The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 26, 2004 - 5B Talkin' the talk "Our backs were against the wall, but it wasn't time to panic." - Michigan senior Bemard Robinson after Saturday's game about his team's three-game losing streak - and 1-3 conference record - heading into Penn State. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 69 Penn State 59 Players of the game Marion Smith (Penn State) Smith played a solid all-around game for the Nittany Lions. He chipped in a team-high 15 points while racking up six boards and five assists. Lester Abram (Michigan) Abram led the Wolverines with 19 points on the afternoon. He also played an important role in defend- ing Penn State's Jan Jagla. No room for panic as Wolverines get back in Big Ten race CHRIS BURKE Goin' to Work S TATE COLLEGE - Forget what the Michigan players said before the Michigan State game. Forget what they preached before heading to Wisconsin. Saturday, at Penn State, the Wolverines were faced with their first true "must-win" situation of the year. And while it didn't end up being Michigan's best game of the season, there's only one thing that a team needs to do in a "must-win" situation ... it must win. The Wolverines accomplished that mission, quickly jumping out to a big lead on Penn State, and then stopping the Nittany Lions from ever really making a run. All of a sudden, Michi- gan is 2-3 in the conference and returns to Crisler Arena for a home game against Iowa on Wednesday. A win here, and Michigan's back to 3-3. And in the topsy-turvy world of the Big Ten race this season, 3-3 would be right smack- dab in the middle of the hunt. "We never did panic," Michigan forward Bernard Robinson said. "We knew it was going to be a long season and that this wasn't over for us. "We told ourselves that as a team - that it wasn't the time to panic. Our backs were against the wall, but it wasn't time to panic." Well, let's make it that their backs are against the wall. One win over a mediocre-at-best Penn State team isn't going to com- pletely erase the three-game losing streak that the Wolverines were com- ing off of. Not many conference champions lose three in a row and go on to take the conference crown. The Wolverines' backs are still against the wall because of a sched- ule that sees three of the next five games on the road, and one of the two home contests is against co-Big Ten leader Purdue'. But when you look at the Big Ten - a conference that's about as stable as a teeter-totter with two hyperactive kids on it -it would be foolish to write Michigan off when talking about teams with championship capabilities. Just because Michigan was put in a hole, it doesn't mean that the Wolver- ines can't recover during their last 11 conference games. "It is very difficult in our league to go on the road for three consecutive games," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "Those three games can really change the course of your sea- son - we definitely thought this game was critical. "We looked at this game as a situa- tion where our backs were against the wall, and I think we played with that sense of urgency this afternoon." The chore for the Wolverines now is to maintain that sense of urgency. You can't challenge for a confer- ence title with an on-again, off-again mentality. It's got to be there every night. To be honest, though, the most encouraging sign I saw at Penn State came after the game. Entering the Michigan lockerroom, I expected to see a jubilant bunch - the Wolverines had just taken it to Penn State on the road, the losing streak was over and they were head- ing home. Instead, the scene was subdued. The Wolverines sat there, looking content but not overly excited. They spoke of not getting too high after a win, just as they hadn't gotten too low after three losses. They sounded like players who expected to rout Penn State, like a team that understood how quickly things can change in the Big Ten. The whole team sat there, knowing the near-panic that had set in for Michigan fans following that third- straight loss, and just had a collective look of "See, we told you not to worry." Forward Brent Petway, for exam- ple, spoke about how the Wolverines just needed to get back in the win column - and now that they had, a win streak might not be far off. "Definitely," said Petway, affirm- SATURDAY'S GAME PENN STATE (59) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Summers 26 2-5 0-0 3-4 2 0 4 Jagla 37 5-18 0-0 2-7 1 2 13 Egekeze 26 6-10 1-2 2-3 0 4 13 Luber 40 4-9 2-2 1-2 3 4 10 Smith 39 6-14 2-2 1-6 5 4 15 Johnson 29 1-4 2-4 24 1 3 4 Fletcher 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 McDougald 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 TEAM 4-10 Totals 200 24-60 7-1015.361219 59 FG%: .400. FT%: .700. 3-point FG: 4-16, .250 (Jagla 3-8, Smith 1-6, Luber 0-2). Blocks: 1 (Jagla). Steals: 4 (Summers, Egekeze, Luber, Johnson). Turnovers: 14 (Jagla 4, Luber 3, Johnson 3, Summers, Egekeze, Smith, Fletcher). Technical fouls: none. Michigan (69) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Robinson 35 3-15 2-3 1-4 5 1 8 Sims 14 1-5 0-0 2-3 0 2 2 Brown 33 2-5 0-0 3-7 1 2 4 Abram 26 6-8 5-5 1-2 1 3 19 Harris 36 5-12 2-2 2-3 1 3 15 Horton 28 4-11 4-4 1-5 5 3 13 Petway 11 2-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 4 Mathis 21 2-4 0-0 3-7 1 1 4 Team 1-1 Totals 200 25-6213-1414-341415 69 FG%: .403. FT%!: .929. 3-point FG: 6-17, .353 (Harris 3-8, Abram 2-3, Horton 1-4, Robinson 0-2). Blocks: 9 (Robinson 3, Brown 2, Petway 2, Horton, Mathis). Steals: 10 (Abram 3, Brown 2, Horton 2, ). Turnovers: 9 (Mathis 3, Robinson 2, Brown 2, Abram, Har- ris). Technical fouls: none. Penn State...........22 Michigan................. 32 37 - 59 37 - 69 At: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa. Attendance: 11,046 BIG TEN STANDINGS Team Wisconsin Purdue Indiana Iowa Michigan State Illinois Michigan Penn State Northwestern Ohio State Minnesota Conference Overall W L W L 4 1 13 3 4 1 14 4 4 1 10 6 3 2 10 6 3 2 8 8 3 3 12 5 2 3 11 5 2 3 8 8 2 3 7 9 1 4 9 9 0 5 8 9 TONY DING/Daily Daniel Horton and the Wolverines have struggled early in their conference schedule, but wins in their next couple games would get them right back in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament. ing the notion that a win over Penn State could get this team rolling. "This game can start it off for us, so if we can get a win back at home, it would be a new race in the Big Ten." That's what came out of beating Penn State in an arena that was so quiet at times, you could hear Penn State forward Jan Jagla's points-per- game average drop. Instead of the questions that were hounding this team during three subpar games, Saturday's effort affords the Wolverines a chance to sit back and realize that they are - despite still not really hitting on all cylinders - right in the thick of the Big Ten race. And when they do, finally, see everyone put it together all at once, there's no telling what could happen. The talent level on this team is, without a doubt, comparable to the conference's elite teams. So now Michigan will get back to work and do what ittakes to get this team playing at the level it is capal of playing at. At some point, it probably will happen. Don't panic. The Wolverines certainly won't Chris Burke would like to thank Ki Restaurant in Barkeyville, Pa., for serving ofcountrv-iied steak1 sausage gravy. He can be reache chrisbur@umich. Sunday's results: PURDUE 76, Michigan State 70 Saturday's results: ng's Michigan 69, PENN STATE 59 r his Indiana 86, MINNESOTA 81 With WISCoNSIN 76, Illinois 56 "' ,, IowA 79, Ohio State 65 "a,' M goes small to stop Jagla Maize Ragers' grueling trip to State College lifts cagers By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer STATE COLLEGE - Penn State junior Jan Jagla is listed as a forward in the team's media guide. But the 7-footer plays much more like a guard than a big man. And for this reason,. Michigan chose to defend the Nittany Lions' leading scorer with a guard for most of Saturday's 69-59 win over Penn State. "He's basically a 7-foot guard," said Michigan sophomore Lester Abram, who matched up against Jagla during stretches of the game. "We just tried to put a lot of pressure on him. We just came out and played our regular defense - we didn't do anything special." Jagla - who was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week on Jan. 12 - struggled in the first half, connecting on just 1-of-9 from the floor. While he made some buck- ets in the second half, he shot just 28 per- cent for the game (5-for-18) and was visibly frustrated at times. On two straight possessions in the second half, Michigan senior Bernard Robinson blocked Jagla on consecutive possessions. And a few possessions later, the junior had his pocket picked by Daniel Horton on a drive to the basket. "We just wanted to get a hand up on all of his shots," Robinson said. "He's very tall, so you can't always stop it or block it, but you just wanna get a hand up on him and make him shoot a harder shot." After being recognized by the Big Ten, opponents have keyed more on stopping Brown sa Jagla than they had before. Maize R "The other teams are doing a good job Those gu against us," Jagla said. "It has been hard them thr for me to play the way I usually play, Many because other defenses have had a solid Maize Ra focus on me." fiving the Jagla's struggle may have also been in entrance part because he was forced to work hard on lockerroo the defensive end of the floor. After the 7- The M footer picked up his second foul of the mocking game, Michigan pounded the ball inside to Penn Sta physical sophomore Graham Brown in an "You are attempt to get Penn State's leading scorer and enjo into foul trouble. also char Although Jagla escaped without picking the game up his third foul, he had to work hard on ond half. defense to slow down the 255-pound IN KNEE Brown. more Chi "With a guy like that, he doesn't like to after re-a guard the post very much," Brown said. "He ki "Taking him down low - he's probably not night in1 used to it. So (he) probably just gets a little Amakers tired from that." Hunter HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Bryce Jor- season ft dan Center isn't exactly the best arena for his knee. basketball. The ex Its structure is huge - almost as big as weekend some NBA arenas - and fails to create the NOTES "homely" atmosphere of smaller arenas. meeting And since Penn State's decline began a attempt t few seasons ago, so did the attendance of Penn Sta the school's student section has followed the crow suit. game . . On Saturday, a combination of the lack of from the attendance and crowd apathy paved the way highest s for a small Maize Rage contingent of about . . . Mic a dozen to be heard loud and clear through- surpasse out the building. career, sc "You can't ask for anything more," tany Lion HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Record This weekend's results 1 16-1 Beat Georgetown 85-66F 16-0 Beat USC 77-67 id. "To go to other states and have .age there - that's unheard of. uys did a great job, and we heard oughout the whole game." Michigan players thanked the age after by jumping up and high- & fans - who were seated near the of the tunnel leading back to the om. aize Rage devised several chants g the Nittany Lions' "We are ... ate" chant. The Ragers chanted ..." at the lifeless student section, yed the lack of a response. They nted "We own ... Penn State" when was out of reach late in the sec- E-D OF RECOVERY: Michigan sopho- ris Hunter missed Saturday's game ggravating a knee injury. ind of twisted his knee (Friday) practice," Michigan coach Tommy said. r missed seven games earlier this ollowing arthroscopic surgery on xtent of the injury suffered this is still unknown. : Michigan has won its last five s against Penn State . . . In an o get fans excited about the game, te has a DJ and emcee to entertain d during timeouts and before the . The Wolverines shot 13-for-14 free-throw line (93 percent), their ingle-game percentage this season higan forward Bernard Robinson ed the 1,300-point mark for his coring eight points against the Nit- ns. This weeks games Florida State; at Georgia Tech at Oregon State; at Oregon at Temple at Virginia Tech; at Boston Coll. Houston; Marquette East Carolina; Charlotte at N.C. State; Clemson Boston ColenPo Tomorrow's games: Purdue at Indiana 7 p.m. Wednesday's games: Iowa at Michigan 7 pm. Northwestern at Penn State 7 p.m. Wisconsin at Ohio State 8 p.m. Michigan State at Minnesota 9 p.m. Saturday's games: Ohio State at Purdue 12:07 p.m. Michigan at Illinois 1:45p.m. Minnesota at Northwestern 4 p.m. Indiana at Michigan State 8 p.m. Penn State at Iowa 8:05 p.m. UP NEXT: TONY DING/Daily Michigan's Graham Brown fights past Penn State's seven- footer Jan Jagla in Saturday's Michigan victory. AP PHOTO The Hawkeyes' Greg Brunner IOWA Sporting a 2-3 record in a weak Big Ten conference, Michigan has to defend its home floor the rest of the way. The Hawkeyes arrive in Ann Arbor with a 3-2 conference record (10-6 overall). They're a tough team to figure out though. After a quality win over Purdue to open the Big Ten season earlier this month, the Hawkeyes fell to Northwestern. Sophomore guard Jeff Horner has been on a bit of a tear lately, scoring more than 20 points in three of the last four games. AI ILLINOIS Academics bench Horton. NflTANY LIONS Continued from Page 1B Bernard Robinson miss. Sixteen of Petway's 19 field goals this season have come on dunks. guys," Harris said. With 33 assists versus 29 turnovers, the 6-foot-4 guard from Detroit Redford is one of just three Michigan players with an assist-to- turnover ratio over one. As a team, Team 1. Duke 2. Stanford 3. St. Joseph's 4. Connecticut 5. Louisville 6. Cincinnati 7. North Carolina R Pittc irn,,h 17-0 15-3 15-1 14-1 12-4 10-1 Beat St. Bonaventure 114-63 Lost to Providence 66-56 Beat Tennessee Beat Southern Miss 83-47 Beat Virginia 96-77 RPat Svmrn i, 6A6-4 C C F E E