The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 
Sports
Wednesday, October 20, 2021 — 7

Scraping 
for 
control, 

Michigan 
struggled 
with 

Minnesota-Duluth’s 
offense 

early on. The Bulldogs kept the 
puck all over the ice, and the 
Wolverines couldn’t force it 
away from them.

That all changed with five 

minutes left in the first period. 

The 
puck 
nowhere 
in 

sight, 
senior 
defenseman 

Nick 
Blankenburg 
took 
a 

massive strike to the head as 
Duluth forward Noah Cates 
rammed an elbow up high into 
Blankenburg. 
The 
Bulldogs 

earned a major penalty and 
Cates was thrown out of the 
game. 

Before 
the 
hit, 
Duluth 

dominated. That all came to a 
halt when Blankenburg fell to 
the ice, and Michigan would 
go on to win, 5-1. Unclipping 
his helmet and failing to stand 
up straight, the captain’s game 
seemed to be over. 

“Nick is a really strong 

kid,” senior forward Garrett 
Van Wyhe said. “After that 
hit it woke us up because we 
were flat footed in the first 10. 
Seeing his determination to 

get back out there really got us 
going.”

The Wolverines looked to 

capitalize on the power play 
and 
avenge 
Blankenburg’s 

strike. With an opportunity to 
change the trajectory of the 
game, Michigan needed to take 
full advantage. 

With 40 seconds left on the 

clock, freshman defenseman 
Luke Hughes found the puck 
wide left of the goal, tying 
the game 1-1. Michigan tied 
the game, but in that moment 
found a sense of resolve.

The hit turned the game 

around. 

“They took a major penalty 

which was a turning point in 
the game,” Michigan coach Mel 
Peason said. “We scored there. 
To get the first one was huge 
and then we took over the game 
in the second period.” 

The Wolverines went on 

to 
outshoot 
the 
Bulldogs 

30-11 in the second period. 
Michigan 
scored 
midway 

through the second period 
through sophomore forward 
Brendan 
Brisson. 
By 
then 

the Wolverines had the game 
firmly in their grasp as Van 
Wyhe and sophomore forward 
Matty Beniers each scored. 
Duluth, on the other hand, 

couldn’t take advantage of 
their own power plays, going 
0-for-4 as Michigan embraced 
a gritty mentality.

Should Blankenburg have 

reacted differently, that all 
could have ended differently. 
In a situation where most 
players would retaliate against 
the Bulldogs, Blankenburg’s 
experience showed. He got 
back on the ice and played his 
role.

“You get your emotions going 

in the games, but Blankenburg 
is as tough as they come,” 
Pearson said. “He wanted to go 
out and I wanted to make sure 
we sat him for a shift or two … 
he’s a competitor, a warrior and 
you want him on your team.”

The captain proved his grit 

on the night. Returning to the 
ice after the hit, Blankenburg 
led the charge and made clean 
passes tape to tape. He kept 
his composure in Michigan’s 
biggest game of the year. 

Michigan started the game 

slow, 
but 
Blankenburg’s 

response to the dangerous 
hit set an example that the 
Wolverines could look to the 
rest of the game. Michigan 
needed 
its 
leader 
in 
its 

biggest game this season, and 
Blankenburg delivered.

Major penalty provides spark in 

Ice Breaker semifinals

Michigan manages mistakes in 

comeback victory over Minnesota State

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily 

Michigan senior defenseman Nick Blankenburg navigated his team to take advantage of opponents’ mistakes.

NICK MOEN

Daily Sports Writer

Eli Brooks and Zeb Jackson 

not practicing

While teammates stretched 

and 
shot 
around, 
fifth-year 

senior guard Eli Brooks and 
sophomore guard Zeb Jackson 
stood off to the side.

Brooks’ sported a walking 

boot on his left foot, with the 
injury announced as a mild 
sprain. When asked whether it 
would affect him longer term 
and possibly bleed into the start 
of the regular season, Brooks 
replied matter-of-factly:

“I’m not going to miss any 

games or anything.”

Jackson was out with an illness 

rather than an injury, a team 
spokesperson said on Friday. 
His symptoms were enough to 
prevent him from practicing, but 
not enough to keep him home 
and away from his teammates.

This resulted in senior guard 

Adrien Nunez lining up on 
defense with what appeared 
to be the first-teamers, while 
freshman guards Kobe Bufkin, 
Frankie 
Collins, 
and 
Isaiah 

Barnes stood on the offensive 
side of the ball.

Caleb Houstan is as advertised
On the topic of freshman, 

forward Caleb Houstan showed a 
glimpse of what he might bring to 
this Michigan team. 

In shootaround before the start 

of practice, Houstan drained shot 
after shot from mid-range and a 
significant portion from beyond 
the arc. In the team’s first drill, a 
passing exercise, Houstan looked 
smooth and natural. In the few 
times the Wolverines messed up 
and were forced to restart the 
drill, Houstan wasn’t anywhere 
near the ball.

Where he showed a flash of 

what made him 247Sport’s No. 
10 nationally ranked recruit was 
in a mobile catch and shoot drill. 
It called for players running 
from baseline to elbow and 
back again after each shot for 
a minute straight. Each time 
Caleb’s turn came, he drew the 
gaze of the media. Shot after shot 
fell through the hoop, making it 

seem like Houstan would have to 
try harder to miss a shot than he 
would to make one.

“He shoots the lights out,” 

Collins 
said 
at 
Michigan 

media day on Friday. “I mean I 
personally, when I walk around 
the gym and locker room, I call 
him Klay Thompson.”

Houstan 
showed 
reporters 

what Collins meant when he 
said that on Friday. Though, it 
is important to remember that 
Houstan was not being guarded 
during the drill, and once defense 
is factored in, his efficiency 
is guaranteed to drop. Still, 
Houstan displayed his natural 
talent, and it was something that 
you couldn’t help but recognize.

A new-look Terrance Williams 

II

When 
sophomore 
forward 

Terrance Williams II took the 
court, 
he 
looked 
noticeably 

slimmer. 
His 
6-foot-7 
frame 

presented itself as that of a 
more agile small forward than 
a bruiser who could throw 
themselves around down low.

The 
transformation 
was 

intentional on Williams’ part, 
and encompassed a large part of 
his offseason plan.

“Over the offseason, I ate. I 

changed my eating habits. That’s 
really what it was,” Williams 
said. “Constantly eating greens 
like vegetables, I didn’t eat a lot 
last year. … It’s all paying off now 
because I feel it. I feel better now 
and I’m gonna continue to do my 
diet. It’s working now, staying 
disciplined”

Paired 
with 
a 
workout 

regimen that aligned with his 
goals, Williams has shed 10 
pounds, dropping from 240 to 
230 entering the season.

But his transformation doesn’t 

appear to be limited only to his 
physical 
attributes. 
Williams’ 

jump shot looked a lot smoother 
than the one he touted last year, 
and he, too, shot at a very high 
clip during the catch-and-shoot 

drill. 

“Terrance, 
especially, 
I’ve 

seen his jump shot improve 
tremendously,” senior forward 
Brandon Johns Jr. said. “There’s 
a lot more consistency.”

If Williams can find that 

consistency in games, it will be a 
boon to this Michigan team, and 
It’s something that will be crucial 
for his ability to find minutes in 
the upcoming season.

Big men stretch the floor
At this point, it’s still all 

speculative. Without watching 
an intra-team scrimmage, drills 
that 
incorporated 
full-speed 

defenders or a game, it’s hard to 
make any definitive conclusions. 

That being said, freshman 

big man Moussa Diabate and 
sophomore 
big 
man 
Hunter 

Dickinson were sinking shots left 
and right.

Diabate, 
especially, 
looked 

talented. On the hoop where 
he spent the majority of open 
practice, it seemed he was 
running 
through 
shooting 

drills more than anyone else 
on the floor. He hit shots from 
the baseline, the elbow and 

deeper shots closer to the arc. 
In 
warmups, 
he 
practiced 

floaters from the free throw line, 
making a meaningful amount of 
them. At 6-foot-11, any kind of 
shooting presence that he brings 
could prove to be a problem for 
opposing defenses.

“It’s just unbelievable what he 

can do out there on the court,” 
Johns said. “It surprises me all 
the time.”

In another part of the court, 

Dickinson participated in the 
same drills. From the baseline, 
he was banking his shots off the 
backboard and in on most of the 
ones he took. He also made a high 
percentage from shots closer to 
the perimeter.

Dickinson has been looking to 

add a jump shot to his game to 
take it to the next level. The work 
he’s put in during the offseason 
was apparent on Friday, and 
truly becoming somewhat of a 
shooting threat will be necessary 
for his prospective NBA career. 

“I think just the three pointers 

are probably the biggest thing 
that (NBA) teams want to see out 
of me,” Dickinson said.

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Daily Sports Writer

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With the score tied at two apiece and the clock 

dwindling, the Michigan hockey team transitioned out 
of its defensive end with speed. As sophomore forward 
Thomas Bordeleau cradled the puck, Minnesota State 
defenseman Benton Maase tried to lift his stick, with 
both of them angling towards the boards.

Using his body to block the defense, Bordeleau 

gained one step, two step, then passed the puck into the 
wheelhouse of sophomore forward Brendan Brisson. 
With a snappy one-timer, Brisson turned a momentary 
lapse by Maase into the game-winning goal.

“(Bordeleau’s) a really smart, cerebral offensive 

player,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said. “You could 
see that all the way and that’s a big time play … by both 
those guys.”

Minor mistakes like Maase’s would go unnoticed 

against most teams, but there was little breathing 
room between two of the nation’s top teams. In a clash 
of skilled teams, the Wolverines’ fate hinged on how 
they managed those opportunities — both their own 
and those of the Mavericks.

Michigan made mistakes early on in the form of 

unforced penalties, which negated many of its rushes. 
From a call on sophomore defenseman Owen Power 
for indirect contact to the head, to a tripping call on 
senior forward Jimmy Lambert, the Wolverines shot 
themselves in the foot when they mounted quality 
attacks.

Michigan handled these kills well by keeping its 

structure and cutting off passing lanes, but those 
shorthanded minutes also gave the Mavericks plenty 
of time with the puck. That limited the Wolverines’ 
scoring opportunities and it allowed Minnesota State 
to keep Michigan’s high-power offense far away from 
its goal.

The Mavericks also gleaned a goal off of a hooking 

penalty by senior forward Jimmy Lambert. Minnesota 

State defenseman Akito Hirose pinched along the 
boards to extend his team’s attack after a clear from 
senior defenseman Nick Blankenburg. Soon after, 
Hirose fired the puck on net and his rebound met the 
Mavericks’ forward Ryan Sandelin for a goal.

“It hit my skate and then he was able to get the shot 

off,” Blankenburg said. “So I think in general, we’ve just 
got to be harder on pucks and harder to play against up 
front, especially against teams who work so hard.”

That kind of play wouldn’t stand out much against 

weaker teams, but it gave Minnesota State time to 
regain its attack and get a lead heading into the second 
intermission. Michigan realized it couldn’t afford to 
make further mistakes, and it tightened up its game 
accordingly in the next period.

But the Wolverines’ performance didn’t just revolve 

around mitigating their own gaffes. In such a close 
contest, they also took plenty of shots off of mistakes 
by the Mavericks.

Small shifts in positioning led to big results for the 

Wolverines as open skaters generated offense. On 
Thomas Bordeleau’s game-tying goal four minutes into 
the third, he cycled the puck to freshman defenseman 
Jacob Truscott on the point and skated unnoticed 
to the left side of the Mavericks goaltender Dryden 
McKay, where he would tip the puck into the net for

Minnesota State’s defense played well in their own 

end, winning back the puck with ease for the better 
part of the game. However, positioning errors like the 
Bordeleau goal and poorly timed plays like the Maase 
stick lift gave Michigan a window to grab a close win.

That’s nothing new after the Wolverines’ win on 

Friday, but the pressure of a close score exacerbated 
every mistake. Whoever blinked first could dictate the 
game winner, and that energy radiated through every 
decision both teams made.

Michigan played a game in which tiny errors led to 

some of its biggest moments. If the Wolverines benefit 
off those tiny errors like they did Saturday, that bodes 
well for a team that just grabbed both the Ice Breaker 
trophy and national attention.

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily 

Freshman forward Caleb Houstan showed off his silky shot at media day.

NICK STOLL

Daily Sports Writer

Four biggest takeaways from the Wolverines’ preseason open practice

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily 

Senior defenseman Nick Blankenburg received a high hit in the first period that ignited a spirited Michigan.

