Michigan
Michigan beats Notre Dame in first round of NCAA Tournament
The Michigan girls’s lacrosse crew’s bench had loads to have a good time. From dancing down the sidelines to hitting imaginary house runs to bending down and pretending to learn newspapers, they did simply that.
However none of these artistic bench celebrations would’ve been potential with out the Wolverines’ outstanding offensive efficiency.
In certainly one of Michigan’s strongest offensive showings of the 12 months, the No. 21 Wolverines (11-6 total, 2-4 Large Ten) bested No. 16 Notre Dame (9-9, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Convention), 17-11, within the first spherical of the NCAA Match.
“The offense figured it out in the present day they usually actually ought to be recommended,” Michigan coach Hannah Nielsen stated. “To place up 17 targets … within the postseason was superior.”
These 17 targets got here from seven Michigan gamers, six of whom tallied a minimum of two targets on the evening and 4 of whom recorded hat methods. Three of the 4 gamers who scored hat methods — senior Kaley Thompson, fifth-year senior Caitlin Muir and senior Claire Galvin — had been attackers.
“That’s what we want,” Nielsen stated. “And we’ve been harping on that every one 12 months, that the attackers want to supply to take the stress off the midfielders.”
The Wolverines heeded that recommendation towards the Combating Irish, taking part in an entire and constant recreation on offense. They capitalized on transition alternatives, particular person playmaking, inside passing and free place photographs to attain the very best variety of targets as a crew since their win towards Central Michigan on March 6.
That manufacturing began early, as Michigan got here out swinging from the opening whistle with three back-to-back targets. Thompson put the Wolverines on the board first after changing a compelled turnover right into a transition objective, earlier than sophomore midfielder Annabelle Burke and senior midfielder Kaitlyn Mead tacked on two extra factors for Michigan by creating taking pictures house for themselves in entrance of the online. Already, that they had set a tone.
Notre Dame was ready to reply to the Wolverines’ early offensive success, scoring three consecutive targets of its personal to shut out the primary quarter with the rating tangled up. However the Michigan offense fired up much more within the second quarter, with freshman midfielder Jill Smith kicking off a six-goal interval for the Wolverines, permitting them to take a 9-6 lead heading into halftime.
“All through the season, we’ve been relying loads on the protection and we haven’t actually been fulfilling our facet of the ball,” Muir stated. “So in the present day within the postseason, we simply needed to go on the market and form of have slightly little bit of accountability for the protection and take slightly bit off their shoulders.”
Michigan’s protection nonetheless held up its finish of the discount, taking part in an important position within the win by stifling the Combating Irish with constant strain to seal off potential taking pictures lanes and offering a spark at occasions for the offense.
“The flexibility for the attackers to play with out hesitation, and take photographs and possibly make errors each every now and then, and get the ball saved and know that it goes down the opposite finish and comes again with out a objective being scored is huge,” Nielsen stated.
The Wolverines continued their offensive success within the second half, extending the result in 4 targets within the third quarter earlier than pulling additional away within the fourth body. Michigan was affected person on the assault, ready to capitalize on the very best one-on-one alternative or open lane to chop in direction of the online.
With a complete of 17 targets on 30 photographs, the Wolverines compelled Notre Dame to change goalkeepers within the fourth quarter. However Michigan simply stored scoring, tallying two targets towards the substitute goalkeeper earlier than the Combating Irish substituted their starter again in. Notre Dame ended the sport with simply three whole saves.
“The Notre Dame protection is actually good however everyone had hat methods, everyone was scoring a number of targets, so who do you select to mark up on?” Muir stated. “I don’t know.”
The Wolverines did every part they wanted to do on offense to beat Notre Dame — and every part they weren’t capable of do towards most of their Large Ten opponents within the common season. Heading right into a second-round matchup with No. 4 Northwestern, which beat Michigan 12-9 earlier within the season, the Wolverines might want to proceed producing on the assault.
And in the event that they do, the bench may have much more to have a good time.
Michigan
Ex-Michigan running back fractures forearm in Rams’ regular-season finale
Sunday was supposed to be rookie Blake Corum’s chance to step into a featured role in the Los Angeles Rams backfield.
But the former Michigan running back didn’t get much of an opportunity, suffering a fractured forearm in the second quarter of a 30-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed the injury after the game.
“He’s a tough, resilient guy,” McVay said. “He’s going to be a really good player for us for a long time, but he will miss the postseason.”
With the Rams having already clinched the NFC West crown entering Sunday, they rested No. 1 running back Kyren Williams, paving the way for Corum to handle a larger workload in the team’s regular-season finale.
Michigan’s all-time rushing touchdowns leader received just two carries for 10 yards and one catch for 12 yards before exiting. The 2024 third-round pick was on the sideline in the second half wearing a sling, finishing the year with 58 carries for 207 yards and seven receptions for 58 yards.
The Rams will host the loser of the Lions and Vikings’ Sunday night matchup in next week’s Wild Card round.
- BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.
Michigan
Five Key Plays: Michigan 85, USC 74 | UM Hoops.com
Michigan knocked off USC in Los Angeles on Saturday night to move to 3-0 in the Big Ten. It was a game of runs, with Michigan stringing together three different 10-0 kill shots, but USC never went away. The Trojans consistently battled back into the game all night, forcing Michigan to execute down the stretch.
Here are Five Key Plays from the win featuring Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin, Tre Donaldson, Roddy Gayle Jr., and more.
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1. First half 3-point barrage
Michigan was on fire from 3-point range in its final two home games of the year and carried that momentum into the Galen Center. On Saturday night, the Wolverines got off to a terrific shooting start, knocking down their first five 3-pointers and finishing with ten made threes in the opening half.
The Wolverines have been a volatile 3-point shooting team all year. They’ve hit double-digit threes in eight of 14 games but shot worse than 30% from three in five games. They shoot 36.6% from three (54th nationally) as a team but have shot better than 40% or worse than 30% in 12 of 14 contests.
In 28 halves of basketball, Michigan has hit seven or more threes nine times (32%). They’ve also hit two or fewer threes in 10 of those 28 halves (36%) — including last night’s 0-of-8 second-half performance.
Michigan’s half-by-half perimeter shooting splits are becoming a trend to watch closely. The Wolverines shoot 40.8% from three in first halves (5.9 for 14.4 attempts) compared to 31.2% in second halves (3.5 of 11.2 attempts).
Michigan survived 0-of-8 3-point shooting to win last night, but it is 5-of-36 (14%) from 3-point range in the second halves of its three losses — a particularly painful stat given that those defeats came by five points total.
Michigan
Michigan WR Peyton O'Leary will return for 2025 season: 'Last year incoming'
Michigan Wolverines football senior wide receiver Peyton O’Leary will return for his fifth season at U-M, he announced on social media Saturday. O’Leary has one year of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-3, 203-pounder joined senior quarterback Davis Warren in announcing his return for the 2025 season on the same day. Warren and O’Leary are housemates and close friends.
O’Leary and Warren are both former walk-ons who earned scholarships.
“It was a dream come true. It was so great,” O’Leary said in 2023 of being put on scholarship.
The Byfield, Mass., native played a key role on the Michigan offense this season, logging the second-most offensive snaps among wide receivers (376), behind only Tyler Morris (464), who has transferred to Indiana.
O’Leary caught 10 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown in 13 games this season. He was targeted 14 times.
The highlights of his season were a touchdown catch on third down in a loss to Oregon Nov. 2 and an impressive third-down grab in a 13-10 win over Ohio State in Columbus Nov. 30.
Tied 10-10, Michigan drove all the way to the Ohio State 3-yard line, before Warren threw an interception in the end zone.
Devastating, but not a deathblow. Michigan’s drive that Warren and O’Leary kept alive still chewed a whopping 9:10 off the clock. The Wolverines dominated time of possession, keeping the football for 13:03 of the 15 minutes in the fourth quarter, sealing the 13-10 win with a game-winning field goal by junior kicker Dominic Zvada.
Weeks later, Warren and O’Leary can laugh about all of it.
“We’ve watched it a couple times — a handful,” Warren said of he and his housemates, including O’Leary. “It always shows up on the YouTube and stuff, so it’s there.
“But can’t pump his tires up too much. Gotta keep him grounded. He’s kinda a pain to be around if he gets too confident.”
Warren and O’Leary have a special connection. Both came in as walk-ons and developed incredible chemistry while on scout team. That became apparent as the two worked their way up the depth chart, starting with the 2023 spring game, when Warren found O’Leary for the game-winning two-point conversion.
“Love him to death, and that was a huge catch when we needed it,” Warren said of the play against Ohio State, in a more serious tone. “I remember the first time me and him were throwing together on the field out there the summer my freshman year, and [tight ends] Coach [Steve] Casula, who recruited us, was kinda watching off to the side.
“To think that it would progress to us being in The ‘Shoe trying to get a win like that, it was a special thing and a testament to him to all the work he’s put in to get better.
“Hitting the celebration after was a nice touch.”
O’Leary was a deep reserve before the 2024 season. He had appeared in 14 games at wide receiver from 2022-23, hauling in 3 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown. His score in the 2023 campaign came in a win at Nebraska and was thrown by Jayden Denegal, who transferred to San Diego State this offseason.
O’Leary was originally signed to play lacrosse at UMass
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