All-Big Ten football Michigan offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson was named to his fourth All-Big Ten first team. Check online to see what other Wolverines made the squad. michigandaily.com/sports ORTS WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2000 Bad shooting sinks Blue By Michael Kern Daily Sports Writer Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe must have had a hard time sleeping last night. His Wolverines blew an 11-point lead in the second half to fall to No. 12 Wake Forest, 71-60, in the Big ' WAKEFOREST 71 T Ten/ACC Challenge. MIIiGAN 60 Couple the loss with upcoming games against No. 13 Maryland, either No. 19 St. John's or George Washington and No. I Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Ellerbe might not see a good night's rest for the next two weeks. The second-half collapse for Michigan (2-2) was a result of its worst shooting half of the season. The Wolverines shot just 34.4 percent (11- for-32), including a 1-for-12 perfor- mance on threes and 5-of-12 shooting from the line. "To lose this game is hard to swal- low" Ellerbe said. "We shot ourselves in the foot on the free throw line, and you can't do that against this good of a bas- ketball team." Shooting just 3-of-13 from the field, Michigan's leading scorer, sophomore LaVell Blanchard. finished the game with only 13 points, by far his lowest output of the season. Freshman Bernard Robinson, who entered the game as Michigan's second-leading scorer with 17.4 points per game, finished with 12 points on a 6-for-19 performance. "Shot selection," Ellerbe said simply. "Those guys know that they have the ability to create shots and make shots, and they were overzealous." Michigan crashed the boards all Falling down O'Kelly shines while Michigan' S Blanchard suffers By Dan Williams Daily Sports Writer As marquis players, Michigan's Lavell Blanchard and Wake Forest's Robert O'Kelley both shoulder much of the weight of wins and losses for their respective pro- grams. In yesterday's 71-60 Wake Forest victory, it was the! preseason Naismith candidate, O'Kelley, controlling the contest with long range 3-pointers and veteran ball- handling. Meanwhile, Blanchard forced shots and missed free throws in crunch time. O'Kelly had a quiet first half, but the senior emerged in the second period with II points, including two bombs from behind the are. The first came from well behind the line with an expiring shot clock, allowing Wake Forest to retake a 47-46 lead with II minutes remaining. It was the Demon Deacons' first advantage of the second half. A few minutes later, O'Kelley elevated over the defense for a second three, a dagger in Michigan's heart. Furthermore, the point guard's floor presence helped Wake Forest create open shots, all while taking care of the basketball. The Demon Deacons tallied just eight turnovers in the game. "Robert had an outstanding game. He produced when we needed in a lot of ways," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. While O'Kelley thrived, Blanchard fizzled. In the game's opening minutes. Blanchard appeared headed to a breakout performance in front of the nation- al television audience. He immediately demonstrated his adroit shooter's touch, making two tough floaters. But after those quick baskets, Blanchard proceeded to have a miserable shooting night, missing all seven second-half shots. "He kind of forced up a couple shots at the end, but See WAKE FOREST, Page 12 'M' favors WCHA style of officiating By Joe Smith Daily Sports Writer The Olympic-sized ice in the two WCHA arenas was not the only thing the Michigan hockey team had to adjust to this past weekend. Out-of-conference venues brought about nearly penal- ty- free games -- ~a rare occurrence in most of the W'olverines' CCHA-officiated contests. Members of the WCHA officiating crew headed by Bill Mason raised their right arms just seven times in Saturday's game, signifying only 14 penalty mimntes between both teams - much to the pleasure of the jay- ers. "I think it was awesome," said Michigan senior defenseman Bob Gassoff, who felt Saturday night's game was the-"best officiated game I've seen in his years at Michigan." Hockey is "a man's game and you should be able to face that adversity and to keep going and not to call every minor little thing," Gassoff added. "Too many tiniesoffi- cials try to dictate too much of what goes on." Tightly-called games are known to disrupt themoitien- tum of the game with many stoppages, while shortening the teams' benches and forcing special-team units ti log huge chunks of minutes. This often leaves the strengi of a team - its first or second line - to either watch hdrm- lessly from the bench or be worn out from participatig in the special-teams battle. Too many penalties "can change the makeup of our team quite a bit:" Michigan coach Red Berenson said, Although some argue that by calling the games closely. it will lead to more disciplined hockey down the road.-- history tells a different story. Case in point: The-second game of Michigan's mNie- and-home series with Ferris State. After the penaltv-rid- -den game called by head referee Tony Molina that Inlud- ed four disqualifications for fighting - the two teams definitely didn't learn their lesson as emotions boiled ever to the tune of 34 penalties for 142 minutes in the box. That's not all. After the final horn sounded, a bench-clearing brawl ensued, resulting in six suspensions -including three Wolverines. "People get more upset and frustrated when you re call- ing every little thing and that may tend to make thjngs escalate a little more,' Gassoff said. That's why the buzz around the Michigan lockeOoom on Saturday night was not just about the big upset of Minnesota - but also how the teams were just allowed to play the game. "I think it's better to let the teams play and let them See OFFICIATING, Page 12 'yJEFFbHrUwW IoresZt Scrappy play by Avery Queen wasn't enough to lift Michigan over No. 12 Wake Forest. game, outrebounding the Demon Deacons 49-33. The Wolverines had 23 offensive rebounds - including seven from Chris Young and five apiece from Josh Asselin and Blanchard - to Wake Forest's six. Young finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Asselin also had a double- double with 12 and I1, respectively. In a game of runs, Michigan jumped out of the gate in the second half with an 8-0 burst to extend their lead to 11 with 16 minutes to play. But Wake Forest countered with a 9-2 run of its own. Down the stretch, experience and vet- eran leadership proved to be the differ- ence for Wake Forest (5-0). Senior guard Robert O'Kellev scored 10 of his 19 points in the final 11:30 of the game, including two big 3-pointers -one from 30 feet out with the shot clock hit- ting zero to give Wake Forest back the lead, 47-46, with I 1:09 to go in the tame. "it was a game of spurts;' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. "The cold hard facts are that the difference was our experience and not getting frus- trated and not becoming anxious in those moments" With three big games on the horizon, the young Wolverines have no time to dwell on what could have been. "We can't see this as a moral victory because we hung in with the No. 12 team in the country," Young said. "We should have wvon this game." ;" "rr op, A I f. h, I WA ~1 r Anything Is Possible This is where the generation of new ideas lives. Because we've built a global network of people who see possibilities where others see confusion and risk - and who know how to turn those possibilities into realities. And by working at internet speed - propelling dozens of companies and millions of investors into the new economy. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Asia invites seniors interested in full-time Junior Associate opportunities in Equity Research to apply online at www.msdw.com/career/recruiting Application Deadline: December 12, 2000 We are propelling careers all over the world. MORGAN STANLEY DEAN WITTER AsiA i