While families come together
from far and wide to devour
turkey, watch football and reluc-
tantly talk politics, the Michigan
men’s basketball team will be
facing its fiercest competition
to date at the Battle 4 Atlantis
Tournament.
Hosted every year in the Ba-
hamas, the tournament hosts a
variety of college basketball’s
historic programs in an ear-
ly-season slugfest prime for early
resume-building and testing
weaknesses.
This year, the Bahamas will
welcome the Wolverines (4-0)
along with No. 6 North Carolina
(4-0), No. 8 Gonzaga (6-0), No. 10
Oregon (5-0), No. 13 Seton Hall
(4-1), Iowa State (3-1), Alabama
(2-2) and Southern Miss (2-3).
On Wednesday, Michigan kicks
off the tournament against the
Cyclones in one of its first true
tests of the season.
The Wolverines are guaranteed
at least three games throughout
their stay in Atlantis and could
face any of the visiting opponents
throughout the tournament.
The Daily breaks down the
three teams Michigan is most
likely to face and what the Wol-
verines must be thankful for in
the event of a Thanksgiving day
win.
Iowa State
When the Wolverines take the
floor on Wednesday against Iowa
State, they will face a team that
is practically their mirror image.
Well, more like a funhouse mirror
that slightly distorts the image.
The Cyclones use an up-tempo
offense centered around a dy-
namic, ball-dominant guard who
excels at ball distribution and
rains 3-point shots. Add some
bruising post players and a slight-
ly worse turnover ratio and you
have the Michigan Wolverines.
Iowa State’s offense is high-
lighted by one of the most
exciting players in the country in
sophomore Tyrese Haliburton.
The point guard leads the nation
in assists per game with 10.3.
Who’s number three on that list?
Senior guard Zavier Simpson.
Haliburton has emerged this
season as one of the best facili-
tators in college basketball and
continues his potent threat from
deep after hitting 43.4 percent of
his shots from beyond the arc last
season.
Accompanying Haliburton
is a loaded backcourt in Penn
State transfer Rasir Bolton and
Colorado State transfer Prentiss
Nixon. Bolton leads the team in
points per game, with 12.5, and is
a consistent perimeter threat.
Per usual this season, Michi-
gan’s clear advantage here is size
and presence down low. If the
Wolverines can find points in the
paint, rebound effectively and
find ways to neutralize Halibur-
ton’s prolific passing, then they
should be able to walk out with
an important win.
North Carolina
If Michigan snakes out a win
on Wednesday, it’s set to face the
winner of Alabama-North Caro-
lina. Assuming the Tar Heels, the
clear favorite, take this one, the
Wolverines will face their tough-
est opponent to date.
North Carolina has mowed
down opponents thus far this
season on its way to a 4-0 record
and a plus-13.7 scoring margin.
And it all goes through one
man: freshman sensation Cole
Anthony.
Saying the Tar Heels’ entire
team identity is shaped around
one figure will take some getting
used to for college basketball
pundits this season. North
Carolina coach Roy Williams has
consistently favored depth on his
rosters and uses a wide array of
talent to carve up opponents.
This season, though, that’s not
the case; everything has rested
on Anthony’s shoulders. So far,
this is the furthest thing from a
problem seeing as the true fresh-
man is leading the team in many
statistical categories, including
points per game (22.8), assists
(4.5) and steals (1.8).
Aside from the freshman phe-
nom, North Carolina has used
its elite size to outrebound and
outplay its opponents early in the
season. If Michigan matches up
against the Tar Heels in Atlantis,
big men Jon Teske and Colin
Castleton will have to prepare for
a battle down low.
Alabama
Pay attention, because up-tem-
po basketball with prolific guard
play will be a running theme
throughout this tournament; and
the Crimson Tide might exempli-
fy this more than any other team.
Alabama coach Nate Oats loves
running wheeling-and-dealing
offenses whose guards almost
consistently find success scoring
the ball. This year’s leading guard
comes in the form of 6-foot-3
sophomore Kira Lewis.
As a 17-year old freshman last
season, Lewis led the team in
many offensive categories and
stands to be a primary key of
Oats’ new offensive system. He
leads the team with an eye-
brow-raising 21.5 points per
game. Accompanying Lewis are
other capable guards in freshman
guard Jaden Shackleford and
West Virginia transfer Beetle
Bolden.
If Michigan has proven any-
thing early in the season, it’s that
it knows how to handle up-tempo
teams who love to launch a lot
of 3-point shots. The Wolverines
have conquered similar offenses
in Creighton and Houston Bap-
tist, making the necessary defen-
sive adjustments and hammering
their opponents down low.
When it comes down to it, a
mid-level Alabama team should
not threaten Michigan.
Gonzaga, Oregon, Seton Hall,
Southern Miss
The other side of the bracket
comes loaded with ranked teams
in Gonzaga, Oregon and Seton
Hall. For the sake of brevity,
enjoy one sentence of analysis for
each team.
Gonzaga: Forward Killian Tillie
is back, and his ability to stretch
the floor makes the Bulldogs a
lethal team with a multi-faceted
offensive attack.
Oregon: Another absolutely
loaded backcourt highlighted
by premier point guard Payton
Pritchard which will keep even
the most tenacious defenses up
at night (The Wolverines take
on the Ducks on Dec. 14 in Ann
Arbor).
Seton Hall: Good luck to Simp-
son in trying to lock down the
one-man wrecking crew that is
Myles Powell.
Southern Mississippi: While the
Golden Eagles may seem like a
fish out of water among the fierce
competition, big man Boban
Jacdonmi (16.4 points and 7.6 re-
bounds per game) has emerged as
a leader and could keep Southern
Miss in some games.
Jack Aho kicked into full gear,
edging ahead of the crowd in
the final stretch of the 6.2-mile
NCAA Championship race.
As the end approached, the
junior burst into form, finishing
the course at 40th place, just
enough to clinch All-American
honors for the second straight
year.
The final race of the sea-
son proved to be one of the
strongest performances of the
year for the No. 16 Michigan
men’s cross country team,
which finished seventh out of
31 teams for the Wolverines’
highest finish at the champion-
ships since 1999. When asked
what stood out about this team
that allowed them to have such
success, Michigan coach Kevin
Sullivan singled out a handful of
his runners.
“(Junior) Devin Meyrer, who’s
been one of our captains this
year, has been one of the biggest
leaders on the team,” Sullivan
said. “He’s also been our No. 1
runner in every race but one.
(Senior) Isaac Harding and Jack
Aho have also both consis-
tently improved throughout
the season, and (junior) Joost
(Plaetinck) has had a breakout
year for us. They’ve really been
a force for us, especially the last
four meets of the season.”
Aho and Meyrer both finished
in the top-40, which automati-
cally grants a runner All-Amer-
ican honors. Meanwhile,
Harding just missed the cut at
44th place, and senior Jordy
Hewitt and Plaetinck also ran
to strong finishes at 96th and
101st, respectively. The team’s
strong finish came as no sur-
prise to Sullivan, who expressed
strong confidence in his team’s
abilities.
“Every one of our guys ran
the way I knew they could run.”
Sullivan said. “I think its fantas-
tic that we had two All-Ameri-
cans in Devin Meyrer and Jack
Aho. When you factor in that
Isaac Harding just missed out,
we were this close to having
three All-Americans. It wasn’t
so much that anybody ran better
than expectations as much as
it was that we all came and put
our best races together on the
same day. That’s what it takes to
perform well as a team.”
The team carried significant
momentum into the NCAA
Championships, with big finish-
es in each of the past two weeks.
The previous week, with bids to
the championships on the line,
Michigan finished third out of
29 teams at the Great Lakes In-
vitational. In doing so, the Wol-
verines beat out Indiana and
Wisconsin, two teams ranked
higher at the time, and clinched
their eighth appearance at the
championship meet in the past
nine years.
The week before that, Michi-
gan finished in third place at the
Big Ten Championships, scoring
higher than a Purdue team
ranked in the top 10 at the time
of the race. This string of meets
allowed the team to achieve one
of its preseason goals – finishing
in the top 10 at the champion-
ships.
“The nice thing about our
team is that they always kept
their composure and felt they
could be a top-10 team,” Sulli-
van said. “This was something
our team never lost sight of
throughout the course of the
year. This was the stage where
our performance really mat-
tered.
“It was one last opportunity to
end the season strong, and we
took advantage of that.”
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 — 7
Battle 4 Atlantis preview: What to expect
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Wolverines’ upcoming trip to the Bahamas will be their first road trip and first true test.
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer
Men’s cross country races to highest finish since 1999
PAARTH SHARMA
For the Daily
As Mason Parris rises, he
continues to stay the course
As Michigan’s Mason Parris
mingled with a procession of
young fans decked head-to-toe in
maize and blue clamoring for his
signature on their hats, t-shirts and
posters, the sophomore heavy-
weight and team captain took a
moment to reflect upon the hard
fought win over Central Michi-
gan’s Matt Stencel that sealed his
team’s victory.
For Parris, as the successes ac-
crue, so too do the responsibilities.
Acutely aware of his rising profile,
he doubles down on the habits
that made him an elite wrestler,
locker room leader and owner of a
budding fanbase. Take it from his
coach.
“Mason’s a great leader,” said
Michigan coach Sean Bormet.
“The style he wrestles is the style
we like to see at all the weight
classes, so I really like that we
have a heavyweight that pours on
the offense, that wants to score
a lot of points and wants to put
guys on their back and pin them.
And that’s another reason he’s the
captain.”
Parris’ example was not lost
on his teammates. Freshman
141-pounder Cole Mattin’s gutsy
come-from-behind win was his
first at Cliff Keen Arena. Redshirt
freshman 174-pounder Max May-
lor also capped his home debut
with a win, the first match of the
meet in which a Michigan wrestler
secured riding time advantage.
But in an afternoon replete with
star performances, Parris’ shone
brightest.
“He dominated the action in that
match,” Bormet said. “It didn’t
result in a score until towards the
end of the match, but all that work
he did and all that action he creat-
ed in the match led to that score.”
Parris, the No. 3 heavyweight in
the country, is well-acquainted
with his opponent, No. 7 Matt
Stencel. Sunday marked the sixth
meeting between the two. Parris
now leads the series 4-2, but it was
Stencel who eliminated him from
the 2018-19 NCAA Championships
in Pittsburgh.
“Wrestling him is always a really
good rivalry,” Parris said. “He’s the
one who put me out at NCAAs, so
it’s definitely something I thought
about all year round, just beating
him. He’s the one who kind of
stopped me from my goals last
year, so I knew I had to give it my
all every time I wrestle him, but I
know it’s always gonna be a great
match every time we go.”
In what the public address
announcer called the “marquee
match of the day,” Parris took to
the mat with deafening applause.
For much of the first period, Sten-
cel and Parris, as all good wrestlers
do, lunged at one another like bulls
locking horns, each trying to size
up the other. The period ended
without a score, but the one who
struck first would likely emerge
the victor.
Parris is deceptively shifty for a
heavyweight. In the second period,
he slipped out from under Sten-
cel’s grasp, earning a point on the
escape. Stencel responded in kind,
tying the match with an escape of
his own. But Parris slammed the
door shut in the waning seconds of
the third period, pinning his foe to
the ground, taking the match, 4-1.
Yet even in victory, Parris seeks
improvement.
“I’m getting better each week
moving my hands, moving my
feet, getting to my attacks, and this
week, just after that match, still
working on that stuff and still fin-
ishing my takedowns,” Parris said.
“I just know the guys look up to
me, so I’ve always got to stay really
good and just lead by example.”
JOSEPH ARONOFF
For the Daily
In cross country, the entire sea-
son comes down to one day. The
months of training, the many races
and the countless miles all can lead
to a euphoric climax or a feeling of
missed opportunity. The Michigan
women’s cross country team got
the latter.
The Wolverines came into Sat-
urday’s meet ranked eighth in the
country and with a shot to finish
on the podium. The day didn’t
go as planned, though, as they
finished 13th, failing to capture
their seventh top-10 finish in the
last 10 years.
“You always want to try and
come out of here ranked better
than you were going in,” said
Michigan coach Mike McGuire.
“And in that regard, we didn’t meet
our objective.”
Michigan’s biggest problem was
its rough start. At the two-kilo-
meter mark the Wolverines found
themselves in 10th and had only
freshman Erika VanderLende
running near the front of the
race. Their second through fifth
runners were packed up near the
100th-place mark. For reference,
the teams vying for a top-five spot
all put four to five runners ahead of
the Wolverines’ second runner, ju-
nior Kathryn House, who McGuire
said “was compromised” coming
in, as she had a cold. Junior Maddy
Trevisan — a team leader through-
out the year— also didn’t have the
best performance, she finished in
145th.
One of Michigan’s bright spots
was VanderLende. She was the
third-highest finishing fresh-
man, coming in 25th and earning
All-American honors.
With Saturday being the last race
of the season, this also meant one
last time for the seniors to repre-
sent the block ’M’ on their chest.
“(The seniors) would’ve liked to
go out on a bit of a higher note,”
McGuire said. “We’ll measure it off
the body of work and the season
that we had, it still was solid. But
it wasn’t reflective of the trend
we made going forward out of the
regional meet, and in that regard it
was a bit of a disappointment.”
While disappointed with the
outcome, McGuire also talked
about the season as a whole being
what they should focus on. And
for good reason, as the Wolverines
took second place in the regional
meet and third in the Big Ten
meet. And, while their lofty goals
at the beginning of the season
never materialized, they’ll still
have a top-15 finish to look back
on and a breakout season from
VanderLende, who could be one of
the sport’s brightest stars for years
to come.
McGuire also talked about
the impact Trevisan had on the
team and what she meant to the
program.
“Our captain Maddy Trevisan did
a great job,” McGuire said. “Her
impact on the program has been
long-felt and we’re gonna miss
her.”
So, in a sport where one day can
define an entire season for good
or for worse, McGuire made sure
to remember the journey that led
up to that final day and reflect on
everything, good and bad.
“Overall, it was a pretty good
season,” McGuire said. “
Just not a
great day.”
SPENCER RAINES
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women fall flat at the
NCAA championships, take 13th
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Sophomore heavyweight Mason Parris, the No. 3 heavyweight in the country, defeated No. 7 Matt Stencel of Western Michigan.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Redshirt junior runner Maddy Trevisan came in 145th overall for the Wolverines.