8A — Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Matthews adapting 
as isolation scorer

Two and a half minutes into 
Michigan’s 
game 
Saturday 
against George Washington, 
Charles Matthews caught the 
ball on the left wing and faced 
up against Colonials guard 
Justin Mazzulla.
The redshirt junior wing 
dribbled into the post and 
turned to back Mazzulla down 
before quickly spinning to his 
right and launching a high-
arcing baseline jumper that 
found nothing but net.
It was a typical isolation 
setup: as Matthews received 
the entry pass from point 
guard Zavier Simpson, the 
Wolverines cleared out for 
their go-to-guy to do his thing. 
It’s these situations — Mazzulla 
on an island with a preseason 
All-Big Ten honoree — where 
individual talent, more than 
anything, can shine through.
The result? Two points for 
Michigan.
But while Matthews, the 
Wolverines’ leading returning 
scorer, came into the year 
as 
their 
presumed 
focal 
point — and showed why on 
that 
aforementioned 
play 
— the reality is a bit more 
complicated.
The 6-foot-6 forward from 
Chicago indeed averaged 13 
points per game last season 
while shooting a respectable 
49 
percent. 
But 
at 
other 
times, 
Matthews 
delivered 
inconsistent 
performances 
seemingly at odds with his 
considerable 
talent 
and 
athleticism.
Matthews’ 
inconsistency 
with his jump shot and from 
the foul line — he hit just 32 
percent 
of 
his 
3-point 
attempts and 56 
percent of his 
free throws — 
came 
coupled 
with 
decision-
making 
struggles, as he 
led Michigan in 
turnovers 
last 
season. 
These 
deficiencies 
combined to create a lackluster 
101.6 
offensive 
rating, 
the 
lowest among the Wolverines’ 
regular rotation.
The start of the season saw 
more of the same. Against 
Norfolk State and Holy Cross, 
Matthews hit just 12 of 29 field 
goals, including a meager 20 
percent figure from behind the 
arc, while turning the ball over 
five times.
It’s worth noting, however, 
that 
Matthews’ 
struggles 
coincided 
with 
an 
overall 
sluggish start for Michigan on 
offense, in which it averaged 
just 59.5 points per game on 
just 36.4 percent shooting. 
Meanwhile, Michigan coach 
John Beilein never lost faith in 
Matthews’ ability to get going.
“He was just 5-for-6 (on 
free throws during Monday’s 
practice),” Beilein said after 
the win over Norfolk State. 
“But he’s got to get through it, 
and it’s not a physical thing, 
it’s a mental thing. … Charles is 
better than that, and he will be 
as we go forward.”
Last 
Wednesday 
at 

Villanova, Beilein’s faith was 
rewarded.
Matthews 
paced 
the 
Wolverines 
with 
an 
unstoppable series of athletic 
finishes 
at 
the 
rim 
and 
midrange jumpers over smaller 
defenders, finishing with 19 
points on 7-for-13 shooting. 
Against George Washington, 
he was even better, dropping in 
25 points while hitting 10 of his 
13 attempts from the field, and 
both from behind the arc.
Matthews’ 
offensive 
excellence 
didn’t 
continue 
against Providence on Sunday 
as he scored just five points. 
However, his performance over 
the last week was only partly 
about him finding his scoring 
touch — against the Wildcats, 
Colonials and Friars, Matthews 
had clearly found a role.
Instead of having to rely 
solely on Matthews as a source 
of 
playmaking, 
Michigan’s 
offense was expertly piloted 
by Simpson, who dished out 22 
assists in those three contests. 
Meanwhile, 
the 
Wolverines 
began to catch fire from outside, 
shooting 
44 
percent 
from 
3-point range for the weekend. 
These two developments, when 
taken in tandem, helped to take 
pressure off of Matthews in his 
areas of weakness, and allowed 
his strengths to rise to the 
forefront.
In isolation play, Matthews 
was just about unguardable 
with his high release on his 
jumper. He cleaned up on the 
boards — half his rebounds last 
week were on the offensive end 
— thanks to his athleticism. 
Perhaps most strikingly, he 
didn’t turn the ball over once 
last week.
“I play one-on-one a lot, and 
I feel like we all 
do,” Matthews 
said 
Saturday. 
“… 
Playing 
one-on-one, 
it 
makes us better 
defenders, 
but 
it also makes us 
better isolation 
players. There’s 
going 
to 
be 
times 
where 
you have to just 
make a shot.”
Over 
the 
last 
week, 
Michigan’s 
offense 
has 
begun to fire on all cylinders. 
Simpson’s 
emerged 
as 
the 
facilitator. 
Forward 
Ignas 
Brazdeikis is the downhill, 
ever-aggressive slasher. Center 
Jon Teske is the screen-and-
roll weapon and pick-and-pop 
‘5.’ Forward Isaiah Livers is the 
versatile, small-ball weapon to 
run teams off the floor. Guard 
Jordan Poole, after a sluggish 
start to the year, appears to 
have discovered his shooting 
stroke.
That leaves Matthews as the 
Wolverines’ isolation weapon 
in the midrange; the player 
they can turn to to get a shot 
off against any defense. It’s 
a role — judging by the last 
three games, at least — that fits 
him perfectly. It’s a role that 
lets him do what he does best, 
instead of having to do too 
much.
And it’s a role that may just 
allow him to become the go-to-
guy he’s long been projected to 
be.

‘M’ to face first real test in No. 21 Missouri

The 
Michigan 
women’s 
basketball 
team 
(3-0) 
might 
have rolled through its season so 
far, but the Wolverines are still 
heating up.
So far, they’ve faced Mount 
St. Mary’s, Western Michigan 
and Detroit Mercy. None of those 
teams have posed any real threat 
whatsoever to Michigan, who has 
outscored opponents 262-144.
After Thanksgiving, though, 
the Wolverines will head to 
Estero, Fla. for their first test 
of the season at the Gulf Coast 
Showcase. Friday night, they are 
set to play No. 21 Missouri (3-1) in 
the tournament’s opening round.
Program-wise, 
the 
Tigers 
are a step up from the squads 
Michigan faced the last three 
games. They are coming off a 
24-8 season that culminated in 
their third consecutive NCAA 

Tournament appearance, where 
they lost in the first round to 
Florida Gulf Coast.
Missouri returns three capable 
starters from last season — guards 
Sophie 
Cunningham, 
Amber 
Smith and Lauren Aldridge — all 
of whom are upperclassmen.
Cunningham led the team 
in scoring last year, averaging 
18.5 points while boasting an 
impressive 54.2 percent clip from 
the field, and currently puts up 
16.3 points a night. She is the 
engine of her team’s offense.
Smith is also a key offensive 
contributor, posting 13.5 points 
a game, while Aldridge led the 
Tigers in assists last season. 
Combining those three veterans 
will create a challenge for the 
Wolverines’ young backcourt of 
freshman guard Amy Dilk and 
sophomore guard Deja Church.
Missouri also has two talented 
freshmen, forward Grace Berg 
and guard Akira Levy. The 

former was a five-star recruit; 
the latter, a four-star. Both have 
logged significant playing time.
The Tigers aren’t without fault, 
though. Following their first two 
games, they were ranked 16th 
in the nation but then fell after 
losing to Green Bay. That loss was 
primarily due to poor shooting.
Michigan 
has 
the 
height 
advantage, which has helped 
the team succeed so far. Nobody 
has been able to stop 6-foot-
5 senior center Hallie Thome 
from 
dominating 
the 
paint. 
The Wolverines are also the 
better shooting team, as they’ve 
converted 51.5 percent from the 
field for 11th in the country.
Much of the shooting success 
can be credited to freshman 
forward Naz Hillmon, who has 
drained 23 of 27 shots on the 
year. Right now, she’s the most 
efficient shooter in the nation. 
During the Wolverines’ 95-62 
victory against Detroit Mercy on 

Monday night, she dropped 22 
points while also spearheading 
the defensive press.
“I think Naz is incredible,” 
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico 
after 
Monday’s 
game. 
“When you have that type of size 
and length upfront, I really think 
she’s able to pressure people and 
get it going from the top.”
Added 
Hillmon: 
“It 
was 
awesome. It gives me a lot of 
confidence knowing that my 
coach, as soon as I get into the 
game, trusts to put me at the 
top of that press. It gives me 
confidence that my teammates 
and my coaches believe in me and 
it makes me want to work harder 
on both ends of the ball.”
It’s hard to judge how good 
Barnes Arico’s team is because 
it hasn’t faced a real test yet. 
But Friday’s matchup against a 
ranked opponent will provide the 
perfect opportunity to see just 
how well the Wolverines fare.

An unselfish play to define top-line chemistry

Most players, when presented 
the opportunity, would go for the 
goal.
Not Will Lockwood.
The junior forward stared 
straight down the 
empty net in front 
of him and cocked 
back 
his 
stick. 
Instead of skating 
in and shooting 
the 
puck, 
he 
instead gave it up 
to junior forward 
Jake Slaker, who 
proceeded 
to 
score.
Think that was 
unselfish?
Now imagine that empty-
netter Lockwood had passed up 
was the dagger to end a come-
from-behind win against a top-
five team in the nation.
Because in the No. 16 Michigan 
hockey team’s 6-4 win over No. 5 
Penn State Friday, that’s exactly 

what happened. And there didn’t 
seem to be any room for unselfish 
play.
“It just goes to show the 
character and type of person 
that Will is. Really unselfish play, 
passed it to me for the empty net,” 
Slaker said. “He made the play, 
and 
I 
haven’t 
stopped 
to 
think, not just 
necessarily 
for 
giving me the 
goal, but just the 
unselfishness he 
displayed there.”
Slaker 
couldn’t describe 
what had exactly 
happened 
and 
struggled to find 
the 
words 
to 
explain it.
“You don’t see that often in 
sports, an unselfish play like that,” 
Slaker said.
But the situation presented 
itself.
Right before the goal, the 
Nittany Lions had made a push to 

tie the game at 5-5, but Lockwood 
skated in front of the shot and 
blocked it. With the loose puck 
leaking out, Lockwood took it and 
skated down the ice.
There was little time to think. 
Right behind them were Penn 
State defenders looking to deny 
the 
easy 
goal 
and 
keep 
the 
game close. But 
Lockwood 
and 
Slaker, with the 
early start, didn’t 
relent.
“Him 
and 
I 
were on a clear 
two-on-(none),” 
Slaker said. “And 
I think we were 
both 
trying 
to 
skate as fast as 
we could just so we wouldn’t get 
caught. And he could have easily 
kept on skating it and put it in the 
net but he just passed it over to me 
and made the easiest play, and we 
got rewarded for it.”
And as much as it defined 
Lockwood, he is not the only one 

who would have made that play. 
It’s the mentality that the team is 
trying to incorporate, to show the 
quality of players the Wolverines 
have on the team.
“I’ve seen instances where a 
guy won’t pass the puck,” said 
Michigan coach Mel Pearson. 
“He’ll just go on 
and shoot it. I 
think it says a lot 
about the kind of 
teammates you 
have, but in this 
case, it says a lot 
about Will and 
his unselfishness 
and 
the 
team 
player 
he 
is. 
I 
think 
that’s 
a 
good 
thing 
for 
your 
team, it helps build your team’s 
camaraderie and trust in that.”
If it had been Slaker in that 
situation to choose between an 
easy empty-net goal or a pass to 
a teammate, he would have done 
the same thing.
“He’s one of my best friends 
on the team, and we have really 
good chemistry on and off the 
ice and just shows what type of 
person he is,” Slaker said. “And it 
meant a lot to me. Like I said, I’d 
do the same situation if I had that. 
If I could give him that, I’d give it 
right back.”
Added Lockwood: “I’ve played 
with Jake a lot, and I think he 
would do the same thing for me. 
I think it was more about just 
setting an example of how we 
need to play as a team. We’ve 
gotta be thinking of the guy next 
to us and not just ourselves.”
It’s an example for the rest 
of the fourth-youngest team in 
the nation to follow. As Pearson 
noted, a person has to be willing 
to put aside personal goals and 
agendas to be part of a team, and 
on Friday, no one exemplified that 
mentality better than Lockwood.
“You can tell. If you don’t like 
a guy or something, you probably 
don’t pass it to him,” Pearson 
joked. “But they have chemistry. I 
just think that just speaks to who 
they are and what they’re trying 
to 
accomplish 
together. 
And 
they’re in it for each other and not 
just themselves.”

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

ANNIE KLUS/Daily
Freshman forward Naz Hillmon has hit 23 of 27 shots on the season, including on Monday, when she drained 22 points against Detroit Mercy in a 95-62 win.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Redshirt junior forward Charles Matthews is finding comfort in a new role.

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“Really unselfish 
play, passed it 
to me for the 
empty net.”

“Charles is better 

than that, and 

he will be as we 

move forward.”

“If I could give 

him that, I’d 

give it right 

back.”

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Junior forward Jake Slaker scored an empty-net goal in Friday’s 6-4 win with an assist from linemate Will Lockwood.

