2B — Monday, March 5, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

A mad start to Michigan’s March

M

arch is just four days 

old. It has 
already been 
full of mad-
ness.

The Michi-

gan women’s 
basketball, 
men’s bas-
ketball and 
hockey teams 
all played in 
the Big Ten Tournament over 
the weekend, and all three 
punched their tickets to the 
NCAA Tournament in the pro-
cess.

In Indianapolis, the No. 6 

seed women’s basketball team 
set out to correct course after 
a late slide characterized the 
end of its regular season. A 2-4 
record in February wasn’t a 
good look for a Wolverine team 
once ranked as high as No. 13 
in the Associated Press Top 25, 
even if one of those wins came 
against then-No. 13 Maryland.

In its first contest on Thurs-

day, Michigan breezed past 
No. 11 seed Penn State to earn 
a 77-48 victory, as its star duo 
of senior guard Katelynn Fla-
herty and junior center Hallie 
Thome came within six points 
of outscoring the Nittany Lions 
on their own. Thome poured 
in a game-high 22 points 
and fell one rebound shy of a 
double-double, while Flaherty 
was right behind her with 21, 
including five triples.

But in the quarterfinal round 

Friday, even the trusted hands 
of Flaherty and Thome failed 
the Wolverines, as turnovers in 
transition on two consecutive 
possessions in the final 2:30 
cost them dearly in a 61-54 loss 
to the third-seeded Cornhusk-
ers.

Despite the disappointing 

tourney finish, with a 10-6 con-
ference and 22-9 overall record, 
Michigan is still projected to be 
a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tour-

nament according to ESPN’s 
most recent Bracketology 
report. After missing out on the 
Big Dance in infamous fashion 
a year ago, the Wolverines seem 
poised to return for the first 
time since coach Kim Barnes 
Arico’s debut season at the helm 
of the program in 2012-13.

Back in Ann Arbor, the 

hockey team hosted Wisconsin 
for a best-of-three series in the 
first round of its conference 
tournament. Michigan wouldn’t 
need all three games — though 
that was in question at certain 
points of Friday’s opening 
period.

Michigan scored first just 

1:40 into the game, but the 
Badgers roared back with three 
consecutive goals, jumping out 
to a 3-1 lead and silencing the 
crowd at Yost Ice Arena. By the 
end of the period, though, the 

Wolverines would be back on 
top. With three straight goals 
of its own off the power play, 
Michigan took a 4-3 lead into 
the first inter-
mission.

Senior for-

ward Tony 
Calderone com-
pleted his hat 
trick to open the 
second period, 
but Wisconsin 
came up with 
a pair of power 
play goals as well 
to tie the game at 
five. It took a fourth goal from 
Calderone halfway through the 
third period to seal a 6-5 win.

There was less drama Sat-

urday night, but no shortage of 
goals, as the two teams com-
bined to find the back of the 
net another 11 times. It was the 

Badgers who opened the scor-
ing and the Wolverines who 
answered back with three goals 
of their own this time around. 

But Wiscon-
sin couldn’t 
match Michi-
gan’s offensive 
firepower two 
nights in a row, 
and the Wolver-
ines earned a 7-4 
win to advance 
to a second-
round matchup 
against No. 6 
Ohio State next 

Saturday.

Perhaps more importantly, 

Michigan is sitting comfort-
ably at No. 8 in the Pairwise 
rankings, which means a near-
certain return to the NCAA 
Tournament in Mel Pearson’s 
first year as head coach after a 

disastrous 2016 season.

That brings us to New York 

City, the ‘Mecca of basketball’ 
and Michigan’s second consecu-
tive Big Ten Tournament cham-
pionship.

Four games in four days isn’t 

easy any way you slice it, but 
as far as luck of the draw is 
concerned, the fifth-seeded, 
15th-ranked Wolverines weren’t 
dealt the easiest hand.

First up was Iowa, a team 

Michigan had swept but 
couldn’t afford to look past. 
Whether the Wolverines or the 
officials were more to blame, 
Thursday’s opening game did 
not bode well for their tourna-
ment chances. As foul trouble 
hindered all three captains, the 
Hawkeyes pushed Michigan to 
overtime, where the Wolver-
ines finally pulled themselves 
together to take a 10-4 edge in 

the decisive period.

Then came Nebraska, which 

had embarrassed Michigan in 
a 20-point win in Lincoln. But 
Friday, the Wolverines gave the 
Cornhuskers a taste of their 
own medicine. Michigan went 
11-for-13 from beyond the arc, 
and four players hit double 
figures en route to a nearly 
20-point victory of its own.

After that, a date with No. 2 

Michigan State awaited. The 
Wolverines had beaten the 
Spartans by 10 points at the 
Breslin Center in January, and 
Michigan State was eager for 
revenge. But Michigan was hav-
ing none of it Saturday, riding a 
49-point second-half outburst 
to another double-digit victory.

And finally, the Wolverines 

would have to play a champion-
ship game against the only team 
in the Big Ten they had yet to 
beat in No. 8 Purdue. And not 
only had they lost to the Boiler-
makers, they had lost to them 
twice. While Purdue was a top-
five team in the country on both 
of those occasions, Michigan 
lost by just five points com-
bined. Sunday, the Wolverines 
ran away from the Boilermakers 
— opening up a lead as large as 
18 points late in the second half 
— and right to another Big Ten 
Tournament title.

Michigan may not have won 

the most games, but it certainly 
looks like the best team in the 
conference. Now, the Wolver-
ines have the trophy to prove 
it. With another automatic bid 
into the NCAA Tournament, 
Michigan can make that point 
even stronger by outlasting its 
familiar foes in the Big Dance.

That makes three Wolverine 

teams all seemingly destined 
for NCAA Tournament runs.

Brace yourselves, Michi-

gan fans. This could be a mad 
March.

Ashame can be reached at 

ashabete@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @betelhem_ashame.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

The Michigan men’s basketball team kicked off what should be an excitement-filled March with a Big Ten Tournament Championship.

Teske’s grand slam

NEW YORK CITY, NY — It 

felt like a scene out of a movie. 

Jon Teske — the Michigan 

men’s basketball team’s placid, 
soft-spoken center — gathered 
his 
momentum 
outside 
the 

block, leapt and threw down an 
emphatic, and-one dunk. Put 
on a poster was Purdue’s Isaac 
Haas, a seven-foot-two, 290-
pound behemoth who makes 
a living bullying others in the 
paint.

But here was Teske, the polar 

opposite 
of 
his 
demonstra-

tive teammate Mortiz Wagner, 
doing the bullying on the big-
gest, tallest player in the Big 
Ten. And it happened on the 
biggest stage nonetheless; the 
lights of a championship game 
at Madison Square Garden can 
melt the composure of even the 
most poised players.

Teske doesn’t ooze that type 

of swagger. His teammates and 
coaches have publicly noted his 
“quiet” demeanor and need for 
more confidence on the floor.

But after Teske generated 

one of the most shocking high-
lights of the Big Ten Tourna-
ment, he looked like he was 
born for it, vaulting down the 
floor with a thunderous scream 
that was drowned out by the 
roar of the crowd. Duncan 
Robinson, meanwhile, jumped 
twice in jubilation. 
Muhammad-Ali 
Abdur-Rahkman 
first-pumped 
like 

he was throwing a 
punch. The bench 
exploded like a fire 
had been lit under 
the chairs.

“I’m a quiet guy,” 

Teske said. “That 
passion, my love for 
the game kind of all 
spilled out.”

Added freshman forward Isa-

iah Livers: “Oh my. Even though 
my ankle was hurt, I shot up as 
fast as I could and was grabbing 

my head like, ‘Did he really just 
do that?’ Because usually he’ll go 
up, do a little layup, get fouled. 
But he was thinking dunk the 
whole time. He was hunting.”

Hunting is not Teske’s M.O. 

His influence 
isn’t typically 
reflected 
in 

the box score, 
even 
though 

he’s been an 
essential part 
of Michigan’s 
defensive 
turnaround 
this 
season. 

He came into 
the 
tourna-

ment averaging just over three 
points and three rebounds per 
game.

But on Sunday, Teske got a 

vote of confidence from one of 

his teammates, and it might’ve 
been the difference.

“Today’s your day, man, ” 

Livers recalled telling Teske. 
“It’s a great matchup today so if 
you want to be a dog, I got you 
today.”

Haas was too much for Wag-

ner early. He scored Purdue’s 
first seven points and forced 
the eventual tournament MVP 
to the bench just over two min-
utes in. At that point, Michigan 
coach John Beilein yelled down 
his bench. He and the Wolver-
ines needed Teske more than 
ever.

The 
backup 
center 
came 

through. Just moments after 
he’d subbed for Wagner, Teske 
cleaned up his own miss for his 
first bucket of the afternoon. 
Then he and Abdur-Rahkman 
executed a pick-and-roll to per-

fection, diving into the lane for 
a dunk that eliminated the Boil-
ermakers’ final lead of the eve-
ning.

And with the Wolverines 

nursing a one-point lead late in 
the first half, Teske and Robin-
son ran the pick-and-roll again, 
but this time Teske stopped 
and popped a 10-footer. Less 
than a minute later, he a took a 
pass from redshirt sophomore 
Charles Matthews and hit from 
just inside the arc — no hesita-
tion involved.

Chants of “Teske! Teske! 

Teske!” filled the Garden.

The pair of connections were 

emblematic of Teske’s growth 
since the start of his collegiate 
career. Teske played just 60 
minutes all of last season. It was 
spurt here, a spurt there, never 
having the chance the make an 

impact. He looked uncomfort-
able — even timid — on his rare 
chances.

But on Sunday, he would let it 

fly on a shot he’s only attempted 
a handful of times this season — 
part of a career-
high 
14-point 

effort on 6-of-9 
shooting.

“It’s been an 

ongoing 
thing 

throughout 
the 

year, 
pushing 

him to play big-
ger 
than 
his 

quiet voice kind 
of allows him to 
sometimes,” said 
assistant coach Saddi Washing-
ton. “I’m just so happy for Jon 
because in this moment, when 
we really needed him to step up, 
he did it in a major way.”

Added Livers: “I think he 

needed the confidence, he need-
ed the ‘go.’ He was waiting on 
the ‘go’ from coaches, but we’ve 
got his back so whatever he 
chooses to do, we’re right there 
with him.”

Beilein has attached pictures 

of dogs to the Wolverines’ lock-
er room whiteboard at various 
point over the past two champi-
onship seasons. It’s a mentality 
he desires his each of his players 
to carry — one that defies Mich-
igan’s historical reputation as a 
skill-based, finesse team.

Teske is no finesse player. 

He’s a Midwest-born bruiser. 
But Teske hasn’t adopted that 
“dog” mindset like some of 
teammates — at least until Sun-
day.

Repeatedly, 
he 
frustrated 

Haas and center Matt Haarms 
defensively, offering resistance 
that few opponents have been 
able to match this season. 

“I’m just happy he chose the 

dog route today,” Livers said, 
“rather than the old Jon.”

Nothing embodied that more 

than Teske’s dunk over Haas.

It was a moment that sur-

prised many, carried the arena 
into 
near-pandemonium 
and 

made the championship’s result 
clear with the Wolverines grip-
ping an 18-point lead with just 
over six minutes to play. 

And for Teske, it was a 

moment two years in the mak-

ing. Finally, he’d 
broken out of his 
shell on the floor 
— on the biggest 
stage against the 
one of the coun-
try’s best cen-
ters.

“Our 
play-

ers 
were 
like 

in awe,” Wash-
ington said. “It 
was almost like 

he had elevated himself to that 
next level. The challenge for 
him will be, ‘You set a new level 
for yourself, now play at that 
level.’ ”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

“Did he really just do that?” said Isaiah Livers in reference to this rim-rattling dunk from Jon Teske during the final minutes of Michigan’s 75-66 win over Purdue.

“I’m just happy 

he chose the 
‘dog’ route 

today.”

“That passion, 
my love for the 
game kinda of 
all spilled out.”

Michigan’s sophomore center scored a career-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in Michigan’s 75-66 win over Purdue

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Editor

BETELHEM
ASHAME

March has 
already been 

full of 

madness.

