Junior outfielder Clark Elliott
stared down Texas Tech pitcher
Andrew Morris with an 0-1 count.
His eyes locked onto the second
pitch of the season and didn’t leave
the ball until it reached the right
field stands. The solo home run
gave the Michigan baseball team
an early 1-0 lead against the Red
Raiders and led off an explosive
but inconsistent offensive perfor-
mance on the weekend from the
Wolverines.
Michigan (1-2) won just one of
three games in the College Baseball
showdown in Arlington, Texas,
beating Kansas State (0-3), 10-2,
and falling to No. 14 Texas Tech
(1-2), 7-6, and Oklahoma (2-1), 6-1 in
its opening weekend of the season.
The Wolverines cruised from
the start against the Red Raid-
ers, continuing a rally through the
second inning. Grad transfers Joe
Stewart and Alex Fedje-Johnson
found themselves in scoring posi-
tion after a walk and hit by pitch.
After an RBI single by senior
infielder Riley Bertram, Elliott
found himself in the spotlight
again with two runners on base.
He capitalized, barrelling his
second hit of the night into right
field to score both runners. Elliott
was the Wolverines’ clear best hit-
ter on the weekend raking in two
home runs, four RBIs and a .462
batting average.
“He’s one of the harder workers
we’ve had and a guy that got a lot
of confidence this summer com-
peting against the best out in the
Cape Cod League and carried that
confidence into this season so far,”
Michigan coach Eric Bakich said.
“ … He’s just very steady and just
does a really good job staying cen-
tered mentally and with his routine
putting together a lot of consisten-
cy in his preparation.”
The bats cooled off after the
fiery start until two outs in the fifth
inning. The Wolverines rattled off
three straight singles, with senior
infielder Jack Van Remortel hit-
ting Stewart to his second run of
the night.
No runs were scored from the
seventh inning on and the game fell
on the shoulders of senior reliever
Willie Weiss in the bottom of the
ninth. He allowed the first three
batters to reach base and sopho-
more outfielder Dalton Porter hit a
sac fly to tie the game at six.
Texas Tech outfielder Owen
Washburn stepped up to the plate
for the biggest at bat of his career
thus far. In his first ever college
game, Washburn laced a walk-off
single to right field, scoring senior
infielder Cole Stilwell for the Red
Raiders’ 7-6 win.
“I wouldn’t look back at that
game and say ‘man, Texas Tech
beat us,’ ” Bakich said. “I would
look back at that game and say we
lost that game. We had the lead.
They did stop us from continuing
to score, but we gave that one away
with just the extra 90s and the
freebies. You can’t do that.”
Saturday’s game against Kan-
sas State started off cold for both
teams. The bullpens clamped
down until the sixth inning when
the Wildcats switched pitchers
to sophomore Griffin Hassal who
struggled to find the plate.
Junior catcher Jimmy Obertop
advanced from first to third after
two consecutive wild pitches.
Michigan continued to pile on
after a lucky error at first with two
outs. Van Remortal batted in Fedje-
Johnson with a double and would
later score off another Kansas State
error to make it a 3-1 game.
The Wildcats tried to slow the
Wolverines down with another
pitching change at the top of the
seventh, but it only made things
worse. Michigan went off for a sea-
son-high seven runs in an inning
capped off by Elliott’s second home
run of the weekend to ice the game
at 10-2.
The Wolverines again started
cold against Oklahoma but had
ample chances starting in the fourth
inning. Junior infielder Ted Burton
reached first via an error and was
hit home by a double from Obertop.
The fifth inning looked like a
return to the cold bats with two
consecutive outs to start, but Ber-
tram and Elliott rattled off two
singles to put men at first and third,
giving Burton a chance to capitalize.
The Sooners made a pitch-
ing change and struck him out to
halt Michigan’s momentum. The
Wolverines didn’t put a runner in
scoring position for the rest of the
game. Oklahoma cleaned up in the
eighth to secure a 6-1 victory over
Michigan.
“The difference was that Kansas
State made the mistakes against us
that we made against Oklahoma
tonight in terms of walks, errors,
and extra 90s,” Bakich said. “When
you give things away to good
teams, they make you pay for it.”
Michigan is not unfamiliar
with rough starts to the season. It
schedules many of the best non-
conference opponents for open-
ing weekend to highlight its own
weaknesses early.
“It’s good for us to get knocked
down a little bit and face a little
adversity early this year,” Bakich
said. “That’s why we scheduled
the teams that we scheduled. … We
expect that there’s going to be some
getting knocked down where we’re
going to have a response. We’ll cer-
tainly use that to our advantage
and it helped us in the past, cer-
tainly helped us in 2019.”
Michigan has suspended coach
Juwan Howard for the remainder
of the regular season, Yahoo Sports
first reported Monday evening.
Howard will miss the Wolver-
ines’ five remaining regular sea-
son games as the team attempts to
secure an NCAA Tournament bid
and play its way off the bubble. In
his absence, associate head coach
Phil Martelli will serve as Michi-
gan’s acting head coach, while
director of basketball operations
Chris Hunter will temporary fulfill
the third assistant coaching posi-
tion.
The suspension follows Sun-
day’s incident in which Howard
took a swipe at a Wisconsin assis-
tant coach in the postgame hand-
shake line, inciting a full-out brawl
between the two sides.
Howard will also be fined
$40,000.
“After taking time to reflect on
all that happened, I realize how
unacceptable both my actions and
words were, and how they affected
so many,” Howard said in a state-
ment released Monday evening. “I
am truly sorry. I am offering my
sincerest apology to my players and
their families, my staff, my family
and the Michigan fans around the
world. I would like to personally
apologize to Wisconsin’s Assistant
Coach Joe Krabbenhoft and his
family, too.
“Lastly, I speak a lot about being
a Michigan man and representing
the University of Michigan with
class and pride, I did not do that,
nor did I set the right example in
the right way for my student-ath-
letes. I will learn from my mistake
and this mistake will never happen
again. No excuses!”
After Sunday’s transgression,
Michigan athletic director Warde
Manuel released the following
statement:
“I am aware of and watched the
end of our men’s basketball game.
There is no excuse for any of our
staff or student-athletes to get into
a physical altercation with oth-
ers regardless of instigating fac-
tors. I reached out and apologized
to Chris McIntosh and President
Coleman has reached out to UQ
Chancellor Blank to apologize for
the totally unacceptable behavior.
We will review the situation more
thoroughly and work with the Big
Ten Conference as they determine
their disciplinary actions and will
determine if any further disciplin-
ary actions are needed.”
In his press conference after
the game, Howard did not issue an
apology, instead doubling down on
his sentiment.
“I addressed it with (Gard) that
I will remember that because of
that timeout,” Howard said. “For
someone to touch me, I think that
was very uncalled for him to touch
me, as we were verbalizing and
communicating with one another.
So that’s what ended up happening.
And that’s what escalated it.”
While Big Ten rules state that
disciplinary fines will “not exceed
$10,000” and suspensions for “no
more than two contests,” Michigan
worked alongside the Big Ten to
amplify the punishment, extend-
ing the length of the suspension.
In addition to Howard, two Wol-
verines will be suspended one game
each: Freshman forward Moussa
Diabate and sophomore forward
Terrance Williams II, who both
appeared to throw punches during
Sunday’s brawl. The suspensions
are effective immediately, mean-
ing Diabate and Williams will miss
Wednesday’s contest against Rut-
gers.
On the Wisconsin side of things,
guard Jahcobi Neath will receive
a one-game suspension, while
coach Greg Gard will be fined
$10k. Meanwhile, assistant coach
Joe Krabbenhoft, who was also
involved in the altercation, will not
receive any sort of punishment.
“Big Ten Conference coaches
and student-athletes are expect-
ed to display the highest level
of sportsmanship conduct,” Big
Ten commissioner Kevin War-
ren released in a statement. “I
am grateful for the partnership
with Michigan Athletics Direc-
tor, Warde Manuel and Wisconsin
Athletics Director, Chris McIn-
tosh. Our expectation is that the
incident yesterday will provide our
coaches and student-athletes with
the opportunity to reflect, learn
and move forward in a manner that
demonstrates decorum and leader-
ship on and off of the court.”
The No. 9 Michigan women’s bas-
ketball team had been here before in
Ann Arbor.
Fighting once again for control of
the Big Ten in their matchup with
Maryland, the Wolverines found
themselves in a familiar place. Less
than a month ago, Michigan faced
off with Indiana under the same cir-
cumstances.
The biggest difference between
the two? Senior wing Leigha Brown’s
absence.
Against the Hoosiers, Brown
was tied for second-leading scor-
er. Without her, the Wolverines
have struggled to make up for
her 14.8 points per game average,
falling in consecutive outings to
Michigan State and Northwest-
ern.
But in Michigan’s 71-59 victory
over the Terrapins on Sunday, the
Wolverines finally found the sec-
ondary scoring they had lacked in
their previous two contests. Spe-
cifically, the team’s guards made
up for Brown’s lost production.
“We’re really tough to guard
when everyone’s being aggres-
sive,” junior guard Maddie Nolan
said. “(There were) shots in the
second half where they started
double teaming Naz so we were
able to find Laila (Phelia) and me
and Danielle (Rauch).”
Much like in the matchup
against Indiana, Hillmon mostly
carried Michigan’s offense early
on. Without any offensive pres-
ence outside the post, the Ter-
rapins were able to sag off their
defenders and condense into the
paint against Hillmon throughout
the first half. Heading into half-
time Michigan knew they’d have
to recalibrate.
Struggling to score for nearly
three minutes into the second
half, the Wolverines needed a
spark. Phelia — a freshman guard
— was the first to light up, finding
her way into the lane for a driv-
ing layup. On the next play, Phelia
drained a 3-pointer at the tail end
of the shot clock.
“When we’re having an inside-
outside attack, we’re at our best,”
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico said. “And there’s always so
much pressure on Naz, a double-
team, a triple-team … so we were
just really encouraging them at
halftime to shoot the ball and to
be aggressive from that guard
spot as well.”
Nolan kept the streak alive
throughout the fourth quarter,
scoring eight of her eleven points
in the final frame. Going 3-for-5
from the 3-point line and grab-
bing five rebounds, Nolan made
herself indispensable down the
stretch.
With the win-by-committee
style the Wolverines found for the
first time since Brown’s absence,
Rauch — a senior guard — also
found her stride late in the game.
The second leading scorer against
both the Spartans and the Wild-
cats, Rauch has filed nicely into
the missing gaps left behind by
Brown.
Sophomore guard Elise Stuck
also brought depth off the bench
notching four points and one
assist in just three minutes.
Attacking the Terrapins’ lim-
ited bench which had only eight
dressed players, the Wolverines
tired them out with multiple dif-
ferent looks and offensive sets.
“They were able to kind of send
more waves in against us,” Mary-
land coach Brenda Frese said.
“And they had more depth.”
The losses to Michigan State
and Northwestern highlighted
many problems, but one was glar-
ingly obvious: Simply relying on
Hillmon is no longer enough for
the Wolverines. Other teams key
in on the paint and focus their
entire defense on stopping her.
When Michigan’s guards are
producing offensively, it disrupts
opposing teams’ game plan.
With control of the Big Ten
on the line, Michigan needed its
role players to step up. And after
multiple missteps in their last two
losses, against Maryland, they
finally did.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 — 11
Michigan loses to Wisconsin with grim
second half performance, ugly scrum
An ugly performance for the
Michigan men’s basketball team
turned uglier after the final buzzer
sounded Sunday afternoon.
After Michigan (14-11 overall,
8-7 Big Ten) fell to No. 15 Wiscon-
sin (21-5, 12-4), 77-63, the postgame
handshake line morphed into a
physical altercation. Several Wol-
verines engaged in the scuffle and
Michigan coach Juwan Howard
threw a punch at a Wisconsin assis-
tant coach.
After the game Howard seemed
prepared to suffer the consequences
of his actions, although he did not
utter an apology:
“I respect whatever the Big Ten
decision that they make,” Howard
said. “It’s up to them and I will
respect whatever decision they
end up making.”
Frustrations boiled over for
Howard, perturbed that Wiscon-
sin coach Greg Gard took a time-
out with 15 seconds left in a game
that was a foregone conclusion.
But the punches also came after
a lamentable second half perfor-
mance for the Wolverines, who
saw a tied game at halftime turn
into a blowout loss.
The first half played out as a
tug-of-war, with neither team able
to drag itself towards a win. Play-
ing at a snail’s pace, both teams
grinded through possessions, not
finding many open buckets or
chances to run in transition. The
teams combined for just one three
pointer, further adding to the ugly
offensive pace.
Instead, the main battle trans-
pired in the paint. The Wolver-
ines leaned on sophomore center
Hunter Dickinson, who scored 15
of their 31 first half points. The
Badgers refused to commit to
double teams and Dickinson took
advantage, constantly flipping
hook shots toward the rim. But,
Wisconsin challenged Michigan’s
interior defense with similar suc-
cess, equalling the Wolverines’ 31
points with 22 coming inside the
paint.
Neither team could find any
separation at the halfway point.
Michigan appeared to break
the seal on its rim to start the
second half, as it raced out to 7-0
run and went up 38-33. Instead,
the quick offensive spurt proved
to be a mirage. Empty offensive
possessions piled up — including
a plethora of missed threes — and
an instant lead in the second half
turned into a growing deficit.
“I think a lot of our shots were
good
shots,”
Dickinson
said.
“They just happened not to go
in. But when you stop shooting,
that shows a lack of confidence
in yourself. And that’s the worst
thing that can happen in basket-
ball is when you don’t have confi-
dence in yourself.”
Suddenly trailing with less
than twelve minutes to go, the
offense looked to break out from
its slog and prevent the game
from completely unraveling. But
there was no solace on that end of
the floor. Offensive fouls, blocked
shots and 3-point attempts clang-
ing off the rim ultimately spelled
doom for the Wolverines. A 38-33
lead had turned into an astonish-
ing 56-41 deficit.
“We just had some mental laps-
es on defense,” graduate trans-
fer guard DeVante’ Jones said.
“I think that was a big thing for
us. And (Badgers’ guard) Johnny
Davis hit some tough shots and
they just kind of fed off that.”
The Wolverines had no answer
for Davis, who amassed 23 points
on 11-for-16 shooting. The offense
completely disappeared, espe-
cially Dickinson, who scored just
six points in the final 20 minutes
after his scorching start. Michi-
gan as a team shot an atrocious
4-for-25 from beyond the arc and
was never able to cut into the lead
once it fell behind — trailing by
double digits for a majority of the
second half.
An abysmal second half show-
ing caused a game within reach
for the Wolverines to completely
slip away. The forgettable result,
though, didn’t kill Michigan’s
postseason hopes.
But the actions that followed
postgame will long be remem-
bered. The fight creates a number
of problems — and almost cer-
tainly some suspensions — that
will make what’s been a difficult
season for the Wolverines that
much harder to navigate as the
finish line nears.
JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Hot and cold hitting hampers Michigan, leading to 1-2 start
ZAIN RODGER
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan’s guards
step up in second half
against Maryland
Michigan to suspend Juwan Howard
for rest of regular season
NICHOLAS STOLL AND
JARED GREENSPAN
Managing Sports Editors
DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily
Juwan Howard will miss
Michiga’s five remaining regular
season contensts while serving
a suspension.
ABBIE TELGENHOF
Daily Sports Writer
ANNA FUDER/Daily
Michigan blew a winnable game against the Badgers in the second
half, and then frustration soon boiled over.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Michigan’s guards complimented forward Naz Hillmon in Michi-
gan’s win over Maryland.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Clark Elliot’s solo home run
against Texas Tech set the tone
for the weekend.