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Monday, February 3, 2020

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Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Senator Nina Turner and former Vice President Joe Biden campaign around Iowa the weekend before the caucus.

MAYA GOLDMAN Daily Staff Reporter

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — In the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucus, Democratic presidential candidates have crisscrossed the state. They’ve held rallies and town hall events and met voters in their own living rooms. They’ve mobilized voters to knock on doors. They’ve even sent surrogate supporters to energize voters in cities they can’t reach themselves. The Daily attended three rallies for three different candidates with significant support in Iowa in the weekend prior to the Iowa caucuses. Here’s what we saw. At Sanders caucus concert, young supporters “feel the Bern” More than 2,000 people gathered at the Horizons Event Center in suburban Des Moines, Iowa Friday night for the Bernie Sanders Caucus Concert, featuring popular indie folk band Bon Iver.

At the rally, a crowd of primarily young voters drank beer and ate burgers while standing facing a large stage. 22-year-old Allie Hoskins from Marion, Iowa, stood near the front of the crowd with a group of friends. She caucused for Sanders during her first election in 2016, and couldn’t wait to do it again on Monday. “It was just really fun and I’m excited for it again,” Hoskins said. “Hopefully I can instill that energy among my peers because we don’t do it as much as we should. Historically, we have the lowest turnout rates in the country, year after year, election after election. And this election is probably the most important for people our age.” Two Iowan folk bands kicked off the event, followed by speeches from documentary filmmaker and activist Michael Moore — a one-time University of Michigan student originally from Flint, Mich. — and Nina Turner, national co-chair of the Sanders campaign. Moore, who’s been campaigning in Iowa for

Sanders, spoke about the similarities he’s seen between Iowa and his fellow Midwestern home state of Michigan. “I’ve seen Flint, Michigan, all across this wonderful state. I’ve seen and talked to so many people who are struggling to get by or tired of the old way and want something new,” Moore said. “And it’s no surprise to me that Bernie Sanders, for the last three-for-two, has been polling number one here in the state of Iowa.” Sanders had planned on attending the rally himself, but was unable to leave Washington, D.C. in time after the Senate’s impeachment trials of President Donald Trump on Friday. In a phone call lasting about 10 minutes and broadcast through the event center’s speaker system, Sanders spoke to the crowd about several of his platform points, including reforming the criminal justice system, ending the war on drugs and banning assault weapons. “We will do exactly, in our campaign, the opposite of what Trump is trying to do. He is

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trying to divide the American people,” Sanders said, receiving loud cheers from audience members. “We are gonna bring our people together, Black and white and Latino, Asian American, Native American, gay and straight — we’re gonna bring our people together.” He underscored the importance of Monday’s caucus — seen throughout the world as an omen for which candidates will do well in the forthcoming primaries, and eventually, on a national stage. “On Monday night, the entire country and in fact the entire world will be looking at the great state of Iowa,” he said. “And my humble request from you is to do everything that you can to make sure that our friends and neighbors come out and vote.” Following Sanders’s speech, progressive Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal and Ilhan Omar, who have all endorsed Sanders as their pick for Democratic nominee, took the stage for a short panel discussion about their work in

their own communities. Later in the discussion, Jayapal brought up Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate, and crowd members began to boo at her mention. Panel moderator and Des Moines school board member Dionna Langford jumped in, saying, “We’re not going to boo, we’re classy here.” But Tlaib interjected: “No, no, I’ll boo … You all know I can’t be quiet. No, we’re going to boo. That’s all right, the haters will shut up on Monday when we win.” Tlaib has since apologized for her response on Twitter, writing the “movement deserve(d) better.” Following the panel discussion and a short speech from Jane Sanders, the senator’s wife, Justin Vernon, the Wisconsin-born front man of Bon Iver, took the stage for a solo acoustic set. “I was learning more and more about this caucus on Monday and it’s so important to get out the vote,” Vernon told

the crowd between songs. Enthusiastic Warren supporters admire campaign’s empathy A rally for Senator Elizabeth Warren at the Coe College Kohawk Arena in Cedar Rapids garnered about 700 supporters early Saturday afternoon. The enthusiastic crowd included one supporter, Mary Sullivan, who came dressed as the Statue of Liberty. “(Warren’s) got health, she’s got experience, she’s got humanity. She takes good ideas and gives credit to the people who came up with them. She sees the whole picture and the details of how to make it happen,” Sullivan said. Sullivan has been volunteering with the Warren campaign since this summer and will be a precinct captain for Warren on Monday. She said she felt a little burnt out the other day after so many door-knocking shifts, and was amazed when an organizer called her to check on her mental health. See CAUCUS, Page 2A

Virtual reality ‘Democracy live’: Nation watches tool exposes Iowans prepare for 2020’s first vote racism against Black people

Volunteers, community members share experiences of unique civic responsibility BEN ROSENFELD Daily News Editor

Project allows users to experience racist behavior through immersive scenarios ALICE TRACEY

Daily Staff Reporter

Your name is Michael Sterling and you are 6 years old. You are sitting cross-legged on the rug of your first-grade classroom, watching three white children play with colorful plastic blocks. One of the kids has built a wall, while the other two launch blocks — “fireballs,” in their childish fantasy — at the wall, trying to knock it over. Turning to you, the boy farthest to your right urges you to throw a fireball, one the color of your skin. “Yours would be the scariest because yours is black, and black is always the scariest,” he says. You reach down to pick up a block, then you toss it across the rug. The teacher, who is standing by a table to your left, immediately whips her head around and shouts your name. “Mike, look at me!” she snaps. “You’re being dangerous and you’re going to hurt someone.”

Michael Sterling is the central character of a virtual reality experience, 1000 Cut Journey, designed by Courtney Cogburn, University of Michigan alum and associate professor at the Columbia School of Social Work. Meant to foster awareness of the day-to-day racism faced by Black Americans, 1000 Cut Journey walks the user through three different scenes, allowing them to experience subtle and overt racism from Sterling’s perspective as a child, adolescent and adult. Cogburn discussed the project Friday afternoon at Rackham as part of the Center for Academic Innovation’s Winter 2020 XR Speaker Series, an initiative showcasing developments in the field of virtual reality. To kick off her talk, titled “XR: A Critical Analysis and Transdisciplinary

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Monday, February 3, 2020 — 3A

Destruction of Aztec Spaces and Identities DANIELA LUGO Senior MiC Creative Content Editor

In the summer semester of 2019, I took a Latin American and Caribbean Studies course about space and identity in Latin American history. For the final project, the class was given the opportunity to choose between writing a 12-page research paper or to create a piece of art in relation to any of the material we learned in the class. I decided to make a painting of an Aztec woman, crying tears of blood because of the destruction of the spaces that belonged to her people that began in 1515 CE by conquistadors. New Spain continued to send its people to Mesoamerica, where the Aztecs resided, to build churches on

top of the Aztec temples. The Aztecs were forced to convert to Christianity. Otherwise, they would get killed. Over the summer of 2018, I participated in a rally at Clark Park in which the residents of Southwest Detroit and surrounding areas came together to show support for those who had been detained by ICE. The rally consisted of members of the community talking about their relatives who had been detained or about their personal experiences. Our camping outside the detention center in Detroit delayed the deportation of detainees, so it was encouraged by the rally organizers. My painting, The Destruction of Aztec Spaces and Identities, similarly showcases the displacement of ethnic minorities.

Photo courtesy of Daniela Lugo

“American Brother” “Don’t Let Go” GABRIJELA SKOKO Senior MiC Editor

Sunday is my day for laundry. My self-care day. It sounds odd that throwing dryer sheets would be my healing space, but it is something I will always be able to do for and by myself. I find a certain peace in the lonesomeness. And a certain endless possibility within it. In this time, I can be whatever I want. This week, I chose to be a listener, and I sorted my clothes to Nikole HannahJones’ 1619 podcast. In the first episode, she talks about her childhood home. Its ragged form, and its constant need for reparation. Each f loorboard is cracked and door unhinged. Her father doesn’t mind, but what he would never let fall into disrepair, was the American f lag that f lew outside. Jones couldn’t make sense of her father’s pride in something that only ever denied him. My brother was stopped by a cop again. By that, I mean my brother was speeding in July when a Black cop pulled him over. The cop’s violent

“Her father doesn’t mind, but what he would never let fall into disrepair, was the American flag that flew outside. Jones couwldn’t make sense of her father’s pride in something that only ever denied him.”

screams piled spit on my brother’s shoulder like some sort of souvenir. Souvenir, in its native space, means to remember. Remember. You’re

lucky I got to you first. It’s the reason you are still alive. My brother was stopped again. By that, I mean that my brother Freddie Gray died in a police van while six Baltimore police, who committed the fatal injury, watched him sink. I mean that my unarmed brother Sam DuBose was shot on his motorcycle at a traffic stop in Cincinnati because the cop didn’t want to get run over. At a traffic stop. I mean that my brother Alton Sterling was pinned to the ground and killed for selling CDs on the street. I mean that they shot my brother Jamar Clark in the head in Minnesota once he had already been handcuffed. In the head in Minnesota. Like December 26, 1862. Like Abraham Lincoln hanging Thirty Eight Men in Mnisota* once their land had already been stolen. Handcuffed. Hanging. When I think of these 38 men, I think of Sandra Bland. Pulled over because she forgot to turn on her blinker. Arrested because of her attitude. Dead in her cell by that weekend. Hanging. Her family had just spoken to her before her death. She said she would not give this up. That she would not let them kill her too. And yet, there she hanged. I think about my brothers past, and of you, knowing that you probably don’t know their names. Like how up until last year, I had never heard of the Dakota 38, or of Mnisota. I think of how Lincoln was taught to me: the great abolitionist, the liberator of me. I think of what it means to be free. American. Honored. None of these feel like words I can associate with myself. American? Isn’t that something we created for other people? Land we build to be beaten on?

It never crosses my mind to tell people I am American. Like Nikole Hannah-Jones, I feel a sort of shame in claiming something that never wanted

“I think of how Lincoln was taught to me: the great abolitionist, the liberator of me. I think of what it means to be free. American. Honored. None of these feel like words I can associate with myself.”

to claim me. When people ask that convoluted question of what are you I tell them that I am Black and I am Serbian. I capitalize Black because I believe it is holy. It recognizes all sides of my Diaspora. It accepts the roots laid for me in Africa without ignoring my Jamaican soul. African American is a settler-colonial term. One that denies my ‘Americanness’ but does not want to understand my African. It straddles me in the Atlantic, stolen from one land to create another whose people deny me. Don’t see me. Or know me. I fold my dark laundry through 1619’s third episode, and as I throw my whites into the dryer, the third episode takes me to Wesley Morris’ kitchen, chopping tomatoes, and I feel I’m with him. His Pandora radio plays a genre called yacht rock, and as he listens to these white men, his voice lifts into awe for the homage their music pays to Black music. The body that lives within the music is like this land. Stolen. We can recognize the birth of America, but we can never

call a Black woman the mother. We can recognize the birth of American music, but we don’t ask why this is the only space where we can be American too. In the fourth episode, a man named June tells the story of how his bank stole his land from him in 2008. How they forged his signature and cut his loan prices in half so that they could evict him from his home. He talks about how that land was all he had. All his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had. I think about music. How it is all my ancestors had. How singing was what eased a day’s labor. How singing was the Black body’s freedom. Liberator. Protector.

“We can recognize the birth of American music, but we don’t ask why this is the only space where we can be American too.”

Not our president. Not our cops. Layli Long Soldier speaks on the 17-day ride held in memorial of the Dakota 38. She calls this a poem in its own right. I call Freddie Gray a poem. Sam DuBose a poem. Alton Sterling; poem. Jamar Clark; poem. Sandra Bland. Poetry. American. And I want to ask them if they would f ly their f lag or let it fall.

*The word Minnesota comes from mni, which means water; and sota, which means turbid. Mnisota is the original spelling of Minnesota

NOOR MOUGHNI MiC “Off the Record” Blogger

This past weekend, I played a game called “We’re Not Really Strangers.” For those who are unfamiliar, WNRS is a card game with various questions curated to help develop and strengthen relationships in your life. There are three levels to this game, each level consisting of a deck of cards with curated questions that you would not typically ask someone. These questions forced an inevitable vulnerability upon me, allowing me to reflect on parts of my life that I had grown away from and enabled me to empathize with people in my life on levels that were previously unavailable to me. Every question moved me, but of all the questions asked of me, there is one that I can’t seem to forget. The card read, “What is a dream you’ve let go of?” Before even fully grasping this question, memories of my childhood began to resurface. I reminisced about the wild careers I had dreamt of as a child and the extravagant futures I had envisioned for myself. Whether I was going to be a supermodel doctor or a zookeeping musician, my younger self placed no limits on the future. I dreamt freely — free from social expectations and constructs. As I grew older and developed a stronger grasp of “reality,” my dreams changed. I was taught that success meant having money and that there were a select number of careers that would guarantee my success. I was taught that women were only qualified for certain careers and that instead of following my dreams, I should find a career meant for me. I was taught that, as a person of color, I would face more obstacles

than my white counterparts, so I should take whatever route is easiest. These “limitations” shaped my mind in a way that hindered my ability to dream freely. I felt that a dream career was one that made money and was socially acceptable, but not necessarily one that I enjoyed. All throughout middle school and high school, I hated that my dreams were constructed by the minds of others and that I no longer had the liberty to create my future. Since coming to college, however, a lot of those restrictive beliefs have diminished. At the University of Michigan, I am surrounded by students with identities similar to my own who are still holding on to their childhood dreams instead of letting their “limitations” stop them. I have met people who want to start companies, run for office and perform in Broadway musicals. I have met people who run clothing brands, have interned at top companies and have raised thousands of dollars for charity. These people, along with countless others, have expanded my worldview and have reassured me that I can still become anything I want to be. I currently find myself at a point very similar to my childhood. Though my dreams have evolved from the zookeeping model-doctormusician of my childhood, they are still just as important. I am blessed to be somewhere I can still believe in my dreams, regardless of what the world has told me. I hope that anyone reading this is striving to make whatever dreams they have come true. I hope that you never lose sight of what you once wanted. And I hope that if you ever play WNRS and come across the dream question, you will be able to answer with confidence that you have not let

Opinion

4A — Monday, February 3, 2020

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SAM BURNSTEIN | OP-ED

The whitest state shouldn’t go first in the primaries

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ANIK JOSHI | COLUMN

How to make government work again

he government doesn’t way to uphold cooperation in any work anymore. arena, and the political one is no Politicians of all exception. Take government stripes decry the fact funding bills and that no one wants to other kinds of get anything done. appropriation bills as Representatives examples. Everyone and senators don’t wants their voice compromise because heard and is willing they have no incentive to say no to the bill. to do so. This was not Legislative riders always the case. (extra provisions Prior to 2011, attached to a bill there was something ANIK with little to do with known as legislative the original bill) earmarks. These JOSHI solved this problem were extra provisions politicians attached to bills that — people were far less likely directed the spending of federal to say no if their vote got them dollars to their state and/or something for their district. Even district. The reason for these if their district might disagree provisions was that they served for ideological reasons, coming as a way to whip votes for a home with federal dollars might certain legislative vehicle/text make a disagreeable vote a little — some representative would get bit more acceptable. some funding for their district and would then vote in favor of the bill. In 2011 the Republicans — who had just won the U.S. House of Representatives — and then-Speaker John Boehner decided to get rid of earmarks. The practice was and is seen as inviting corruption and enabling the special interest takeover of Congress, among other complaints. What has happened since Boehner abolished the process demonstrates that Once legislative earmarks were government with earmarks is far preferable to government banned, however, the incentive to cooperate disappeared to without. Gridlock has been a problem in an extent: If you’re not getting Congress since 2011 in a way that something you want, why with anyone? it wasn’t before. This is because compromise there are two main ways to get a Earmarks, or riders directing vote from a congressperson — a the spending of federal dollars, carrot and a stick. The earmark solved this prisoner’s dilemma — was the most common carrot. It they made cooperation attractive was a way to get congresspeople because people got something for cooperating to vote “yes” by giving them tangible a reason to cooperate even if — whether it be money for they and their district might be infrastructure, agriculture or opposed. The other way to get another need in their district. Earmarks, however, were votes is with sanction or threat of sanction — the stick. The problem not perfect. There were some with banning earmarks is that problems with the system that the most effective carrot was were slowly but surely addressed. taken away, and thus, the stick For example, prior to 2007, became the primary method of members did not need to publicly persuasion. The problem with disclose their requests. This was this is that a stick is a pretty poor reversed by the Democrats upon

Gridlock has been a problem in Congress since 2011 in a way that it wasn’t before.

taking the House in 2006. The reason for the reversal was that the old way could lead to illegal activities, such as bribery — and it did in the cases of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., and Jack Abramoff. The two served time in prison, and rather than do further work on fixing the earmark process, Congressional Republicans abolished the practice in 2011. That has led to a decade of gridlock. When President Donald Trump suggested the House consider bringing them back, reactions were mixed. Certain Republicans and conservative groups were opposed to the idea, citing complaints about crony capitalism. However, others were open to the idea as a way to get the government working again. The chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., has come out in support of a kind of earmarks along with ranking member Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Though Democratic views were also mixed, they tended to support the reestablishment of the process. It did not happen at the start of the 116th Congress, but the interest was clearly there from senior officials like House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., for bringing them back at some point in the future. Politics is a process and it takes time. However, the removal of appropriations broke the process in a way that has not been done before and consequently grounded the wheels of government to a halt. Getting those wheels turning again will take bipartisan agreement because there are not enough votes on either side to abolish the legislative filibuster. Earmarking is the best way to cultivate that agreement. Democrats (and Republicans) should lose no time in bringing back the practice. Anik Joshi can be reached at anikj@umich.edu.

CASEY RHEAULT | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT CRHEAULT@UMICH.EDU

hen I attended the Democratic presidential primary debate in Detroit in July 2019, I listened to Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee, deliver a rousing pre-show speech in which he praised the historically diverse field of candidates. But on Jan. 14, 2020 — less than six months after the Detroit debate — an all-white lineup of six candidates took the stage for the final time before the Iowa caucuses. The exit of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., from the race nearly two months ago was the straw that broke the donkey’s back in disrupting the Democratic Party’s “rainbow coalition.” According to senior staffer Kelly Mehlenbacher’s resignation letter, the Harris campaign was marred with issues of poor leadership and a crumbling strategy for victory. Her fate, however, was ultimately decided by her poor performance in Iowa, a state whose population is less than one percent of the U.S. total and 90 percent white. Billionaire and former Mayor of New York City Mike Bloomberg, on the other hand, has bought his spot on the debate stage and scammed his way to fourth place in the polls, despite joining the race just a little over two months ago. His strategy to win the nomination is unprecedented in modern primary politics. His campaign intends to skip

the first four nominating contests, held in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, and instead focus on making a splash on Super Tuesday, when 14 states hold their elections. The only way such a strategy could work is with astronomical spending on ads, and Bloomberg is going all in with more than $200 million spent to date.

The circumstances of the 2020 election have many pundits asking why Iowa is first. Members of the Democratic party must ask why a female senator of color was forced to prematurely terminate her campaign, while a white, male billionaire was able to buy his way into the race. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., another candidate of color who recently suspended his campaign, said it best: “There’s more billionaires in the 2020 race than there are Black people.” Harris’s exit makes a compelling case for primary election reform. The Iowa caucuses are the single most important event in the primary elections, hence

why campaigns spend tens of millions of dollars in the state to build a strong ground game and f lood the air waves with TV ads. Iowa is so important, in fact, that all but two winners of every Iowa caucus since 1976 have gone on to win the party’s nomination. The circumstances of the 2020 election have many pundits asking why Iowa is first. Low and behold, there is no real reason the small, Midwestern state is first, and in fact, the order of states in the primary calendar is arbitrary and left up to the states themselves. Analysis site FiveThirtyEight constructed a reordered Democratic primary calendar that emphasizes diversity and representativeness, and it places Illinois first. If Democrats are serious about not only creating, but maintaining, a more diverse field throughout their primary elections, then the order of states must be changed. On the top of nearly every Democrat’s mind in the upcoming elections is defeating President Trump, hence “electability” has been a topic of fierce debate. But without a fair primary calendar that ref lects the diversity of the Democratic party, we risk alienating millions of Americans. Sam Burnstein is a sophomore in the College of Literature, Science & the Arts and can be reached at samburn@umich.edu.

JESS D’AGOSTINO | COLUMN

The rise of the Gucci belt

n the wake of the University of Michigan’s first Winter term sorority recruitment, a picture has surfaced with a line of underclassmen girls all wearing Canada Goose jackets. Memes aside, this picture reflects a much bigger story that has affected college campuses around the country. Encountering groups of couture-wearing college students is becoming more and more common. Why is it that over the past few years millennials and Gen Zers have witnessed the rise of the Gucci belt? What does it mean that the haute couture clothing brands once sought after by working professionals are now commonplace for college students? I find it’s difficult to discuss this topic without making some concessions: I’m a proud owner of a Gucci belt. I will also concede that I do, in fact, feel as if I’m slowly inching closer to hell with each buckle around my waist. There’s nothing wrong with owning couture, unnecessary things. It’s OK to want them, to purchase them and to wear them. It’s the resulting attitude and increased self-worth that is not. I look at myself in the mirror that hangs on the back of my dorm room door before leaving for class every day. Often, it’s hard to look beyond the clothes I’m wearing and focus on me. Do I look happy? Do I look comfortable? I have pushed questions like these to the side in pursuit of a societal inclination to feel self-assured through what I’m wearing. What I want to explore is “why?” With social media at our fingertips, younger generations are left to strive for an Instagram-able life. We crave an aesthetic that will bring us likes and attention. This aesthetic is comprised of expensive, brand-name clothing, artificially tanned skin and airbrushed makeup. The rise of microcelebrities makes these lavish lifestyles much more attainable than the past celebrity culture of movie stars in Tinseltown. On a daily basis, social media users interact with content posted directly by Kylie Jenner and James Charles. We model their behavior, whether we are fans of them or not. It’s human nature to subliminally desire acceptance from our peers and our idols.

When a celebrity posts pictures with designer brands on every inch of their body, we applaud before checking our debit accounts wondering how much deeper we can go before PNC Bank comes to hunt us down. On the flip side, when Selena Gomez flaunts her DIY tie-dye shirt, the world simultaneously gasps. It’s as if celebrities are not allowed to be real people, and if they try to be, we deem them “down to earth” or “relatable.” The problem lies here: Why are fashion choices such a grand statement in the first place? Why do we continue to grow more fixated on the money you spend instead of the money you save, sustain or donate? Business Insider’s Jessica Tyler

It’s time to ignore the noise and genuinely wear what makes you feel good about yourself.

analyzed Gucci’s recent surge in success, noting that in the first half of 2018, nearly 55 percent of Gucci sales were made to consumers under 35 years old. Do we even like the Gucci logo? Do we like what it stands for? Do we like what it suggests about us or our wallets? Do we like that it reflects our ability to keep up with the chaotic culture we live, tweet and breathe in? Maybe it’s time to ignore the noise and genuinely wear what makes you feel good about yourself. I’m not suggesting we all dive headfirst into the #makeinstagramcasualagain movement, though I do think there is a lot to say about it. I am all for keeping up with trends, whether it be fashion or otherwise. It is curious, however, to analyze why Gucci, in particular, has skyrocketed in the past few years. Recently,

fashion has seen a resurgence in ’90s style. Gucci certainly has noticed this and capitalized on it, even headlining their campaign with the modern Mick Jagger, Harry Styles. When Gucci was originally founded in 1921, it was meant to appeal to the upper-class for horseback riding. Since its equestrian beginnings, Gucci became largely popular with glamorous people like Jackie Kennedy, and now is transitioning to appeal to the modern millennial audience. This means a heavy emphasis on pops of color, patterns and the signature looped “G” symbol. This all ties into the societal pressure to establish an Instagram aesthetic: Gucci has simply paid attention, done their homework and become the brand to beat. In writing this I’m walking a fine line between sounding like a hypocrite or a snob, but I don’t think there needs to be a Gucci-burning ceremony just yet. Instead, ensure that you’re wearing something because you want to and not because you feel you need to. Life is more than posts on Instagram, despite how hard it is to remove the lens of filters, friend requests and followers that fill our eyes even when our phones are out of sight. I love my Gucci belt, among other superfluous, unnecessary things. I acknowledge my ownership of these items, but it does not come close to comprising who I am. I am extremely grateful that I have access to couture products, but I’m unapologetically much more than the brands I choose to wear. I find that on a college campus as eclectic and elite as U-M, balance has to be a priority to avoid falling into a pit of needing to fit in. At the end of the day, we don’t need Gucci to be a member of Lil Pump’s “Gucci Gang,” nor do we need a (Canada) Goose to be part of the flock. We’re here and whatever clothing or accessories we choose to display do not have to be in accordance with the latest celebrity trend, though it’s certainly OK if they are. Jess D’Agostino can be reached at jessdag@umich.edu.

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Arts

Monday, February 3, 2020 — 5A

Two perspectives on Swift documentary ‘Americana’ SAMANTHA DELLA FERRA & SABRIYA IMAMI Daily Arts Writers

It would be dishonest to say that my decision to go to Sundance wasn’t at least mildly (okay, heavily) influenced by the fact that superstar Taylor Swift’s documentary, “Miss Americana,” would be screened at the festival before its Jan. 31 Netflix release. As the kickoff to the film festival, “Miss Americana” was one of the hottest tickets in Park City; its premiere saw lines wrapping around the block in the cold Utah winter, hundreds of people waiting for the chance to catch a glimpse of Swift and/or her movie. Many were fans, but as an introduction to the screening told us, you don’t have to be a fan of Swift to enjoy this movie. And, if you’re not a fan, this film is certain to make you one. This sentiment could not have rang more true — even before the lights came on, the theater was buzzing with admiration and excitement for this deeply personal and moving peek into the life of such a polarizing musician. “Miss Americana” opens on Swift playing the piano in her New York City apartment while her kitten, Benjamin, strolls across the keys. As the camera follows the adorable blue-eyed feline, Swift’s voice comes in, setting the stage for what evidently becomes the theme of the documentary. “My entire moral code is a need to be thought of as ‘good,’” she says while perched on a city-facing window sill. As a montage of home movies and early performances plays, Swift describes her desperate need for approval, how she used to need applause and validation to feel good about herself. All she ever tried to be

was the polite girl who smiled and made it easy to sell records, and it kept working. That is, of course, until it didn’t. The documentary takes a turn with the infamous 2009 incident, when Kanye West interrupted a teenage Taylor Swift onstage at the VMAs. Swift says that at the time she didn’t know everyone in the crowd was booing Kanye. She thought the arena was booing her, piercing her desperately needed veil of approval and shaping the way she viewed her life from then on. In a post-screening Q&A, documentary director Lana Wilson revealed that she and Swift had specifically talked about making sure the film didn’t come off as propaganda or marketing. This explains how deeply and surprisingly personal the documentary gets. Viewers see Swift talking about everything from her history with eating disorders to her mother’s growing cancer to the crushing loneliness of stardom. These moments, woven between scenes of a sparkling, smiling Swift on stage at her various tours, take what could’ve been just another pop star documentary and elevate it to a level rarely achieved by the genre. The most touching and talked about scene of the film comes when Swift decides she wants to come out in support of Phil Bredeson, the Tennessee Democrat who ran against Marcia Blackburn, a woman who Swift describes as “Trump in a wig,” in the 2018 midterm election. In a room with her mother, father and three men from her management team, Swift holds back tears describing what she feels are unforgivable views held by Blackburn. As her father and management beg her not speak out, she breaks down over

not publicly coming out against Trump in 2016, finally proclaiming that this is just “something I have to do.” There is some valid criticism to be made here. Swift’s activism is one of comfort, done with a glass of wine in an expensive home. But the framing of her political coming-out within the theme of the documentary squashes these concerns. Swift is less of a couch activist with a savior complex and more of a powerful woman finally breaking out of the ties that she has been bound by for fifteen years. From the beginning of the doc to the end, we see Swift no longer care about approval, applause and awards, but about what she wants and how she wants to do it. Within the film are plenty more moments and scenes that warrant their own article, but with a fastapproaching release date, such details are not necessary. The whispers heard while walking out of the film were of varied praise — from super fans crying over details they’ve always wanted, to old men who couldn’t name three Swift songs praising the rawness and charm of the flick. With its humor and heartbreak, “Miss Americana” is the story of a normal, outcasted teenage girl who just so happened to get famous. —Samantha Della Fara, Daily Arts Writer To quote my mom: “Taylor Swift is a smart girl.” And no, not in that calculated, strategic way that, as Swift herself explains, is negatively associated with women, but rather in a genuinely intelligent and informed way that proves she knows what she’s doing as a businesswoman, citizen, role model and human. Nothing demonstrates her intelligence more than Swift’s

MUSIC INTERVIEW

ANTI- RECORDS

‘If you need some help, you call Mavis’: An interview ARYA NAIDU

Daily Arts Writer

“I asked, ‘Dizzy, do you know anybody here in New York that could give me some voice training?’ He cursed me out. I can’t say what he told me, he told me off so good.” Yes, of course, Miss Mavis Staples — Freedom Rider, daughter of Pops Staples, the woman who was proposed to by Bob Dylan and never married him — was cursed out by famed jazz trumpeteer Dizzy Gillespie for asking about voice training. Of course. “He said, ‘You already got it! What the hell you talkin’ about? You don’t need no voice coach, you already got it. You leave it alone,’” her laugh bubbled through the phone. “I’m going to do like Dizzy said, ‘Leave it alone, let it be.‘” British mag New Musical Express declared in 2018 that “There is no sound on Earth more joyful than Mavis Staples singing, except maybe Mavis Staples laughing.” My God, how real that is. I have written and rewritten nonsense

phrases about how warm and full and true her laugh is, but nothing I write will ever do it justice.

Yes, of course, Miss Mavis Staples ... was cursed out by famed jazz trumpeteer for asking about voice training. Of course.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Staples in anticipation of her Feb. 15 performance at The

Breakfast at St. Andrews. This program was created in the ’80s to help combat the economic recession, and volunteers now serve nearly 150 meals daily. “Look at that! That‘s enough to keep anybody af loat,” she said of the Breakfast. “For you guys to be feeding the hungry, the less fortunate, every day since 1982, that‘s incredible. That is awesome. I’m coming over there and getting me a meal.” “I’ve lost my family,” she said, “but I haven’t lost them. I still talk to them — I still talk to Pops, and different things I see remind me of my sisters, and I have our music. I can hear their voices, I have videos, I watch the tapes, and I smile. So, I get along fine.” To live in the face of impossible grief, to trust yourself enough to not only carry on, but to create — I’ve never known faith that hard, that honest, that good. “My family, we started singing gospel songs, and that’s telling the truth,” she said. “Gospel is truth.” “There’s something happening here,” she dropped to Buffalo Springfield in her

FILM REVIEW

NETFLIX

recently released Netflix documentary “Miss Americana.” Director Lana Wilson (“The Departure”) uses the documentary as an opportunity to peel back the layers of Taylor Swift to see what she is really like beyond her catchy songs and exhilarating concerts; Swift reclaims the narrative of her life story in this documentary. In some incredibly touching scenes we see her interact with her family, and we get peeks into her studio where she and her collaborators work on the lyrical and musical processes behind her songs. “Miss Americana” is full of intense moments, like her decision to come out about her political beliefs and her mother’s cancer struggles, but those are evenly dispersed with happy moments too. Wilson carefully manages a then timeline and a now timeline, with the then moments being Swift’s struggles and the now moments being, naturally, her life now, where she is happier than she has been in a long time and more connected with what really matters to her. Wilson follows the timeline of Swift’s 13-year career: She inserts clips of Swift performing the national anthem as a child, the launch of her career with her song “Tim McGraw,” her numerous

heavy vibrato. “You know, and these lyrics, they were dynamite to us ... ‘There’s a man with a gun over there, telling me I’ve got to beware’ ... This is what we’re supposed to be doing, singing these songs.” Her voice is honey on tough toast, milk in morning coffee. She disrupts the delusion that resilient people can’t feel scared or soft or sad. They just have to know who they are. “My life is full,” she said. “I’ve been married, divorced, all that stuff. So, you know, I don’t want for nothing. I don’t crave for anything that I can’t have.” I asked about the 2018 Newport Folk Fest, where she sang “The Weight” with the likes of Marcus Mumford, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers. For context: People (plural) texted me “Are you OK??” after the performance surfaced online. ose ladies that you named,” she said, “Maggie, Brandi, Phoebe — they are the future. They’re coming strong, they’re coming strong.” “I love the young ladies that are coming along,” she continued. “They are so sincere in what they’re doing, and they’re good writers. They’re such good writers. This little girl, Kacey? Kacey Musgraves.” My gasp was almost shrill. “I love them to pieces.” We talked about Norah Jones and Joni Mitchell and The Highwomen. She’s self less without being self-righteous, honest but never mean. She told me about Madison Square Garden and her fitness center and at some point, I forgot I was talking to Mavis Staples and I asked her for advice. “You’re going to be great in whatever you do,” she said. “Just tell yourself that ... Believe in yourself and know that you are following the right trail, the trail that you want to follow.” I could have cried (I did). “Nobody else can tell you what you want to do, it’s up to you. And if you do that, if you believe — all things are possible if only you believe. All things are possible. So you carry on, and if you need some help, you call Mavis.”

awards beginning with the album Fearless and ending with pop music sensation 1989, and her struggle to be “a good girl.” But then we see something different: the sadness that once lurked deep beyond Swift’s surface, sadness that was never apparent on her face or in her speeches. We see how things like the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty affected her, how Kanye West’s song “Famous” hurt her, how paparazzi photos and media remarks led to an eating disorder and how her sexual assault case left her paranoid and eager to change how women are treated. Following those events, it makes sense that Swift would want to change herself, not just through her music with the release of reputation, but also personally and publicly as a political spokesperson. In one of the most hard-hitting scenes of the documentary, Swift fights against her management team and her father when she declares she wants to speak out during the 2018 midterm elections. She says she wants people to understand why Marsha Blackburn should not be in power, citing Blackburn’s lack of support for the Violence Against Women Act and Blackburn’s homophobic beliefs. Everyone begs her not to make such a risky

decision, but Swift says she has to “be on the right side of history,” or at least try. And she does. She risks her career, but more importantly her safety, to try to make a difference. It may not have turned out the way she hoped, but we saw her make an effort, which is more than many entertainers do. We also see the effect of the midterm election on Swift’s music. Last year she came out with the song “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince,” which is saturated with political metaphors and is also the song for which the documentary is named, but with this film she also releases clips of her creating a new song “Only the Young,” which was released with the documentary. The song, written for and about the youth affected by Trump and other Republicans’ detrimental political decisions , references school shootings among other horrific events. But, as Swift sings, “only one thing can save us / only the young.” Backed by children’s voices, the song emphasizes what Swift explains in her documentary: the need to take part in politics and create change in the world, through music, politics or otherwise. —Sabriya Imami, Daily Arts Writer

COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW

USO’s masterful shifts in feeling ZACHARY S. WAARALA Daily Arts Writer

University Symphony Orchestra recently hosted their first performance of 2020 at Hill Auditorium. Conducted by School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty Kenneth Kiesler and composed of University students, the group is an elegant portrayal of the musical talent of both the student body and the faculty who guide them. The first piece was George Gershwin’s incredibly lively “Cuban Overture.” Featuring drums and shakers uncharacteristic of a symphonic performance, its paced transitions between slow and fast playing mimicked a sense of day and night in an intriguing way. I felt as though I was being drawn onto the stage with the pushes and pulls of the music. I could have sworn that in the midst of “Cuban Overture,” I heard a hint of the melody of “Rhapsody in Blue,” another piece written by Gershwin. Perhaps this musical interlude was intentional, or, perhaps, I was just overzealous to hear my favorite Gershwin piece live for the first time. “A banjo?” I turned to some friends who had accompanied me to the event. They shared the same curiosity. The instrument is not typically part of the symphonic artillery, so we were eager to hear its place in “Rhapsody in Blue.” As it turned out, though, the banjo did not play a large role in the piece, and I was disappointed that USO had not implemented a banjo solo in their rendition of the historic piece. One of my favorite parts of “Rhapsody in Blue” is the piano. On piano for USO was none other than Logan Skelton, a pianist and composer with an expansive

resume including stints with the Manhattan School of Music and Missouri State University. Currently, Skelton is the Professor of Piano and Director of Doctoral Studies in Piano Performance here at the University of Michigan. As I learned during the performance, Skelton is a contributor to The George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition of “Concerto in F” and “Rhapsody in Blue,” and his expertise on the piece shined through during his performance. A dichotomy of strong and light was evident in his playing, mimicking the overall mood of pieces like “Rhapsody in Blue.” The final piece, “Symphonic Dances, op. 45,” written in 1940, was a set from one of my favorite composers, Sergei Rachmaninoff . This set featured dichotomous shifts throughout each featured piece from “op. 45,” with a defined blend of bass and treble, soft and harsh and hurried and relaxed. The USO performance was a night of dichotomies, featuring masterful shifts from slow to fast, day to night, bass to treble, soft to abrupt, tense to relaxed and strong to light. Though these can be explicitly written down in the sheet music, it can be very difficult to actually embody those shifts or those moods. Without a doubt, this was the best performance from any group at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance that I have attended, and much of that is due to the execution of those important shifts in feeling. I applaud Kiesler, Skelton and the USO for hitting the nail on the head with these complex pieces. USO’s next performance will be held on February 24th at Hill Auditorium.

The USO performance was a night of dichotomies from slow to fast, day to night

Arts

6A — Monday, February 3, 2020

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DAILY WORLD MUSIC COLUMN

ALBUM REVIEW

The timless charm of Italo Disco SAYAN GHOSH

Daily World Music Columnist

I can’t think of a better way to describe Italo Disco than Ishkur in his infamous book, “Guide to Electronic Music.” Considering this mysterious figure’s hatred for seemingly half the genres he writes about, he has effusive praise for Italo, describing it as “what happens when creativity, inspiration and raw ambition vastly exceed technical limitations.” Before getting into the specifics of how that description rings true, listen to this. Or this. This? Does any of this even seem real? Is it even possible to make music this … sincerely joyful yet also dumb and campy? It’s impossible to look away at the sheer absurdity. I suppose many people would label it (rightfully so?) as unbearably cheesy, the polar opposite of what anybody, anywhere would consider “cool.” Is this the depravity our generation is meant to rebel against? All questions to ponder. Note that all the descriptions above are not meant to broadly apply to the entire genre of disco itself, despite a multigenerational anathema stemming from the 1979 Disco Demolition Night in Chicago. For heaven’s sake, listen to this. There were tremendously gifted musicians making disco all over the world, incorporating technical skills with experimentation with the latest synths and drum machines. However, when America decided to collectively shun the entire genre in the ’80s, some creative Europeans bemoaned the lack of quality releases to play at clubs. Inspired by the

Giorgio Moroders and Patrick Crowleys of the world, as well as by a f lood of cheaper tech, they decided to carry its mantle themselves, production quality be damned. Their drums would sound incredibly tinny, they would abuse the ARP Odyssey synthesizer and they would sing in English like all their favorite artists from the genre’s birthplace (no matter how comfortable they were with the language). DJs at clubs

Is it even possible to make music this ... sincerely joyful yet also dumb and campy? It’s impossible to look away at the sheer absurdity.

in resort towns like Rimini in the northeast of Italy would spin the continuous deluge of new records to great acclaim to the dancers who appreciated the genre’s catchiness despite the lack of high musicianship or “sophistication.” One record label in particular decided to collect and distribute this burgeoning genre across the European mainland. Called ZYX Records

and based out of Germany, its founder Bernhard Mikuliski actually coined the term “italo.” In terms of spreading the infectiously catchy, yet amateurish sound of the multitudes of Italians making this type of music at the time, no label was more inf luential. A recurring theme I noticed while perusing the genre’s extensive catalogs and playlists is that for a lot of artists, it was quite difficult to find more than one or two truly listenable tracks. But it would be a disservice to label these tracks merely as “listenable” because they were still marvelous. It begs the question, who exactly were these people making Italo? Were they just amateurs who stumbled upon gold then eventually gave it all up to become doctors? Despite the vitriol, many held against the genre even during its peak, its glorious triumphs have had a lasting impact on the world of dance music. The genre evolved into genres like Hi-NRG, which continued the production of catchy, futuristic music with no shortage of camp. The early sounds of house and techno in the late 1980s and early 1990s took inspiration from the genre’s sounds, and more importantly, the ethos of just going out there and purchasing synths and drum machines to make innovative tunes. Surprisingly, the genre survives to this day, with enterprising DJs digging through its extensive back catalog as well as through labels like Johnny Jewel’s Italians Do It Better. No matter how critically panned it was during its heyday, there’s no denying that Italo helped change the culture surrounding dance music and pave the way for even more talented, inf luential musicians.

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For Kesha, the ‘High Road’ doesn’t mean weakness JOHN DECKER

Managing Arts Editor

Kesha Sebert came off of her third EP, Rainbow, gently. The 2017 release was a work that Sebert had spent nearly five years writing and recording, all while engaged in a legal struggle with her record producer — the now disgraced Dr. Luke — over sexual misconduct and emotional abuse. The album was finally released at just a time when the early-2010s sensual, bubblegum pop crowd was officially stepping back into the curtain, rescinding domination of the music industry to either newcomers or their few compatriots who had evolved enough to fit the day. On Rainbow, Kesha best engaged the latter action, pointedly changing her tone and style, though less out of necessity than some of her colleagues. Rainbow emerged as a soft-pop triumph, with the dial ratcheted toward a country ambiance and toward a raw, open vulnerability that somehow — party girls have emotions, too? — shocked critics. “I used to live in the darkness,” Kesha sings on the album’s eponymous track. “Dress in black, act so heartless. But now / I

see the colors are everything.” Cognizant of her fans and of the tonal shift she applied in 2017, then, Sebert branded her new EP, High Road, as a return to the wild, carefree strength of her first album. The lead single, “Raising Hell,” recalled the heavy production and bass of earlier albums. It re-rehearsed the “fuck it” attitude that framed Kesha for success in the first place. Kesha sampled champagne in magazine interviews

High Road Kesha RCA Records,

and brought back her hair dye. In November, she said that it was the album where “Kesha got her balls back.” On the first listen, too, it feels this way. She’s back, the album shouts. It’s ferocious. “I’m getting so drunk / Haven’t seen my boyfriend in a few months / Oh, don’t know if it’s weed or if it’s a skunk,” Kesha sings on “Tonight.” Even her voice, it seems,

has returned to its low, brooding rap-growl so indicative of her early work. The electropop has dulled, but the relentless bass and rhythm typical of radio pop is as strong as ever. It’s dirty, ungovernable and most of all, fun. The problem with Sebert’s assessment of the album — “Kesha got her balls back” — is that Kesha never lost them to begin with. Sure, Rainbow was a shift in genre, turning slowly to low-fi pop and guitar-laden tracks. But the vulnerability and authentic dialogue that Rainbow opened up — on emotional abuse, selfhealing and forgiveness — were not symptoms of weakness. If anything, they were testaments to Kesha’s resilience. They exemplified her balls-to-the-wall gallantry that enabled her to face her abuser when the system left her behind, and what allowed her to, largely before music and politics were as wedded as they are today, speak out on contentious social issues. The notion that a definite dichotomy exists between the sex-positive, alcohol-glugging party girl and the forgiving, lovestruck one that emerged in Sebert’s later career is asinine. The two are not mutually exclusive.

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MICHIGAN TOPS RUTGERS, 69-63, BEHIND CAREER-HIGH 20 FROM JOHNS ABBY SNYDER Daily Sports Writer NEW YORK – Brandon Johns Jr. is a somewhat unlikely hero for this Michigan team. On a team that has junior Isaiah Livers at his position, that was always going to be the case, at least until Livers graduated. But Livers was sidelined with a hip injury at the end of December, and he re-aggravated it last week against Illinois. And so, all of a sudden, Johns was off the bench and in the starting lineup every game, and with that, responsible for putting up numbers comparable to Livers’ 13-plus points and four rebounds per game. It was a bit of an adjustment, to say the least. But a month into Johns’ time with the starters, it’s becoming clear that the sophomore forward is more than up to the task. Johns

put up 16 points at Nebraska on Tuesday, and 20 against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday in a 69-63 win, each a new career high. It’s the first time in his career that he’s put up double digits in consecutive games. “I can feel my confidence going up, but I also want to keep a steady head,” Johns said. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. But I also don’t want to go back to where I was earlier, so I think if I’m just staying nice and stable, I’ll be good from here.” He’s creating opportunities for others, too, much in the way that Livers often did. Johns has totaled 29 rebounds over the last five games, 17 of them on defense. He has five assists over the same stretch. Saturday’s contest against the Scarlet Knights was a case study in how far Johns has come. In addition to his 20 points – a career high – Johns had seven rebounds and

threw down a dunk to the delight of the Michigan fans in the crowd. He played all but two minutes of the game. His growth isn’t lost on his teammates, either; if anything,

I’m just so proud of Brandon. He works hard. Every day in practice, he’s locked in.

they’ve been witnesses as it’s come together since long before it was plastered across national television for the world to see.

“I’ve seen so much growth from him,” senior center Jon Teske said. “It’s hard work, coming into practices every day, putting forth effort. We trust him out there. Brandon knows his role. He’s coming in and he’s doing a tremendous job for us, bringing that energy, scoring, getting rebounds. But I’ve seen that every day in practice, how he brings the energy, the same energy that you guys saw today.” Added senior point guard Zavier Simpson: “I’m just so proud of Brandon. He works hard. Every day in practice, he’s locked in. Before the game, he’s sitting down with coach Howard watching film. It’s the small things like that I feel like come into play. He’s been in the gym lately, he’s been asking question in practices, asking questions from older players, things he can improve more, and at the end of the day, just small things like that add up, and I’m so proud of Brandon. His hard work is finally paying off.”

Michigan coach Juwan Howard has preached confidence to his players all season, and Johns in particular. And now, with no clear timeline on Livers’ return – he wore a suit and tie to Saturday’s game – Michigan is enjoying the fruits of that labor when it needs it most. “This is something that’s happened all season long,” Howard said. “Game by game – this is not just for today. Brandon’s been playing great for us all year. A lot of things that he’s been doing for this team, helping us win, things that doesn’t show up on the box score. So what happened today is he got off to a great start, finished the game with 20 points. But points is not what shows up -- winning, that’s effort. It’s attention to detail.” So, is this Brandon Johns’ renaissance? Unlikely, maybe. At least for this season. But it’s been a long time coming.

SportsMonday

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February 3, 2020 — 2B

‘M’ tops Rutgers

Simpson returns with 10

DANIEL DASH

Daily Sports Writer

NEW YORK — In the seven seasons leading up to Saturday, Madison Square Garden has become a home away from home for the Michigan men’s basketball team. The last time the Wolverines walked off the floor, it was with the 2018 Big Ten Tournament title in hand. Prior to that, they scored wins over Marquette and Southern Methodist at the 2K Classic in 2016. Overall, Michigan entered Saturday riding a nine-game winning streak in New York since 2012. And against No. 25 Rutgers (16-6 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) on Saturday, the Wolverines extended the streak to double-digits with a 69-63 win. There wasn’t a trophy on the line this time, but the magnitude of securing a ranked win in an ubercompetitive Big Ten could shake out to be an important inflection point. After a rocky start that saw the Scarlet Knights score 12 of the game’s first 19 points, Michigan (13-8, 4-6) found its footing on defense. The Wolverines tightened their interior presence, forcing Rutgers into a five-minute scoring drought as it missed 13 of its next 15 shots. On the opposite end of the floor, sophomore forward Brandon Johns Jr. — who entered the game shooting 29 percent from beyond the arc — made three of his first four 3-point attempts. Freshman wing Franz Wagner and junior guard Eli Brooks also buried threes, propelling Michigan to a 20-5 run. The most vicious punch, though, came midway through the run. As senior point guard Zavier Simpson peeled off a double screen at the top of the key, he whipped a bounce pass between the Scarlet Knights’ double-team. He threaded the needle as well as possible, as he’s done so many times before. The ball found the waiting hands of senior center Jon Teske, who used his six-inch height advantage to throw down a thunderous one-handed flush over Rutgers guard Caleb McConnell. A few minutes later, Johns tipped in a missed free throw at the halftime buzzer, giving Michigan a three-point lead going into the break. It also gave Johns his 14th and 15th points of the opening half, capping off his best half of college basketball to date. Behind his 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, the Wolverines were able to weather the 10 offensive rebounds and seven secondchance points they allowed. That rebounding gap, however, kept the halftime lead from ballooning. “(Rutgers) is an excellent offensive rebounding team,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. … “They’re going to attack the glass because they’re long, they’re athletic and they’re quick. They also have two bigs — particularly (Myles) Johnson — who’s super long, and he goes to the glass to clean up everything.” When Michigan needed a second-half spark, it once again turned to Johns, who answered the call with a two-handed dunk and a corner three to extend the lead to eight. Howard has been clear in his desire to breathe confidence into Johns since the summer. With junior forward Isaiah Livers injured once again, his role now becomes even more pivotal. The trajectory of Johns’ steady seasonlong climb reached yet another climax on Saturday, when he led all scorers with 20 points. “This is something that’s happened all season long,” Howard said. “Game by game — this is not just for today. Brandon’s been playing great for us all year. … But points is not what shows up — winning, that’s effort. It’s attention to detail. Being there defensively, being able to guard above the 4, being a rim protector at the basket.” Johns’ teammates took the reins from there, as Wagner and Teske each scored a pair of baskets as Michigan built a 14-point edge. Simpson found himself at the center of the run, racking up 10 assists in his first game back from suspension. Missing a game for the first time in his career put Simpson in an odd predicament. As the face of the program, he’s usually the one supporting his teammates, but this week, the roles were reversed. “It’s pretty much that (the team) had my back (with) positive feedback,” Simpson said. “Stuff that not just teammates, that a brotherhood does. At the same time, that’s what makes us. I feel like we’re a brotherhood.” The Wolverines forced misses down the stretch, but struggled to keep Rutgers off the offensive glass. The Scarlet Knights outscored Michigan by 19 in secondchance points, but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback. It was enough, however, to put the Wolverines in a spot similar to where they found themselves against Illinois and Oregon — two narrow losses from earlier this season. This time, Michigan held on. And, with it, Howard was finally able to let out a sigh.

CONNOR BRENNAN Daily Sports Writer

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

The Michigan basketball team notched a Quadrant 1 win on Saturday, beating Rutgers, 69-63, at Madison Square Garden.

out of a rut

Michigan shows blueprint for turnaround

EW YORK — If this is what a turning point looks like, Michigan will take it. Last week was ugly. It brought an urgency that should never have been required for two mid-winter games. It started with a bomb that, in the moment, seemed as if it could be a final blow for Juwan Howard’s first season in charge. It ended with an escape, a buzzer soundETHAN ing and a palpaSEARS ble exhortation of relief. For how last week felt on Monday afternoon, when news of Zavier Simpson’s suspension came down and the Wolverines were suddenly staring down a must-win game at a listless Nebraska without two of their best players, they couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. Michigan survived in Lincoln, stringing together minutes from walk-on C.J. Baird and sophomore wing Adrien Nunez, getting by when a loss would have put a serious dent in its NCAA Tournament hopes. With Simpson back Saturday against Rutgers, Michigan again scraped by, behind a 20-point performance from Brandon Johns Jr., some pick-and-roll mastery from Simpson and by making the late free throws it missed against Illinois. It put the seven days prior in a new light, because it’s easier to press on the gas when the speed bumps are in the rearview mirror. Simpson’s suspension now looks more like a speed bump than anything lasting. On Saturday, Johns looked like someone at the developmental endpoint of getting tossed into the fire. Michigan shot 9-of-19 from 3-point range and got production from all five of its starters. If the Wolverines are going to survive the next month, it will look something like that.

Afterward, conversation focused on Simpson’s return and Johns’ breakout. The bigger picture — Michigan finally starting to get out of a hole it spent most of January digging — wasn’t mentioned. But its shadow draped across everything. “Brandon’s been playing great for us all year,” Howard said. “A lot of the things that he’s been doing for his team to help us win is things that doesn’t really show up in the box score. “So what happened today is, he got off to a great start. Finished with 20 points, but the points is not where it shows up. It’s effort,

It’s effort, it’s attention to detail, being able to, defensively, to guard 1 through 4. it’s attention to detail, being able, defensively, to guard ‘1’ through ‘4.’ Being able to rim protect at the basket.” Howard has spent much of the year insisting that Johns does more than his statistical output. Saturday — when Johns scored double digits for the second consecutive game, looked confident with the ball in his hands and played a central role in Michigan’s best win this year — was the first time that felt evident to the plain eye. If one good thing could come out of Isaiah Livers’ extended absence, it would be Johns playing like this. “I’m just so, so proud of Brandon,” Simpson said. “He’s a guy who’s been through a lot since his freshman season. Come in this season with a new coach, new offense and a lot of different things but

he managed to keep his head up. He’s worked hard every single day in practice, he gives it his all, he’s locked in. Before the game, he’s sitting down with coach Howard, watching film. It’s the small things like that I feel like come into play. I felt like his hard work is definitely paying off.” A few minutes afterward, Simpson was cordoned off by a spokesperson in a room behind the tunnel leading to the court, answering questions about his suspension for the first time. He didn’t go into much detail but spoke with a leader’s voice. “Yes, I spoke with my teammates,” he said at one point. “That’s what a captain should do, right?” His leadership is as defining to this Michigan team as anything else. Reacting to the last week of events in the right way — the way he did Saturday, a way that makes his teammates have his back the way he said they did — is vital. This iteration of the Wolverines is not as talented as last year’s, which spent half of the season blowing teams out of the water. It isn’t molding an identity made for March, like two years ago, when Simpson’s persona melded into focus over the course of Big Ten play. Right now, it’s doing just enough to survive in a stacked Big Ten, to bridge the gap between the last year of the John Beilein era and the first recruiting class of the Juwan Howard era. If Michigan gets over that gap with an NCAA Tournament appearance (or with any success in the tournament itself ), it’ll be thanks to Simpson’s leadership, to a potential Johns breakout and to games like Saturday’s. It won’t be pretty or loud — that’s not the style of this group. It’ll scrap and claw, and in the end, it’ll do just enough. If nothing else, the past week proved that. Sears can be reached at searseth@ umich.edu or on Twitter @ethan_sears.

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Senior guard Zavier Simpson returned from a one-game suspension on Saturday against Rutgers, scoring nine points with 10 assists.

NEW YORK — Zavier Simpson was back, doing Zavier Simpson things. When Jon Teske set a screen for the senior point guard on the left wing, Rutgers big man Miles Johnson hedged a little too hard. Simpson was one step ahead, evading the attempted hindrance with relative ease before delivering a bounce pass to Teske rolling along the baseline. Without a Scarlet Knight in his vicinity, the senior center rocked the rim to extend Michigan’s lead to 12 points midway through the second half of its 69-63 win over No. 25 Rutgers at Madison Square Garden. The game marked Simpson’s return to action following a suspension for violating team policy. He served that suspension Tuesday, when the Wolverines played — and beat — Nebraska away from home. On Friday afternoon, the program sent a press release announcing Simpson would play Saturday. Asked about the circumstances surrounding the suspension and his reinstatement, Simpson declined to give details. “At the end of the day, you learn from your lessons because you gotta move forward,” Simpson said. “It’s not about what happens, it’s about how you react from it. Just gotta reflect on things, move forward and try to get out here and get a dub, which we did.” In his return, Simpson looked like his usual self. Despite only scoring nine points on 1-of-5 shooting, Simpson proved once again to be the straw that stirs Michigan’s drink. He finished with ten assists — the Scarlet Knights had six assists total — four rebounds and three steals against scrappy defenders like Jacob Young and Montez Mathis. Whether it was a pinpoint pass to Teske in the paint or a drive and dish to freshman forward Franz Wagner on the perimeter, Simpson got his teammates involved all afternoon. “I wanted to come out here, make smart plays, play as hard as I can and play as smart as I can,” Simpson said. “At the end of the day, I just want to give it all to my teammates, making sure I’m working hard and finding them. Rutgers had a great defense so the key was finding the open man.”

At the end of the day, I just want to give it all. Along with his 10 assists though, Simpson committed six turnovers. In the second half alone, he had five — giving the Scarlet Knights a route back into the game. He would ultimately redeem himself. With Michigan harboring a narrow advantage down the stretch and his teammates getting sped up offensively in the back and forth action, Simpson slowed things down, making sure the Wolverines got the best look possible. Down by three, with 24 seconds remaining, Rutgers fouled Simpson off the inbounds play. Amidst chants and taunts raining down on him from the Scarlet Knights’ faithful and the pressure of closing out the game resting squarely on his shoulders, Simpson sank both from the foul line to give Michigan a fivepoint edge. A possession later, following a pull-up three from Rutgers’ Geo Baker, Simpson was hacked again. Though he missed the back end of the one-and-one, restoring a three-point advantage proved crucial in holding off the Scarlet Knights. “It was great that our guys stepped up there and knocked down some shots we needed to knock down,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “It was mental stability on all levels. When teams are making runs, staying poised, and then keeping that mental stability we all talk about as a group.” Added Simpson: “When I go to the free-throw line, I just try to stay locked in. At the end of the day, it’s just like Kobe (Bryant) said, ‘Next shot, next free throw, next play’ — whatever it is. When I go to the free-throw line I just try to think about Kawhi Leonard. When he goes to the freethrow line he just looks so focused and doesn’t let anything bother him. So I just try to have a Kawhi Leonard mentality.” Simpson’s performance was far from spectacular, but it got the job done and it signified a return to normalcy for a Michigan team desperate for consistency. Regardless of the stage and the circumstances, Simpson seems to always give them that.

SportsMonday

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

February 3, 2020 — 3B

How Beecher and Van Wyhe’s ejections changed the game in ‘M’ loss TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

Johnny Beecher had a foot off the ice and into the tunnel leading to the locker room. The freshman forward had just been thrown out of the game for headbutting another player in a scuffle. When he got fully off the ice, he turned to the referee right as the he was closing the door behind him and launched into his tirade. What he shouted couldn’t be heard floors above the ice, or even rows away from his tantrum. But the nearest fans inches to him caught one word — “bullshit,” they recalled him saying. And then, as he stormed through the tunnel and out of sight, a sound no one could miss rang around Yost Ice Arena. A crack of a stick, being slammed against something hard. He was angry, and he wanted everyone to know. And there was a reason for it. It was a close game, and his absence would make a difference. He is currently tied for third on the team for point total with 12 and takes part in all phases of the game: power play, penalty kill and even strength. He manned Michigan’s most productive line pointwise, which included senior forward and captain Will Lockwood. And instead of being on the ice, he was in the locker room — sitting and waiting for the remainder of the game to unravel. Afterwords, as the rest of the team trickled in after a tiring 4-1 loss to the Buckeyes, he came up to Lockwood and tried to apologize. But Lockwood shut him down quickly. “I said, ‘There’s no reason to apologize, emotions get the best of you,’ ” Lockwood explained. “He was just coming in, trying to defend me. “As a linemate, that’s all you can ask from a guy, so there’s no

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily

Freshman forward Johnny Beecher got thrown out of Saturday’s game after headbutting another player, leading to a 4-1 Michigan loss to Ohio State.

apology needed there.” The comforting came from heart; Lockwood knew all too well the sinking feeling of a costly ejection against Ohio State. He had done the same just last year — he let Beecher know that too. But the difference there was that Lockwood was thrown out in the midst of a double-overtime period, which concluded shortly afterwards. Beecher’s ejection came just over two minutes into the second period, leaving a lot of the game left to be played short staffed. And that problem was only magnified after Michael Pastujov obtained an upper

body injury midway through the second period. But the final nail in the coffin came with four minutes left in the second period. Sophomore forward Garrett Van Wyhe collided against an Ohio State skater and raised his two balled-up fists to the skater’s helmet. He, subsequently, was thrown out as well. “We lost three forwards,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said. “So we were down to 10 forwards in the game, and those guys had a lot of ice time.” The effects of the ejections couldn’t be seen right away. In fact, following Beecher’s

He was just coming in, trying to defend me.

ejection, the Wolverines killed off the Buckeyes’ man-advantage and scored a goal of their own to make it 2-1. But when Van Wyhe was called for a game misconduct, cracks in Michigan’s forward depth started to show. The Wolverines were already forced to kill off ten minutes worth of penalties from those ejections, but to make matters worse, arguably Michigan’s best penalty killer in Van Wyhe was scaling the stairs to the locker room, as the Wolverines were forced to fend off another five-minute mandisadvantage. The irony of it all is that the

fact that Michigan could only send four players to the ice during that time might have prevented an earlier collapse. But the collapse did come. Each line plays a shift that usually lasts one or two minutes. Once that threshold hits they take the next opening for a line change. But after killing two fiveminute majors where each unit had two or more minutes of ice time, the forwards started to get run to the ground. Production aside, that’s where losing Beecher and Van Wyhe hurt the most. The makeshift lines started to see overlap, where a few of the skaters had

It’s like letting the air out of the balloon.

back-to-back shifts or would go back out with little rest in between. But there really was no other choice. There were only 10 forwards. And halfway through the third period, Pearson started to recognize the fatigue. The extra shifts began taking their toll. “I thought we had some good push there,” Pearson said. “And then about halfway through, we just hit the wall. “And then when they scored, it just, it’s like letting the air out of the balloon.” It was the final period in the second night of a back-to-back, and the exhaustion was starting to show, even if the players didn’t notice. Adrenaline was keeping them going, physically and mentally. But Pearson noticed, as did the Buckeyes, who took advantage of the fatigue to widen the gap. It wasn’t solely exhaustion that crashed the parade, either. Line combinations also played a part. “Centers kinda hold the line together,” Lockwood said. And the Wolverines had lost two of their best. So Pearson had to piece together provisional lines, putting at least two forwards who have skated together before on a line and hoped the chemistry and fit was there. “You just went on a hunch,” Pearson said. “Just trying to create some good defense but at the same time, some guys who can work together and create some opportunities.” The lines that were put out did create chances, outshooting Ohio State 11-7 in the third period. But the challenge of being under-manned was too much to overcome. There was no next man up, with two men out. “It’s physical,” Pearson said. “It was draining on those players.” And that’s just how ejections go.

Michigan splits series after 4-1 loss Fall ball gives Wolverines No. 17 rank MOLLY SHEA

Daily Sports Writer

When the second period started, the game was still within Michigan’s reach. It was trailing No. 11 Ohio State by two goals, but this wasn’t unchartered territory. The Wolverines had found themselves in positions like this all season, and lately it seemed they’d finally learned how to overcome adversities thrown at them. This time, however, the Wolverines couldn’t recover from a two-goal deficit and mental and emotional mistakes. It was all too much for Michigan (11-12-3 overall, 6-8-2-1 Big Ten) to overcome as it fell, 4-1, to the Buckeyes (169-3, 9-7-2-0). Saturday night, the first of those adversities came just 43 seconds after the game started. The sequence started when freshman forward Johnny Beecher lost the faceoff. From there, the puck slid back to the blueline and met the stick of a Buckeye defender. He passed it to teammate Matt Miller who didn’t hesitate to shoot at sophomore goaltender Strauss Mann. But Mann — the player that’s consistently bailed his team out all season long — didn’t stop it. The puck went right past him. Before Michigan could even settle into the game, it was already playing from behind. “It’s tough letting in a goal in the first or last minute of the period,” senior forward Nick Pastujov said. “On the bench, it’s just kind of something where you gotta have shortterm memory loss. Reset and know that … we are outplaying playing them. We can be a better team, and we just gotta keep that rolling.” Eventually, the Wolverines found an answer for Miller’s goal. Their response was too late though. It came midway through the second period when junior forward Jack Becker used his body to redirect a shot from sophomore Jimmy Lambert.

Becker’s goal made the game 2-1, his team having fallen behind by two goals in the first period. Nine minutes after Miller’s goal, teammate Jaedon Leslie beat Mann between his pads. Michigan’s lone goal of the game came at what could’ve been a turning point. Seven minutes before cutting the Buckeyes’ lead, the Wolverines lost a forward. Freshman Johnny Beecher was ejected from the game for head-butting. As the game progressed, Becker’s spark never became anything more than that. Just under fourteen minutes after Beecher was tossed from the game, sophomore forward Garrett Van Wyhe received a game misconduct for charging. Down two centers, Michigan’s chances at a comeback slipped further out of reach. The bench got even shorter when junior forward Michael Pastujov didn’t return to play after suffering an upper body injury. “It’s tough,” senior forward Will Lockwood said. “Guys gotta step up. Centers kind of hold the line together. They’re taking draws and (have) responsibility in the d-zone.” When the third period started, the true effects of these adversities hadn’t revealed themselves yet. Wolverine forwards were being double shifted. Their adrenaline, and Ohio State’s one goal lead, fueled them. Halfway through the third, Michigan’s tiredness was

obvious. And when a team is tired, it makes mistakes. Saturday night, these mistakes resulted in the Wolverines’ comeback hopes crumpling. In the offensive zone, sophomore defenseman Jack Summers skated with the puck. He was pressured by Buckeye defender Quinn Preston, who poke checked Summers. Then, Preston took off on a two-onone with freshman Keaton Pehrson as Michigan’s lone man back. Preston slid the puck to Austin Pooley, and he tucked it between the two pads of Mann. “Just a bad mistake and turnover,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said. “It ends up in our net. We just couldn’t get that save or bounce that we needed.” Again, the Wolverines trailed by two, but now, time was running out for a comeback. In a last ditch attempt to give his team a boost, Pearson pulled Mann and added an extra attacker. Nothing good came from it. With fifty seconds remaining, Preston shot the puck into Michigan’s empty net and sealed the fate of the game. A game that at one point was completely within the Wolverines’ reach had slipped so far away. They made too many mistakes — some driven by emotions and some by fatigue — and Ohio State capitalized on all of them. “We beat ourselves, that’s the most disappointing thing,” Pearson said. “ … (We played) undisciplined.”

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily

Sophomore forward Garrett Van Wyhe got thrown out for charging on Saturday.

ABBIE TELGENHOF Daily Sports Writer

Take the highs with the lows. It’s something the Michigan softball team has come to live by. With a rocky start to last season and an early loss in the Regional round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines are not without their rollercoaster moments. Before Michigan’s fall break trip to Cuba and ax-throwing outing was its short stint in fallball. Without their annual trip to the Traverse City College Tournament in September, the Wolverines only played in two fall series. The first was against Kentucky, who Michigan most recently played in 2017, when the Wildcats swept the Wolverines over three games at Alumni Field. This fall, in an offensive struggle, Michigan’s younger talent failed to capitalize on its opportunities. With a combined six runs over three games, the gap in its line-up was evident after the graduation of six seniors last season. “I think we struggled a little bit to just find out bats, find out (who was) pitching, you know just find ourselves as a team,” junior left-hander Meghan Beaubien said. “We graduated a lot of people and starting the year together, I think we learned a lot from those games.” In their annual matchup with Michigan State, the Wolverines’ young line-up was also exposed. Going 1-1 on the weekend, Michigan couldn’t generate the power necessary to get over the hump. “Those were the things the team needed in order to grow,” senior infielder Madison Uden said. “We needed those experiences in the fall, we needed those rollercoaster moments. And although the games didn’t turn out the way we wanted them to, the team as a whole is developed where we need them to be right now,

ALEC COHEN/Daily

The Michigan softball team was ranked 17th by the USA Today poll.

ready for the season.” But through it all, Michigan is unconcerned with its fall performance. Since fall-ball games don’t yield meaningful stats, the rollercoaster moments the Wolverines faced this fall left the coaches with perhaps something more important — a benchmark showing places for improvement. “Fall ball is meaningless,” Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. “As a coach, you can set your compass, and you can gauge what you need to get better at. And my book was full, so we’re still working through those pages. There’s a lot to get better at for our team.” Another benchmark the Wolverines are looking to improve upon is their USA Today preseason ranking — No. 17. “I think it’s motivational,” Uden said. “I think it’s not where the seniors want to be, it’s not where Michigan softball wants to be, and there’s a higher standard to that ranking and so I think that it’s a little bit hard on the tongue. I think that we have a lot to prove this year.” Added Beaubien: “The standard for this program is to

be in Oklahoma City and it is to be a national contender. We’re definitely aware that that’s not where we’ve been the past few years. We don’t think that’s acceptable.” Despite their No. 17 ranking and less than stellar fall performance, the Wolverines are unconcerned. Michigan is looking forward, not back. It’s using the rollercoaster moments from the fall to propel it. “We’re all on one heartbeat, one page,” sophomore right-hander Alex Storako said. “We’re all really connected with each other, I don’t really think rankings mean anything as much as others’opinions, so I think just once we’re all on the same page and one heartbeat it’s really kind of what makes the best part of the chemistry.” Michigan will have the chance to prove itself and dispel the No. 17 ranking, as it plays multiple ranked opponents in the nonconference season. These include No. 1 Washington, No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Texas and No. 7 Florida. Michigan’s response to the highs and the lows of that gauntlet could determine the rest of their season.

I think it’s not where the seniors want to be.

SportsMonday

4B — February 3, 2020

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

HOUSE OF NAZ

MICHIGAN BEATS IOWA, 78-63, BEHIND HILLMON’S 30 POINTS

Dominick Sokotoff / Daily

Design by Jack Silberman

Michigan holds off Iowa, wins 78-63 Hillmon’s 30 points lead Wolverines JACK KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan women’s basketball team was in a dangerous spot. After the Wolverines (14-7 overall, 5-5 Big Ten) shot 75 percent from the floor in the first quarter and led by as much as 12, poor second quarter shooting allowed No. 18 Iowa (18-4, 9-2) to cut the lead to six with five minutes left in the first half. Sophomore forward Naz Hillmon was the only Michigan player to make a shot in the quarter — scoring all six of the team’s second quarter points to that point. With just under four minutes left in the half, freshman guard Michelle Sidor checked in. Sidor hadn’t scored since a Jan. 12 loss to Maryland and had played sparingly since then. But on her first offensive possession, junior forward Hailey Brown faced a double team in the paint and kicked it out to Sidor, who drained an open 3-pointer. Two possessions later, she made another one, and the Wolverines’ lead was back up to 13. They took a 12-point lead into halftime, en route to a 78-63 victory. “Michelle Sidor comes in and makes two big threes for us, that just changed the landscape of how they were able to defend us and opened up the floor for us,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “(She) might not have a ton of numbers in the box score, but I thought (her) play was really, really special.”

Following an under-.500 month of January and the loss of second-leading scorer Kayla Robbins, the Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament hopes were in question. Picking up their first win against a ranked opponent is a huge boon to their tournament chances. Michigan took its momentum from the first half into the third quarter and got off to a fast start. With 6:43 left in the quarter, following an 11-5 run highlighted by four of Hillmon’s 30 points, the Wolverines led the Hawkeyes by 18. But a minute later, freshman center Izabel Varejão picked up her fourth foul and had to sit. With Brown also on the bench deep in foul trouble, Michigan had to turn to sophomore forward Emily Kiser for an extended period of time. With Kiser in, Iowa looked to feed its bigs and expose her. Over a 1:30 stretch, the Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 11 and forcing Barnes Arico to call a timeout. The timeout settled down the Wolverines. Coming out of it, they went on a 7-0 run of their own, with six points coming from Hillmon. Michigan averted disaster. Despite a five-minute stretch without a point and the Hawkeyes shooting 58.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the Wolverines survived. “We knew they were going to make some runs, as they did in the third quarter,” Barnes Arico said. “But we were able to sustain those runs and make big plays down the stretch and

go into someone like Naz and make them have to defend her down the stretch.” Score-wise, the Wolverines could afford to go through a few scoring droughts due to an efficient first quarter. After Thursday’s loss to Northwestern in which Michigan committed eight first-quarter turnovers, it emphasized coming out strong. The Wolverines still had their fair share of turnovers, though — six total in the first quarter — but they played good defense and knocked down shots. Michigan jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, and Iowa didn’t score for the first three minutes of the game. The Hawkeyes stopped the bleeding with 3-pointers on each of their next two possessions, but couldn’t gain much momentum as the Wolverines prevented Iowa from getting shots in the paint and forcing it to settle for 3-pointers. The Hawkeyes shot 60 percent from deep in the quarter, but made just 4-of11 shots from the floor, while Michigan made 9-of-12. “Obviously, an opposing team and you’re down in the first quarter, you’re gonna get a little deflated,” sophomore guard Amy Dilk said. “We just emphasized to just keep pushing, because they’re the type of team — anyone in the Big Ten — the game is not over.” While Iowa wouldn’t relent until the very end, a fast start and baskets at key times to stop the Hawkeyes’ momentum propelled the Wolverines to their first win over a ranked opponent.

BRENDAN ROOSE Daily Sports Writer

It’s tough to find anything about sophomore forward Naz Hillmon that hasn’t already been said. Her teammates love her. Her coaches rave about her. Opposing coaches have nightmares about her. All of them have plenty to say. And yet, she created even more to talk about on Sunday at Crisler Center. In Michigan’s 78-63 win over Iowa, the Wolverines’ most consistent player one-upped herself again, scoring 30 points on 14-for19 shooting. She added 10 rebounds to secure her seventh double-double of the season. Even though fans have grown accustomed to seeing her dominate, Hillmon continues to find new ways to impress. “To me, nobody has figured out how to defend her,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “I don’t know if she’s defendable. … She affects the game in many ways, she gets offensive rebounds when we need offensive rebounds, she gets defensive stops when we need a big defensive stop.” Early on Sunday, it was just Naz being Naz. She opened up scoring with a driving layup. On the next possession, she scored again in the post. She didn’t need to do much else in the first quarter, when her teammates shot 7-for-10 from the field. But in the second quarter, the Wolverines went cold. A team that couldn’t miss early on started the quarter 2-for-9,

allowing the Hawkeyes to pull within six. Midway through the quarter, Michigan had gone nearly three minutes without a field goal. Hillmon ended the drought rather emphatically. After senior guard Akienreh Johnson’s 3-pointer doinked off the rim, Hillmon pushed past an Iowa defender, grabbed the offensive rebound and sank the

I think one of the greatest things about Naz is that she’s an incredible teammate and she’s really, truly unselfish. layup. She would score eight of the Wolverines’ 15 points t hat qua r ter. “Their bigs worked ver y ha rd to t r y to get a round me, sit behind me so I don’t t urn,” Hillmon sa id. “They sw itched up t heir defense a lot, so I had to be ver y physica l, t r y to get t hem a s close to under t he ba sket a s I could because I know t hat t hey would have help or t hey have rea lly good post defensive players.”

That physicality never wavered. As the game wore on, Hillmon continued to bully the Hawkeyes’ defenders, working inside for post buckets and five offensive rebounds. Those numbers were even more crucial with Michigan’s other bigs in foul trouble. Junior forward Hailey Brown, who starts alongside Hillmon, picked up her third foul late in the second quarter. Early in the third, freshman center Izabel Varejão — normally the first big off the bench — picked up her fourth foul, putting even more pressure on Hillmon. In the end, it didn’t matter. Hillmon has shown what she’s capable of multiple times this season, and on Sunday, she demonstrated what it looks like when she’s at her best. “I think one of the greatest things about Naz is that she’s an incredible teammate and she’s really, truly unselfish,” Barnes Arico said. “So she’s having a hard time adjusting to this role of, ‘Coach wants me to take 19 shots a game, that’s kind of out of my comfort zone.’ … (She’s) probably one of the greatest players — talents — that I’ve coached, but even a better teammate.” So far this season, it’s been tough to find anyone who can truly match up with Hillmon when she gets going. She rolls over everyone that tries to guard her, and she never seems to run out of gas, punctuated by her 39 minutes played Sunday. Based on her performance against Iowa, it looks like she can keep that up, even against the Big Ten’s best teams.