Michigan hockey’s team’s win streak against Notre Dame is over.

The ninth-ranked Wolverines fell to the Irish 7-4 Saturday in South Bend, their first loss to Notre Dame in nine games.

After a slow start Friday, Michigan scored five straight in a 5-3 victory in the series opener. It was the Irish that used a five-goal surge to propel it to victory to earn a series split.

Sophomore Evan Werner opened the scoring for the Wolverines (13-8-1, 7-5 Big Ten) at the 11:48 mark of the first period, but Notre Dame answered with five straight.

William Whitelaw and Philippe Lapointe scored power-play goals 32 seconds apart in the second period to make it a two-goal game, but that’s as close as the Wolverines came to a comeback.

They were done in by a disastrous stretch in the second period where the Irish (7-14-1, 2-11-1) scored three goals in 32 seconds. Saturday was Notre Dame’s first Big Ten win in regulation.

Michigan outshot Notre Dame 41-29 but gave up a season-high seven goals.

It faces rival Michigan State, the top-ranked team in the country, for the first time this season next weekend, hosting the Spartans on Friday and traveling to East Lansing on Saturday.

Michigan quarterback Alex Orji had a visit lined up to see Temple on Wednesday, but Orji won’t make it to that visit after all. It came out on Friday night that Orji had taken a visit to UNLV — something people didn’t know right away. Orji’s visit must’ve been a hit because on Saturday evening the former Wolverine committed to the Rebels.

In a statement to ESPN, Orji said “It felt like a great opportunity to go out to Vegas with Coach Mullen and Coach Dennis. It’s an opportunity to cultivate winning culture.”

UNLV is coming off of an excellent season in which it went 11-3 and lost to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship. Former head coach Barry Odom is now at Purdue and the Rebels went out and hired former Flordia head coach Dan Mullen who is now running the program.

Orji will have two years of eligibility remaining with UNLV. Orji finished 2024 going 25-for-47 for 150 yards, three touchdowns, and two INTs through the air. He also ran for 269 yards and a score for Michigan.

If Orji is going to start at quarteback for the Rebels, Mullen will have to trust Orji’s throwing ability — something Michigan appeared to not trust.

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There aren’t many more likeable players in Michigan State Spartans history than Zach Randolph.

Randolph played 17 seasons in the NBA, spending time with the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings.

Of course, Randolph is most known for his eight-year tenure with the Grizzlies, where he was the driving force behind Memphis’ “Grit and Grind” era.

From a physical standpoint, Randolph was largely unimpressive. He was an undersized center at 6-foot-8, and he had very limited athleticism.

However, he managed to register 16.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game throughout his NBA career and averaged double-doubles nine times.

So, how was the rather rotund Randolph so great at crashing the glass in spite of his less than stellar athletic abilities?

He explained why during a recent episode of the “Out the Mud” podcast.

“You know what? Really just having a knack for the ball and having that heart,”
Randolph said. “Beating that man to the spot. Really, I’m gonna outmuscle you for this rebound.”

Randolph was one of the best rebounders in the league during his day, topping out at 12.2 points a night during the 2010-11 campaign with the Grizzlies.

“We’re going to battle, and I like contact, so I’m hitting first,” Randolph said. “A lot of guys, they don’t like to hit first, but in the UFC, the guys who hit first always win. And that’s what I did. I had a knack for the ball to get those offensive rebounds.”

The Michigan State product specialized in offensive rebounding, as he logged over four offensive boards per game three times in his NBA tenure.

Randolph spent just one season at East Lansing before declaring for the NBA Draft in 2001. That year, he posted 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 58.7 percent from the floor.

He was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 19th overall pick and earned a pair of All-Star selections throughout his time in the pros, with both of those selections coming in Memphis.

Randolph was never able to advance to an NBA Finals, but there is no doubt that he was one of the game’s best big men during his heyday.

Outside of Magic Johnson and Draymond Green, not many Spartans were more successful NBA players than Z-Bo.

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