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SportsMonday
November 19, 2018 — 3B

Michigan wins Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament

UNCASVILLE,
Conn.
—
The first half of Sunday’s
game started and ended the
same way: junior center Jon
Teske catching Providence’s
defense napping and throwing
down an easy dunk.
That set the tone for the rest
of the game. Though it was
close at the beginning, the No.
18 Michigan men’s basketball
team
(5-0
overall)
took
control and never relented in a
66-47 win over the Friars (3-2)
in the championship game
of the Hall of Fame Tip-off
Tournament.
The Wolverines got out to an
early lead after Teske’s dunk.
Twice,
freshman
forward
Ignas
Brazdeikis
received
long passes from junior guard
Zavier Simpson and dunked
them in on the fast break. The
second time, he hung on the
rim for a few seconds, savoring
the moment as he let the ball
roll down his body.
Providence
temporarily
grabbed the momentum with a
6-0 run, punctuated by a deep
3-pointer from Maliek White,
to cut the Wolverines’ lead to
21-20. But that was the closest
the Friars got.
On the following possession,
Teske hit a pick-
and-pop
three
— the first of
his career — to
keep
Michigan
in the lead with
3:49 remaining
in
the
half.
From
there,
the Wolverines
capped
off
a
14-2 run with
Teske’s
second
dunk to extend the lead to
35-22 at halftime.
“At the end of the first
half, we just wanted to come
to the locker room excited
and ready for the second
half,” Brazdeikis said. “They
went on their run, I feel like

towards the end of that first
half, so then we just bounced
back.”
Both teams played chippy
— combining for four fouls in
the first two minutes of the
second
half.
Providence
was
able
to
take advantage
early
in
the
second half by
grabbing extra
possession,
but sophomore
forward Isaiah
Livers
made
back-to-back
3-pointers
to
keep
Michigan’s
lead
comfortable.
And the Wolverines’ stifling
defense helped extinguish any
hope of a comeback. The Friars
shot just 28.1 percent on field
goals, while Michigan grabbed
28 defensive rebounds.

Michigan ran its offense
through Brazdeikis and Teske
— who finished with 20 and
17 points, respectively. The
rest of the team struggled to
score, which ultimately kept
the game from
being a blowout.
Simpson
and
redshirt
junior
Charles
Matthews — both
of whom scored
in double digits
Saturday — failed
to get anything
going offensively,
combining
for
just
11
points.
But even when that happened,
Teske and Brazdeikis were
there to grab a board or tip
the ball in off the glass — and
that was when they weren’t
dunking.
Teske
had
three
dunks and Brazdeikis, two.
With their flashy moves and

an assist from the defense, the
outcome was never in doubt.
“Everyone can play on our
team. It’s not gonna be one
person that’s gonna be the best
player on the court every day,”
Brazdeikis
said.
“It’s
gonna be, one
day (Simpson),
one day Jon,
one
day
Charles
and
it
always
switches
cause we all
split the ball,
so
it’s
just
about
being
effective in other ways, and
our team is just so talented
that we all just click.”
Added Michigan coach John
Beilein: “That’s always gonna
be our mindset going in. We’re
gonna take what people give
us.”

Wolverines set to
face Detroit Mercy

Just two weeks into the season,
the Michigan women’s basketball
team (2-0) already has two
dominant performances under
its belt. First, the Wolverines
dismantled Mount St. Mary’s,
88-40, in the season opener. And
last Thursday, they cruised past
Western Michigan, 79-42.
There’s no reason to expect
anything different to happen
Monday night, when Michigan
faces Detroit Mercy (1-3) at Crisler
Center.
Last season, the Titans finished
with an abysmal 2-28 record.
They are currently on a three-
game losing streak, and on paper,
they don’t match up well against
the Wolverines.
Detroit Mercy has just two
players at or over six-feet tall,
and only one of them — six-foot
forward Paige Bellman — gets
meaningful playing time. On
the other hand, Michigan has
11 players in the six-foot club —
including 6-foot-5 senior center
Hallie Thome.
She has been the Wolverines
go-to player so far, leading the
team with 19.5 points and 9.5
rebounds per contest. Both of
Michigan’s opponents so far have
lacked comparable height, thus
allowing Thome to control the
paint.
Because
of
her
height
advantage, Thome often draws
double teams. But so far, she has
used solid footwork to weave
around this. She should have no
trouble finding the basket come
Monday, as the Titans don’t seem
to have a logical answer for her.
With
their
length,
the
Wolverines have been successful
under
the
glass.
They’ve
outrebounded opposing teams
106 to 46 and could widen the gap
against Detroit Mercy.
“I think that’s been a difference-

maker kind of our last couple
games,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico to WTKA on
Thursday. “And we talked about
that a lot coming into tonight.”
When these two schools met
last season, the Titans initially
kept it interesting. Early in the
opening quarter, they drained
four three-pointers in a row
to get a head start. And a few
possessions later, they converted
another triple to take a 10-point
lead.
The Wolverines fought back,
though, tying the game at 20
by the end of the first frame.
Michigan
then
pulled
away
quickly, notching an 86-50 victory.
Detroit Mercy no longer has
forward Brianne Cohen or guards
Anja Marinkovic and Nicole
Urbanick — its three leading
scorers from last year. Cohen
and Urbanick were both seniors
last
season,
and
Marinkovic
transferred to play at Florida Gulf
Coast.
Now, forward Lexey Tobel
leads the Titans with 13 points
a game. In last year’s meeting,
she scored a team-high 14 points.
Bellman is their best rebounder,
grabbing 7.8 boards per game. She
also has the most steals and is tied
for the most blocks, with a total of
11 and six, respectively.
This will be the Wolverines’
sixth time facing Detroit Mercy
under Barnes Arico. She won the
last five and will likely win again
on Monday.
Regardless of the probable
mismatch, the contest should
allow Michigan to fine-tune its
play and work out any remaining
kinks before the season picks
up pace. The weekend after
Thanksgiving, the Wolverines
will head to Estero, Fla. for the
Gulf Coast Showcase.
It will also give Michigan a
chance to further implement its
depth, which has been a focal
point this season.

Wolverines lose to Penn State in overtime, 7-6

STATE COLLEGE — A thrilling
comeback on back-to-back nights
seemed too good to be true for the
Michigan hockey team. But what
ensued on Saturday was thrilling
nonetheless.
After roaring back from a deficit
in the third period for the second
night in a row, the 16th-ranked
Wolverines could not finish the
job, falling to No. 5 Penn State in
overtime, 7-6.
The scoring got off to a quick
start on the second night of the
series between the teams.
Sophomore defenseman Quinn
Hughes was penalized for hooking
just 0:38 into the game, sending
the Nittany Lions to an early power
play.
And less than one minute into the
one-man advantage, forward Evan
Barratt got Penn State out to an
early 1-0 lead. Forward Liam Folkes
skated up the left wing and passed
across to Barratt who was set up
in the slot just outside of the right
faceoff circle. The duo got freshman
goaltender Strauss Mann moving
from right to left in the crease, and
Barratt slotted the puck out of his
reach to his left.
Just two minutes later, the
Nittany Lions struck again.
Forward Aarne Talvitie streaked
down left wing, shot to the far side
and into the top right corner of
the net past the glove of Mann to
extend the lead to 2-0. With that
goal, Penn State had struck twine
on their first two shots of the night.
After coming up with several big
stops on Friday, Mann had earned
his first back-to-back starts and was
showing signs of struggle, while the
Michigan defense failed pounce on
50-50 pucks in its own defensive
zone, leading to plenty of early
opportunities for the Nittany Lions.
However, Mann remained even-
keeled and came up with several big
stops before the Wolverines cut into
the lead.
Near the halfway mark of
the period, junior forward Nick
Pastujov scored on a loose puck out
in front of the crease. The initial shot
came in from sophomore forward
Josh Becker who streaked up the
right wing on a pass from freshman
defenseman
Nick
Blankenburg.

Pastujov corralled the puck after
Penn State’s defense was unable to
clear it, making it 2-1.
After Michigan’s initial goal, the
defense seemed to pick up steam
and began to win more pucks in
its own zone. As the defense found
some temporary success, the offense
began controlling possession and
getting more opportunities.
And four minutes after Pastujov
cut the lead in half, junior forward
Will Lockwood, tied it up at 2-2.
Junior forward Jake Slaker found
Lockwood in the left faceoff circle.
As Lockwood attempted to pass to
an open sophomore forward Josh
Norris, the puck took a deflection
off a defender’s stick and past junior
goaltender Peyton Jones.
The period ended 2-2 with a
combined 33 shots for the two
teams.
In the second period, the
defensive intensity continued for
the Wolverines. With that came
some opportunities for offense, but
they failed to capitalize.
After a pair of minor penalties
on freshman forward Garrett Van
Wyhe and Penn State defenseman
Kevin
Kerr,
four-on-four
play
ensued, and the Nittany Lions
regained the lead as Barratt skated
into the offensive zone towards the
right faceoff circle with the puck,
seemingly unmarked, and fired past
Mann.
Four minutes later Barratt scored
again to complete the hat trick and

gave Penn State a 4-2 lead heading
into the second intermission. It was
the same deficit Michigan faced on
Friday night.
Early in the third period, the
Wolverines pulled within one as
Hughes found sophomore forward
Dakota Raabe from the left side of
the ice as he put the puck past Jones,
making the score 4-3.
But the Nittany Lions were
stubborn, not wanting to replicate
the events of Friday. Just when it
appeared Michigan had regained
momentum, Penn State answered
again and jumped out to a two-goal
lead once more.
“(The defense was) just casual,”
said Michigan coach Mel Pearson.
“Not picking guys up, not playing
aggressive at times. We looked
confused in our zone, everybody
trying to do somebody else’s job.
Not trusting the communication, I
mean a number of things.”
Then, once again, the Wolverines
scored to pull within a goal on a
deflection from Pastujov, only to be
answered yet again to make it 6-4
with eight minutes remaining.
But the opportunity was there
once more for Michigan, and for the
third time in the period, they pulled
within one goal. The puck found
Van Wyhe with time and space in
the right slot, and he fired a wrister
to the top left corner into the net.
“It’s crazy,” Pearson said. “Two
nights in a row we’re down 4-2
going into the third period, and we

come out and score the first goal to
make it 4-3, and here we go again.”
Then, with 1:05 remaining in the
period, Norris fired a shot towards
the net, and the puck snuck under
the crossbar on a deflection off the
stick of Lockwood to tie the game at
six and send the game to overtime.
The comeback came was all for
naught, though.

The Nittany Lions won the
opening draw in overtime and
fired the puck on net. Mann was
unable to corral puck, and the
rebound spewed out in front of the
crease. Forward Sam Sternschein
won the race to the net and scored,
extinguishing the short-lived joy
of the comeback for Michigan and
winning the game for Penn State.
“I’ve been in this game 37 years
in college hockey, and I don’t think
I’ve ever seen an ending quite like
that on an innocent play,” Pearason
said. “They just pushed forward
to the puck, they shoot it and it
goes off Strauss, he can’t control
the rebound and they beat us to
the puck… so, a tough way to lose,
especially when you don’t get any
points out of it –– points are so
critical. We got a lot of work to do,
but I did like the resiliency our team
showed tonight.”
In a series where both sides
showcased
their
offensive
firepower, the Wolverines’ defense
was unable to replicate the third-
period performance that earned
them a victory on Friday.

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior center Jon Teske hit his first pick-and-pop three on Sunday and finished with 17 points against Providence.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

“That’s always
gonna be our
mindset going
in.”

“We’re gonna
take what
people give
us.”

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Junior forward Will Lockwood scored two goals in the Wolverines’ 7-6 loss on Saturday for a series split with Penn State.

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan Daily Top 10 Poll

Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out
ballots, with first-place votes receiving 10
points, second-place votes receiving nine
and so on.

1. Alabama: If Auburn or Georgia are any
better than The Citadel, these guys might
be in trouble.

2. Clemson: Can’t wait for Clemson to get
tested in the ACC Championship against
*looks at ACC Coastal standings* Pitts-
burgh…?

3. Notre Dame: Ian Book has earned his
pinstripes far more than Giancarlo Stan-
ton.

4. Michigan: Maybe the real Revenge Tour
is the friends we made along the way.

5. Georgia: This just in: CFP committee
chairman Rob Mullens has received the
maximum Venmo payment from User:
@$irby_Kmart

6. Oklahoma: Oklahomer? I hardly know
her!

7. Washington State: Mike Leach took
this joke and made it into a five-minute
press conference answer.

8. LSU: It’s actually Fewer Miles.

9. Ohio State: Xore like Xaryland!

10. UCF: Yeah, they’re undefeated, but
they also live in Orlando.