanted to get 
some redemption and get one 
win from the weekend.”

Though this past weekend 

didn’t go as planned, Michigan 
is staying positive for the long 
conference season ahead.

“Indoors is always a great 

tournament to go to because 
you are surrounded by the best 
teams in the country, early in 
the season. It is like a preview 
of the NCAA Tournament,” 
said Michigan coach Ronni 
Bernstein. “We would have 
liked to have gotten a few 
more wins, but it is a long 
season and we will have more 
opportunities to face some of 
the best teams in the country. 

“We know what we need 

to work on and will continue 
to get better as this season 
progresses.”

WOMEN’S TENNIS

AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA

For the Daily

“We did have 

some fire in our 

belly after losing 

two in a row.”

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

The Michigan women’s basketball team has been struggling recently, and the Wolverines need to find their flow now, because they’re running out of time. 

ROHAN 
KUMAR

