RUGBY ON WHEELS:
Michigan medical student might just have the
skills to make it to the Olympics.
PAGE 8B
THE SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN:
Ian Herbert: Looking for how to have
fun play IM sports? Ask this veteran.
PAGE 3B
DOUBLEHEADER DELIGHT:
The men's tennis team sweeps its
competition over the weekend.
PAGE 6B
SPORTSid igm Daft
January 23, 2006
lB
Michigan 71, MINNESOTA 55
ew
Heights
Horton hits
career-high
32 as 'M'
roars to win
By Kevin Wright
Daily Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS - An emphatic whoop
echoed through the rafters of Williams Arena.
And so did the player that made it.
Three minutes into the second half, Michgan
guard Daniel Horton spotted up on the right
wing. Ron Coleman fired a pass in his direc-
tion, and Horton caught it, rose and drained the
3-pointer.
As the Cedar Hill, Texas, native skipped back
on defense, he let out a roar to warn Minnesota
that he had come to win.
And to the Gopher faithful, Horton's play on
the floor echoed just as loudly as his emotional
outburst.
On Saturday, Michigan fed off of Horton's
play to pull out its first Big Ten road victory this
season and its first win in Williams Arena since
1993. The Wolverines defeated the Gophers 71-
55 to move above 500 in the conference at 3-2.
"I thought (Horton's) swagger, more than any-
thing else, was the difference for us and the way
that we played tonight," Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker said.
With No. 12 Michigan State and No. 13
Wisconsin traveling to Crisler Arena this week,
Michigan desperately needed a win against a
Minnesota team that has yet to notch a confer-
ence victory (0-5).
"We just wanted to finish this week," junior
Dion Harris said. "Starting with Northwestern
on Wednesday, we just wanted to finish the week
off and look forward to next week when we have
two more big games."
Horton made sure that the Wolverines (13-3
overall) didn't fall. The senior scored a career-
high 32 points and made key shots when the
Wolverines needed them most.
In the first half, Horton accounted for 10 of
the first 14 Michigan points. He stroked three
from beyond the arc, one of which he convert-
ed into a four-point play.
See GOPHERS, page 5B
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
Freshman Tim Miller stands over Falcon Brett Pilkington In a fight during the
Michigan's 6-1 win over Bowling Green on Friday.
Blue's spli*es nlty
00
strikes again
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Writer
TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily
Guard Daniel Horton scored a career high 32 points In the Wolverines victory over Minnesota.
Injuries to Abram are just pla/zn unfair
BOWLING GREEN - The final
scene explained it all. Bowling Green
goaltender Jon Horrell - screaming
with both arms raised - seemed
to embrace his
entire team asT
the Falcons
jumped all over
each other nearM
their net. On
the other end of
the ice, the sixth-ranked Wolverines
skated slowly with their heads down,
just waiting to leave the poorly
played game behind them.
Michigan lost a precious opportunity
to gain ground in the CCHA race with
a 5-2 loss to the Falcons on Saturday
night. The loss followed a 6-1 Wolver-
ine victory the night before.
As the seconds ticked away at
BGSU Ice Arena, the sound of jin-
gling car keys reverberated off the
arena's walls and low ceiling.
It was time for the Michigan to
warm up the bus.
"Their best players were their
best players, and we couldn't score
when we had to," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "We took some
unnecessary penalties that we have
to deal with that may have cost us -
it certainly cost us some momentum
in the game. We had a lot of players
play well, but I cannot tell you our
team played well."
The Wolverines (9-6-1 CCHA, 14-9-
1 overall) are now tied for fourth in the
CCHA with 19 points. The top four teams
during the regular season receive a first-
round bye in the CCHA tournament.
Michigan dug itself into an early
hole and trailed 3-0 with two minutes
remaining in the second period. But
the Wolverines brought themselves
within two goals when sophomore
Chad Kolarik took a pass from fel-
low sophomore Kevin Porter, wound
up and sent a rocket past Horrell to
deflate the rambunctious Bowling
Green crowd. That momentum lasted
less thantwo minutes. g
With the period winding downy;
Falcon captain Don Morrison had a
breakaway on Michigan goalie Noah
Ruden. Wolverine alternate captain
Matt Hunwick chased down Morri-
son and made a great defensive stop,
but immediately took a poor penalty
that put Michigan on the penalty kill
to start the third period.
Just 1:37 into the final frame,
Bowling Green (8-11-1, 12-14-1) cap'
italized on the power play. Forward
Derek Whitemore skated around the
offensive zone from right to left and
wrested a shot toward the net. The
puck deflected off the stick of Fal-
con forward Rich Meloche and hit
the back of the net to put Bowling
Green up, 4-1.
See FALCONS, page 4B
MINNEAPOLIS -
The play was beautiful. The
punctuation was sickening.
Early in the second half
of Saturday night's game against
Minnesota, Michigan guard Daniel
Horton stole the ball and sprinted
the length of the floor. He drove
hard toward the right block and
kicked it out to forward Graham
Brown at the foul line. Then, Brown
made a beautiful touch pass to wing
Lester Abram, who was charging
hard toward the left block. Abram
caught the ball on the move, went
up for the shot and sank it while
being bumped by Minnesota's Vin-
cent Grier.
But while Michigan's players
celebrated the perfect fast break and
the and-one opportunity, Abram
crumpled to Williams Arena's
raised floor. Even from
the nosebleed press
seats where I was sit-
ting, it was obvious.
Abram was in intense
pain. He writhed on
the hardwood, holding
his left ankle.
"I was worried,
because he's a tough
guy, and he was MA
screaming on theM
floor," junior Courtney SIN(
Sims said. "If he's Spittin
screaming like that,
you know it's some-
thing bad."
Last Wednesday against North-
western, Horton went down in a
similar fashion. Saturday night, he
showed no ill effects whatsoever,
scoring a career-high 32 points. But
AT
GI
g j
I don't think Abram will
have it so easy.
Abram left the locker
room on crutches, tak-
ing care to avoid putting
pressure on his left ankle,
which was in a boot.
"We still don't know
the complete diagnosis
of his injury," Michigan
T coach Tommy Amaker
said after the game. "I
ER believe it's an ankle
Fre sprain. I don't know the
severity of it, or whether
it's a high ankle sprain."
I'm no medical expert, but I know
injuries classified as "ankle sprains"
can mean almost anything. As Hor-
ton optimistically suggested, Abram
could be back as early as Wednes-
day's showdown with Michigan
State. Or he could be in crutches for
a month.
It's impossible to say when
Abram will return to the lineup,
but there's no doubt that recently,
his injury luck has been downright
unfair. After a shoulder injury kept
him out of all but three games last
season, the Detroit native came
into the 2005-06 campaign healthy
and ready to improve upon his
impressive sophomore showing.
He seemed to be well on his way
to doing so, averaging double-digit
point totals and showing off his
consistent defensive play. But during
the nonconference season closer - a
yawner against lame Chicago State
- Abram suffered a toe injury that
kept him out of Michigan's first two
Big Ten games.
See SINGER, page 5B
0 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Poor shooting
dooms Wolverines
Bruck leads Tumblers
to first season win
By Katie Niemeyer
Daily Sports Writer
With one fall recorded in the last rota-
tion, the Michigan women's gymnastics
team needed perfection out of its veter-
ans. Senior Becca Clauson and junior
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "And
in situations like that, they're the people
I want to have in those anchor positions,
because I think they can handle it."
Bruck led the way for the Wolver-
ines all night. She posted a first-place
9.750 on vault and tied for second on the
By Sara Livingston
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - The law of
averages says that if you throw the ball
in the direction of the basket enough, it's
eventually going to go in.
Yesterday, the Wolverines proved
conventional wisdom wrong, taking 52
shots from the floor and converting just
don't know if they should pass or if they
shouldn't.'
With Clement, sophomore Janelle
Cooper and freshmen Jessica Minnfield
and Ashley Jones rotating around the
perimeter, Michigan continued to strug-
gle away from the hoop. The Wolverines
were unable to shake their defenders
and committed 19 turnovers - which
the Hoosiers converted into 20 points.
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