PfRicTSailn lP(:Rr sports.rmichigandaily. com sportsdesk@michigandaily.com 11 Badgers pose tough test for 'M' on road r Starting guard will miss game Without sports, life would be incomplete By Chris Burke Daily Sports Editor Fresh off two straight difficult losses at the hands of Michigan State and Indiana, the Michigan basketball team won't get a break from the schedule makers. The Wolverines (1-2 Big Ten, 10- 4 overall) will be forced to try and end their two-game los- ing streak in Madison against No. 21 Wiscon- sin (2-1, 11-3), the two- r time defending Big Ten champions. But despite the fact Tr that a 1-3 conference Kohl start stares the Wolver-.11 ESP ines in the face, forward Bernard Robinson rejected the notion that his team that trying to come out of Wisconsin with a victory is a difficult task. Michigan has lost its last three games at Wisconsin, including a 73- 42 drubbing last season. The Wolverines aren't the only ones that have found it rough going in the Kohl Center, either. Wisconsin has won 22 straight home games, thanks in part to a NIGH T Cetr N.pkis 9-0 home start this year. And the Badgers have never lost a Big Ten game at home under Ryan, posting an impressive 18-0 mark. Holding serve at home is something the Wolverines weren't able to do against the Hoosiers two weeks ago, and because of needed a confidence boost. "Confidence is still high, don't start doubting us," Robinson said. "We just lost two straight games, so everybody, don't start doubting us. Our confidence was there when we were 0-6 (last season), and we won 13 (straight). Our confidence isn't going anywhere when we lose two straight games." Perhaps the principal reason for the Wolverines to exude confidence is the fact that the Big Ten appears to be as wide open as it has been in years, with all 11 teams having already suffered at least one confer- ence defeat. It's a fact that Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan took notice of after Indi- ana recovered from a blowout loss to the Badgers and won in Ann p Arbor just five days later. "You can be an Indiana and have a rough game here and go to Michi- gan and win," Ryan said. "You can be Michigan and lose at home to Indiana and go other places and get it done. That's just the nature of the league and league play." While Ryan is well aware of how dangerous a road team in need of a victory can be, the numbers show that, stealing a win away from home has become an imperative mission. "It definitely has," Robinson said. "We've talked about that as a team - we've got to get out here and get some victories, one way or another." In order to put itself in position to upset the Badgers, Michigan will have to improve on the offensive end. The Wolverines did not crack 60 points in either of their losses to Indiana and Michigan State. Wis- consin, meanwhile, enters tonight's game with the Big Ten's best defense, allowing just 55.4 points per game. . Ryan, though, refuses to look too far into Michigan's recent struggles to put the ball in the basket. "They're talented, they're long, they're quick," Ryan said. "(Daniel) Horton is still one of the best point guards around, and (Dion) Harris ... boy can he shoot it. "Believe me, every time we play somebody, our players think this is the greatest team that has ever played, based on what we show them, because we show them their strengths." The two teams split last year's series, with the Wolverines rallying from 15 points down in the final COURTNEY LEWIS Full Court Press They make for pretty cool com- mercials, but if you think about them for a minute, those ESPN "Without Sports" ads bring up a pretty scary thought: What if there really were no sports? OK, it would- n't be the worst thing that could hap- pen (not quite, anyway), but things would be different. Very different. Some of us wouldn't even have been lured to attend Michigan, and even if we were, college would be an incom- plete experience. Without sports, there'd be no foot- ball Saturdays, no walking to the stadium with thousands of other stu- dents, and no rushing the field. There would be no weekend road trips, no reason at all to trek to Iowa City or Big Rapids or Bowling Green. We would never walk into Crisler Arena for the first time or get chills when we watch, for the last time as students, the Michigan Marching Band take the field in the Big House. Without sports, there'd be no rea- son to skip class on the third Thurs- day afternoon in March, and we would never start writing a term paper at 1 a.m. because a game went into double overtime. Without sports, we wouldn't know what it was like to never get tired of "One Shining Moment," or watch "Hoosiers" for the 100th time and then not be able to wait for the next time. We wouldn't watch a tape of '98 Rose Bowl years later and still celebrate when the clock runs out. Without sports, we couldn't watch Jeff Tambellini utterly con- fuse a goalie, Steve Breaston turn a tackler into a fool with one sick move or Brent Petway sky for an alley-oop. There Vould be-no_ grinders or sixth men or walk-ons reminding us what it's all about. Without sports, we could never get away with calling a guy Hunnie or Cookie or Dewie. Without sports, there would be no trash talk, no proclaiming our loyal- ty on a T-shirt, no block "M," no bragging rights, no rubbing it in, no sharing the agony. Without sports, we wouldn't get our best friend to text message us updates every 10 minutes while we're stuck at a fami- ly dinner. Without sports, there would be no need to guard the "M" on the Diag, and the color green wouldn't make us cringe a little bit. Without sports, we'd never listen to Frank Beckman and Jim Brand- statter on the car radio, counting on them to be our eyes. We'd never hear Keith Jackson's "Whoa Nellie" or hear televisions, all turned to the same channel, echoing down the dorm hall. We'd never hear the swish of a perfect shot hitting the twine or the clang of a puck hitting the post or the collective groan of a crowd or 110,000 people singing "The Victors" in one voice. Without sports, how would we pour sweat or push ourselves to the limit or blow off steam or knock down a game-winner and feel, just for a moment, like we're not all that different from the players in maize and blue? Without sports, we'd have a lot fewer stitches and black eyes, go through a lot fewer ice packs and Ace wraps. Without sports, how would we be tough? Without sports, we wouldn't pull the glove out of the closet and play catch on the first warm day of spring or play touch football in the snow and forget it is cold out or shoot hoops in the park and not even realize it's raining. Without sports, our hearts would pound a little less, and we wouldn't sit on the edges of our seats quite so often. We wouldn't be devastated as often. But, also, we wouldn't have a reason to wait until next year. We wouldn't be 1,000 miles from home, see a maize-and-blue flag, and feel See LEWIS, Page 13 DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Michigan freshman Courtney Sims and the rest of the Wolverines are hoping to end their two-game losing streak tonight in Madison against No. 21 Wisconsin. five minutes to win 66-65 at home in early January. Tonight's game tips off at 9 p.m., and will air on ESPN-Plus. OWENS OUT: Wisconsin senior guard Freddie Owens will miss tonight's game against the Wolver- ines due to a left foot injury. The senior suffered the injury in practice on Saturday. His status beyond tonight is still up in the air. Owens has started all 14 games for the Badgers so far this season and has averaged 8.6 points in 29 minutes per game. Wisconsin junior Zach Morley will start in the backcourt in Owens' place. It will be his first start of the season. He has scored nine points per game off the bench for the Bad- gers on 49-percent shooting from the floor so far this year. Recruits Lerg, Johnson enjoy Yost preview By Sharad Mattu Daily Sports Writer When 11 of the 26 players on a team are in the same class, as is the case with the juniors on the Michigan ice hockey team, there are clear benefits and drawbacks. They can either become a close-knit group, or competition for playing time can make them a ten- sion-ridden bunch. They can all step right in and contribute, or the transition to college hockey can be too tough and they can fail to maximize their collective potential. Fortunately for the Wolverines, things worked bet- ter than even the coaching staff could have hoped. The juniors - nine of whom play regularly - have been instrumental in the team's Frozen Four runs the past two years, and they give reason to believe that this year and next can be even better. That leaves one question, though: What happens when they're all gone? While a time without the class of 2005 is still in the distant future, the Michigan coaches are busy deter- mining exactly who will step up in its place. Saturday, two future Wolverines - forward Bryan Lerg and defenseman Jack Johnson - played at Yost Ice Arena as members of the U.S. Under-18 National Team Development Program. Both went pointless in Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Wolverines, but their abilities were obvious when they were on the ice, and their coach believes Michigan is getting a pair of "big-time players." "Bryan Lerg is a complete player," U.S. Under-18 coach John Hynes said. "He plays both ends of the ice. He takes a lot of our important faceoffs. "He's at a level where he can compete against older guys because of his work ethic in the weight room and skill set." For Lerg, choosing Michigan was tough because he will graduate from high school this year, but he won't have a spot on the roster unless an underclassman leaves. Most likely, he will spend next year playing major junior hockey and wait for a spot to open up. "It's not the greatest situation," the Livonia native said. "I get really antsy. But there's nothing I can do about it. I want to go to Michigan, so I've just got to wait around and be patient." Hynes thinks just as highly of Johnson, who was moved up from the Under-17 team just last week. "Jack Johnson is a kid who's a phenomenal talent," Hynes said. "He's got things that you can't teach, and he's got a high competitive level." Johnson, who hails from Faribault, Minn., knows just one player currently on the Wolverines. Senior captain Andy Burnes was a counselor when he went to Michigan hockey camp four years ago. "I talked to him last week at the Ohio State game," Johnson said. "I told him to take it easy with us. He just laughed at me." Though it was hardly their best effort, the Wolver- ines played hard, and the Under-18 squad hung around and even tied the score early in the third period. Playing at Yost and in Ann Arbor, where the US-NTDP is based, was a thrill for both Lerg and Johnson. "I enjoyed it a lot, especially the crowd," Lerg said. "I was kind of trying to block it out and listen to it at the same time. I'd been waiting for this game for a long time." Johnson agreed, saying: "It was an honor and a blast. I tried to soak up every minute of it. It was the most fun I've ever had playing hockey." RED, WHTE AND BLUE The U.S. National Team Development Pogram is a popular breeding ground for ftu Mhigan y players. Here are the seven current Wolvernes wh. honed their skills at the Ie Cube (the progrm's home arena, located in Ann Arbor). Dwight Helminen Under-1$ Team in 2.-200.. Eric Nystrom Under-18Team in 2000-2001 Jason Ryznar UnderA8 Team in 2000-2001 Al Montoya Under-7Tleamn2l1-290. Mike Brown Under-1 Team fn 20Z2-20.3 T.J. Hensick Under-S Team in 2002-2003 Matt Hunwick Under-18 Team in 2O02-2003 SETH LOWER/Daily Michigan junior center Dwight Heiminen ducks to avoid the hit of an oncoming Northern Michigan defender.