The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 — 11
Sports
Michigan dominates in-state rival Michigan State, 70-55
In its last four games, the No.
17 Michigan women’s basketball
team has alternated wins and
losses. Returning home to Crisler
Center with over 10,000 fans in
attendance for the second straight
game — a program first — the
Wolverines were looking to build
off their win at Purdue in a bid to
start a new trend.
And behind double-figure scor-
ing from four players, Michigan
(15-3 overall, 5-2 Big Ten) pulled
away in the second quarter to
handle rival Michigan State (10-8,
2-5), 70-55.
Despite Michigan’s slow start
from the field in the first quar-
ter, its defense held the Spartans
to just 11 points — their lowest
first-quarter total of the season.
The Wolverines forced nine turn-
overs, setting up their offense in
transition by converting those
opportunities into nine of their 14
first-quarter points.
“I think that’s something that
we’ve really been pretty success-
ful at so far this season, is being
able to turn people over,” fifth-
year senior wing Leigha Brown
said. “And then I think that leads
to easy looks in transition, espe-
cially (with) defenses that really
pack you in the paint like MSU
does.”
Throughout the game, Michi-
gan’s defense not only forced 22
Spartan turnovers, but also held
them to an abysmal shooting clip
of 15.8% from beyond the arc.
Following a quick four points
from Michigan State out of the
break, the Wolverines needed to
respond. 3-pointers from sopho-
more guard Laila Phelia and
senior guard Maddie Nolan put
them back on top, but Michigan
needed something more in order
to pull away.
And Brown provided it.
Following
another
Spartan
turnover, Brown drove up the
court, pulling up at the top of the
key. Withstanding contact from a
Michigan State defender, Brown
elevated to sink the shot and draw
the foul, sending the Crisler Cen-
ter crowd into a roar. And a few
minutes later with just two sec-
onds left in the quarter, Brown
sank a shot that sent Michigan
into the break with momentum
and an eight-point lead.
For a moment, however, it
looked like the Wolverines would
once again fall victim to third-
quarter offensive issues, com-
mitting two early turnovers and
struggling with the Spartan press.
But for only the second time in
the last five games — and second
straight game — Michigan out-
scored its opponent in the third
quarter, a trend that it hopes to
sustain. The Wolverines’ aggres-
sion on offense picked up, draw-
ing more fouls and opportunities
at the free throw line. Those fouls
forced two Spartans into foul
trouble with four apiece, relegat-
ing both of them to the bench and
helping Michigan solidify control.
“(In the second half) I thought
we needed to be more aggressive
and try to get to the rim and get
stops on defense,” Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico said. “Because
if we got stops on defense, I felt
like we were able to get out and
transition and really get downhill
against them. And I thought that
was a really big turning point for
us not to have to handle their pres-
sure all the time, get stops and
draw fouls.”
On the defensive end, soph-
omore
guard
Jordan
Hobbs
stepped up, drawing a charge —
Michigan’s third out of four of the
game — and pumping her arms
in celebration. On the subsequent
JULIANNE YOON/Daily
possession, Hobbs sank a 3-point-
er to eventually take a comfort-
able 12-point lead into the fourth.
That lead was a result of the
Wolverines turning around their
third-quarter misfortunes from
games past.
“Third quarters have been a
huge emphasis in the locker room
coming out,” graduate forward
Emily Kiser said. “Earlier on in
the season, those weren’t our best
quarters. In the Purdue game that
we just played, that was huge to
just come out (and that) started on
the defensive side. Because when
we get stops, they couldn’t press
(and) we can kind of go in transi-
tion, which I think was huge. And
then I think we cleaned up bet-
ter on the boards this time which
helped that run start.”
Despite
surrendering
12
offensive rebounds in the game,
Michigan
only
allowed
two
second-chance points, and out-
rebounded Michigan State 18-16
in the second half. Throughout
the entire fourth quarter, the
Spartans weren’t able to make a
dent in Michigan’s lead. The Wol-
verines’ offense did what it had to
do to keep the lead and win, but its
defense — which surrendered its
fewest points in conference play
thus far — carried them to victory
down the stretch.
With the win, Michigan defeat-
ed its in-state rival and built upon
its last victory, sparking what it
hopes will be a winning pattern.
Michigan overcomes sloppy play to beat
Northwestern, 85-78
Freshman wing Jett Howard
had one word to describe the
Michigan men’s basketball team’s
win over Northwestern: resilient.
And that resilience was cru-
cial to counteract sloppy play
and poor decision making as the
Wolverines (10-7 overall, 4-2 Big
Ten) struggled to assert their
dominance. The sloppiness kept
them from pulling away until
late in the second half, eventually
defeating Northwestern (12-5,
3-3), 85-78. Behind a season-high
18 turnovers, Michigan allowed
the Wildcats to claw their way
back into the game after the
Wolverines’ hot start. But when
Michigan needed to, it cleaned up
its act.
“I thought we put ourselves in
position on the road to get one,
which isn’t easy,” Northwestern
coach Chris Collins said. “Our
guys did a really good job of doing
that, but Michigan made more
plays than us, they made more
shots and they did the things that
were worthy of winning today.”
Although the Wolverines shot
well early to build a double-dig-
it lead, their sloppiness shone
through. Lazy crosscourt passes
provided Northwestern several
additional
opportunities,
and
midway through the first half
the Wildcats started to find their
groove on offense. As Northwest-
ern started heating up, Michigan
went cold, shooting just 1-for-9
from behind the arc to finish the
first half.
The Wolverines have excelled
in controlling the ball and limit-
ing turnovers so far this season,
ranking fourth in the country
with just 9.4 turnovers per game.
But on Sunday that wasn’t the
case, conceding nine turnovers in
the first half alone.
“Having 18 turnovers, it’s not
all because of the freshman,”
Michigan coach Juwan Howard
said. “But those mistakes that
we’re making, hopefully by the
end of the year we won’t make the
same mistakes. But we’ve done a
really good job overall of taking
care of the basketball up until
tonight.”
Just as Michigan bounced back
from Thursday’s loss, it bounced
back from an uncharacteristical-
ly sloppy half. Doing that wasn’t
convoluted, it just took resilience.
“I think we’re just resilient,”
Jett said. “We understand basket-
ball is just a game of runs. If we
lay down and we’re not resilient,
we wouldn’t have the outcome
that we wanted.”
Coming out of the break, Mich-
igan still displayed some of that
same carelessness. It allowed
offensive rebounds and second-
chance plays to Northwestern
while continuing to dish out poor
passes. But it also showed the
resilience Jett described.
While turnovers continued to
plague the Wolverines, they found
some consistency on the offensive
end, which kept them neck-and-
neck with the Wildcats. As the
offense started to run smoothly,
Michigan made amends, dishing
out bullets instead of slow, rain-
bow-esque lobs.
“That was self-inflicted,” Jett
said. “… We weren’t smart in the
first half. Second half, we still
had turnovers but were a little
smarter. … We just had to adjust
because in our offense the guy
on the wing has to get the ball to
create and start to play. So they
understood that and did a good
job of defending that.”
Michigan may not have totally
eliminated the turnovers, but it
made adjustments and found
ways to counteract them. Name-
ly, it leaned on a potent and self-
less offense. The Wolverines
also exerted more aggression on
the glass, collecting nine offen-
sive boards in the second half,
a complete turnaround after a
measly two in the first.
Fueled
by
junior
center
Hunter Dickinson and fresh-
man forward Tarris Reed Jr.’s
intensity in that facet, Michi-
gan began to build momentum.
As the Wolverines’ play started
to click back into place and they
strung defensive stops together,
Michigan began to play more
like its usual self, taking care of
the ball.
“In the past games, one of the
things we learned when we lost
was we weren’t aggressive and
we weren’t assertive towards
the end of the game,” Jett said.
“Just understanding that and
making that adjustment worked
out for us, and I feel like we
should do that every time now
since we’re already battle tested
with that.”
With just under eight min-
utes
left,
that
aggression
appeared effective in getting
the Wolverines back on track.
Dickinson intercepted a North-
western pass, and Michigan for
once capitalized on a turnover
instead of committing one.
The steal led to a transition
3-pointer by graduate guard
Joey Baker, who sank the dag-
ger to give the Wolverines a
seven point advantage — one
that never wavered.
While errant passes and
unforced turnovers dictated
the trajectory of the game early,
Michigan overcame it, display-
ing its ability to take lessons
from previous losses and use it
to grow.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
JENNA HICKEY/Daily
TAYLOR DANIELS
Daily Sports Writer
Buy-in mentality backs up Erik
Portillo’s excellence
JOHN TONDORA
Daily Sports Writer
The scene was different less
than 24 hours ago.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s embar-
rassing honestly,” junior defen-
seman
Jacob
Truscott
said
Friday.
“We can’t play like that. Ever,”
sophomore
forward
Mackie
Samoskevich said Saturday.
“I just think we gotta be bet-
ter all around,” graduate for-
ward Nolan Moyle said Friday.
On Friday night, the Michigan
hockey team suffered its first
five-goal home loss since 1999
in a 7-2 trouncing to Ohio State.
The Wolverines appeared asleep
at the wheel, missing defensive
assignments, skipping poorly
timed breakout passes and ced-
ing 52 shots directly onto the
shoulders of junior goaltender
Erik Portillo.
Though the final score was
lopsided, Portillo’s efforts Fri-
day nonetheless saved an ugly
game from devolving into a
crime scene. Nevertheless, his
effort fell to the wayside.
Yet before the earth could
complete a full rotation, the
Wolverines walked away with a
4-2 victory — not just because of
Portillo, but the guys in front of
him.
In Friday’s postgame press
conference, Naurato and his
players spoke of “buy in” and the
need to approach each and every
game with a survivalist mentali-
ty. Evidently absent in game one,
Saturday’s contest presented a
flipped script.
Suddenly,
missed
assign-
ments became finished checks,
poor breakouts became oppor-
tunistic chances and Michigan’s
defensive efforts allowed Por-
tillo’s performance to resonate
into a victory.
The Wolverines came to play
with a new buy-in mentality.
“Kids get Christmas tickets to
come watch us play,” freshman
forward Rutger McGroarty said.
“Christmas presents to come
watch us play. We can’t take this
for granted and we gotta do it for
the guy next to us.”
The most important team-
mate may not be the ones next
to McGroarty and Michigan
though, but the one behind them.
With this invigorated mentality
came a style of play and support
system that represented how
important Portillo is to his team.
Just like Friday, he came up with
numerous meaningful saves. But
this time, the team around him
translated those into a win.
“We trust him in there,”
Samoskevich said. “Whenever
he makes a big, big save, we get
up on the bench and it definitely
gives us energy and he’s a rock
back there. We trust him. We
love him back there and (he’s)
definitely a leader on the team
too.”
The Wolverines came to
play. Not only for the benefit of
those who found tickets under
their Christmas tree, but for
Portillo. With a combined 18
blocked shots, Michigan’s buy-
in resonated throughout the
contest. Ohio State’s 52 shots
Friday shrunk to a more man-
ageable 39.
Portillo’s
performance
never wavered throughout the
weekend. What changed was
the five guys on the ice out in
front of him. Portillo made the
same big saves on Friday that
came on Saturday, yet without
the same resounding impact.
This time though, those saves
shine through and made all the
difference.
A difference, that was only
possible through the support
of others. In critical moments,
Michigan’s “buy-in” style of
play alleviated Portillo and
shifted the narrative.
“We have to survive and
when your back is against the
wall, it really shows true char-
acter when those guys step in,”
Naurato said. “Luke Hughes,
he flipped six pucks 20 feet in
the air at the end of the game
just to get it out versus going
for the empty net — that’s win-
ning hockey.”
Portillo
played
winning
hockey all weekend. It only
translated to the win column
when the Wolverines decided
to join him.
ICE HOCKEY
KATE HUA/Daily
LINDSAY BUDIN
Daily Sports Writer
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL