The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
February 17, 2020 — 3B
Simpson stars as ‘M’ beats Indiana
Zavier Simpson took the ball
up the court to kick things off
against Indiana on Sunday.
But,
fairly
uncharacteristically, Simpson
attempted to find his man on
the right side only to see the
ball land squarely in the hands
of a Hoosier. Rather than
follow up Indiana’s opening
bucket with a couple points of
his own, Simpson was staring
down a turnover and a less-
than-ideal start.
But that would be one of his
only mistakes all afternoon.
Over the next 40 minutes,
Simpson turned in one of his
strongest performances of the
season on the way to 12 points
and 11 assists. All Sunday
afternoon,
the
Wolverines’
offense fired on all cylinders
and showed its ceiling on
nearly every possession — and
it almost all involved No. 3 en
route to a 89-65 win.
One look at the stat sheet will
quickly reveal the benefactors
of
Simpson’s
efforts
distributing
the
ball.
His
presence as the floor general
lends itself to a balanced box
score with as many as five
players scoring double digits —
as was the case on Sunday.
Perhaps the most obvious
benefactor
of
Simpson’s
elevated play was freshman
forward Franz Wagner, who
notched a team-high 16 for
Michigan,
many
of
which
came directly from Simpson’s
fingertips.
But
Simpson
has
played
plenty of games with Wagner
this season, so what made this
go-around so different?
“I think a lot of stuff
has to do with our off-ball
movement,”
Wagner
said.
“Because if two guys off the
ball are just standing around, it
makes it easy for one guy to be
lower and one guy just staying
at the top and just hooking
everything up, so when he
has the opportunity to get
downhill, be aggressive, people
are gonna collapse.
“He’s a good player, and
that’s when he’s at his best,
making decisions with the ball,
finding open guys and we can
score from there.”
As the game progressed, it
became increasingly obvious
just how easily Simpson was
able to score on the Indiana
defense. Two points off the
pick-and-roll
became
the
expectation
rather
than
a
shock at how well the offense
was clicking.
Simpson’s role in Michigan
coach Juwan Howard’s offense,
though, may at first glance
seem a bit baffling.
The
first-year
coach
has
made
his
philosophy
abundantly clear: If you’re
open, let it fly. And any offense
for the Wolverines that relies
on Simpson to let it fly is surely
in for some rough games.
But
in
Howard’s
words,
Simpson makes teams die by
a thousand cuts rather than
by volume shooting from the
perimeter. So when his game is
on, he allows others to take the
oh-so coveted open shot.
“He
made
some
great
decisions with the basketball,”
Howard said. “He did a really
good job of controlling the
tempo of the game. One thing
that was critical with him was
his decision making and that
he was hunting for singles.
He wasn’t trying to make the
home-run play. Finding guys
who were open, being patient
with the basketball, reading
what the defense gives him.”
Earlier in the season, it
wasn’t always the case that
Simpson’s
prolific
passing
ability
led
to
knock-down
jumpers from the likes of
Wagner, sophomore forward
Brandon Johns Jr. and others.
Rather, Michigan often found
itself in stretches — or entire
games
—
of
debilitatingly
stagnant shooting. Wide-open
looks haunted the Wolverines
as they attempted to get back a
semblance of the fun they were
having when they cruised to an
early-season tournament win
in The Bahamas.
Simpson only collects 11
assists Sunday if his teammates
hit the shots the team’s leader
creates. Wagner and Johns, for
instance, have taken immense
strides in being able to execute
when it matters.
Simpson
only
had
one
noticeable
mistake.
One
turnover. So when Michigan
is pointing fingers over its
stagnant offense or lack of
emotion, you know Simpson
is most likely doing his part —
and it’s going to be damn-near
perfect.
Wolverines blasted by Rutgers, 62-41
Down by eight with under
10 seconds remaining in the
second quarter of Sunday’s
game, senior guard Akienreh
Johnson drove down the right
side of the key, looking to cut
into Rutgers’ lead.
After
an
abysmal
first
offensive half, a bucket would
send the Wolverines to the
locker room at the Rutgers
Athletic Center down by just
six, with an opportunity to
regroup and come out more
motivated in the third quarter.
But in came Mael Gilles.
The Scarlet Knights’ forward
swiped the ball away and found
guard
Arella
Guirantes
in
transition, who drew a foul on
Johnson and made one of two
free throws. Though the play
didn’t end Michigan’s chances
of a comeback, it was indicative
of the shorthanded Wolverines’
offensive struggles throughout
Sunday’s game.
Rutgers dominated, 62-41,
thanks to its stifling defense
and
Michigan’s
sloppy,
turnover-prone
offense
—
especially in the first half.
“That was the difference
obviously early on when they
got the lead in the first half,”
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico
said.
“(It
was)
our
turnovers, and our turnovers
were leading to easy buckets,
and I felt like they only really
scored on our turnovers early.
… They had 12 points off of
them at half.”
In
recent
games,
the
Wolverines had been fairly
successful on offense, thanks
to a versatile high-low attack
between sophomore forward
Naz Hillmon and the team’s
outside shooters. It featured
a pretty simple formula: Feed
Hillmon in the paint, draw
double-teams and kick it out
to the open player. Often,
Hillmon was so effective that
she could score against the
double-team anyway.
That just wasn’t working on
Sunday. With Hillmon limited
after
suffering
an
upper-
body injury Thursday against
Northwestern, the Wolverines’
offense stagnated. She was
held to just five points — her
lowest total all season — and
Michigan in turn scored its
lowest total since March 2013,
when it tallied just 40 points
in the final game of Barnes
Arico’s first season.
“I
think,
as
much
as
(Hillmon) was out there at
times — and she did try her
hardest and did her best — you
know she’s not herself,” Barnes
Arico said. “You can tell she’s
in pain, and you can tell she
tried to go out there and do
everything she could to help
us be successful today, but she
didn’t have that same smile on
her face, and the same energy
that she does on a regular
basis.”
After a slow first half, the
Scarlet Knights’ offense found
its rhythm in the second half.
Guirantes
—
their
leading
scorer — led this attack, hitting
jumpers from everywhere en
route to a 15-point second half.
She finished the game with 24
points.
Meanwhile,
without
Hillmon’s normally dominant
production,
the
Wolverines
struggled
to
get
anything
from inside. Attempts to drive
to the basket often ended in
forced passes and turnovers,
and the few inside shots they
did get up were either blocked
or rimmed out. Rutgers tallied
nine blocks on the game, and
Michigan went a poor 10-for-
26 on layups.
“The RAC — and I’ve played
here a lot … it’s an incredibly
difficult place to play,” Barnes
Arico said. “And Rutgers at
home is very different than
Rutgers on the road, and I
think the physicality kind of
took us out of what we wanted
to do early.
“ ... I’m not really making
excuses, we obviously know
that we have got to get better,
but this has been a little bit of
a stretch for us in terms of, you
know, the games we’ve been
playing in this short period
of time, with the turnaround,
with the injuries added to
that.”
Sunday’s
loss
was
the
toughest
part
of
a
brutal
stretch
on
the
Wolverines
schedule — their third game in
just seven days. With their best
player not at 100 percent and
just nine healthy players on the
roster, a loss shouldn’t come as
too much of a surprise.
But the way it happened
doesn’t bode well.
Revival
EAST LANSING — Prior to
Friday evening’s game, one might
have thought goals would be
hard to come by for the Michigan
hockey team.
In
the
Wolverines’
mid-
November series against Michigan
State, they got swept, going
scoreless in the second game.
And leading into Friday’s puck
drop, Spartans’ goaltender John
Lethemon boasted a .942 save
percentage — the best in the nation.
But all that didn’t matter.
Michigan’s
offense
thrived,
helping the team run away with a
5-1 victory against Michigan State
(14-14-1 overall, 10-8-1 Big Ten).
“I’m not surprised,” Michigan
coach Mel Pearson said about
scoring five on Lethemon. “I’m not
surprised. We have guys who can
put the puck in the net. We talked
about, it’s been well-documented,
our lack of scoring in the first
half, but we weren’t healthy. Now
we’re getting healthy. Some things
are going in. We’re getting some
confidence. We got a number of
guys who can score, so I’m not
surprised.”
This game meant a lot to
Pearson. So much so that he
brought his team up to East
Lansing the night before. He
wanted to make clear how much
this game mattered and wanted
his players in the best environment
to excel.
“It’s always nice when you don’t
have to travel on a game day,”
senior forward Jake Slaker said.
“We got to do all our pregame
stuff here and could just focus. No
distractions, and I think it worked
out for us tonight.”
A few minutes into the first
period,
the
Wolverines
(14-
12-3, 9-8-2-1) started to spend
considerable time in their own
defensive zone. Some breakout
struggles were apparent, as they
had numerous turnovers.
But after a lengthy defensive
stretch, Michigan caught a break.
The team went on its first power
play less than six minutes into
the game, after forward Patrick
Khodorenko
got
called
for
slashing. The Wolverines took that
change of momentum and made
the most of it.
Senior forward Will Lockwood
got
a
pass
from
freshman
defenseman Cam York by the left
circle. He passed it to sophomore
defenseman Nick Blankenburg
in the high slot, who then sent it
to the right circle where Slaker
buried a one-timer 33 seconds into
the power play.
“They haven’t given up a power
play goal since I don’t know when,”
Pearson said. “So we got off to a
real good start.”
A
couple
minutes
later,
Michigan doubled its lead on the
back of senior defenseman Luke
Martin. York skated the puck
behind Michigan State’s goal
and soon connected with senior
forward Nick Pastujov on the right
side. Pastujov then swung the
puck to the left circle, and Martin
rocked a one-timer past Lethemon
to make it 2-0. It was Martin’s first
goal since his sophomore season
and just the third of his career.
“It was nice to get the monkey
off the back,” Martin said. “It was
a great pass from Nick and a great
play from Cam. It’s just nice to keep
the momentum going and continue
to keep our foot on the gas.”
The Wolverines received two
more power plays in the opening
frame, due to tripping and slashing
calls. Unlike the opening power
play, though, the Spartans killed
both.
Michigan
returned
from
intermission and matched its first
period offensive production.
It started 10 seconds after play
resumed. Sophomore goaltender
Strauss Mann settled the puck
behind his net, then passed it along
the boards to Martin. Martin then
sent a long pass diagonally across
center ice, and senior forward
Jacob Hayhurst collected it just
before his zone entry. Hayhurst
then cut toward the net from the
left side, brought the puck to his
backhand and snuck it through
Lethemon’s legs, giving Michigan
a 3-0 lead and muting Munn Ice
Arena.
And then with under eight
to go in the second period, the
Wolverines widened their lead to
four goals. Junior forward Dakota
Raabe got the puck near Michigan
State’s goal and sent it to freshman
defenseman Keaton Pehrson at the
right side of the blue line. Pehrson
slid the puck to his left. Sophomore
defenseman Jack Summers took
one touch to settle it, then rifled
the puck into the bottom right
corner.
Early in the final period,
Michigan went on its first penalty
kill of the night with York headed
to the box for tripping. Finally
getting the man advantage instead
of giving it, the Spartans made the
most of it. Nearing the end of the
two minutes, defenseman Dennis
Cesana passed to the crease from
the right circle and forward Sam
Saliba tapped it in to put the
Spartans on the scoreboard.
With eight minutes left in
the game, junior forward Luke
Morgan fought for the puck at the
left side of the crease and quickly
passed it across to Slaker. Slaker
capitalized, further fueling the
momentous win and continuing
the Wolverines’ streak in which
they’ve now won 23 of the last 27
conference points.
“We’ve got an energy with us
right now,” Martin said. “Wouldn’t
want to be the next team on our
run.”
Michigan blows past Michigan State, 5-1, to earn 23 of 27 possible points since the New Year
EAST
LANSING
—
Jake
Slaker had just stopped in the
left faceoff circle when he
turned and saw a pass coming
from Nick Blankenburg at the
blueline.
That place in the circle has
become the senior forward’s
office on the power play lately,
and this time, the pass found
just the right spot. Slaker’s
one-timer sent the puck off his
stick and into the net before
goaltender John Lethemon had
a chance at stopping it.
For the second time in three
games,
Slaker
opened
the
scoring on a power-play goal
from the left circle. Friday, the
goal came just six minutes into
the game.
“We’ve
been
working
on
power play a lot lately,” Slaker
said. “We’ve been up and down
this whole season, so it was
really huge to get a quick goal
and then that just kinda kept the
momentum going for the rest of
the game.”
It was Slaker’s third goal in
three games — and he added a
fourth before the night was over.
Michigan held a 4-1 lead just
over halfway through the third
period, and Michigan State was
largely carrying the momentum
of the game. But then redshirt
junior forward Luke Morgan
found the puck in the slot in
front of Lethemon, and Slaker
saw an opportunity.
He slid down to the far post
and yelled for the puck. Morgan
slid it across, and Slaker’s quick
wrister just beat a sprawling
Lethemon.
“(Freshman
forward
Nick
Granowicz) and Morgs were
working so hard,” Slaker said.
“I saw Morgs kinda get the
puck and I was screaming at
him as loud as I could (on the)
backdoor. He threw the puck to
me and luckily, it just went in for
me.”
The goal extended Slaker’s
streak of multi-point games
to three and gave him his
third two-goal game of the
season. Since the Great Lakes
Invitational in late December,
Slaker has nine goals in 11 games
— though he didn’t score until
Nov. 23 and tallied just three
goals in the first half of the
season. After suffering an upper
body injury against Western
Michigan on Oct. 25 — the fifth
game of the season — Slaker
missed the next three games.
It took him some time to get
his feet back under him, and the
injury continued to nag at him
for another few weeks once he
came back. A two-week break
at Christmas helped solidify the
healing, and once the second
half of the season started, Slaker
took off.
“I think going into the break,
maybe a few games before that,
I started feeling that I was
starting to get into the stride of
the season,” Slaker said. “I think
going into Christmas break,
getting some rest and coming
back fresh was really important
for me.”
Added Michigan coach Mel
Pearson: “He’s healthy. The
first half of the year, he was
not healthy, and when you
have these nagging injuries, he
missed a number of games. But
he knows how to score. He’s
a gamer, like a number of our
guys. But he’s a senior, too, and
he wants to have his best year
and he’s doing a heck of a job.”
Slaker’s current best season
with the Wolverines came in his
sophomore year, when he scored
27 points in 40 games. This year,
he’s got 23 through 26 games
and has at least one point in 12
of Michigan’s last 15 games.
As
the
Wolverines
push
into the last few games of the
regular season, contributions
from seniors like Slaker have
been key in getting Michigan
back in the win column after
a rough first half. Pearson has
spent most of the year talking
about how the Wolverines need
their seniors to contribute, and
Slaker’s success has clearly been
crucial in Michigan’s recent
run.
His two goals in Friday’s 5-1
win are just the most recent
demonstration.
“I’m
just
playing
with
confidence right now, trying to
do the little things,” Slaker said.
“Just play well defensively, do
all the little things, play physical
and I’ll get my chances. Lately,
they’ve been coming to me, and
I’m just trying to take advantage
of it.”
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Senior forward Jake Slaker scored two goals in Michigan’s 5-1 win over Michigan State on Friday night.
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Editor
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Editor
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Zavier Simpson had 12 points and 11 assists in Michigan’s win over Indiana.
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Sophomore forward Naz Hillmon scored just five points in Michigan’s loss.