michigandaily.com/sports
sportsdesk@umich.edu
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 21, 2001
8A
0
M, Ingerson
scorch Stags
rom Outside\
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor
Hockey Showcase
keeps rivalries alive
Dommanic Ingerson's teammates looked away in
disbelief but couldn't help but crack smiles.
The freshman shooting guard just drained another
three from nearly six feet behind the arc, his sixth 3-
pointer of the night, to
give Michigan an insur- * FAIRFIELD 59
mountable 34-point lead
midway through the sec- . MICHIGAN 88
ond half.
"I was just in a rhythm," Ingerson said with a
grin. "Sometimes I feel that the defender isn't even
there. I do take some deep shots, but that's because I
don't always know where I'm at (on the floor)."
Ingerson came off the bench to light a fire
under an already sharp-shooting Michigan (2-0)
team, leading a convincing 88-59 drubbing of
Fairfield (0-2). The small college in Connecticut
had np chance in this one, as both of Michigan's
desired signatures in coach Tommy Amaker's
first season - aggressive team defense and 3-
point shooting - were in rare form. And Inger-
son just added the nail in the coffin by knocking
down shots from another time zone. Ingerson's
long range capability is nothing new, according
to his old high school coach.
"It's amazing how he does it sometimes," Santa Bar-
bara High School coach Jeff Lavender said two weeks
ago. "If he got in a zone, two opponents would run out
at him and he'd still pull up from over six feet behind
the line and nail over 60-percent of them."
While Amaker was impressed with nearly every
element of Ingerson's performance, saying, "except
for the last one he took from half court, I was
pleased with his play."
Ingerson was not the only Wolverine in the zone,
as junior Gavin Groninger once again found his
touch, adding 15 points - including 4-for-5 from 3-
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
New coach Tommy Amaker has been stressing team defense and smart shot selection all year long. Last
night, both were clicking on all cylinders, as Dommanic Ingerson poured it on with 23 points on six treys.
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer
This weekend, the Michigan hockey
team will take a break from its CCHA
schedule by hosting this year's College
Hockey Showcase with Michigan State.
Michigan will face No. 1 Minnesota on
Friday and Wisconsin this Saturday.
. On getting the chance to host top-
ranked Minnesota on Friday, Michigan
coach Red Berenson said: "I don't
know if this is a good time for us. They
are on a roll, and I can't say that we are
coming off our best weekend at home.
But I think we should be ready."
Minnesota (5-0-1 WCHA, 10-0-1
overall) is coming off a sweep over con-
ference rival Minnesota-Duluth and is
one of only two undefeated teams in
Division I hockey.
Good time or not, the Showcase is
always a special event for the Michigan
hockey program. It gives the team a
chance to build and maintain its historic
rivalries with two of its former Western
Collegiate Hockey Association cohorts.
In its ninth year, the Showcase fea-
tures four games. The two CCHA
teams, Michigan and Michigan State,
will each play against the two WCHA
teams. Michigan State hosts Wisconsin
on Friday and Minnesota on Sunday.
"The concept here was that we had
four programs with a lot of history and
success, four Big Ten programs, and we
wanted to keep them in competition
with each other even though we are in
separate leagues," Berenson said. "I
think it's good to play them every year."
The WCHA began as the Midwest
Collegiate Hockey League in 1951. It
had seven members, three of which
were Michigan, Michigan State, and
Minnesota. Michigan dominated the
league early on, winning six champi-
onships in the 1950s alone.
The WCHA was officially founded
in 1959, and Wisconsin became a mem-
YOST ICE ARENA
Who: Michigan (542) vs. Minnesota (140-1)
and Wisconsin (6-4)
When: 7:35 p.m. Friday, 8:05 p.m. Saturday
Latest: For those looking to escape Friday
night leftovers with the family? Tickets are still
available for both games. For those out of town,
you can listen to the game over the Internet.
ber 10 years later. In 1981, Michigan
and Michigan State left the WCHA to
join the more geographically compact
CCHA. The move threatened the long-
standing rivalries between these four
programs of evaporating. In order to
prevent this, the College Hockey Show-
case was developed.
The first Showcase, played at the
Palace of Auburn Hills in 1993, turned
out to be a success and displayed the
competitive nature of these rivalries.
"We hosted that Showcase," Beren-
son said. "Minnesota was a good team
that year, but we beat them 6-0 the first
night, and Michigan State handled
Wisconsin. After the games everyone
was saying how much better the
CCHA was. Sure enough, the next
night Wisconsin came back and beat us
and Minnesota bounced back and beat
Michigan State."
These teams have combined for 88
NCAA Tournament appearances and
19 championships. In addition, each
program is among the top-15 win-
ningest programs in college hockey,
combining for 4,514 wins.
Within the College Hockey Show-
case, Michigan has been the best so far
with an 11-4-1 record. It has a'5-3
record against Minnesota and a 6-1-1
record against Wisconsin.
I This weekend, college hockey fans
have much to be thankful for as these
teams get together again. The Show-
case is an excuse to get away from
conference games and an opportunity
to stay focused over the holidays.
0
6
point range. Groninger led Michigan in scoring on
opening night against Oakland with 19 points.
As a team, Michigan shot a scorching 57-percent
from behind the arc, and a 58-percent clip from the
field for the second straight game.
But once again, Michigan's offense was creat-
ed by its swarming defense. Sophomore Bernard
Robinson, who started in favor of the injured
Leon Jones, scored six of the Wolverines' first
eight points and proved he could do it at the
other end as well. Robinson's aggressive defense
and lengthy wingspan helped Michigan force 13-
first half turnovers by the visiting Stags.
"Our defense was unbelievable from the opening
tip to the final buzzer," said senior tri-captain Chris
Young, whose Wolverines held the Stags to 33-per-
cent shooting and 21 turnovers.
Jones, who got hurt in practice on Sunday, is
expected to miss the next three weeks with a torn
capsule in his left thumb. While the Wolverines
donned their maize jerseys for the first time this
season, their starting lineup was nearly the same
except for Jones. Scrappy, fifth-year senior Mike
Gotfredson made sound decisions in splitting time
with Avery Queen at point guard. Young and junior
LaVell Blanchard anchored the front line but didn't
have spectacular nights - combining for 22 points
and seven boards.
But they didn't have to, as tht Michigan bench
proved again to be a strength. After contributing 30
points on opening night against Oakland, the Michi-
gan reserves combined for 44 points - nearly half
of Michigan's total.
"There wasn't any fall-off at all," said Young,.who
shook his head in amazement.
With the win, Amaker became the first Michigan
coach since Bill Frieder in 1980-81 to start his reign
with a 2-0 start.
6
Injured thumb keeps Jones out
Senior out for 2-3 weeks; Freshman Bennett has academic problems
By Joe Smith.
Daily Sports Editor
A particular episode in Leon Jones'
season-long series was put on hold, but
not taken off the
air for good. BASKETBALL
Michigan's ver-
sion of an iron Notebook
man had never
missed a game in his previous three
years as a Wolverine, spanning 89
games. But last night, the senior tri-cap-
tain was in street clothes and had a pro-
tective cast over his left hand. This is the
unfortunate reality for Jones the next
three weeks due to a torn capsule in his
left thumb. Jones dislocated the thumb
in practice on Sunday and will have to
wear the cast for at least two weeks.
"It's a huge loss," said Bernard
Robinson, who replaced Jones in the
starting lineup. "He's such a multi-
dimensional player that you hate to
lose a guy like that."
Dr. Dean Lewis of the University
hospital performed surgery to repair
the damage in Jones' thumb yesterday
afternoon, but Jones will likely sit for
the next two weeks before starting
rehab in an attempt to crack the Michi-
gan lineup once again.
While he didn't play, a seemingly
anxious Jones remained active on the
bench, rising to his feet, waving a towel
and harping on his teammates on both
ends of the floor. Nor did the injury
affect the theater buff's ability to create
some clips on his video camera in his
quest to direct a movie of the Wolver-
ines' season.
"He's one of the biggest emotion-
al leaders on this team," said fellow
tri-captain Chris Young, who now
holds the team's active streak for
consecutive games played with 90.
"His presence will definitely be
missed, but he can make up for it in
other ways."
After three seasons of relative incon-
sistency, Jones seemed to have finally
felt comfortable and confident in his
role. Grabbing coach Tommy Amaker's
attention for his work ethic and leader-
ship on the floor, Jones beat out the
slashing Robinson at the small forward
spot in the past three games, including
two exhibitions. Robinson started in his
place and added 11 points and commit-
ted only one turnover.
"He played unbelievable," Young
said. "He was all over the passing
lanes, shutting down their top guys
and was more careful with the
ball."
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: All five
members of Amaker's top-10 recruit-
ing class for 2002 have officially sent
their national letters of intent during
the early signing period: Lanky swing-
man Lester Abram, highly touted point
guard Daniel Horton, along with 6-
foot-9 power forward Graham Brown
and big men 6-foot-11 Chris Hunter
and 6-foot-10 Amadou Ba. Amaker
said all recruits have cleared academi-
cally except Ba, who is still in the
process of taking his first test.
"All five players are versatile with
outstanding athletic ability and com-
mitment to academics," said Amaker,
who felt that he addressed some of
Michigan's major needs at point guard
and in the post.
HIGIjER LEARNING: Freshman guard
Marcus Bennett didn't play for the
second straight game, but this time it
was due. to academic concerns.
Amaker said that is an "academic sit-
uation" and that he wouldn't play
until "it was resolved." Bennett was
unavailable for comment.
NOTES: Sophomore center Josh
Moore continued his foul problems, as
he fouled out in just 10 minutes ...
Starting point guard Mike Gotfredson
has only attempted one shot in 49 min-
utes the season's two games ... Over 40
Fairfield fans who live in Michigan area
attended last night's game and added
some flashes of red in the student
bleachers ... Fairfield coach Tim
YESTERDAY'S GAME
Fairfield (59)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Spann 31 8-15 2-3 2-9 2 1 18
Gai 20 .2-7 4-4 0-1 0 5 8
Thompson 31 1-4 11-14 2-3 0 5 13
Goode 33 2-4 1-4 1-1 3 1 5
Walsh 7 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Urgo 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0'
Galvanoni 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Logan 22 3-6 3-3 1-2 0 3 9
Sogadzi 25 2-8 0-0 0-5 1 3 6
Feleccia 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Delfico 13 0-2 0-2 1-4 0 1 0
Team 0 0-0 0-0 4-5 0 0 0
Totals 200 184721-30 11-317 19 59
FG%: .383. FT%: .700. 3-point FG: 2-6, 333 (Sogad
2-4, Goode 0-1 Spann 0-1). Blocks: 2 (Gai 2) Steals:
7 (Goode 3, Spann 2, Thompson, Delfico). Turnovers
21 (Spann 6, Goode 3, Walsh 2, Urgo 2, Delfico 2,
Gai, Thompson, Logan, Sogadzi, Feleccia). Technica
Fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (88)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Robinson 22 4-11 3-4 2-2 2 4 11
Blanchard 23 5-9 0-0 2-5 3 2 11
Young 23 3.7 1-3 0-0 0 3 7
Gotfredson 27 0-0 0-0 0-1 4 0 0
Groninger 25 5-6 1-2 0-1 2 1 15
Queen 18 1-1 1-2 0-1 2 1 4
Gibson 7 1-3 0-0 0-1 2-0 2
Ingerson 21 7-12 3-4 0-2 0 2 23
Garber 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Bailey 12 4-4 1-3 1-4 0 1 9
Moore 10 2-3 2-4 1-2 1 5 6
Adebiyi 10 0-0 0-0 1-4 1 2 0
Team 0 0-0 0-0 0-2 '0 0 0
Totals 200932-56132210-3117 2488
FG%: .571. WT%:.591. 3-point FG: 11-19, .579
(Ingerson 6-8, Groninger 4-5, Blanchard 1-4, Robin-
son 0-2). Blocks: 2 (Bailey, Young). Steals: 8 (Blan-
chard 3, Robinson 2, Gibson, Gotfredson, Young).
Turnovers: 14 (Ingerson 4, Blanchard 2, Queen 2,
Gibson 2, Robinson, Groninger, Bailey, Adebiyi).
Technical fouls: none.
Fairfield...........................26 33 - 59
Michigan......................... 42 46 - 81
At: Crisler Arena
Attendance: 9,379
O'Toole was Amaker's assistant at
Seton Hall and served as a fellow assis-
tant coach at Duke with Amaker.
FootbaHlSaturday '01:
No.VIMicign mj
OE OW OaFootball Saturday
S IS
Inside this edition of Football Saturday, you will find:
Quarterbacking - neither Michigan nor Ohio State
seems to have it, so which team will find it in time for
Saturday's game?
Check michigandaily.com/sports for a women's bas-
ketball story. And, don't forget about two other Michi-
gan teams which are playing on Friday - the men's
basketball team travels to Kalamazoo to face Westem
Michigan at 7 p.m., and the volleyball team hosts
Indiana at 7 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena.
0
U
ui ISj-1
/ 'o Al
A- 4 .
at 41Q a> 4
iindit 2L room
michign unio
- A
ID
0.
WHEN YOU THINK "SERVICI
THINK "KOLOSSOS".
At Kolossos your business is important to us, so well work hard to make sure its d
right Think of us when you need disserlations, black and white or color copies, ol
printing, color laserprintin, binding, over-size inkjet printing, sinyl signs and bann
I
j;
.. ..
Rers usm
i f