8A — Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
“At this time” Chris
Evans not with team
Junior running back Chris
Evans is no longer a member
of the Michigan football team.
“Chris
Evans
is
not
a
member of the football team
at this time,” said associate
athletic director for football
communications Dave Ablauf
in a statement on Tuesday.
Ablauf would not specify the
reason for Evans’ dismissal,
citing privacy laws.
Sources told The Daily that
Evans’ departure is a result
of academic misconduct, and
he was disenrolled from one
of his classes this week. It is
unclear whether he is still
enrolled at the University.
Evans explained his situation
on Twitter following news
breaking of his status on the
team.
“I am going through some
academic issues right now,”
Evans tweeted. “I’m working
through it now. I will still
continue my career at the
University of Michigan!”
It remains to be seen whether
Evans’ dismissal is permanent,
though Evans writing that he
will still continue his career at
the University, as well as the
statement from Ablauf, seem
to imply it is not.
“I suppose there’s a chance,”
a source told the Daily of his
chances to return. “Basically
it wasn’t the football team
that kicked him off it was the
school. No bad blood between
Chris and the team.”
Evans totaled 423 yards
and four rushing touchdowns
off of 81 carries in his junior
campaign as the No. 2 back
behind Karan Higdon. With
Higdon
graduating
and
declaring for the NFL Draft,
Evans
was
the
presumed
starter for the 2019 season.
With Evans no longer on the
team, as well as the dismissal
of O’Maury Samuels in early
December, the running back
position is murky. Returning
players with game experience
include former walk-on Tru
Wilson, who tallied 62 carries,
364 yards and a touchdown as
the No. 3 back, and redshirt
freshman Christian Turner.
Incoming freshman Zach
Charbonnet, who rushed for
1,770 yards and 13 touchdowns,
while averaging 8.2 yards per
carry in his final high school
season, also appears slated
to make an impact in his first
year.
Additional reporting by Max
Marcovitch
McDaniels will coach
QBs, Pep Hamilton out
After two seasons as the
associate
head
coach
and
passing
game
coordinator,
Pep Hamilton is leaving the
Michigan
football
team,
according to multiple outlets.
There was speculation this
move was coming after the
Wolverines hired Josh Gattis
to be their new offensive
coordinator
earlier
this
offseason.
Since
Michigan
didn’t
have
a
specified
coordinator
last
season,
Gattis’ hiring and presumed
responsibilities — Michigan
coach
Jim
Harbaugh
said
Gattis will have full control
of the offense — seemed to
overlap with Hamilton’s role.
Now,
with
Hamilton’s
departure,
that
picture
is
clear.
In addition to the Hamilton
news, Sam Webb of 247Sports
reported that Ben McDaniels
will be taking over as the
Wolverines’
quarterbacks
coach for 2019.
McDaniels is the brother
of
New
England
Patriots
offensive
coordinator
Josh
McDaniels, and he has spent
his career bouncing around
various
NFL
and
college
coaching
staffs,
including
spending the last two seasons
with the Chicago Bears.
Harbaugh
mentioned
in
December that he anticipated
giving McDaniels a full-time
role on the coaching staff,
but at the time it was thought
to mean he would take over
as receivers coach for the
departing
Jim
McElwain.
McDaniels coached receivers
in the Peach Bowl in an interim
role after McElwain was hired
at Central Michigan.
After the hiring of Gattis,
however,
McDaniels’
upcoming role was unclear,
as
Gattis
has
extensive
experience
coaching
wide
receivers.
With
Hamilton
gone,
McDaniels seems like a natural
fit with the quarterbacks,
since he has coached the
position in stops with Rutgers
and the Denver Broncos.
What all this means for
Michigan
is
that
the
10
members of its coaching staff,
which had been in flux all
offseason, are finally settled.
Hamilton,
McElwain,
defensive line coach Greg
Mattison and VIPER coach Al
Washington are out. Gattis,
McDaniels,
former
Boston
College defensive coordinator
Anthony
Campanile
and
former Arizona State defensive
line coach Shaun Nua are in.
Now the staff is complete,
and there are only 207 days
until the Wolverines kick off
against
Middle
Tennessee
State.
Michigan gets back on track, tops Rutgers 77-65
PISCATAWAY — Geo Baker
stood dead center, well beyond the
arc, and fired for three.
The shot landed to cap off an
8-0 run, and with just over three
minutes left in the first half,
Michigan’s lead was down to single
digits for the first time since the
under-16 timeout.
It was the first of several times
Rutgers tried to make things
interesting. But this time, the
magic wasn’t there. A minute later,
sophomore guard Jordan Poole
returned the favor with a three of
his own, then after a block on the
defensive end, freshman forward
Ignas Brazdeikis drove into the
paint for a layup. And despite a few
similar moments in the second half
— where the Scarlet Knights got
the deficit under 10 four separate
times — the No. 5 Michigan men’s
basketball team (21-2 overall, 10-2
Big Ten) ultimately scored too
much, too quick, leaving Rutgers
(11-11 overall, 4-8 Big Ten) unable
to keep up in the Wolverines’ 77-65
win.
“They got off to a great start,”
said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell.
“And we kind of went digging,
digging, digging and I told them
they could’ve made it interesting.
… But we needed some timely
stops defensively or some timely
offensive possessions and you just
can’t play that way. Every time we
made a mistake, they made us pay
on the offensive end.”
Michigan started the game
5-for-5 from the field and, for much
of the first half, got whatever it
wanted on offense. Seven minutes
into the period, redshirt junior
wing Charles Matthews scored
seven consecutive points for the
Wolverines on two free throws,
a 3-pointer and a turnaround
jumper — part of a 19-4 run that put
Michigan up 17 not even 10 minutes
into the half.
The lead was so large that despite
no fouls from anyone on the team,
freshman forward Brandon Johns
subbed in with 13:37 remaining.
Unlike most of his previous
appearances — like one last Friday
at Iowa when other options at the
‘5’ were in foul trouble — this one
was not out of desperation, but
luxury.
Other than the 8-0 run at the end,
the rest of the period proceeded
similarly,
with
Brazdeikis
especially taking advantage of
every Scarlet Knights defensive
breakdown. He finished with 23
points — his seventh 20-point game
of the season — while leading the
team with five 3-pointers.
“They definitely didn’t prepare
for my 3-point shot, I feel like,”
Brazdeikis said. “They didn’t close
out as hard and left me open so it
was an advantage for us.”
But in the second half, the brand
of junkball that the Scarlet Knights
have ridden to four conference
wins came out. The field goals
that had dropped so effortlessly
for
the
Wolverines
early
on
couldn’t find the net. But whenever
Rutgers started to inch within the
possibility of an upset, Michigan
answered back. After a thunderous
dunk by Shaquille Doorson cut
the lead to seven five minutes in,
the Scarlet Knights turned the
ball over and fouled junior guard
Zavier Simpson, leading to two
free throws and then back-to-back
threes from Poole — who shook
off a shooting slump by scoring 15
points and going 3-for-6 from deep
— and Brazdeikis.
Rutgers fought as hard as it
could, but in a second-half defensive
battle, it was unable to cut into the
Wolverines’ lead enough to make
anything happen.
It wasn’t a pretty win by any
means, but in the end it got the job
done. And on the road in the Big
Ten — with a first half that provided
hope the Wolverines would find
their way out of their recent
offensive struggles — sometimes
that’s all you can ask for.
Ball movement, 3-point shooting spark ‘M’
PISCATAWAY
—
Despite
his team’s 21-2 record and top-
10 national ranking, Michigan
coach John Beilein has cast a
frustrated figure for much of
the last month. Wins and losses
alike have been met with an
unsatisfied air — a feeling that
the Wolverines have failed
to
maximize
the
potential
displayed in their 19-0 start.
So when Beilein entered
the Rutgers Athletic Center
media room 20 minutes after
Michigan’s bland 77-65 win
against the Big Ten’s perennial
doormat Tuesday night, the
expectation
was
for
more
of the same. But before the
questions even began, Beilein
sat down and offered a different
assessment.
“We were really good today,”
he said. “I really loved just about
everything about our game.”
The reason for his change in
tune? One simple line in the box
score that read, 11-of-23.
That, of course, was the
Wolverines’
stat
line
from
3-point range Tuesday night.
Just last year — when Michigan
ranked 4th in the Big Ten with
a 37.3 shooting percentage from
deep — that would have been
impressive, but nothing out of
the ordinary. This season, it’s
a revelation —
just the second
time in 10 tries
since the New
Year
that
the
Wolverines have
shot 40 percent
from three.
For
a
Michigan team
that now ranks
10th
in
the
conference with
a
31.5
shooting
percentage
from deep, Friday’s 8-for-33
performance in a loss at Iowa
was rock bottom, as it couldn’t
move the ball into open looks.
Instead, it repeatedly forced up
contested shots in a desperate
attempt to claw back into the
game before falling to a 15-point
defeat.
“Just keep practicing… and
hopefully, we’ll make some
shots,” Beilein said after that
game. “We’ve seen some of our
guys go out there and really
have good shooting days. Today,
we didn’t have great shooting
days.”
Rather than spending the
three
days
between
games
preparing
for
Rutgers
as
they
typically
would,
the
Wolverines did exactly that,
turning introspective in hopes
of solving their
3-point woes.
Against
the
Scarlet
Knights, it was
immediately
clear
that
the
approach
had
paid
off.
Freshman
forward
Ignas
Brazdeikis
opened the game
with a three on Michigan’s first
possession. A few minutes later,
junior guard Zavier Simpson
found the freshman forward
again wide open in the corner.
The next time the Wolverines
tried from deep, it was redshirt
junior wing Charles Matthews
springing sophomore Jordan
Poole open at the top of the arc.
By the time Michigan finally
missed a 3-pointer, 7:22 into the
game, it led 18-6.
“I think at the very beginning,
the ball movement was great,”
Beilein said. “We just moved it
really well.”
Each time Rutgers threatened
to put a serious dent in that
lead, Michigan’s ball movement
provided it with a much-needed
buffer.
When
the
Scarlet
Knights made their biggest run
of the night — an 8-0 stretch to
cut it to single
digits
with
two minutes to
play in the first
half — it was
again Matthews
assisting Poole to
snap Michigan’s
dry spell.
“We’re
definitely
all
unselfish players
and we play for
the team,” Brazdeikis said. “We
put the team first. Definitely
today, that was an emphasis and
we were moving the ball really
well.”
Five minutes into the second
half — the next time the lead
shrunk
to
single
digits
—
Simpson drove into the lane,
dishing it to Poole beyond the
arc. Again, he found bottom.
Ten
feet
away,
Beilein
looked on emotionless — the
best in-game approval he will
ever offer. Two possessions
later, when Poole’s isolation
tendency returned, the coach
reverted to the emotions that
he displayed so often last week
in Iowa City, dropping his head
into his hands before turning
to assistant coach DeAndre
Haynes with a befuddled look.
“It still stuck a few times and
we’re
working
on that,” Beilein
said. “Because
we
do
have
some
talent
that
can
get
their own shot.
But sometimes,
the more you
dribble it, the
more everybody
gets
into
the
gap and you’re
not gonna be able to get your
stuff.”
Tuesday night, though, that
look was rarely on display. And
when a Rutgers’ miss with 1:39
left sent the crowd toward
the exit and drew chants of,
“Let’s Go Blue,” Beilein finally
cracked a smile.
For the first time in weeks, it
came because of his offense.
MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Chris Evans was dismissed from the Michigan football team on Tuesday.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Pep Hamilton left the Michigan football team on Tuesday.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Sophomore guard Jordan Poole scored 15 points, shaking a shooting slump by going 3-for-6 from 3-point range in Michigan’s win over Rutgers.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis opened the game with a 3-pointer as Michigan beat Rutgers 77-65.
At the very
beginning, the
ball movement
was great.
Definitely
today, (ball
movement) was
an emphasis.