The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 — 11
T.J. Hughes’ smart play fuels
Michigan against Wisconsin
CHARLIE PAPPALARDO
Daily Sports Writer
In T.J. Hughes’ press conference
following the Michigan hockey
team’s 7-4 victory over Wisconsin,
the freshman forward was in the
middle of talking when Michigan
coach Brandon Naurato walked out
of his office and interrupted him.
“Four
points,”
Naurato
exclaimed, chuckling. “I found out
after the game. That was great.”
And
while
Naurato
being
unaware of Hughes’ team-leading
total until looking at a stat sheet
may seem like an oversight on
his part, it fit perfectly with the
type of game that Hughes played.
Because despite totaling a goal and
three assists, Hughes’ play wasn’t
particularly flashy or exception-
ally dynamic. But what it was, the
entire night, was incredibly effec-
tive.
On his very first shift, centering
sophomore forwards Dylan Duke
and Mackie Samoskevich, Hughes
made a textbook play. He received a
pass from Samoskevich, and imme-
diately swung it to Duke on the far
side for a tic-tac-toe, tap-in goal.
That play set the tone for his night.
He didn’t demand the puck or turn
heads with solo plays, but he made
simple and effective plays, over and
over again.
“He’s not maybe the fastest guy,
but he’s just so smart out there
and makes plays all the time,”
senior forward Eric Ciccolini said.
“Always making the right deci-
sions, taking shots, making passes.
… That’s why he had four points
tonight.”
Ciccolini’s words ring true.
Because Hughes’ play against
Wisconsin can best be described
as smart. Every Wolverine player
could have physically made the
passes and taken the shots that
defined Hughes’ night, but far
fewer would’ve had the vision to
get the puck where it needed to go.
And perpetually when Hughes was
on the ice, the puck went where it
needed to go.
His second assist came on a
power play when Hughes collected
a pass, pressed forward and fired a
slapshot from the circles. The shot
was saved, but the rebound wasn’t.
Minutes later — again on the power
play —Hughes crashed the net
before Samoskevich had even shot,
and was in perfect position for a
rebound goal. Hughes’ last assist
was a generic point-to-point pass
that sophomore defenseman Ethan
Edwards buried. It wasn’t a thrill-
ing or difficult play, but it was the
smart play.
“He puts up points,” Naurato
said. “He’s a goal scorer, he’s a
threat every time he’s around the
net, and he has grown a ton as a
player.”
So far this season, Hughes has
had remarkable success. Com-
ing in as an undrafted prospect,
he has shattered expectations in
his freshman year, scoring over
a point per game with the fourth
most on his team. But at the same
time, similar to Saturday’s per-
formance, a lot of it has flown
under the radar. Because what
he does isn’t always eye-catching,
but a lot of the time it results in a
puck hitting the back of the net.
Against
Wisconsin,
that’s
exactly
what
happened.
He
crashed the net, he made smart
passes, and he put the puck exact-
ly where it needed to be for those
around him to be effective. As a
result, he doubled the point totals
of anyone else on his team, and
set a new career high for points
in a game.
But in Naurato’s view, Hughes’
growth can’t stagnate — for his
own sake.
“The evolution of him to be like
an NHL prospect — he’ll always
get points, he’ll get a lot at Michi-
gan — will be what he does away
from the puck and his compete
level,” Naurato said. “It’s not that
he’s not good away from the puck,
it’s just that they’re learning you
have to defend for the first time.”
Hughes has found a playstyle
that works for him, but he now
has to translate it to his defensive
game. For the past few weeks,
and especially against Wiscon-
sin it translated well. And when
it translates, the Wolverines are
better because of it.
For that reason, when Naurato
was asked if he had any advice for
Hughes, he answered simply.
“Ehh, just keep doing what
he’s doing,” Naurato said.
And if Hughes keeps doing
what he’s doing, that bodes well
for both him and Michigan.
Sports
ICE HOCKEY
SportsMonday: Don’t get your hopes up
NICHOLAS STOLL
Daily Sports Writer
Do you feel that?
That little glimmer of hope
you have in your chest. Those
images of tournament dreams
and
March
Madness
magic
dancing in front of your eyes. Is
the Michigan men’s basketball
team making you feel something
again?
Don’t.
For your own sake, I’m beg-
ging you not to believe in this
Michigan team. The Wolverines
might be fun to watch — and feel
free to continue to enjoy watch-
ing them — but expecting some
last leg sprint-to-the-finish that
ends with a berth in the NCAA
Tournament will only set you up
to get hurt.
Even after rattling off two
straight wins against North-
western and Ohio State, the
numbers are objectively not in
Michigan’s favor. As it stands,
the Wolverines have a mea-
sly two Quad 1 wins — the holy
grails when it comes to mak-
ing the tournament — against
Maryland and at Northwestern.
Looking across the rest of
Michigan’s
schedule,
it
has
four opportunities for near-
guaranteed Quad 1 games (vs
Indiana, at Rutgers, at Illinois,
at Indiana), and one that could
potentially be a Quad 1 game
(at Wisconsin). Then, of course,
the Big Ten Tournament, which
for the sake of argument let’s
assume every game is Quad 1
(top 50 in the NET at a neutral
site).
It seems like ample opportu-
nities await. But opportunities
are just that — opportunities.
The Wolverines need to actually
capitalize on those chances to
add Quad 1 wins to their resume.
So far, they haven’t shown the
capacity to do so.
Think of all the squandered
“almosts”: Virginia, Kentucky,
North Carolina, Iowa, Purdue —
all possible Quad 1 wins. What
has Michigan done recently that
makes you think it will be dif-
ferent?
Was it the win over a skidding
Buckeyes squad that’s lost nine
out of their past 10 games? Or
a win over a 57th-in-the-NET
Wildcats group? Or was it the
blowout, downright embarrass-
ing loss to Penn State? There’s
just not enough substance there
to show the Wolverines are any
different than before.
Now, here’s where the num-
bers get worse. Suppose Michi-
gan has changed, and it can
string a few wins together, and
even beat some of the teams it
needs to beat. The number of
Quad 1 notches it’s going to need
on its belt to make the NCAA
Tournament will still be, in all
likelihood, out of reach.
There’s no specific number,
per se, but it’s safe to say the
Wolverines will need at least
five to punch their ticket to the
Big Dance — at least.
That’s less a result of the Wol-
verines’ lack of Quad 1 wins, and
more the result of their great-
est blemish — an abysmal Quad
4 loss to No. 319 NET-ranked
Central Michigan. While Quad
1 wins are holy grails, Quad 4
losses are eternal damnations.
They float over teams like giant
neon signs that say “Not a tour-
nament team” in blaring red
light.
While the teams carrying
Quad 4 losses might not be
inherently bad, it takes a lot to
overcome those dings on the
resume.
Last year, for example, Rut-
gers punched their ticket by
the skin of their teeth. Mak-
ing the play-in, the Scarlet
Knights willed themselves to
seven Quad 1 wins to overcome
their season low-points. In a
less extreme case, North Caro-
lina needed five Quad 1 wins,
and went undefeated in Quad 2
and 3, to make the tournament
in spite of its Quad 4 loss. The
SARAH BOEKE/Daily
Wolverines, too, were on bubble
watch and needed five Quad 1
wins to book their trip to the
tournament, even without a
Quad 4 loss.
So theoretically, Michigan
could reach that threshold of
five coveted Quad 1 wins if it
went on a tear to end the sea-
son. The Wolverines could even
chain enough wins in a row in
the Big Ten Tournament to take
home the trophy and be an auto-
bid team. But currently, Michi-
gan is given a 16.7% chance to
make the NCAA Tournament by
TeamRankings.
Mathematically, the Wolver-
ines aren’t eliminated. But let’s
take a step back and be realistic:
Michigan hasn’t shown you
anything that proves it will do
what it takes to make it. There’s
no signature win yet. There’s no
consistency. And there’s no effi-
ciency metrics that show Mich-
igan is actually a good team
behind a bad record.
There’s no real reason to have
optimism.
So do yourself a favor and
don’t get your hopes up. Because
you’re just setting yourself up to
get hurt.
‘I feel like a little kid again’: Steven Holtz
returns from life-threatening illness
CONNOR EAREGOOD
Managing Sports Editor
In another world, Steven Holtz
might not be back here. After con-
tracting adenovirus during an
outbreak in November, the junior
defenseman battled for survival.
Complications from the illness put
him in the ICU and nearly claimed
his life, let alone his hockey career.
But that’s not how this story goes.
Because
on
Friday
night
against Wisconsin, Holtz made
his triumphant return to the
Michigan hockey team. Playing
on the third pairing in a 6-2 win,
his performance was the capstone
of more than 11 weeks of difficult
recovery.
“I feel like a little kid again, play-
ing in my first game, you get the jit-
ters when they call your name for
the starting lineup,” Holtz said. “It’s
surreal, right. It’s hard to take it all
in.”
Surreal because his illness left
him debilitated. His muscle mem-
ory disappeared. He struggled to
even speak like his usual self.
When he skated his first strides
after the illness, Holtz joked that
he looked like he was just learning
to skate on double-bladed skates.
Everything was awkward for him,
even choosing the words to articu-
late his experience. At times, he
didn’t know if he’d ever take the ice
again.
That made his presence all the
more impressive. With all his usual
intensity flaring behind his eyes,
Holtz delivered a solid night on the
ice for Michigan. He blocked a pair
of shots to the delight of his holler-
ing teammates, and he got into two
fights to protect them — living up to
the “Protect the Goalie” wristband
he wore on his right hand.
“It brings a tear to our eyes just to
see him out there and do his thing
again, and we missed him so much,”
freshman forward Gavin Brindley
said. “So it just shows how tight this
group is and it’s like a dream come
true for us to see him out there.”
That tight group got Holtz
through a near tragedy. Whether it
was director of hockey operations
Topher Scott helping him relearn
his skating stride or teammates
spending quality time with him,
Holtz found plenty of support from
his team. Soon, he worked his way
closer to normal.
“That muscle memory, it just
clicked at one point,” Holtz said. “I
was fighting the puck a little bit in
practice. I was kind of being the drill
ruiner again. But I think over time I
just gained a little confidence.”
And that confidence only grew as
he got his legs under him. Soon, he
started hitting teammates in prac-
tice — despite being in a non-con-
tact jersey. He returned to playing
shape despite all the obstacles the
illness dealt him.
But in order to play an actual
game, he still needed to overcome
NCAA eligibility rules. A mechani-
cal engineering student stuck with
multiple incomplete courses, he had
to battle in the classroom too.
“I think these guys have it hard
enough just being a college stu-
dent,” Michigan coach Brandon
Naurato said. “And being a college
student athlete then going through
something like that, where you just
don’t know at the time what it may
be. … That made us stronger.”
By Wednesday of this week,
Holtz still didn’t know when he
would make the leap from prac-
tice ice to that of a game. He set
a goal to play in the upcoming
outdoor game against Ohio State,
but he still needed to overcome
NCAA redtape to make that hap-
pen. Walking into the training
room Wednesday, though, Nau-
rato delivered the words Holtz
longed to hear. A phrase Holtz
quoted with a slight grin:
“You’re f-ing playing.”
And he did so immediately,
skating out with the starting
lineup to take his first shift. Under
the lights of Yost Ice Arena, you’d
never know the battle Holtz
endured. But you could see what
it meant in the faces of his team-
mates, who watched him make
the ultimate comeback just by
being there.
“Everything that he’s gone
through — we’re in it with him
but you still don’t appreciate what
him and his family have gone
through,” Naurato said. “… But it’s
awesome, man. It’s just awesome
to have him back.”
Because just a short time ago,
none of that was guaranteed. And
that makes Holtz’s return against
Wisconsin that much sweeter.
ICE HOCKEY
Liza Cushnir: Despite storied history, Michigan now controls rivalry with Michigan State
EAST
LAN-
SING
—
For
years, the pre-
miere
women’s
basketball team
in the state of
Michigan
was
Michigan State.
Not anymore.
After the No.
18
Michigan
women’s basket-
ball team pulled off a comeback
win Sunday in East Lansing, the
Wolverines have proven they are
firmly in the driver’s seat of the
rivalry.
Yes, the Spartans dominate the
history of the series. They have
73 wins to Michigan’s 25 — nearly
triple — and boast 18 NCAA Tour-
nament appearances to the Wol-
verines’ 10. Michigan State also
carries five combined Big Ten
Titles. Michigan is still looking for
its first.
But with the Wolverines in pos-
session of six out of the last seven
games in the series, Michigan
State’s reign over the rivalry is in
the past.
“Michigan State has always been
the program in the state, but why
not Michigan?” Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico said Jan. 14 after
defeating the Spartans at Crisler.
“The University of Michigan is
great at everything. Why not wom-
en’s basketball, why not us?”
But still, after that game nearly a
month ago, the Wolverines needed
more to truly claim to be the state’s
premiere program. They needed
another win on the road, especially
after being upset at Breslin Center
last season.
That loss — the Spartans’ sole
win in the series since 2020 — was
a massive upset that contributed
to Michigan’s failure to secure
the regular season Big Ten title.
It was a game that delivered pain-
ful reminders of the history of the
rivalry. Because for all of their suc-
cess, the Wolverines weren’t out
of the woods yet. They suffered a
shocking upset at the hands of their
rivals, in a blast from the past.
And for the first 25 minutes of
play on Sunday, history threatened
to repeat itself. Michigan quickly
found itself in a 10-0 hole and head-
ed into the locker room at halftime
facing a seven-point deficit.
But then, it flipped the script
on the game with its 44-27 second
half. And in doing so — even with-
out its second-leading scorer and
best defender in sophomore guard
Laila Phelia — it flipped the script
on the rivalry too.
The Wolverines could have
crumbled without one of their best
players, just as they crumbled with
little depth last year. They didn’t.
Michigan could have crumbled
facing a halftime deficit. It didn’t.
Instead, it pulled off the comeback
win, its first victory of the sea-
son after trailing at halftime. And
because of that — history aside —
the Wolverines have proven that
their time watching the state’s
best basketball from the sidelines
is over. Michigan’s the one on the
court now.
“A coach said one time, they said
if you’re in this long enough, win-
ning is a relief and losing feels like
death,” Michigan State interim
coach Dean Lockwood said. “And I
will tell you, it does no matter what,
but particularly in a rivalry game.
We had tears in that locker room
after the game, we had players that
were so invested in this game and
just wanted to bring this home.”
Last year, it was the Wolverines
who were experiencing that pain,
crying those tears.
“It’s always big, especially to
beat Michigan State,” senior guard
Maddie Nolan said. “… This time
last year, competing for the Big Ten
Title, I remember coming out after
losing it and I was in tears.”
This year, there were no dis-
traught tears in the locker room for
Michigan. Instead, there were cel-
ebrations. Celebrations that began
in earnest in the fourth quarter.
When Nolan hit a 3-pointer to
extend the Wolverines’ lead to 11
points early in the quarter, Michi-
gan’s bench erupted as the Spar-
tans called timeout.
And as the upset win began to
fully slip out of Michigan State’s
grasp, it felt like the air was sucked
out of Breslin, which quickly went
from raucous to restrained. The
corner had been turned, that hill
finally summited.
So when fans started leaving
minutes before the final buzzer,
they weren’t just leaving the site of
a deflating defeat. They were leav-
ing behind years of dominance in
the rivalry.
Sunday’s victory is only the Wol-
verines’ second in East Lansing
since the 2015-16 season. But right
now, when Michigan walks into
Breslin, it’s expected to win. That
never used to be the case.
“There’s always a celebratory
feeling when you win any game,”
fifth-year wing Leigha Brown said.
“But like coach (Barnes Arico) said
earlier, when you’re in this kind
of hostile environment, I think it
means a little bit more.”
When Barnes Arico was hired,
Michigan State had won 11 straight
games in the rivalry — and 20 out of
the past 21. Since then, the Wolver-
ines have won 10 out of 22. That’s
still a losing record, but it doesn’t
matter. Because despite the Spar-
tans’ historic dominance in this
series, right now, Michigan is in
control, and it has been since 2020.
By winning in East Lansing,
the Wolverines didn’t just sweep
their rival. They delivered a perfor-
mance that turned the tables on a
history nearly 100 games long.
Because with six wins in seven
games, Michigan isn’t the same
program that saw multiple double-
digit losing streaks to Michigan
State. It’s no longer the program
that’s forced to live in the shadow
of its in-state rival.
The Wolverines are now the
best women’s basketball team in
the state — and they proved it Sun-
day.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MARIA DECKMANN/Daily
HANNAH TORRES/Daily
LIZA
CUSHNIR