6A — Thursday, February 15, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wolverines in trouble 
after loss to Minnesota

The No. 23 Michigan women’s 

basketball team is in a world of 
trouble.

After falling to Minnesota 

(9-4 Big Ten, 20-6 overall) 
on 
Wednesday, 
93-87, 
the 

Wolverines have now lost four 
of their last five. Against the 
Golden Gophers, as well as its 
other defeats during the slide, 
Michigan 
had 
opportunities 

to come out victorious, but 
couldn’t finish.

In 
the 
first 
period, 
the 

Wolverines (9-6, 20-8) shot 
an efficient 47 percent from 
the floor. Given Minnesota’s 
abysmal 27-percent clip from 
the field, it seemed rather 
peculiar for the Golden Gophers 
to be up 21-19 at the end of the 
frame.

The 
reason 
for 
this? 

Minnesota was able to force 
Michigan to commit eight fouls, 
affording the Golden Gophers 12 
free throws. The main culprit, 
junior guard Nicole Munger, 
racked up three fouls in the first 
quarter.

In the second frame, Michigan 

fouled only twice, giving up 
two Minnesota points from the 
charity stripe. However, the 
Golden Gophers were able to 
pick it up from the field, scoring 
24 points, to take a 45-40 
lead going into the half. The 
Wolverines’ deficit could largely 
be attributed to their dreadful 
defense and the lack of scoring 
from their big three scorers — 
senior guard Katelynn Flaherty, 
junior center Hallie Thome and 
Munger — combing for seven 
points; Thome and Munger were 
both held scoreless. 

“They went to that box-and-

one early where they were face-
guarding Kate,” said Michigan 
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “At 
halftime, we felt like we were 
okay, even without her not 
scoring a lot because she had 
six assists and she was really 
moving the ball and finding 
them for high percentage shots.”

Flaherty came to form in the 

third quarter. The program’s 
all-time leading scorer tallied 
13 points, including nine from 
behind the arc. Thome added 
10 points of her own. This run 
allowed Michigan to take a 
73-69 lead into the final quarter.

But then, things fell apart.
The 
Wolverines’ 
defense 

continued to be poor, allowing 
Minnesota to start the quarter 
on an 11-2 run. Michigan made 
a slight run of its own after 
a Flaherty 3-pointer, taking 
an 83-82 lead, but the Golden 
Gophers prevailed.

“I thought we ran out of gas 

a little bit,” Barnes Arico said. 
“We had some critical turnovers 
late. They made the plays they 
had to down the stretch and we 
did not.”

There was one bright spot, it 

was the Wolverines’ bench play, 
which had to step up, as starting 
freshman forward Hailey Brown 
out with a yet-to-be-determined 
leg injury. Michigan’s bench 
scored 27, including a career 
high 19 from sophomore guard 
Akienreh Johnson.

“I thought (Johnson) did a 

great job of moving without the 
basketball and was able to get 
some easy buckets just because 
of her movement,” Barnes Arico 
said.

With the loss, the Wolverines 

are now in jeopardy of missing 
out on the NCAA Tournament, 
again. This would be the second 
straight year Michigan’s late-
season slide knocked them out 
of the tournament.

“We’ve been trying to stay 

really positive,” Barnes Arico 
said. “We talked about our 
seniors and juniors — Jillian 
(Dunston), Kate and Hallie — 
they need to make those plays 
down the stretch.”

The Wolverines now have 

only one regular season game 
left — on the road against No. 
10 Maryland. In a scenario 
that seemed unlikely just a few 
weeks ago, their postseason 
hopes just might depend on that 
matchup.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Fifth-year senior forward Duncan Robinson went 6-for-8 from three Wednesday.

HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer

Unlike many coaches, John 

Beilein doesn’t pretend every 
game is equal. When the No. 22 
Michigan men’s basketball team 
(10-5 Big Ten, 21-7 overall) was 
lackluster early this season, he 
posited that January and February 
were when it really mattered.

After 
last 
week’s 
loss 
to 

Northwestern, 
however, 
the 

Wolverines 
looked 
far 
from 

experiencing the February success 
they had enjoyed in years past.

Beilein had a solution: to give 

his seniors more opportunity to 
lead.

That’s exactly what happened 

Tuesday, and it worked.

Bolstered 
by 
36 
combined 

points 
from 
seniors 
Duncan 

Robinson and Muhammed-Ali 
Abdur-Rahkman, the Wolverines 
routed Iowa (3-12, 12-16), 74-57, at 
Crisler Center.

“It’s their time right now,” 

Beilein said. “I want them to shoot 
more, I want them to be more 
aggressive. It’s their time.

“Tonight, they saved the day.”
Though 
Michigan 
never 

seemed to lose control of the 
contest, forward Luka Garza 
scored Iowa’s first eight points 
of the second half and closed the 
team’s 13-point halftime deficit to 
single digits early in the frame.

But in his second-to-last game 

at Crisler, Robinson came up with 
a big-time answer. The forward 
drained a trio of 3-pointers 
on 
consecutive 
possessions, 

extending the Wolverines’ lead 
to 16 points midway through the 
second half.

From there, Michigan’s defense 

would ensure the victory, as it has 
all season. The Wolverines shot 
a middling 42 percent, but held 
the Hawkeyes — who lead the 
conference in per-game scoring — 
to their third-lowest output of the 
year.

“I was really proud of our 

defense, although the percentage 

(against us) isn’t great,” Beilein 
said. “They had 12 turnovers in the 
first half that allowed us to (pull) 
away a little bit.”

Early on, however, it was 

Iowa’s defense that was causing 
problems.

Taking 
a 
page 
from 

Northwestern’s 
playbook, 
the 

Hawkeyes utilized an extended 
zone to slow Michigan’s offense, 
forcing numerous attempts late in 
the shot clock.

“About ten minutes before the 

game, I saw the starting lineup 
and knew they were definitely 
going zone, and it was going to be a 
huge zone,” Beilein said. “We were 
ready, but it took us for a shock 
initially.”

After trailing 9-2 early, the 

Wolverines 
responded 
with 

aggressiveness in transition to 
tie the contest at 14 just minutes 
later — capped by a steal and score 
by Abdur-Rahkman off an Iowa 
inbounds pass.

That 
trend 
continued 
for 

the entire first half, which was 
dominated by sloppiness. The 
Hawkeyes committed 12 turnovers 
during the first 20 minutes. 
Michigan had five. Errant passes, 
shot clock violations and air balls 
were plentiful for both sides.

As sloppy as the half was, 

though, 
Abdur-Rahkman 

provided 
some 
beauty 
on 

Valentine’s Day. Slicing down 
the right side, he whipped a pass 
behind his back into the corner 
that shifted the Iowa defense to 
create an open triple for junior 
center Moritz Wagner, who would 
finish with 14 points.

“(Abdur-Rahkman) is really 

careful with what he does and is 
not afraid to make the extra pass,” 
Beilein said. “I think we’re going 
to really miss him in the future. … 
He’s as complete of a player than 
as you’d ever think he’d become.”

It was just one example of 

the impressive vision Abdur-
Rahkman flashed all night, as he 
finished with seven assists and no 
turnovers to go along with his 18 

points.

And in a game dominated by 

Michigan’s seniors, it’s fitting 
that three of those assists were to 
Robinson. With just over seven 
minutes to go in the first half, 
Abdur-Rahkman drove baseline 
to find a wide-open Robinson, who 
drained his first of six 3-pointers 
on the night.

“(As seniors) we don’t want 

to leave any stones unturned,” 
Robinson said. “We want to 
compete and play hard and make 
winning plays. I thought (Abdur-
Rahkman) played great tonight 
and found me in a lot of good 
situations.”

After a 16-point effort against 

Wisconsin, Robinson would finish 
with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting 
Wednesday — a sign he’s starting 
to solve his offensive woes at the 
right time.

And as demonstrated by the 

win, Michigan might be too. 
That’s pivotal as the Wolverines 
prepare for a challenging stretch 
to close the regular season that 
includes Sunday’s showdown with 
No. 8 Ohio State.

Robinson and Abdur-Rahkman 

realize they have some power 
in the way their team ends 
the year. And in accordance to 
Beilein’s 
solution, 
Michigan’s 

seniors showed exactly that on 
Wednesday.

I-O-W-A

You 
remember 
Duncan 

Robinson, right?

The lanky marksman who set 

the world ablaze from beyond 
the arc when he transferred from 
Division III’s Williams College. 
The guy who captivated the 
fanbase and agitated opposing 
coaches. The fifth-year senior 
captain primed for the season of 
his life.

Senior guard Muhammad-Ali 

Abdur-Rakhman sure does.

“I was here when he was 

shooting like 70 percent as a 
sophomore,” 
Abdur-Rahkman 

said. “I’m glad he’s getting back to 
his old self and playing with the 
same confidence he had before.”

Robinson 
followed 
an 

offensive outburst on Sunday 
against Wisconsin — 16 points 
on 4-of-8 from 3-point range — 
with another electric shooting 
display Wednesday, helping lift 
Michigan past Iowa, 74-59.

These 
performances 
were 

nothing that Robinson and coach 
John Beilein didn’t see everyday 
in practice. 

But 
for 
the 
Wolverines’ 

opponents, this was a warning 
shot: Duncan Robinson is back, 
and subsequently, Michigan’s 
offense is on the ascent.

After draining three of his 

five 3-point attempts in the 
first half Wednesday, Robinson 
came back out in the second half 
on the prowl. With Michigan 
maintaining a steady lead, he 
put the game on ice, stamping 
the stretch of the game with 
3-pointers on three consecutive 
possessions.

With the Wolverines holding 

a 49-40 lead with 12 minutes 
remaining in the game, Robinson 
spotted up comfortably behind 
the Hawkeyes’ packed-in zone. 
Receiving the ball on the wing, 
he used the space to elevate and 
drain a 3-pointer. Then, with the 
flimsy zone offering ample space, 
Robinson knocked down another 
on the next possession from the 
same spot on the floor. By the 
time the third left his hand, the 
whole building knew it was in.

Iowa promptly called timeout, 

but it was too late. Robinson 
— mobbed at midcourt by his 
teammates — had put Michigan 
up 58-42, and the game to bed.

“Again, I watch everyday in 

practice,” Beilein said. “It’s the 
rep shooting drills where you 
have a minute to make so many 
threes. … He just goes ‘Bang, 
bang, bang, bang, bang.’ Some 
of our guys will have a good day 
and a bad day. He never misses 
the mark.”

Added Robinson: “When you 

make one or two, you kinda, at 
least in my head, have the green 
light for the next one even if it 
may be questionable. That’s just 
kind of how basketball is. Coach 
B instills a lot of confidence in 
me and so do my teammates. … 
He was actually on me after the 
game to shoot more.”

After 
Wednesday’s 
game, 

Robinson raised his 3-point 
shooting percentage to 38.6, 
inching closer and closer to his 
elite career norms.

His re-emergence offers a 

potent shooting threat on a team 
that has consistently struggled to 
maintain offensive consistency. 

And yet, the secondary and 
tertiary benefits of having a 
dead-eye 
shooter 
might 
be 

equally important.

The 
possession 
after 

Robinson’s 
long-distance 

bonanza, junior center Moritz 
Wagner grabbed an offensive 
board as Robinson sprinted to 
the near wing for a potential 
open three. As the Iowa defender 
frantically attacked Robinson to 
close out, Wagner instead fired 
the pass to Abdur-Rahkman at 
the top of the key. Using the space 
afforded to him by Robinson’s 
3-point threat, Abdur-Rahkman 
breezed down the lane for an 
easy lay-in.

The Duncan Robinson Effect 

is back, and not a moment too 
soon.

“We have a couple shooters 

on our team,” Abdur-Rahkman 
said. “But no one like Duncan, 
one of the best in the country. 
When he’s hot like that, it adds a 
different dynamic and a different 
look for teams to try to guard, 
and helps open up a lot of things 
for other people.”

Robinson 
has 
sporadically 

shown signs of breaking out of 
his prolonged slumber. Against 
Rutgers he hit four 3-pointers 
to spread the lead in that ugly 
defensive battle. Against Detroit 
Mercy 
and 
Alabama 
A&M, 

he combined for eight threes, 
though the competition level still 
left more to be desired.

But 
coupling 
his 
outing 

Sunday against Wisconsin with 
his 
performance 
Wednesday, 

this stretch could very well be a 
breakthrough at the biggest time 
of the year.

“(It’s) not really (hard to stay 

aggressive), 
especially 
when 

you’re a senior looking at your 
last games,” Robinson said. “I 
kinda look at it like it’s now or 
never. You see the time ticking 
out on your career, you’ve got 
to have a heightened sense of 
urgency about wanting to leave 
a mark.”

Seniors help Michigan dominate Iowa in 74-57 victory
Resurgent Robinson leads Wolverines over Hawkeyes

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Editor

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico and her team are in trouble after losing to Minnesota on Wednesday, their fourth loss in five games.

