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.