The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 — 7A
Luce, Martin bring stability to inconsistent Michigan defense
To say the Michigan hockey
team’s
defense
has
been
inconsistent this season is an
understatement.
The Wolverines have given
up the fourth-most goals in
the Big Ten this season with 77
goals against — 24 more than
No. 4 Ohio State, which has
allowed the fewest goals in the
conference.
Those goals, though, have
often come in bunches. Take
this
past
weekend’s
series
against No. 15 Penn State, for
example.
Michigan
allowed
only
one goal Thursday night and
then got torched for five goals
Saturday night. The Wolverines
have allowed less than three
goals in 12 of their 25 games
this season. On the other end of
the scale, they’ve given up five
or more goals eight times.
But
amid
all
that
inconsistency,
junior
defensemen Luke Martin and
Griffin Luce have backstopped
an
up-and-down
group
of
blueliners.
“They’ve played well,” said
Michigan coach Mel Pearson.
“I think they complement each
other. They might not be the
most offensive, prolific guys,
but this time of year, defense
wins you hockey games. They
did that last year, too. They
played
extremely
well
the
second half, and they’ve taken
up where they left off last year.”
On a team filled with two-
way defensemen like sophomore
defenseman Quinn Hughes and
freshman defenseman-turned-
forward
Nick
Blankenburg,
Martin and Luce exemplify an
older brand of blueliner — one
that lets offense take a backseat
to focus on defense first.
This season, the pair have
combined for seven total points.
Luce tallied his lone point when
he scored a goal against Western
Michigan on Oct. 19. Martin has
chipped in six assists.
Pearson tends to combine
two-way defensemen with guys
like Luce and Martin when
creating defensive pairings, but
Luce and Martin have played
together more than half the
games this season. And once
he saw how successful the duo
is when they play together,
losing some of the offensive
production that comes with
having a two-way defenseman
on the ice didn’t cross Pearson’s
mind again.
“We’ve discussed that in the
past,” Pearson said. “We’ve
talked about our defense — we
talk almost every week about,
‘Do we like the pairs, are we
sure, do we need to change some
things up?’ They’re playing so
well that — and we like all our
pairs. Why change them if you
like them?”
One of the things that allows
Luce and Martin to have such
success together is how long
they’ve known each other. In
addition to their three years
together with the Wolverines,
they both played on the U-17
and U-18 teams for the U.S.
National Team Development
Program.
And both players agree that
their friendship is key to their
success on the ice.
“We’ve been close,” Luce
said. “We’ve been together here
for going on five years now,
so we know each other really
well. I think when you’re able
to go and play out with one of
your best friends (it) definitely
makes a difference. We have a
good chemistry going and we
know each other really well, so
that makes it easier.”
Martin added: “I think it’s
just really easy
to communicate
with
(Luce)
on
the
bench.
There’s no — no
one’s
attacking
anyone
or
talking
about
a
play
or
a
bad
read
or
something.
It’s
just a lot of open
communication
and a lot of trust. We trust each
other to give each other advice
and it’s working out well.”
At Michigan, the best friends
have grown into mirror images
of each other. They both stand
6-foot-3 and weigh in only one
pound apart. Martin shoots
right-handed and Luce shoots
left-handed, making them ideal
matches on a defensive pairing.
When
you
combine
that
with the pride
they
take
in
their
roles
as
purely defensive
defenseman,
it
creates
a
partnership that
the
Wolverines
can
count
on
in
just
about
any situation —
particularly on the penalty kill,
a responsibility both players
take seriously. In nearly every
game, both blueliners can be
found blocking numerous shots
on the penalty kill and shutting
down the threat from the
opponent’s man advantage.
Against the Nittany Lions,
the duo blocked a combined
17 shots in the two games —
including six for Martin and
five for Luce in Thursday
night’s win.
“They’ve taken some pride
in penalty killing,” Pearson
said. “They’re blocking shots.
They’re doing all those little
things you need to do to win
and have success.
“(Blocking shots) especially
on the power play (is) really
important.
It’s
gonna
be
important
this
weekend.
Minnesota has got a really
good power play. In conference,
they’re operating at about 30%,
which is unheard of. They
scored six power-play goals last
weekend against Wisconsin,
so you’re gonna have to get in
shooting lanes and block shots.”
And
speaking
of
the
upcoming series against the
Golden Gophers, the fact that
Minnesota plays on an Olympic-
size ice sheet adds a layer of
difficulty to Martin and Luce’s
jobs this weekend. The ice is 15
feet wider than the ice at Yost
Ice Arena, leaving more space
for the defensemen to cover.
But both are up for the task.
“They recruit to their ice,
I’ve always thought, so they
have really small, fast guys
who are really good at playing
in the corners on that ice,”
Martin said. “It’s just staying
in
between
the
dots
and
recovering extra hard. (Luce)
and I backing each other up will
be key this weekend.”
This weekend’s series against
the Golden Gophers is key for
the Wolverines as they try to
string together some wins to
get into the NCAA Tournament
conversation.
And
with
Martin
and
Luce
adding
much-needed
consistency
and
calm
to
Michigan’s defense, a strong
performance from the two of
them may be the answer for the
Wolverines.
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior defensemen Luke Martin and Griffin Luce have provided stability to a defense and a penalty-kill unit that has otherwise been inconsistent this season.
Naz Hillmon thriving in role,
ready for potential of more
It’s rare for a freshman to
rank second on her team in
scoring. Even more so when that
freshman shoots over 68 percent
from the field and comes off the
bench.
Naz Hillmon — the forward
who has become one of the
Michigan women’s basketball
team’s top contributors and one
of the Big Ten’s biggest rising
stars — has been a revelation
for the Wolverines this season,
currently ranking fifth in the
nation in field goal percentage
(68.5) while also putting up 12.6
points per contest. Despite being
a bench player, she has found
ways to make an impact and
make the most of her role.
“Coming off the bench, you
can see everything a lot better
than a starter would just because
you can take from the sidelines
and see how your opponent is
scoring as well as how you’re
scoring,” Hillmon said.
While she is currently playing
a key role as the team’s sixth
man, Hillmon could potentially
find herself in the starting
lineup for Thursday night’s
home contest against Iowa after
senior forward Nicole Munger
suffered a devastating injury
in Sunday’s 77-73 loss against
Michigan State. Michigan will
need someone to step up if its
senior
captain
is
sidelined.
Luckily, it has Hillmon waiting
in the wings.
Hillmon, who admitted that
she doesn’t know anything about
Munger’s status, says that she is
prepared to make the jump to
the starting five if needed.
“It’ll be a difference,” Hillmon
said. “But I just know that I just
have to be locked in and ready
to go whenever my number is
called.”
After Sunday’s tough loss,
Michigan now sits at 3-6 in
the Big Ten conference and
12-9 overall. While most teams
would be discouraged by a
subpar record, the Wolverines
believe they are close to a
breakthrough and, after a series
of tight conference losses, are
doing what they can to right the
ship. Rather than focusing on
what could have happened had
these nailbiters gone the other
way, Hillmon says that the team
is focusing on looking forward.
On the court, Hillmon could be
part of a solution.
“Right now we know that we
have some work to do, but we
also know what that is,” Hillmon
said. “In practice, every day we
wanna keep trying to work at it
and get those close games to flip
the other way.”
One thing Hillmon has been
working on is developing a mid-
range shot. While she admitted
that the shot has never been a
major part of her arsenal, she
said that she’s doing her best
to extend her range in order
to open up more space for her
teammates. Though she made
a free throw line jumper in
Sunday’s
contest,
Hillmon
cautioned that “it’s not there
yet,”
but
added
that
she’s
“getting
more
comfortable”
from that range.
Could a 3-pointer be next?
“I’ll have to make some in
practice first.”
TEDDY GUTKIN
Daily Sports Writer
‘M’ wins 4-1 at ITA Kick-Off
Coming off a disappointing
4-3 loss to No. 22 Alabama,
the No. 24 Michigan men’s
tennis team had tremendous
motivation
to
succeed
on
Saturday at the ITA Kick-Off
against North Carolina State.
Besides wanting to notch
their first win of the season,
it was the first time that the
Wolverines had hosted the
event and they wanted to prove
that they could compete with
the other teams participating,
since the winner would earn a
spot in the ITA National Team
Indoor Championship.
“It means a lot. I told the
guys yesterday that it took
a lot of work to get here,”
said Michigan coach Adam
Steinberg, “I told them we have
to take advantage of it though.
We can’t just be happy to be
hosting. Our goals are way
bigger.”
And take advantage they
did. After dropping the first
game, the duo of sophomore
Mattias Siimar
and
freshman
Andrew
Fenty
won six straight
to
win
their
match
6-1.
Freshman
Patrick Maloney
and
senior
Myles
Schalet
also took care of
their Wolfpack
opponents with
relative ease, winning 6-2,
and giving the Wolverines the
doubles point.
“Doubles was unbelievable,”
Steinberg said. “That’s the best
I’ve seen us play doubles in a
really long time. That was the
biggest positive obviously.”
Michigan did not have much
difficulty in the singles portion
of the day either. While Siimar
lost his match, giving NC State
its only point, every other
Wolverine player either won
their match or had the lead
when play ended.
Schalet
capped
off
an
impressive day with a win in
straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Senior
Gabe
Tishman,
the
only
Michigan singles player to not
participate in doubles, had
possibly the most dominant
singles win for the Wolverines,
6-0, 6-4, while junior Connor
Johnston
won
6-4, 7-5 to give
Michigan
the
deciding
point
and a 4-1 win.
“Connor
at
four, and how
he’s
played
the
first
two
matches
is
a big lift for
our
team,”
Steinberg said.
“He didn’t really play singles
his first two years and now he’s
playing high and he’s doing
great.”
Added Fenty: “To come out
here and win, and the way we
did, with that much intensity
and that much passion, it’s kind
of sick.”
After their win over the
Wolfpack,
the
Wolverines
looked to take the momentum
from
Saturday’s
win
into
Sunday as they took on No.
11 Baylor for a spot in the
ITA National Team Indoor
Championship in February.
“We’re just trying to use it
and ride the wave,” Fenty said.
“The way we’re playing right
now we feel like we could beat
anyone.”
Added
Steinberg:
“That’s
what we practice for. That’s
what these guys live for, to
go to the National Indoors. It
doesn’t get better than that. I
know the guys are excited.”
Michigan would go on to
lose a hard-fought match 4-1 on
Sunday, with their only point
coming in doubles.
While the weekend did not
end as they would have liked,
the Wolverines proved that
they can play with anyone.
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Freshman forward Naz Hillmon is the second-leading scorer on the team despite coming off the bench.
JACK KINGSLEY
For The Daily
MIKE ZLONKEVICZ/Daily
Coach Adam Steinberg was pleased with Saturday’s bounceback performance.
That’s the best
I’ve seen us play
doubles in a
really long time.
At Michigan,
the best friends
have grown into
mirror images.