The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 18, 2005 - 5B

WHAT DID YOU SAY?
"We pride ourselves on being
a balanced team and keeping
the other team off-balance.
- Junior Daniel Horton on
Michigan having various players
step up at crucial moments.
Foul trouble cuts

SATURDAY'S SCORE

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Michigan

66
62

Geary Claxton
(Penn State)
The freshman gave Michigan's
frontcourt fits, scoring 13 points and
blocking three shots on defense.
Claxton was 7-for-11 from the stripe.

Graham Brown
(Michigan)
Brown recorded his first career double-
double, tallying 13 points and grab-
bing 10 rebounds. His consistent play
helped offset Michigan's foul trouble.

Penn State

into
By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writer

play

STATE COLLEGE - Midway
through the first half of Michigan's
66-62 win over Penn State on Satur-
day, senior forward J.C. Mathis fell
victim to the plague of injures that
has stricken many of his teammates
this season.
"I was trying to come in hard for
an offensive rebound," Mathis said. "I
don't know whether it was an elbow
or what, but someone's arm came
straight into my nose."
The Nittany Lions succeeded in
adding injury upon injury this season
to the Wolverines' roster. Mathis left
and re-entered with a piece of gauze
S up his nostril.
While the bump on the nose didn't
keep Mathis off the court, some of
the other injured Wolverines can't say
the same. Junior Chris Hunter, who
sustained an ankle injury at Iowa on
Jan. 5, and sophomore Brent Petway
- who injured his shoulder against
Fairfield last Saturday - did not play
Saturday. Hunter has now missed
three consecutive games and Petway
has missed two.
Fortunately, the Wolverines didn't
have to list anyone else under "inac-
tive" status on Saturday. But the
physical nature of the game certain-
ly could not have helped an already
depleted squad.
There was a total of 39 personal
fouls called, the Wolverines were
whistled for 20 of them. Most of
those fouls were called on Michigan's
under-manned frontcourt.
Junior Graham Brown, sophomore
Courtney Sims and Mathis were the
only true big men that saw playing
time, and they were put to the test
early.
Mathis was slapped with two quick
fouls in the first two minutes and
S Sims received his second with 11:51
left in the first half. The foul trouble
left Brown as the only effective post
player for most of the game. He was
forced to play 37 minutes in his sec-

ond game since returning from hernia
surgery, and he rose to the challenge.
After a sluggish start inside - he
shot just 2-for-8 in the first half -
Brown finally got rolling and finished
with 13 points, one point shy of his
career high. He also pulled down 10
rebounds, which tied a career mark.
"I wasn't finishing there in the first
half," Brown said. "But in the second
half, I stepped it up a little bit and
started making some shots. I just have
to hand it to (the guards) for keeping
with me."
But Brown's most important contri-
bution didn't come on the scoreboard.
With 23.6 seconds remaining and
Michigan up 62-57, Brown stepped in
the lane to take a charge from Penn
State's Ben Luber, all but sealing up
Michigan's victory.
"Taking a charge is one of the
things that means a lot to me," Brown
said. "It's one of the key things I
always try to do, and it's just a great
feeling being down there and getting
that key charge there toward the end
of the game."
Brown collected four personal fouls
when he was matched up with Penn
State's Aaron Johnson. The Nittany
Lions' 6-foot-9 bruising forward's
play was also responsible for helping
pile up the fouls on Sims and Mathis,
who both finished with four person-
als.
"Aaron Johnson is a very physical
player," Mathis said. "We knew it was
going to be a physical game coming
into it and be physical down low. So
we just tried to be prepared for it and
match their intensity or even try to
better it."
The physical bashing that Michigan
received may have exposed a weak-
ness. The few remaining active post
players could have a difficult time
shouldering all the bruising down low
for much longer.
"Our guys had to do some really
creative and tough and crafty things
to kind of battle through to get this
win," Michigan coach Tommy Amak-
er said.

SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 66
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Coleman 29 4-9 0-0 1-2 2 3 12
Mathis 22 4-9 1-2 4-6 0 4 9
Sims 20 3-3 0-0 0-2 0 4 6
Horton 38 2-11 2-2 1-2 10 3 6
Harris 36 5-12 1-2 0-5 4 0 14
Andrews 18 1-3 4-4 0-1 0 2 6
Brown 37 5-12 3-3 4-10 1 4 13
TEAM 1-1
Totals 200 24-5911-1311-291720 66
FG%: .407 FT%: .846 3-point FG: 7-22,
.318 (Coleman 4-8, Harris 3-7, Andrews
0-1, Mathis 0-2, Horton 0-4). Blocks: 3
(Mathis, Sims, Brown) Steals: 5 (Brown
2, Mathis, Sims, Harris). Turnovers: 8
(Coleman 3, Harris, Horton, Andrews,
Brown). Technical fouls: None.
PENN STATE 62
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Johnson 39 1-5 9-13 4-11 2 3 11
Claxton 37 3-8 7-11 6-8 1 4 13
Parker 33 7-13 2-2 1-5 4 4 19
Luber 34 5-10 2-3 0-2 3 3 13
Morrissey 21 1-3 0-0 1-3 1 3 2
Walker 27 1-6 0-0 0-2 3 0 2
Hassell 7 1-2 0-0 0-2 0 2 2
McDougald2 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
TEAM 2-6
Totals 200 19-4720-2914-40 1419 62
FG%: .404 FT%: .690 3-point FG: 4-14,
.286 (Parker 3-6, Luber 1-2, Morrissey
0-2, Walker 0-4). Blocks: 3 (Claxton 3).
Steals: 2 (Johnson, Luber). Turnovers: 16
(Johnson 4, Claxton 3, Parker 3, Luber 3,
Morrissey, Walker, McDougald). Techni-
cal fouls: None.

TREVOR GAMPBELL/Daily
Despite putting up no points in the second half, sophomore Dion Harris left the door open for others to fill the scoring void.
Guards shine ithout sCOring

Michigan.................30
Penn State........6...26

36 - 66
36 - 62

At: Bryce Jordan Center

By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - A road win has been difficult enough
for Michigan in the past, and the lack of scoring production
from two of Michigan's go-to players made it an even bigger
obstacle in Saturday's 66-62 win at Penn State.
Junior Daniel Horton and sophomore Dion Harris - Mich-

igan's top two leading scorers - combined
for just two points in the second half. And
those two points came on a pair of Horton
free throws with 19 seconds remaining that,
realistically, just added icing to the cake.
"It would be hard for us to think we could
win on the road with those two guys not

° ' .

scoring, like that in the second half," Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker said.
But Michigan did squeak out a win, thanks to a bevy of con-
tributions up and down the roster.
Horton and Harris were actually partly responsible for the'
scoring opening up the doors for their supporting cast. Harris
began the game with 14 points in the first half, burning the Nit-
tany Lions from outside on 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Penn State coach Ed DeChellis made a halftime adjustment
by switching to a triangle-and-two defense, designed to stifle
Horton and Harris.
"We tried to roll the dice and take those two and make some-
body else make some shots," DeChellis said.
The defense did what it was designed to do, but it also left
freshman Ron Coleman open on a number of occasions, allow-
ing him to nail four 3-pointers in the second half, which drove
a stake through the heart of the Nittany Iions.
Horton didn't make much of a dent in the scoring column
- he finished with six points - but he did make his pres-

ence felt.
The guard posted a career-high 10 assists and committed
just one turnover. His last assist set up Coleman's 3-pointer
with 34 seconds left, which put Michigan up 62-57.
"I'm probably more proud of (my assists and turnovers) than
if I came out here and scored 30 points," Horton said. "That's
the only thing that I've been really working on - trying to take
care of the ball and make plays without turning it over. I'm glad
I was able to do that."
SMITH OUT FOR SEASON: The Nittany Lions were playing an
emotional game on Saturday, with the recent news that their
teammate, sophomore Marlon Smith, would miss the rest of
the season with what was described as a partial blockage of an
artery in his brain.
The news actually provided some relief for a team that had
been searching for answers. Smith collapsed at practice on Jan.
7 and has not played since. Doctors placed Smith on blood
thinners, preventing him from any athletic activity because any
hard contact could lead to bruising and bleeding.
Shortly after both coaches held their postgame press con-
ferences, DeChellis sat with Smith - the team's leading
scorer last year' -and two of Smith's doctors to make the
announcement.
"We're all very, very human," DeChellis said. "Marlon
was in great shape, obviously - a conditioned athlete.
Things happen. I told (the team) we ought to be very, very
grateful for our health. If you don't have it, you don't realize
how important it is."
NOTES: After reaching the career 1,000-point mark against
Northwestern last week, Horton surpassed 300 assists against
Penn State. His 303 career assists places him 1lth on Michigan's
all-time list ... The last time Michigan began conference play 3-
0 was during the 2002-03 season, when it opened up with a 6-0
record before losing to No. 13 Illinois in Champaign.

Player
Harris
Horton
Hunter
Sims
Petway
Coleman
Abram
Brown
Andrews
Mathis
Harrell
Ba
Wohl
Bell
Brzozowicz

Attendance: 8,800
M' STATS
G Min A R
17 36.9 3.73
11 32.0 4.32
14 20.5 0.83
28 25.2 0.66
15 23.6 1.1 6
17 25.2 1.3
3 28.7 1.34
8 23.3 1.0 6
15 19.8 1.7 2
11 9.2 0.41
14 13.1 0.81
2 1.0 0.5 0
5 8.4 0.2 0
7 6.6 0.4 C
2 1.5 0.50

Reb
3.1
2.8
3.8
6.1
6.1
2.9
6.6
2.3
1.7
1.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.0

Pts
13.8
12.2
11.2
10.7
7.7
7.6
6.7
5.0
3.9
2.5
1.9
1.0
0.8
0.0
0.0:

BIG TEN STANDINGS

Team

BigTen Overall

I4UU vr, v vil-

Illinois
Michigan
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Minnesota
Indiana
Iowa
Ohio State
Northwestern
Penn State
Purdue

4
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
0
0

0
0
1
2
1
1
2
2
3
4
4

18
12
12
10
12
7
13
12
8
6
4

0
5
3
3
4
7
3
5
8
11
10

COLEMAN
Continued from page 1B
to step in for his under-the-weath-
er teammates, his presence on the
court has become more like that of
an upperclassman than a kid who has
not even completed an entire season
playing the collegiate version of the
game.
Coleman's clutch performance at
Penn State this weekend verifies that
he has matured greatly since his early
days when he had to sit on the bench
just waiting for the time when Amak-
er would ask him to go in.
"I just listen to my teammates and
my coaches," Coleman said. "And
they just say to go out there and play
poised."
So he did. And his four 3-pointers
in the last few minutes of Saturday's
game gave the Wolverines the boost
they needed to leave State College
with their second road win in the
Big Ten season, equaling last year's
total.
Apart from his accurate shooting,

Coleman has also exhibited another
trait indicating that he has grown as
a leader - he is humble about his
accomplishments.
"It felt good to knock down a shot
like that," Coleman said of one of his
more critical 3-pointers. "But I had to
just keep playing because the game
wasn't over yet. We just kept going,
and the team finished the game on the
free throw line."
In just a few short months wear-
ing the Maize and Blue, Coleman has
become what most never really imag-
ined - a regular starter on whom
Michigan relies for consistent perfor-
mances, even on the road, a place in
which the Wolverines have histori-
cally struggled.
At this point in the season, the
freshman still has not ceased to sur-
prise people with his play. His per-
formances have warranted higher
expectations, but if he is able to
maintain his poise throughout his
tenure at Michigan, he will help his
team grow up as much as he has this
season.

LIONS
Continued from page 1B
the game with four fouls, three of them
occurred in the final 6:30 minutes. Con-
trastingly, sophomore Courtney Sims had
three hacks in the first half, which limited
his time on the floor and his effectiveness
on defense. Michigan finished the game
with 20 total fouls, and Penn State with 19.
The Nittany Lions had numerous
opportunities to overcome the Wolver-
ines, one of which came early in the sec-
ond frame, when Penn State was up 37-35.
Sophomore John Andrews, who had not
contributed to Michigan's scoring despite
several minutes on the floor, sank a jump-
er and tied the game. Just as it was in the
matchup against Iowa, Andrews' free-
throw shooting was both significant and
impeccable. He hit all four of his foul shots
with just under two minutes to go, and, on
both occasions, changed the Wolverines'
lead from meager to comfortable.
"I feel the pressure of the situation,"
Andrews said. "But just because the situ-
ation is familiar to me, there is a certain
comfort level that I have."

THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS:
Michigan 66, PENN STATE 62
IOWA 66, Minnesota 60
Illinois 78, NORTHWESTERN 66
Indiana 75, PURDUE 73 (2 OT)
WISCONSIn 62, Michigan State 59
LSU 113, Ohio State 101 (2 OT)
TUESDAY'S GAME
Purdue at Michigan State 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
Michigan at Indiana 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Ohio State 8 p.m.

THURSDAY'S GAME

Iowa at Illinois
SATURDAY'S GAMES
Wisconsin at Wisconsin
Purdue at Iowa;
Northwestern at Penn State
Michigan State at Minnesota
Ohio State at Indiana

7 p.m.
12:17 p.m.
2:32 p.m.
4 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
8 p.m.

TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily
Senior J.C. Mathis made his third career start against Penn State and scored nine
points as Courtney Sims sat out most of the second half because of foul trouble.

AP TOP 25

Team:
1. Illinois
2. Kansas
3. Wake Forest
4. Duke
5. Oklahoma State
6. North Carolina
7. Syracuse
8. Kentucky
9. Boston College
10. Washington
11. Gonzaga
12. Georgia Tech
13. Arizona
14. Louisville
15. Texas

Record:
18-0
13-0
15-1
13-0
13-1
14-2
17-1
12-2
13-0
15-2
13-3
11-4
14-3
14-3
13-3

Last game:
beat Northwestern, 78-66
beat Colorado, 76-61
beat North Carolina, 95-82
beat Virginia, 80-66
beat Iowa State, 83-73
lost to Wake Forest, 95-82
beat Providence, 75-71
beat Georgia, 76-55
beat West Virginia, 73-53
beat Oregon State, 108-68
beat Pepperdine, 86-62
lost to N.C. State, 76-68
beat UCLA, 76-73
beat Cincinnati, 69-66
beat Nebraska, 63-53

KEY STAT
39
Number of total fouls in the
game, 20 of them against
Michigan. Both teams shot 42
combined free throws.
UP NEXT:
INDIANA
Why can't Michigan win in Bloomington? The Wol-
verines' last win in Assembly Hall came in 1995,
and they have lost eight in a row at Indiana since
then. Indiana has also won nine of the last 10
overall. The Hoosiers have fallen on hard times
recently, going from 25-12 and losing in the NCAA
title game in 2002 to 14-15 last year. Indiana has
seen a roller coaster start to the Big Ten season,
losing at Northwestern but then beating Wiscon-
sin at home and winning a wild. double-overtime