The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2021 THE WOLVERINE 11 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Michigan Outlasts The Rest Of The Big Ten In The NCAA Tournament A record-setting nine Big Ten basketball teams — Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin — were chosen to compete in the 2021 men's NCAA Tournament. The nine bids surpassed the league's previous record of eight squads selected in the 2019 season and marks just the fifth time in history that a conference has secured at least nine bids to the NCAA Tournament. That number trails only the Big East in 2011, when the conference sent a record 11 teams to the Big Dance. The country was singing the praises of the Big Ten heading into March Madness, but by the end of the first weekend, there was more laughing — from outsiders — than compliments. Despite the volume of teams in the field of 68 and the fact that the conference had four teams tabbed as No. 1 (Illinois and U-M) or No. 2 (OSU and Iowa) seeds, only the Wolverines were able to advance past the second round. The first round started with OSU losing in overtime to Oral Roberts, becoming just the ninth No. 2 seed in history to fall to a No. 15 seed, and No. 4 seed Purdue being upset by No. 13 seed North Texas. In the second round, most notably, Illinois was defeated by No. 8 seed Loyola, while Iowa lost to No. 7 seed Oregon. U-M was the last Big Ten team standing by the time the balls were tipped in the Sweet 16, with the Maize and Blue then beating Florida State in that round to advance to the Elite Eight, where they ulti- mately lost a 51-49 heartbreaker to No. 11 seed UCLA. Below is a look at how each Big Ten team fared in the NCAA Tourna- ment: Team Seed Season NCAA Result Record Illinois 1 24-7 Second-round loss to No. 8 Loyola Michigan 1 23-5 Elite Eight loss to No. 11 UCLA Ohio State 2 21-10 First-round loss to No. 15 Oral Roberts Iowa 2 22-9 Second-round loss to No. 7 Oregon Purdue 4 18-10 First-round loss to No. 13 North Texas Wisconsin 9 18-13 Second-round loss to No. 1 Baylor Maryland 10 17-14 Second-round loss to No. 2 Alabama Rutgers 10 16-12 Second-round loss to No. 2 Houston Michigan State 11 15-13 First four loss to No. 11 UCLA — Clayton Sayfie MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Men's soccer freshman midfielder Br yce Blevins: He helped Michigan close out the home portion of its 2021 campaign in style, leading the club to a 2-0 shutout of Ohio State March 31. The Plainfield, Ill., native tallied both of the Wolver- ines' goals on the afternoon and served as the club's offensive cat- alyst against the Buckeyes. Both of his markers came in the second half, the first finding the net in the 48th minute and the second in the 84th minute. The triumph was the first for Michigan over its archrival this season, with the two clubs having played to a 2-2 tie in their March 15 meeting in Columbus. Men's lacrosse junior attackman Bryce Clay: He was pegged to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Team of the Week March 23. Clay earned the accolade after he registered five goals in Michigan's 14-12 win over Penn State March 20, scoring two of the Wolverines' final three goals on the day. The product of Grand Rapids, Mich., became just the second U-M player ever to be recognized on the USILA's weekly team, joining former Wolverine Brent Noseworthy, who was tabbed to the squad March 27, 2018. Baseball sophomore infielder/outfielder Clark Elliott: He put on a show in Michigan's 8-1 victory over Illi- nois March 20, cranking two home runs and racking up five RBI. Four of Elliott's runs batted in came on a first-inning grand slam that sailed over the right-field wall and put U-M up 4-0 right off the bat. The Barrington, Ill., native's second homer came on a solo shot in the eighth inning, capping off his 2-of-4 day at the plate. Softball junior pitcher Alex Storako: She was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week March 30 after playing a large role in U-M's four-game sweep at Indiana March 26-28. Storako tallied a 2-0 record and a 0.49 ERA in 14 1 ⁄3 innings of work against the Hoosiers. Her best per- formance came in the Maize and Blue's 3-1 victory March 27, when she compiled 17 strikeouts and allowed just one hit in a complete-game, nine-inning performance. The Frankfort, Ill., native followed up that outing by yielding two hits and fanning six in five innings of work the following day in the Wolverines' 4-0 triumph in the series finale. — Austin Fox Freshman center Hunter Dickinson scored double-digit points in all four NCAA Tournament contests to help the Wolverines reach the Elite Eight. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL