The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 20, 2004 - 5B Talkin' the talk "We just wanted to go out and prove that we do have toughness,,and we showed it today." - Michigan State forward Jason Andreas about the success the Spartans had in the low post. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 54 w Michigan State 71 Players of the game Paul Davis (Michigan State) The 6-foot-11 sophomore scored 22 points - including eight straight at one point - and got Michigan's big men into foul trouble. Daniel Horton (Michigan) Despite six turnovers, Horton scored a season-high 20 points to lead Michigan and consistently looked to drive to the basket. Davis too much inside for 'M' Petway takes backseat while Harrell sits out with an injury By Chris Burke Daily Sports Editor EAST LANSING - Six minutes into Saturday's loss at Michigan State, Michigan center Courtney Sims had taken the Spartans' star for- ward, Paul Davis, completely out of his game. Sims had blocked one of Davis' shots, forced two more misses and scored two buckets of his own. That would be the high water mark for Michigan's big men in their matchup against Davis, however. While Michigan coach Tommy Amaker continued to rotate Sims, Graham Brown and Chris Hunter at the center spot, Davis clocked 28 minutes, finishing with 22 points and seven rebounds. The Michigan front- court, meanwhile, combined for nine points and 10 fouls. "He was able to get to the (free- throw) line," said Sims of Davis, who finished 9-for-I I from the charity stripe. "I know a couple of the calls on me were questionable. He wasn't able to get a shot over me, and they were calling fouls. That was really frustrating right there." Foul trouble was a theme through- out the game for the Wolverines, and Davis' ability to avoid that problem was a key to his success. Davis picked up his first foul with 15:58 to go in the first half, but didn't land another one for 13 minutes and finished the contest with just three fouls. Adding to the Wolverines' trouble inside was the contribution of Michi- gan State forward Jason Andreas. The senior soared past his season aver- ages of two points and two rebounds per game, notching seven points and five boards against the Wolverines. "Michigan State's been known for being physical, especially the inside players," Andreas said. "We just wanted to go out and prove that we do have toughness, and we showed it today." Michigan forward J.C. Mathis was able to turn in a solid game in 21 minutes against the Spartans. With Sims, Brown and Hunter all struggling, Mathis' minutes increased, and he chipped in six points and eight rebounds. NoTHIN' BUT BENCH: One Michigan forward that Amaker did not turn to in the attempt to neutralize Davis was freshman Brent Petway. The 6-foot-9 high-riser stayed on the sidelines for the entire game, as Amaker shortened his rotation to eight players.I Petway has seen his minutes drop drastically since playing 10 minutes in Michigan's loss to Boston Univer- sity on Dec. 30. In the Wolverines' first three Big Ten games - against Northwestern, Indiana and MichiganE State - Petway has seen the court for a total of nine minutes. "Those things can happen, it's not frustrating," Petway said. "I'm a smaller big man, so the matchups probably have a lot to do with it." HARRELL HURTING: While Amaker opted not to use Petway, guard Sher- rod Harrell was not even an option. The sophomore suffered a high- ankle sprain in practice last week and was on crutches for Saturday's game. Harrell was expected to return to practice yesterday. NOTES: Michigan assistant coach Charles Ramsey was not present for Saturday's game. Ramsey was strand- ed while on a recruiting visit and unable to make it to East Lansing.... Taking in Saturday's game as part of the sellout crowd of 14,759 were Detroit Lions wide receiver Charles Rogers, a former Spartan, and Lions' head coach Steve Mariucci, a close friend of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. ... Michigan State's victory moved its home Big Ten record to 40- 2 since 1998-99. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan (54) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Robinson 34 2-8 0-0 2-6 2 3 5 Sims 16 2-4 0-0 2-5 1 4 4 Brown 20 1-1 1-2 0-1 2 3 3 Abram 32 3-7 2-4 1-2 0 4 9 Horton 36 5-15 5-6 0-0 3 3 20 Harris 27 1-3 3-5 0-0 0 3 5 Hunter 14 0-4 2-2 1-3 0 3 2 Mathis 21 3-5 0-2 5-8 0 4 6 Team 1-1 Totals 200 17-4713-2112-26 8 27 54 FG%: .362. FT%: .619. 3-Int FG: 7-17, .412 (Horton 5-9, Robinson 1-3, Abram 1-3, Harris 0-1, Hunter 0-1). Blocks: 3 (Robinson, Sims, Harris). Steals: 8 (Horton 4, Robinson 3, Brown). Turnovers: 22 (Robinson 7, Hor- ton 6, Mathis 4, Sims 2, Hunter 2, Brown 1). Technical fouls: none. MICHIGAN STATE (71) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS Davis 28 6-12 9-11 4-7 3 3 22 Brown 24 3-6 0-0 1-2 1 2 6 Hill 38 2-7 3-5 0-0 3 3 8 Anderson 27 2-3 4-6 1-2 3 2 9 Torbert 13 3-3 0-0 0-2 1 5 8 Johnson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ager 30 3-6 3-5 3-8 0 2 9 Trannon 0+ 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 Hamo 0+ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bograkos 14 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 Naymick 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Harvey 0+ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Andreas 17 3-4 1-1 1-5 0 0 7 Ockerman 0+ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 TEAM 0-3 Totals 200 23-42 20-2810-321119 71 FG%: .548. FT0/: .714. 3-point FG: 5-11 (Tor- bert 2-2, Davis 1-1, Anderson 1-2, Hill 1-5, Brown 0-1). Blocks: 2 (Davis, Torbert). Steals: 10(Brown 4, Davis 3, Hill, Anderson, Bograkos). Turnovers: 18 (Davis 5, Brown 3, Hill 3, Anderson 3, Torbert, Ager, Andreas, Team). Technical fouls: none. DANNY MOLOSHOKDaily Michigan State's Paul Davis caused a number of problems for the Wolverines on Saturday. He scored 22 points and got Courtney Sims into foul trouble. Backcourt stmggles to strike a balance Michigan.................23 Michigan State............ 32 31 - 54 39 - 71 By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - Michigan needs Daniel Horton to score, but Daniel Horton needs help. When Horton, Bernard Robinson, Lester Abram and Dion Harris are hot, the Wolverines are a tough team to beat - winning every game in which at least three of the four have scored in double figures. But when Michigan's perimeter scorers can't put it together in the same game, Michigan has struggled. The team has lost four of its five games when just two of the perimeter players reach double figures in scor- ing, and that one win was an overtime victory at Butler. On Saturday, Horton was the only one of the four steadily putting points on the board. Coming off a freshman campaign during which he met all expectations, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, Horton has struggled with con- sistency this season, averaging just 11.5 points over the team's first 13 games. In his first two conference games, the 6-foot-3 guard wasn't himself. Against Northwestern and Indiana, Horton had just 10 total points on 22 percent shooting, including 0-for-9 from behind the arc. But Saturday was a different story for the second-year guard, as he dropped in a season-high 20 points and added four steals. "He's so good, especially in transi- tion, being able to use screens or his dribble to get in the lane," Michigan State junior Chris Hill said. "We want- ed to do a good job of corralling him and getting help (defense). For the most part we did a pretty good job of that, but he's a very good player, and especially in the second half, he was able to create some things." MEN Continued from Page 11B "What really hurt us was our turnovers right before the half," said Horton, who led Michigan with 20 points. "Our turnovers hurt us in key stretches of the game." The Spartans maintained a lead around 10 points for most of the sec- ond half, but struggled to put the Wolverines away. Michigan fought back to pull within eight points with 11:38 remaining on a tip-in by J.C. Mathis. But Paul Davis scored eight straight points for the Spartans - his last two coming on an offensive rebound after a missed free throw - to push his team's lead to 13 and put the game out of reach. Michigan trailed by double digits for Although his 33-percent field-goal percentage (5-for-15) overall on Satur- day wasn't spectacular, the Texas native hit five of his nine 3-point attempts, including 3-of-4 in the first half. And he consistently looked to pene- trate and get to the basket, something that didn't happen in Horton's first two conference games, when he often set- tled for mid-range jumpers. "That was one of our emphases, as a team - to (penetrate and) try get to the free-throw line," Horton said. Unfortunately for Michigan, Horton didn't get enough help from his sup- porting cast on the perimeter. Senior Bernard Robinson connected on just 2-of-8 from the field for five points, way down from his 14-point-per-game average. "They played solid defense on me today," Robinson said. "I don't recall that I had any open shots at all, and I was trying not to force too many shots." Freshman Dion Harris didn't look for his shot as he had done in Michi- gan's first two conference games. Harris had scored 13 and 15. against Northwestern and Indiana, respectively, but dropped in just five on Saturday, attempting just three field goals. "I thought we did a pretty good job defensively because (Horton, Robin- son, Harris and Abram) really have an offensive mind, and our guys didn't give them an inch," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. Michigan's four perimeter players have all been in double figures this season in wins over North Carolina State (68-61) and Fairfield (66-43). In its one game of the season when only one perimeter player scored in double figures, Michigan suffered its worst loss of the season, an 83-63 defeat at Vanderbilt. "We're definitely struggling right now. The shots aren't dropping for us," Michigan senior Bernard Robinson said. "We definitely have to find our shots - that's the key to us winning. I think we played solid enough defense, but when the offense isn't clicking, I think that hurts on both ends." Robinson, who had been consistent- ly solid on offense this season, was held to just five points on 2-for-8 shooting and committed seven turnovers. Davis - the Spartans' leading scor- er, averaging 14.7 points per game - had his way inside with Michigan defenders for most of the contest. With the exception of having his shots blocked twice by Courtney Sims early in the first frame, Davis routinely caught the ball in good post position At: Breslin Center, East Lansing Attendance: 14,759 BIG TEN STANDINGS Conference Overall Team W L W L Wisconsin 2 1 11 3 Purdue 2 1 12 4 Indiana 2 1 8 6 Penn State 2 1 8 6 Michigan State 2 1 7 7 Illinois 2 2 11 4 Iowa 2 2 9 5 Northwestern 2 2 7 8 Michigan 1 2 10 4 Ohio State 1 2 9 7 Minnesota 0 3 8 7 Saturday's results: MICHIGAN STATE 71, Michigan 54 ILLINOIS 88, IowA 82 OHIO STATE 73, Minnesota 62 INDIANA 73, Northwestern 62 Tonight's games: Indiana at Ohio State 7 p.m. Tomorrow's games: Michigan at Wisconsin 8 p.m. Michigan St. at Northwestern 6 p.m. Iowa at Iowa State 7 p.m. Minnesota at Purdue 8 p.m. Penn State at Illinois 8 p.m. Tomorrow's games: Michigan at Penn State 1215 p.m. Illinois at Wisconsin 2:30 p.m. Indiana at Minnesota 4:30 p.m. Ohio State at Iowa 8 p.m. Michigan's Graham Browni combined for 40 turnoversi DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily dives underneath Michigan State's Jason Andreas to corral a loose ball on Saturday. The teams in the Spartans' 71-54 victory. Andreas was big off the bench, with seven points and five boards. Horton, Robinson key to solution BURKE Continued from Page 1B wrong on Saturday. "Daniel had a pretty good game today, and everybody else didn't really. I think sometimes we're trying too hard." On paper, there doesn't appear to be much of a problem. Horton, Abram, Bernard Robinson and Dion Harris are all averaging more than 10 points a game. In watching Michigan State's offense, however, the problem with Michigan's attack became more apparent. Almost every trip down the court, the Spartans got the ball in the hands of either guard Chris Hill or forward Paul Davis. There was no question that, in spite of Hill's sub-par performance (he was hampered by illness), the Spartans knew which two guys they wanted with the ball. For the Wolverines, though, every possession had a dif- ferent aim. Maybe it was Horton shooting a 3-pointer, or Robinson trying to create on the wing, or center Courtney Sims looking to bang inside. Michigan's variance of options can sometimes be a huge advantage over the defense. But when the shots aren't falling, like they weren't on Saturday, then it's imperative to know which guy you can find to pour in some points. So far, that No. I option has been different in every win - which can definitely give opponents fits. The problem has come from the fact that a go-to guy has been nonexist- ent in every loss. "(Hitting on all cylinders) comes with experience," Robinson said. "We're a young team, and that experience will take care of itself. We don't run a specific offense like (Michigan State). We run a more open offense, so every- one gets ample opportunities." Getting the entire team involved can be effective, but in a game like Saturday's, the Wolverines need someone to step up individually. The person most capable of doing that is Horton. The Michigan coaching staff knows it. In the second half on Saturday, Amaker played Horton and guard Dion Harris together, allowing Horton to catch and shoot, or drive to the basket. When this offense has been at its best, like in the victory over UCLA, it started with Robinson and Horton. Every- one else fed off of them. No matter who they play all year, there won't be anyone who matches up defensively with Robinson and Horton. So, while spreading the ball around will keep everyone involved, it also has a tendency to take Robinson and Hor- ton away from what they do best. At this point, the discovery of the Wolverines' identity lies in their ability to distinguish between sharing the ball and doing so while getting their best players the majority of the touches. Solving the problem would, no doubt, lead to the best of times. Chris Burke can be reached at chrisbur@umich.edu. UP NEXT: HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED A'PHOO Wisconsin's Devin Harris AT WISCONSIN Just like after its loss to Indiana, Michigan has to follow up a defeat with a difficult game. This time, the Wolverines will take their two-game losing streak to Madison to take on the always- tough Badgers. Wisconsin has again cracked the top 25, and sits atop the Big Ten with a 2-1 record (11-3 overall). The Bad- gers beat Indiana and Michigan State before dropping a 53-51 heart-breaker at Purdue last Wednesday. The teams split two games last year. AT FENN TATE Team 1. Duke 2. Stanford 3. St. Joseph's 4. Connecticut 5. Louisville 6. Cincinnati 7. North Carolina 8. Pittsburgh Record 14-1 14-0 15-0 15-2 13-1 13-0 11-3 18-1 This weekend's results Beat Wake Forest 84-72 Beat California 68-61 Beat Xavier 81-73 Beat Pittsburgh 68-65 Beat Tulane 79-58 Beat TCU 85-57 Beat Connecticut 86-83 Lost to Connecticut 68-65 This week's games at Maryland; at Georgetown UCLA; Southern Cal. Mass.; at St. Bonaventure Providence Cincinnati; at Tennessee at Louisville; at Southern Miss. at Florida State; Virginia at Syracuse