The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, December 4, 2018 — 7

‘M’ finally through its 
early-season gauntlet

After 
winning 
its 
first 
four games of the season, the 
Michigan women’s basketball 
team has since dropped three 
of its last four — including 
three games against ranked 
opponents. 
The Wolverines (5-3), who 
haven’t had a home game since 
Nov. 19, will finally play at the 
Crisler Center after spending 
the last week and a half on the 
road. Being on the road so much 
can certainly have an impact 
— 
especially 
with 
such 
a 
young team — 
according 
to 
Michigan coach 
Kim 
Barnes 
Arico. 
“Definitely 
I 
think 
these 
past 
couple 
weeks 
were 
really 
difficult, 
sometimes 
you 
forget that,” Barnes Arico said. 
“Then you add a young team 
on top of the travel and then 
they’re 
like, 
‘My 
goodness 
coach, it’s exams, and we’re on 
the road.’ At the circle the other 
day, they were like, ‘We thought 
this was going to be the coolest 
thing, but really we just want to 
get back to the dorm so we can 
study for our exams.’ 
“So I think at Michigan 
academically, it’s so challenging 
that they’re just trying to stay 
afloat right now and try and be 
the best students they can be 
while at the same time be the 
best basketball players they can 
be.”
The Wolverines have had 
seven players log minutes in 
every game, four of whom 
are underclassmen: freshman 
guard Amy Dilk, freshman 
forward 
Naz 
Hillmon, 

sophomore guard Deja Church 
and sophomore forward Hailey 
Brown. To say youth is a major 
part of this team’s identity in 
the young season would be an 
understatement. 
Barnes Arico, though, says 
she sometimes loses focus of 
her team’s inexperience and 
needs to remind herself that 
not all of her squad’s problems 
can be fixed right away. 
“You 
know 
sometimes 
I 
forget this, but the Marquette 
coach (Carolyn Kieger) said 
this to me: ‘It’s amazing how 
good your team is after you lost 
the program’s 
all-time 
leading scorer 
(Katelynn 
Flaherty),’ 
” 
Barnes 
Arico 
said. “And then 
I 
sometimes 
look 
at 
our 
team and say 
‘Holy cow, we 
have 
Nicole 
Munger 
and Hallie Thome who are 
experienced kids and then 
we have all (these) kids that 
are trying to figure it out.’ … I 
sometimes need to have a little 
bit of patience with that.”
Michigan, which has four 
games remaining before the 
start of Big Ten play, will have 
the chance to get back on the 
winning track as all four of its 
upcoming opponents currently 
hold a combined record of 
just 5-26. This stretch begins 
Thursday when the Wolverines 
host LIU Brooklyn.
This stretch will be an 
important 
moment 
for 
the 
Michigan, as it will be the young 
players’ final opportunity to 
prepare 
themselves 
before 
conference 
play 
— 
when 
balancing youth and playing 
on the road will be the new 
normal. 

BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer

“Definitely I 

think these past 

couple weeks 

were ... difficult.”

Hughes stars on offense, up-and-down on ‘D’

Michigan coach Mel Pearson 
often says Quinn Hughes is 
worth the price of admission 
alone.
The sophomore defenseman 
— the No. 7 overall pick in the 
2018 NHL Draft — seems to have 
an eye-popping play in every 
game for the No. 14 Michigan 
hockey team. Whether he’s 
dangling the puck between a 
defender’s legs on a breakout 
or finding a teammate in the 
perfect spot for a goal, Hughes’ 
dynamic playmaking is key for 
the Wolverines.
In 
this 
weekend’s 
series 
against 
Michigan 
State, 
Hughes continued his trend of 
offensive production. As more 
of a two-way defenseman than 
a lockdown blueliner, Hughes 
is noted for his ability in the 
offensive zone.
In 
Friday 
night’s 
game 
at Munn Ice Arena in East 
Lansing, Hughes notched three 
assists — one on each goal 
Michigan scored for a season-
high tally. It’s his second three-
assist game this season and the 
third time he has scored three 
points in a night.
“It’s hard to prepare (for 
Hughes) because it’s not that 
it’s unorthodox, (but) he’s very 
creative,” said Michigan State 
coach Danton Cole. “He attacks 
you at different angles. He puts 
you on different things. You just 
have to be aware of him and you 
try not to get him loose. Quinn’s 
very good with the puck, and his 
feet are outstanding, and you 
throw an elite brain in there. … 
He’s fun watching play, and he’s 
hard to keep an eye on.”
The 
Spartans 
seemed 
to 
keep a better eye on Hughes on 
Saturday night as he tallied just 
one point. But it was a big one.
On the power play in the 
first period, Hughes sent a pass 
through all four of Michigan 
State’s penalty killers and found 
senior defenseman Nick Boka in 

the left circle. Boka’s slapshot 
beat the sprawling goaltender 
Drew DeRidder, and Michigan 
took the lead, 1-0.
“(Hughes) made an amazing 
pass,” Boka said. “I was just 
lucky to be in that far side and 
just try to get it to the goal, and 
lucky enough, it went in.”
Hughes 
now 
leads 
the 
Wolverines in points with 19 — 
two more than 
sophomore 
forward 
Josh 
Norris. 
His 
offensive 
production 
ranks 
ninth 
in the nation 
overall 
and 
ranks 
third 
among 
defensemen.
But 
on 
the defensive side of the ice, 
Hughes’ production hasn’t been 
as consistent.
In Friday’s game, he was on 
the ice for three of the Spartans’ 
four goals and he ranks last on 
the team in plus-minus with a 
minus-six rating.
“It is what it is,” Hughes said 
Friday. “Obviously, I don’t want 
to be on the ice for any goals, but 

I’ll go watch the tapes and I’ll 
look at it tomorrow. Hopefully, 
tomorrow, I can maybe have the 
three assists without being on 
the ice for any goals.”
While Hughes only had one 
assist Saturday, rather than the 
three he hoped for, his defensive 
skills were more prominent.
Late in the third period, 
the game was tied at one goal 
apiece. It seemed 
that 
at 
any 
moment 
either 
team could break 
the stalemate and 
win 
the 
game. 
Michigan 
State 
forward Tommy 
Apap was coming 
down the right 
side of the ice 
toward freshman 
goaltender 
Strauss Mann with just Hughes 
in between. Hughes skated 
in and broke up the play, 
preventing Apap from having 
a chance at the game-winning 
goal.
Minutes later in overtime, 
Hughes again prevented a goal, 
this time by poke-checking the 
puck away from forward Patrick 
Khodorenko.

“Hughes had a really solid 
game,” Pearson said. “He gives 
you everything he has, plays 
a lot of minutes and is a game 
breaker. 
He’s 
a 
difference 
maker. He’s worth the price of 
admission. You don’t have to be 
a hockey genius to walk in the 
building and see really who the 
best player is, the player who 
controls the play.”
While 
Hughes 
controlled 
the play Saturday, it came 
in contrast to his defensive 
performance Friday. Michigan 
as 
a 
whole 
was 
stronger 
defensively Saturday night, and 
Hughes’ increased effort may be 
the key.
Pearson has spoken numerous 
times this season about needing 
defensive 
commitment 
and 
consistency, 
and 
Saturday’s 
performance may well serve 
as a confidence boost for an 
often-maligned defense. The 
Wolverines held Michigan State 
to just 18 shots in regulation.
And while Hughes has lit 
up the stat sheet offensively, 
his defensive commitment has 
taken longer to come through.
But 
if 
he 
finds 
that 
consistency, 
it 
could 
be 
a 
difference-maker for Michigan.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

Cecconi hopes postgame talk sends 
message to his Michigan teammates

When Joseph Cecconi sat 
down for a press conference 
after Saturday’s shootout loss to 
Michigan State, he was clearly 
disappointed in the weekend’s 
results.
The 
senior 
defenseman 
knew that the No. 15 Michigan 
hockey team had expected to 
come away with more than 
one point in two games against 
the 
Spartans, 
who entered the 
weekend 
firmly 
at the bottom of 
the Big Ten.
“We 
just 
talked 
to 
the 
team, 
it’s 
unacceptable,” 
Cecconi 
said 
Saturday. 
“It’s 
a 
big 
rivalry 
against Michigan 
State, and you want those six 
points and you only come out 
with one. (It’s) not where we 
wanted to go with that.”
The Wolverines have fought 
for 
team-wide 
commitment 
throughout 
this 
season. 
It 
was 
this 
weekend’s 
series, 
however, that may have been 
the proverbial last straw for 
Cecconi. According to Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson, Cecconi 
doesn’t speak his mind to the 
team very often, despite being 
its captain.
But 
after 
this 
weekend’s 
series, he had something to say.
“After the game, me and the 
other captains and then (senior 
forward) Brendan Warren, we 
all had a little bit of information, 
our little piece of mind that we 
wanted to let the team know,” 
Cecconi said. “The weekend 
was unacceptable in all of our 
minds, and we just wanted to 
talk and figure some things out. 
Lay a foundation and things 
like that, just so we know our 
expectations going into next 
weekend.”
The expectations, both from 
Cecconi and from Pearson, are 
fairly simple. Each member 

of the team needs to buy in to 
Pearson’s system and commit to 
team defense.
Both player and coach believe 
that once individual buy-in 
comes, the consistency will 
follow and Michigan will start 
to perform at the level it was 
expected to when the season 
began.
“We have a lot of skilled 
players,” Cecconi said. “We 
might need some of them to buy 
into the system a little bit more. 
Same with the 
younger 
guys, 
same 
with 
pretty 
much 
everyone. 
Everyone needs 
to get on the 
same 
page 
and once that 
happens, we’re 
gonna be a very 
good 
team, 
because 
we 
have the skill.”
Getting players to buy in to 
the system has been something 
Pearson 
has 
talked 
about 
since the first game of the 
year. Especially now that the 
Wolverines are facing some 
adversity, it seems that is more 
important than ever.
“We still have to get the buy-
in from everybody,” Pearson 
said. “I think we’re still — 
sometimes when things aren’t 

going your way, you try to take 
things into your own hands 
and not just play within the 
systems and what not. We have 
competitors, and they want to 
win. They have to understand 
that we just gotta keep playing 
together and then we’ll be 
okay.”
The Wolverines are now in 
a similar place to where they 
were last season at this time. 
They haven’t won a game since 
Nov. 16, but each game has been 
close. One of the losses came in 
overtime, two came in shootouts 
and one was in regulation. All 
were decided by one goal.
Last 
year, 
they 
started 
stringing 
wins 
together 
in 
January and ended up in the 
Frozen Four. It was then-
captain Tony Calderone who 
called the team together at 
that time and told them that 
they needed to start winning or 
they wouldn’t make the NCAA 
Tournament.
This year, Cecconi hopes 
he’s the one that turns things 
around.
“I think he had the whole 
team and just told them that 
winning can become a habit, but 
so can mediocrity, and we just 
want to make sure that doesn’t 
— they just don’t accept that,” 
Pearson said. “I think that’s 
what he’s trying to say, and 
that’s our message to them.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes was an offensive spark against Michigan State but was inconsistent on defense.

“It’s hard 
to prepare, 
because ... he’s 
very creative.”

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Joseph Cecconi gave a postgame talk to his team after they lost in a shootout.

“We still have 
to get the 
buy-in from 
everybody.”

