GENNARO FILICEj
No video games? No
Natty Light? Must
be Valentine's Day.
PAGE 3B
The SportsMonday Column
GENE POOL
The Vanderkaay brothers bring three
times the power to the pool for the Michi-
gan men's swimming program.
PAGE 6B
SPORTS DAY
February 14, 2005
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i:ii;i::I: 1 &H !Ill,::!
abe atch, 1994,
State
of Emergency
C MICHIGAN 49
Spartans hand 'M'
eighth straight loss
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
For the second straight game, the Mich-
igan basketball team tried implementing
a slow-down offense in an effort to beat
a top-25 team. This time, the strategy
wasn't as effective as it was against No. 1
Illinois last Tuesday.
No. 13 Michigan State (8-2 Big Ten, 17-
4 overall) was able to gain an early lead on
Saturday to keep Michigan (3-8, 12-13) at
arm's length for the rest of the game, and
the Spartans handed Michigan its eighth
straight loss of the season, 64-49.
Sophomore Dion Harris scored 22 points
for his second straight 20-point game, but
none of his teammates were able to score
more than seven apiece. As a result of the
slow-down offense, Michigan took 11 fewer
shots than Michigan State, and the Spartans
made the most of their chances, hitting 51
percent from the field.
Michigan State used great off-the-ball
movement that allowed it to score easy
points in the paint, with 16 points com-
ing off dunks or layups. This allowed the
Spartans to amass an 11-point lead by the
second media timeout.
"I thought the startofthe gamewasbig for
us," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.
"I thought, after Michigan played so well
against Illinois, the carry-over was going
to be big, especially in our rivalry game.
I thought the start of the game we got our
fast break going - we got some easy bas-
kets, which was important."
Michigan State's bread and butter this
season - clutch 3-point shooting - was
noticeably absent from the game, as the
Spartans shot just 3-for-14 from behind
the arc. But it proved to be unnecessary
due to the ease with which they played in
the paint.
Four Spartans scored in double figures,
with guard Alan Anderson leading Michi-
gan State with 16. Michigan State was also
more aggressive on the boards, outrebound-
ing Michigan 28-18, with just four offensive
rebounds for the Wolverines. This was an
especially crushing blow, as Michigan fea-
tures bigger forwards.
"I was disappointed that we didn't do a
better job on the glass," Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker said.
As a result, the Spartans were able to
shut down Michigan's frontcourt, hold-
ing Graham Brown, Chris Hunter and
Courtney Sims to a combined 10 points
for the game. In the first half, each had
two points while Harris carried the team
with 12.
"We really didn't get many opportu-
nities inside," Amaker said. "They did a
nice job of clogging. The ones we did get
we didn't complete and didn't finish, and
that certainly hurts because you're not
going to get a lot of them anyway."
Michigan State also made the most of
Michigan's 17 turnovers. While the num-
ber isn't ridiculously high, the Spartans
cashed in with fast-break points and 21
points off turnovers. Michigan State had
eight players dishing out 14 assists.
"Sometimes we have mental errors, and
we need to think more," forward Brent Pet-
way said. "We need to start carrying over
what we do in practice into the game." w
Michigan showed it had a little life
toward the end of the game, when it cut
into the 17-point deficit, and, with the help
of Harris, hit two key shots to bring the
score to 54-46. But then Anderson decided
to shut the door by scoring six of the Spar-
tans' final 10 points to secure the win.
Harris's 22-point performance was just
two points short of his career high and
continues his scoring explosion of late.
See SPARTANS, page 5B
RYAN WEINER, JASON COOPER/Daily
The Wolverines had trouble on both ends of the floor Saturday evening. LEFT: Kelvin Torbert notched seven points against Michigan. RIGHT: Courtney Sims, who
led the Big Ten In shot-blocking last season, has a shot knocked down by Michigan State's Drew Naymick.
Slow
-down offense just won
ven as Michigan tied the longest
losing streak in
school histo-
ry - a stretch that
included total point
outputs the football
n team could match
-I have to admit
that, for a tiny win-
dow of time, Mich-
' igan coach Tommy JOSH
Amaker made me a HOLMAN
believer.,
I didn't believe Part Icon, Whole Man
that Michigan was
still in the hunt for an NCAA Tourna-
ment berth or that the Wolverines could
W."
even compete without junior guards Dan-
iel Horton and Lester Abram. I didn't
believe anything that implausible. I sim-
ply believed that Michigan had found an
offensive system that worked and would at
least keep them competitive.
Last Tuesday, the Wolverines played
No. 1 Illinois to a 57-51 loss, holding the
Fighting Illini to their lowest scoring out-
put of the season.
Amaker found a way to keep the Wol-
verines in the game, by slowing the game
down to a turtle's pace.
On Saturday, Amaker came out with the
same game plan. It seemed like a logical
conclusion. Michigan State averages 78.9
points a game and is a far more athletic
team than Michigan, just like Illinois was.
"If the game is going to be scored in high
numbers right now with our team, it's prob-
ably not one that we feel we could come out
on top," Amaker said. "So we certainly tried
to see if we could shorten it."
The Wolverines had nothing to lose.
Except their eighth straight game. The
Spartans threw a wrench into Michigan's
new-look offense from the get-go. They
scored the game's first six points in frus-
tratingly easy fashion - a layup and two
dunks.
It was a sign of things to come. The
Wolverines just couldn't handle Michigan
State's transition offense, which made
easy bucket after easy bucket. The clinic
't work f
only highlighted just how inflexible the
slow-down offense can be.
Put yourself in Michigan's shoes. For
each 35-second -possession, Michigan
poured all its effort into two points, not
even shooting until the shot clock had less
than 10 seconds remaining.
Compare that to the 10 seconds the
Spartans would use up before they scored
some of their points. Imagine that you're
the kid who studies two weeks in advance
for a midterm, only to see the kid that
doesn't go to class get just as good a grade
as you. Deflating and frustrating.
It worked like that all day for the Wol-
verines.
Take this as an example. Each time
r Cagers
sophomore Dion Harris hit one of his
three 3-pointers in the first half, the Spar-
tans came back and scored immediately
afterwards - seven, eight and 13 seconds
after Harris's threes to be exact.
It was apparent early that the slow-
down wasn't going to get the job done if
the Wolverines couldn't stop the counter-
punch.
"You always just got to do the best
thing to win," junior tri-captain Graham
Brown said. "We are always out there
fighting, trying to improve, trying to
find things that work. And we are getting
there. Some games are a little better than
others."
See HOLMAN, page 5B
to
Icers remain in
first with sweep
0 WRESTLING
Frosh Tannenbaum
lights up the mats
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
OMAHA - Not everyone on the
Michigan bench knew, but T.J. Hensick
did. In fact, his hearing might be as keen
as his knack for helping Michigan score
late-game goals.
With 12 minutes remaining and
I
Michigan tied 3-3
with Nebraska-
Omaha on Sat-
urday, the PA
announcer at the
Qwest Center
read off some
Rol;
the CCHA.
"T.J. made a great play in the corner,"
Moss said. "The goalie robbed me on
the first save, but I just took a couple of
whacks at the rebound, and it found its
way home."
Hensick did more than just feed
Moss for the game-winning goal. He
almost single-handedly brought the
Wolverines (19-3-2 CCHA, 22-7-3
overall) back from a 3-1 deficit in the
second period.
With five minutes gone in the
second period, Michigan goalie Al
Montoya caught Nebraska-Omaha
(11-10-3, 15-12-3) on a line change.
He flipped the puck all the way to the
Mavericks' blue line, where freshman
Chad Kolarik was waiting. Kolarik
centered the puck to Hensick while
There comes a point during the
wrestling season when unassuming
victories stop going unnoticed, and
the public becomes aware of a wres-
tler's accomplishments.
For redshirt freshman Eric Tan-
nenbaum, yesterday appears to have
been his coming out party.
With his 3-2 minor decision over
No. 5 Iowa wrestler Ty Eustice yes-
terday, Tannenbaum propelled the
No. 5 Michigan wrestling team to an
impressive 21-11 victory over the No.
10 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-3 Big Ten, 9-5
overall).
By Mark Glannotto
Daily Sports Writer
up a stalling warning in the middle
of the first period.
"I just went out there and wrestled
my match," Tannenbaum said. "Last
year, (Ryan Churella) wrestled (Eus-
tice), so I knew he liked to wrestle
at a slow pace. But I didn't let that
dictate how I wrestled. I wanted to
be the aggressor."
With this victory, Tannenbaum
illustrated for the Big Ten and the
rest of the country that he will be
a force to be reckoned with come
NCAA tournament time.
"I just really liked how he wres-
tled," Michigan coach Joe McFarland
said. "He just came out on the mat
and took it to (Eustice). There were a
CCHA scores. Hensick heard the one
that mattered: Ohio State 3, Bowling
Green 2. The Buckeyes had taken
over the lead in the CCHA by one
i
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