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Sports
Friday, January 10, 2020 — 7
Tru Wilson announces
decision to grad transfer
Redshirt junior running back
Tru Wilson announced Thursday
that he will pursue a graduate
transfer.
“I appreciate everything the
University of Michigan has done for
me these last 4 years,” Wilson said
in a tweet. “I will graduate in the
spring and will transfer to finish
my last year of college football. God
bless and Forever
Go Blue.”
Wilson’s news
doesn’t come as
a major surprise
given that he was
already the third-
string
running
back
this
year
and
the
room
doesn’t get any
less
crowded
with the return of
Chris Evans and the addition of a
highly regarded freshman in Blake
Corum.
Formerly a walk-on, Wilson
earned a scholarship prior to the
2018 season and carved out a
complementary role for himself.
In 2018, he was third on the team
with 364 rushing yards and led all
players with at least 15 attempts
at 5.9 yards per carry. Despite
missing two games due to injury
in 2019, Wilson was again third on
the team with 220 rushing yards
and averaged 5.0 yards per carry
— second among players with at
least 15 carries. Wilson also scored
two touchdowns in his Michigan
career, with one in each 2018 and
2019.
Despite
Wilson’s
loss,
the
running back room still projects
to be deep next year. Freshman
Zach Charbonnet and redshirt
freshman Hassan Haskins, who
split time at the position in 2019,
will both be back.
Evans — who was
the
Wolverines’
second-leading
rusher in 2018 but
missed the 2019
season due to a
suspension — has
been reinstated for
the 2020 season
and will be a fifth-
year senior. Corum
is
a
four-star
recruit and could push for playing
time
right
away.
Additionally,
Michigan has redshirt freshman
Christian Turner, who played a
reserve role in 2019, and freshman
Giles Jackson, who has been used
as an H-back.
Wilson, who played in one game
during his freshman season in 2016,
was granted a medical redshirt for
a fifth year of eligibility. As a grad
transfer, he will be immediately
eligible wherever he goes.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Redshirt junior running back Tru Wilson is seeking a graduate transfer.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
I appreciate
everything ...
Michigan has
done for me.
‘M’ returns to Big Ten play in Notre Dame series
In the first half of the season,
much was uncovered about
the Michigan hockey team.
From the offense’s recurrent
struggles to the proven abilities
from
the
defense
and
goaltending,
it’s
fairly
clear what to
expect on any
given night.
It has yet to
be unveiled,
though, how
exactly
the
Wolverines
will
fare
against
No.
14
Notre
Dame. Before
the new year,
Michigan
played
in
series against
five of its six
conference opponents — but not
the Fighting Irish. Both series
between these two teams are
still on the horizon.
This weekend in South Bend
will be the first
indicator
of
how the two
teams
really
match up. But
regardless
of
not
having
faced
Notre
Dame yet this
season,
the
Wolverines
have
a
clear
picture of what
is ahead.
“They’re strong defensively,”
Michigan coach Mel Pearson
said. “They’re a very systematic
team. They play their systems
well as a group and as a team.
They don’t beat themselves
so you have to go and make
plays and beat them. That’s the
difficulty with playing against
them.”
Goaltender Cale Morris is
part of why the Fighting Irish
can be so hard to defeat. Last
season he had the eighth-best
save percentage in the nation,
and he was a Hobey Baker
Award
finalist
the
season
before. His save
percentage of .916
this season isn’t
quite as good as
in the past, but he
still possesses the
ability to trouble
an offense.
“You need to
get lots of pucks
on him and get
bodies in front of
him,” said fifth-
year
senior
forward
Jacob
Hayhurst. “The harder it is
for him to see that puck every
time we get an opportunity, the
harder it’s going to be for him
to save it. We want to get pucks
and bodies to the net all game.”
That
sentiment
of
spraying pucks at the net and
establishing position near the
crease is everyday language
in hockey. It’s something the
Wolverines have stressed time
and time again.
Michigan has lived up to
the first part of the mantra, as
it has notched the ninth-most
shots on goal in the nation. The
issue resides in
the latter half as
the Wolverines
convert less than
seven
percent
of those shots.
And
against
a
talented
goaltender
in
Morris,
it’s
all
the
more
important
that
Michigan
gets
to the crease to help sneak the
puck between the pipes.
To Pearson, Notre Dame is
similar to the Wolverines in
that its offense doesn’t score
a ton and thus doesn’t create
much distance. But since the
Fighting
Irish
limit
their
mistakes, coming back from
even minimal deficits against
them can be tough.
“They’re really good if they
get out ahead of you,” Pearson
said. “They just suffocate you,
so we’re gonna have to get out,
try to play with that lead and
then just stay with it.”
To prevent Notre Dame from
establishing
an
early
lead,
Michigan
will
need
to
focus
on players such
as
forwards
Mike
O’Leary
and
Cam
Morrison,
who
lead the team
in points. If the
Wolverines can
do
that
while
making improvements on the
attack, the team could start the
year on a positive note.
“We’ve had great games with
them,” Pearson said. “We’ve
found ways to win. We’ve
played well defensively for the
most part against them, too. So
I think we match up well with
them. It’s going to be good,
really good games. But again,
we have to score.”
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Michigan hockey team will be searching for its first sweep of Big Ten play when it travels to South Bend this weekend.
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer
They play their
systems well as
a group and as a
team.
We’ve played
well defensively
... against them,
too.
Michigan at
Notre Dame
Matchup:
Michigan
2-7-1 Big Ten,
7-11-2 overall;
Notre Dame
5-3-2, 10-7-3
When: Friday
7 P.M. ET,
Saturday 6
P.M. ET
Where:
Compton Family
Ice Arena
TV/Radio:
NBC Sports/
NBCSports.com
Columbus collapse
COLUMBUS
—
A
quick
turn, her hips quickly blocking
out any defenders’ hope of
defending the shot — another
two
points
for
sophomore
forward Naz Hillmon.
Then, just as quick, Ohio
State marauded down the court
and nailed a three.
It was a taunting, haunting
back and forth throughout the
game. The Buckeyes owned the
three-point line. The Michigan
women’s
basketball
team,
meanwhile, owned the paint.
In the end, the three outpaced
the Wolverines’ (11-4 overall,
2-2 Big Ten) inside dominance
on Thursday as Ohio State (9-6,
2-2) won, 78-69.
An intense third quarter
saw Michigan and Ohio State
battling for a lead after a string
of threes brought the Buckeyes
back into the game.
The Wolverines drew fouls
in the quarter, but couldn’t
capitalize,
shooting
7-for-12
from the line in the third and
65.4 percent in the game.
“We
didn’t
really
finish
well today when we were at
the line,” Michigan coach Kim
Barnes
Arico
said.
“That’s
something that we kind of (had
throughout the season), up and
down days at the line through
the course of the season and
is something that we work on
every day in practice, and we’ve
definitely improved, but today
wasn’t our greatest night.”
Michigan’s stalwart inside
defense kept the Buckeyes at
bay, limiting them to just 24
points in the paint throughout
the game.
A majority of Michigan’s
points in the first quarter came
from a fast-paced offense where
Ohio State struggled to get set.
When it set, however, it was a
different story: with the paint
clogged, sophomore guard Amy
Dilk and senior forward Kayla
Robbins struggled to add a
second component of offense.
The two attempted to drive
to the basket countless times,
only to be forced outside and
throw
up
ambitious
layup
attempts from six feet away.
Dilk went 3-for-16 from the
field.
For a team like Michigan that
scores almost all of its points
in the paint, 3-point shooting
plagued it once again — on both
sides of the ball.
“We’re not a tremendous
3-point shooting team, that’s
not the strength of our team,”
Barnes Arico said. “And I think
people take that away from us.
(Junior forward) Hailey Brown
couldn’t get going till late, we
gotta get (freshman guard)
Michelle Sidor to get in there
and be able to give us some
production from the outside,
but (senior guard) Akienreh
(Johnson) couldn’t get them to
fall tonight.”
Ohio State, meanwhile, did
get them to fall.
Starting
with
a
missed
interception
attempt
from
Robbins in the final minute of
the first quarter that led to an
open shot, the Buckeyes found
success behind the line no
matter the pressure Michigan
threw at them — shooting 60
percent from three the rest of
the half.
In the second quarter alone,
only one field goal wasn’t from
three for the Buckeyes. The
Wolverines would get a couple
of quick layups and seemingly
grab momentum, only to be
yanked backward by a three
in the face of Johnson, or
Hillmon, or Brown.
“Of
course
(the
spread
offense is) a lot different,
a lot more space to cover,”
Hillmon said. “Some of that
we definitely have to work on
because a lot of the bigs in the
Big Ten can stretch out like
that. So just working on that in
games like this will help us in
the long run.”
It’s a problem that continues
to plague Michigan this season:
its offense must be hyper-
efficient to keep up with an
opponent that hits its threes.
On Thursday, Ohio State did
just that.
Despite
that,
Hillmon
nearly
singlehandedly
kept
the Wolverines in the game,
finishing the first half a perfect
7-for-7 from the field and
willing them into half with a
three point lead, 38-35.
In the first half, it was hyper-
efficient.
Yet, Michigan couldn’t close
the door, leaving it slightly ajar
for Ohio State.
As the game counted down,
in front of a hostile crowd, the
Buckeyes blew the door off its
hinges. Two travels led to five
Ohio State points in the span
of thirty seconds, gifting them
late-game momentum that the
Wolverines couldn’t take back.
“I think their threes really
deflated
us,”
Barnes
Arico
said. “They shot the ball really
exceptionally well, we’ve done
a pretty good job of covering
that all year long, we just
couldn’t get any momentum
going at any time.”
Unlike
the
Buckeyes,
Michigan
didn’t
have
the
momentum
changer
of
a
3-pointer. Unlike the Buckeyes,
Michigan couldn’t answer with
a big bucket.
COLUMBUS — At halftime of
Thursday night’s game, it was
looking good for Michigan.
The Wolverines led Ohio
State by three at the break, but
it felt like they had control. The
Buckeyes shot just 40 percent
from the floor in the first half.
Their leading scorer, forward
Dorka Juhász, was held to just
three points. The only reason
they were in the game was that
they shot 7-for-15 from 3-point
range — uncharacteristic for a
team that shot just 28.5 percent
from deep entering the game,
and likely to drop in the second
half.
Most
importantly
for
Michigan, sophomore forward
Naz Hillmon was at her best.
Hillmon tallied 18 points and
nine rebounds in the first half,
all without missing a field goal.
She was especially dominant
on the offensive glass, pulling
in six offensive rebounds and
converting
those
into
five
second-chance points.
In losses to Florida State
and Maryland, Hillmon logged
two and three first-half points,
respectively, in part due to
early foul trouble. Without
their biggest offensive weapon
in rhythm, the Wolverines had
difficulty
scoring
efficiently
or gaining any momentum. On
Thursday, she didn’t pick up a
foul until the second half.
“Not having to sit on the bench
definitely helps just because
it takes a lot to get going,”
Hillmon said. “Sometimes when
you’re in foul trouble you get the
opportunity to see what’s going
on, but I’d rather be on the floor
figuring out what’s going on
than on the bench. It definitely
helped my flow
of the game.”
Since
those
two
games,
getting Hillmon
going
early
was a focus for
Michigan,
and
after the first
half, it looked
as though she
would carry the
Wolverines to a
victory.
Hillmon was also partially
responsible for Ohio State’s
interior
struggles.
The
Buckeyes’ four forwards that
played in the first half combined
for 12 points while shooting
just 4-for-13 from the floor.
Since she and junior forward
Hailey Brown weren’t in foul
trouble, they were able to play
aggressively in the paint, not
giving Ohio State’s bigs any
room to work and preventing
second-chance opportunities —
the Buckeyes reeled in just one
offensive rebound in the half.
But
in
the
second
half,
Ohio State made a defensive
adjustment.
The
Buckeyes
packed the paint and pushed
Hillmon as far away from the
basket as possible.
“That took away some of
our spacing angles to get her
the ball,” Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico said. “Every time
we were trying to get (Hillmon)
the ball it was getting tipped or
deflected because there were a
lot of people around her.”
Senior
forward
Kayla
Robbins scored 10 first-half
points, preventing Ohio State
from devoting its full attention
to Hillmon, but Robbins picked
up her second foul early in the
second quarter and sat for the
final seven minutes of the first
half. She couldn’t get going again
early in the second half, and with
none of the Wolverines’ other
scorers
playing
particularly
well, stopping Hillmon was the
Buckeyes’ only focus.
“We really need to figure
out how we can get somebody
else
going,”
Hillmon said. “It
definitely
was
key that Kayla
got in some foul
trouble because
she’s
such
a
great
help
on
offense
and
defense.”
Because
of
the
increased
attention,
Hillmon
was
only
able
to
attempt one field goal in the
second half. She still drew
fouls and got to the line — she
attempted six free throws in the
half — but scored just six points.
Without
her
constant
offensive production, Michigan
struggled.
The
Wolverines
stuck with Ohio State in the
third quarter, but in the fourth
quarter, the Buckeyes got hot,
shooting over 70 percent and
outscoring Michigan by nine.
The Wolverines couldn’t keep up
without Hillmon’s dominance,
resulting in a 78-69 loss.
When Michigan has played
its best, its secondary scorers
have contributed just as much
as Hillmon. Against Syracuse,
Robbins led the way with 23
points. Against Michigan State,
sophomore guard Amy Dilk
scored 23. In both games, four
Wolverines finished in double
figures.
But in Thursday’s second
half, nobody could supplement
Hillmon’s
production,
and
Michigan saw a conference
road game against a rival slip
away.
Hillmon scores just six second-half points as Michigan falls to Ohio State, 78-69
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Sophomore forward Naz Hillmon scored 24 points in Thursday’s loss to Ohio State.
JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer
KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer
Not having to
sit on the bench
definitely helps
... to get going.