8 — Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘M’ blows out Gophers on road, 77-52

Two weeks ago, against then-
No. 23 Northwestern, Michigan 
learned a hard lesson: In the Big 
Ten, if you don’t start well, you 
don’t win.
In their three games since 
then, 
the 
Wolverines 
have 
taken that lesson to the max — 
establishing dominant leads in 
the first quarter of every game. 
Monday’s matchup in Minnesota 
was no different as Michigan 
(16-7 overall, 7-5 Big Ten) leapt 
out to a nine point lead over the 
Golden Gophers (15-9, 5-8) and 
never 
looked 
back, 
winning 
77-52.
With freshman guard Maddie 
Nolan starting her second game 
in a row due to a hand injury to 
sophomore guard Danielle Rauch, 
Minnesota swiftly targeted her 
with its own freshman guard, 
Jasmine Powell. Making her fifth 
start of the season, Powell caught 
fire early, dicing up Nolan on the 
way to the rim.
Powell proved to be a daunting 
task for any defender, however, 
hitting a trio of first half 
3-pointers and slicing through 
traffic for quick layups. Her 17 
first-half points proved a thorn in 
Michigan’s side, teasing the idea 
of a comeback should it make a 
mistake.
The Gophers, though, couldn’t 

get anyone else going. Only two 
other 
players 
scored 
points, 
leaving them limping into the 
half deeply frustrated.
“(Powell) had a great first half 
and she had 17 points, and we 
were a little upset about that, 
but considering we held their 
team to 26, we were really happy 
about that,” Michigan coach Kim 
Barnes Arico said. “I thought 
our post did a tremendous job 
on their post play, just a great job 
defensively.”
The Wolverines’ four most 
experienced 
players 
quickly 
found themselves in foul trouble, 
all getting to three apiece midway 
through the third quarter. On 
a roster with just nine healthy 
players, foul trouble threatened 
to bring down the game plan like 
a house of cards.
Michigan’s 
house, 
though, 
stood strong no matter what 
the Gophers threw at it. Foul 
trouble aside, every single player 
that dressed put together a 
performance that left Minnesota 
in the dust.
Starting 
with 
assists, 
the 
Wolverines achieved a season-
high 25, with Dilk dishing out 
eight and sophomore forward 
Naz Hillmon and Nolan each 
contributing five. All that while 
tackling a focus area of cutting 
down on turnovers — having just 
seven.
“That’s 
outstanding, 
that’s 

obviously a season high for us 
for sure, and I thought we did a 
tremendous job of taking care 
of the ball,” Barnes Arico said. 
“That’s something we’ve been 
trying to get better at through the 
course of the year, and I thought 
it all started obviously with our 
point guard Dilk. She led the 
charge, she was tremendous 
tonight, she did a great job for us.”
Dilk and Hillmon, exhibiting 
their tag team at its most 
dangerous, 
also 
contributed 
22 and 21 points, respectively, 
despite being given discounted 
minutes in the blowout victory.
“When you have a teammate 
like Hillmon who draws so much 
attention to her, and she’s able 
to score out of that or pass out 
of that,” Dilk said. “I don’t know 
how many assists she had, but 
she’s been averaging a lot because 
she can pass. And we have guards 
like us that can cut off that, so 
that’s what we did tonight, and 
we found it to be very successful.”
A 
blowout 
that 
happened 
because 
Michigan 
was 
able 
to close the game out. Unlike 
the previous three games, the 
Wolverines wrapped an iron-
clad grip on the victory, shutting 
down any chance for Minnesota 
to find a way back in the game.
Michigan’s role players set 
the perfect harmony for its stars’ 
melody. It started well and it 
finished even better.

Brooks’s perimeter ‘D’ a highlight

A few weeks back, as Juwan 
Howard fielded questions from 
the media following a loss at 
Iowa, he wanted to make one 
thing clear — Eli Brooks was not 
in a slump.
“He’s been working extremely 
hard throughout the season,” 
Howard said. “At times, I know 
he’s been getting a lot of media 
attention and a lot of negative 
press. Unfortunately, at times 
some of it has been disrespectful 
I would say and it’s been unfair.”
The junior guard had been 
a consistent scorer for the 
Wolverines through the first 
two months of the season, but 
scored just 15 points on 7-of-23 
shooting over three games to 
begin January. 
But 
whatever 
plagued 
Brooks against Michigan State, 
Purdue and Minnesota from 
an offensive perspective was 
turned on its head against the 
Hawkeyes, as Brooks exploded 
for a career-high 25 points and 
shot 5-for-11 from deep.
But, as much as Howard 
commended 
Brooks 
for 
his 
offensive production that night, 
he made even more of a point of 
lauding Brooks’ defense.
“The beauty of it, which 
doesn’t show up on the box 
score, is Eli’s been one of our 
best defenders,” Howard said. 
“Usually if you have a guy who 
doesn’t make shots, they forget 
about playing defense on the 
other end because they get so 
frustrated because the shots not 
going in.
“Eli’s been the competitor 
that we’ve asked him to be. He’s 
shown he’s dependable. So, I’m 
very happy with Eli. He’s one of 
our leaders.”
Howard’s endorsement that 
night in Iowa City has rung 
true in the 22 days since, but 
was no more evident than when 
Michigan faced the Spartans on 
Saturday at Crisler Center.
In 
the 
teams’ 
previous 

meeting 
in 
early 
January, 
Michigan State’s All-American 
point guard Cassius Winston 
dominated the Wolverines with 
32 points and nine assists en 
route to an 18-point thrashing of 
Michigan. 
Saturday, 
though, 
things 
were different for both Winston 
and the Spartans. Brooks was 
a major reason why. Michigan 
coach Juwan Howard switched 
the 
defensive 
assignments 
ahead of Saturday’s rematch, 
handing the task of guarding 
Winston to Brooks — arguably 
the Wolverines’ best perimeter 
defender — instead of senior 
guard Zavier Simpson.
“Honestly, I think (Zavier) 
did a great job of handling it 
because that’s the little matchup 
battle,” Livers said. “But Cassius 
guards Eli, so it was like, ‘Eli, 
why don’t you turn around and 
guard Cassius?’ Make it simple. 
And Eli, man, he’s a pest. He’s a 
really good defender.”
In addition to 11 points and 
nine boards of his own, Brooks 
held Winston to just 20 points on 
18 shots. In stymying Michigan 
State’s maestro, the Wolverines 
disrupted the Spartans’ offense 
as a whole — holding them to an 
offensive rating of 94.4, down 
from 114.5 in their previous 
matchup, per KenPom. 
“I know in the last game 
Cassius was very comfortable,” 
Howard said. “I went back 
and watched film of our last 

game. I just wanted to give 
him a different look. I knew 
Eli 
— 
defensively, 
he’s 
a 
very disciplined player, very 
technical. He’s not gonna make 
many mistakes.
“I thought he did a really good 
job staying front of Cassius, 
making every catch tough for 
him, as well as challenging 
every shot without fouling.”
Like 
Howard, 
Brooks’ 
teammates weren’t surprised by 
his play against Winston, noting 
how he prides himself on the 
little things defensively.
“A lot of people overlook Eli,” 
Livers said. “I honestly hate 
when he guards me in practice. 
You can’t come off any ball 
screens, you can’t drive. He 
doesn’t give up any angles. He 
told me his dad taught him that 
at a young age, so that’s why he’s 
so excellent at it now.”
While Brooks is undoubtedly 
a capable scorer, his offensive 
numbers have ebbed and flowed 
at times this season. What 
hasn’t fluctuated is his effort 
defensively. 
With 
Livers, 
Michigan’s 
leading 
scorer, 
back 
from 
injury, Simpson scoring double-
digits in seven of his last nine 
games and the emergence of 
sophomore forward Brandon 
Johns Jr., Brooks doesn’t need 
to be a go-to guy offensively. 
But on defense, performances 
like 
Saturday’s 
are 
always 
welcomed.

CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer

KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior guard Eli Brooks has stood out for his defense in recent weeks.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Sophomore guard Amy Dilk had 22 points and eight assists in Michigan’s 77-52 win over Minnesota on Monday.

Omaha stakes

 It was closer to a live 
batting practice session than a 
scrimmage, let alone a playoff 
game. 
Omaha, 
Neb. 
was 
hundreds of miles and many 
months in the rearview mirror. 
But watching junior right-
hander Blake Beers and the large 
portion of the No. 8 Michigan 
baseball team that participated, 
it was easy to wonder whether 
this event had more importance 
than what met the eye.
Perhaps 
it 
did. 
Former 
starters Tommy Henry and Karl 
Kauffman teamed up for 254.2 
innings last year. Gone too are 
heart-of-the-order 
mainstays 
Jordan 
Brewer 
and 
Jimmy 
Kerr and their combined 123 
RBI. Junior center fielder Jesse 
Franklin and his 51 walks will 
not be available for at least two 
weeks as he continues recovering 
from a skiing-related injury. 
Short-term or long-term, these 
are roles that need filling, and 
Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage 
gave many Wolverines a chance 
to make a case for themselves. 
A few took notable advantage of 
the opportunity.
Beers, the first pitcher of 
the afternoon, stared in at each 
hitter 
with 
indiscriminate 
intensity. He often brushed 
the rubber off with his foot, 
although there was no dirt to 
get rid of on synthetic ramp that 
served as a mound. The gesture 
drove home just how seriously 
he took the experience.
“There’s plenty of stuff there,” 
Michigan coach Eric Bakich 
said. “For him, it’s just doing 
it against another jersey, and 
he certainly has the look of a 
much more confident kid and the 
ability to do that this year.”
On Sunday, Beers did it 
against batters wearing his own 
jersey. He occasionally struggled 
with control — issuing back-to-
back walks at one point — but 
allowed few hard-hit balls over 
several innings of work. 
“He’s certainly a guy we could 

look at as a potential starter, 
a potential long reliever, a 
potential high-leverage reliever, 
a potential closer,” Bakich said. 
Beers’ long, downhill stride 
and traditional arm slot — 
along with a relative lack of 
pinpoint accuracy — do not 
make him a likely candidate to 
be a situational, one-out reliever. 
Without a niche role, Beers 
will be one of a dozen pitchers 
looking for innings in Michigan’s 
deep bullpen. His focus and 
drive, then, should hardly come 
as a surprise. 
Next up was sophomore left-
hander Jack White. His fastballs 
exploded in the catcher’s mitt, 
speeding up bats against his 

secondary pitches. 
“(Pitching 
coach 
Chris) 
Fetter’s been working with me a 
lot on my curveball,” White said. 
“Just being able to throw that for 
strikes. He’s been a huge help 
developing that pitch.”
White also found swing-and-
miss success with his offspeed 
pitches. When junior outfielder 
Jordan Nwogu drew a walk — 
one of the few to reach base 
against White — he promptly 
stole second and third base. 
Working out of the stretch, 
White ended the inning by 
making senior Dominic Clementi 
flail at a breaking ball in the dirt. 
The tennis-match quiet was 
interrupted; 
the 
Wolverines 
behind 
the 
backstop 
were 
momentarily beside themselves 
in disbelief of the filthiness 
they’d just witnessed. 
“What he did today — he’s got 
a good fastball, we’ve even seen 
it in the low 90s, with a good 
breaking ball,” Bakich said. “All 

the makings are there of a guy 
that has a chance to get some 
outs for us in relief.” 
At and behind the plate, 
freshman 
Jimmy 
Obertop 
exhibited a variety of skills 
with the game-mode deadpan 
of Beers. His swing keeps the 
barrel in the strike zone for a 
long time, in part due to quick 
hands getting the handle out in 
front. Offensively, he provides 
a viable alternative to junior 
catcher Joe Donovan.
“Jimmy can hit,” Bakich said. 
“He hits the ball as hard as 
Nwogu and Franklin. His exit 
velos and what he’s capable of — 
he’s a serious power threat.”
In 
two 
at-bats, 
Obertop 
demonstrated his potential to 
become a three true outcomes 
hitter — a batter who ends a 
significant portion of his plate 
appearances with either a walk, 
a strikeout or a homer; the kind 
of offensive threat that analytics 
has proven to be very productive. 
While he went down on strikes 
against White, his second trip to 
the plate saw him line a pitch 
up the middle, a no-doubt extra 
base hit if not for the cramped 
dimensions of the field house. He 
demonstrated savviness, if not 
speed, on the basepaths: After 
staying put during two straight 
balls in the dirt, he successfully 
stole a base by running on 
delivery. By luring the defense 
into complacency after resisting 
the temptation of taking a chance 
on one of two potential passed 
balls, Obertop maximized his 
chance of success. 
His bat will force him into 
lineups, 
but 
his 
defensive 
versatility makes the decision to 
start him easier.
“Good catcher, can play first 
base, could play the outfield if we 
needed him to, or DH,” Bakich 
said. “I expect he’ll be in there, 
somewhere.”
That last line is one that 
Beers, 
White 
and 
Obertop 
would all like to have applied 
to their names. Thanks to their 
scrimmage performances, that 
dream may have inched a little 
closer to reality.

In intrasquad scrimmage, Michigan shows talent to fill holes created by draft departures from last year’s CWS roster

JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer

Beach balls.
That’s how former Michigan 
outfielder 
Jordan 
Brewer 
excitedly described the pitches 
coming toward him when he 
launched a grand slam over the 
left field wall as the Wolverines 
trounced 
Manhattan College, 
23-2, last March. His description 
speaks to a mentality that drove 
Brewer 
toward 
consistent 
dominance at the plate last 
season as Michigan utilized its 
offensive power to make a World 
Series run.
But Brewer won’t be back in 
Ann Arbor this year.
As the 2020 season begins 
with higher expectations than 
ever before, the team has lost 
many key hitters, particularly on 
the front end of last year’s lineup. 
Brewer, in the three-hole last 
year, went on to be drafted by the 
Houston Astros in the third round 
of last June’s MLB draft. Jimmy 
Kerr, whose eight postseason 
home runs were crucial in the 
Wolverines’ run to Omaha, was 
selected by the Detroit Tigers 
in the 33rd round. And junior 
outfielder Jesse Franklin, who 
batted second and posted a .477 
slugging percentage with 13 
home runs and 55 RBI, will miss 
at least the first two weeks of the 
season due to a collarbone injury 
sustained while skiing. 

But Michigan’s lineup isn’t 
without options. Their leadoff 
hitter, junior outfielder Jordan 
Nwogu, appears prepared to stay 
in that position in the lineup. 
“I like the tone it sets, having 
that strapping dude walking 
up to the plate to lead off the 
game with a double or a homer,” 
Michigan coach Erik Bakich said. 
“He’s done well in that role and 
he poses a totally dynamic speed-
power threat, so I like him up 
there in the top of the order.”
Nwogu, who was named to 
the Preseason All-America first 
team by the National Collegiate 
Baseball 
Writers 
Association, 
doesn’t seem too worried about 
the team’s ability to adapt.
“I don’t see my role changing 
this year,” Nwogu said. “We have 
a lot of great guys that came in, 
as well as guys who have been 
here and stepped up — like 
Danny Zimmermann and Jimmy 
Obertop — who are power guys, 
so I don’t think we’re really going 
to feel too much of a loss from last 
year.”
Nwogu’s mention of Obertop, 
a freshman catcher expected 
to start at designated hitter in 
Michigan’s College World Series 
rematch against Vanderbilt on 
Friday, underscores how much 
attention he has drawn during 
the preseason for his hitting 
ability. 
“Jimmy can hit, and he hits the 
ball just as hard as Nwogu and 

Franklin,” Bakich said “He’s got 
big juice in his bat and can put in 
a double or extra base hit at any 
time, so he really put the charge 
into the ball which is really 
impressive for a young kid.”
Bakich seemed confident in 
the team’s offensive dynamism, 
but noted how hard it is to predict 
how the offense will settle.
“We had so many different 
guys perform so well at various 
times throughout the year, but 
remember offense is (different) 
than pitching,” Bakich said. 
Hitting indeed requires a 
different approach than pitching. 
A team can do a lot right at the 
plate and still not have much to 
show for it.
Michigan has long crafted its 
at-bats to allow scoring quickly, 
early and often, as well as crafting 
a versatile lineup that can sustain 
a range of pitchers. This strategy 
doesn’t seem destined to change 
in spite of its personnel losses. 
In 
yesterday’s 
intrasquad 
scrimmage, the coaching staff’s 
emphasis on inflicting quick 
damage was clear. 
Despite the losses, Bakich 
isn’t worried about how his team 
will craft its offensive identity. 
Last year, there were plenty of 
questions coming in, too, and he 
saw how that ended up.
“There were a lot of lumps that 
we took,” Bakich said. “But in 
doing so, we got better because of 
it and we got back up every time.”

AIDAN WOUTAS
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior outfielder Jordan Nwogu has developed into one of Michigan’s best power hitters out of the leadoff spot.

Jimmy can hit, 
and he hits the 
ball just as hard 
as Nwogu and 
Franklin.

