The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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44 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2021 Freshman center Hunter Dickin- son, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two assists, led the way for the Maize and Blue, who saw five players score in double figures. Senior guard Eli Brooks dropped 17 points, and senior guard Chaundee Brown Jr. ended up with 15 of his own, while senior for- ward Isaiah Livers and fifth-year se- nior guard Mike Smith scored 12 and 11, respectively. The victory served as one of several big wins for the Wolverines down the stretch en route to winning the outright Big Ten regular-season title. Female Team Win Of The Year Women's Gymnastics At The NCAA Finals April 17 The nation's No. 2-ranked squad at the time put together an incred- ible performance to win the national championship in Fort Worth, Texas. The Wolverines posted their best score in program history (198.2500) and the third-highest mark in na- tional championship history. To show just how difficult it is to hoist the sport's national champion- ship trophy, consider this: U-M be- came just the seventh program to ever capture an NCAA women's gymnas- tics title, joining Georgia, Utah, UCLA, Alabama, Oklahoma and Florida. The Wolverines led from wire to wire, taking a 0.0500 advantage after the first rotation, before going up by 0.1375 for the second rotation. Fol- lowing the third rotation, the Wolver- ines still led the field by 0.1375 with a running score of 148.7625. Then, junior Abby Heiskell worked her magic and finished things off with her score of 9.9250 on the balance beam to clinch the crown. MOST IMPROVED TEAMS Most Improved Male Team Men's Basketball Juwan Howard inherited one of the Big Ten's best basketball programs when he took over for John Beilein in the spring of 2019, but the Wolver- ines had a lot to replace in his first year, when the squad posted a 19- 12 record before the postseason was canceled. U-M was the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament (which didn't take place) and in line for a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to Bracket Matrix. It was a good, but not great, season. But in 2020-21, by all accounts, the Wolverines enjoyed a 'great' cam- Head women's gymnastics coach Bev Plocki (far left) and her Wolverines became just the seventh school ever to claim a national championship in the sport. PHOTO BY C. MORGAN ENGEL/NCAA PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES The Wolverines prevailed in the sixth round of a shootout with Louisville to clinch a spot in the national championship game. PHOTO BY REAGAN LUNN