Thursday January 26, 2006 sports. michigandaily. com sports@michigandaily.com RTeSictigan til 0 8A - - ---- ------- ----- - - -- - --- -------------- Hunter dunks and dashes Spartans' hopes Memorable win a lesson in teamwork 4 By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Writer When Michigan State's Drew Neit- zel spun toward the baseline with 10 minutes left in the game, he saw noth- ing but an open lane to the basket in front of him. Unfortunately, he didn't see 6-foot-11 Chris Hunter waiting under the hoop. As the Grand Rapids native lofted the ball into the air, Hunter rose and swatted it right into the hands of a player on the Michigan State bench. "(Hunter) lifted us a lot," sopho- more Ron Coleman said. "Of course we had the atmosphere but getting big blocks like that just gave us an extra boost in our spirits." At halftime, Hunter was having a less than impressive night. He took just one shot and grabbed one rebound in eight minutes. The Wolverines mirrored the for- ward's offensive frustrations. The Michigan frontcourt lacked the pro- duction to match the Spartans. Hunter and the Wolverine forwards shot just 2-for-7 from the floor. Coming out of the locker room Hunter looked like a different player. In the second frame, the senior made four field goals and had two monstrous blocks. "Chris had a great game," senior Graham Brown said. "He came out and blocked some shots and hit some big shots for us. You just got to hand it to him. He's always prepared. When he came out, he showed what he could do." Hunter's biggest contribution to the Wolverines' victory came with the score tied and 11:14 left in the contest. Running the court, Hunter set up on the wing waiting for a pass. Junior Dion Harris saw him and dished it off to the waiting forward. Hunter got the ball and immediate- ly hoisted the shot before a Michigan State defender could close on him. The 3-pointer dropped through the net without even grazing iron. The senior's lone make from behind the arc gave Michigan a lead that it wouldn't surrender. "That was a game-changing play," junior Brent Petway said. "It was the Pontiac game-changing performance." Throughout the second half, Hunter brought the energy to the defensive end that ignited the Wolverines. With less than four and half min- utes left, Michigan State's Maurice Ager drove to the lane and put up a tough lay-up. The basket would have cut Michigan's lead to four, but Hunter had other ideas. He soared to meet the shot at its height and swat- ted it out-of-bounds. "(The block) was great," Hunter said. "It got the fans involved and got our team going a little bit. I was just out there trying to make plays." Then, Hunter made his presence felt on the offensive end. After blocking Neitzel, Hunter extended the Michigan lead to four. He bobbled an entry pass in the post, but gathered it and spun to the base- line to slam the ball home. Later, Hunter built Michigan's advantage to seven when Horton found him open on the low block. As he leapt for the dunk, the Spartans' Matt Trannon jumped to block the shot. But Hunter adjusted in midair to convert the up-and-under lay-up on the other side of the rim. "I'm just being patient," Hunter said. "We have a lot of guys on this team that can do a lot of things. When the opportunity arises you have to take advantage of it, be patient and keep playing hard." Three years removed from his last victory over Michigan State, Hunter savored the moment. "It was my last game at home against Michigan State," Hunter said. "It was great to come out here with a victory against a great team like that." NOTES: Last night marked the sec- M ichigan State was too damn fast. Michigan State was too damn trong. Michigan State was too damn money from long range. Then, the second half started. Suddenly, Izzo's troops didn't look so sharp. Suddenly, the Wolverines were dictating the pace. Suddenly, the mighty Spartans seemed just a bit intimidated by the Crisler Arena crowd. Yeah, you read that right. Michigan State was rattled byt a Crisler Arena crowd. Paul Davis couldn't find a grip on the ball. Drew Neitzel fired an alley-oop pass 20 feet out of bounds. Maurice Ager had his pocket picked by Dion Harris. And, to their credit, the Wolverines capitalized. They didn't play perfect basketball,M but they did the little things to keep the Spartans on their Si heels. And, most impressively, Spit it was a total team effort. For once in a big matchup, Michigan broke out of marvel-at-Daniel- Horton mode, and played a true five-man game. Yes, Horton played an awesome ballgame. But he was only the most important cog in a well-oiled Michigan machine. There was Chris Hunter, who catalyzed Michigan's second-half run. The 6-foot-11 senior seems to always save his best for the big games, and man, did he show up in a huge way last night. In a two-minute span midway through the second half, Hunter scored seven points, including the trey from the right corner that gave Michi- gan a lead it wouldn't relinquish. For good measure, Hunter also added a couple of crowd-pleasing blocks, and converted a ridiculous up-and-under lay-up which put the Wolverines up by seven with 2:37 to play. There was Dion Harris, who shrugged off an awful shooting night to make several crucial free throws down the stretch. Guarded by Ager for most of the game, Harris struggled to get any open looks. But in the second half, Harris's aggressiveness brought whistles, and he took advantage by converting 7 of 8 free throw attempts, including two at the end to ice it. There was Graham Brown, whose hustle and opportunism kept Michigan's momentum going throughout the second half. Brown's not a small guy, but he looked like a point guard slicing through the lane to retrieve offensive rebounds. The senior's glass-cleaning mentality also led to buckets - Brown poured in 10 points in his last intrastate rivalry game at Crisler Arena. There was Ron Coleman, who made the Wolverine faithful momentarily forget about Lester Abram's sprained IN ttb ankle. Coleman's first-half perimeter buckets kept the Wolverines afloat and set the stage for their second-half comeback. And faced with the nearly impossible task of keeping Spartan wings Ager and Shannon Brown at bay, Coleman performed admirably. Ager and Brown got their points, but Coleman never let the Michigan State stars get open looks. And there was Daniel Horton. He opened the game with five straight points, and took it straight at the Spartans for all of his 36 minutes on the floor. Horton was money when he needed to be. With about nine minutes to go, Graham Brown flew in for an offensive board and kicked it to Horton. Seeing the senior 1GER wide open at the right ngFire wing, Crisler Arena start- ed cheering ... before Horton released the shot. Sure enough, Horton drilled the trey, putting the Wolverines up seven. Five guys. One goal. It's amazing what happens when "playing as a team" becomes more than a simple cliche. What seemed impossible became a reality - and the result was an all-out party on center court. It would have been easy for the Michi- gan players to put their heads down as Michigan State roared past them in the first half. The Spartans were quick as lighting in transition. They were rough and physi- cal in the post. It seemed every Michigan State jumpers was falling. Honestly, I didn't think Michigan had a chance. So give Tommy Amaker credit. In the face of the Spartan onslaught, he kept the Wolverines believing, and he'found the right combination of players to spur Michigan's remarkable comeback. It's hard to underestimate the impor- tance of this win. After a couple years of getting smacked around by the Spartans, Michigan reasserted itself last night. The Wolverines will likely return to the top-25 for the first time since 1998, and they finally have a statement victory to tack onto their resum6. But Michigan knows that one win - even against the hated Spartans - does not make a season. In the locker room last night, the mood was surprisingly businesslike. Sure, the Wolverines were happy. But Michigan has bigger fish to fry. A win over Wisconsin on Saturday would give the Wolverines at least a share of first place in the Big Ten. And now, there are no excuses. Because after last night, Michigan knows it can beat the best. 1 i U" IU I A JASON COOPER/Daily Senior Chris Hunter's 13 second half points were key in Michigan's comeback win ond time this season that Crisler Arena has sold out. The Wolverines previ- ously sold out Crisler when they hosted I I UCLA on Dec. 17.... With an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line, Daniel Horton remained perfect from the line in Big Ten conference play. ... Michigan's 4-2 record places it in a five-way tie for second place in the Big Ten. ... Wing Lester Abram dressed for the game but did not play. He is still listed as day-to-day while recovering from a severe ankle sprain. Boxesandall W Tour Registration Now Open Date/Time: Jan. 19th -- Jan. 27th, 2006 Monday - Friday: 7pm, 8pm, 9pm Saturday: 1pm, 2pm, 3pm Location: Video & Performance Studio (Inside Duderstadt Center) North Campus Go to www.umich.edu/~umboxes to register for a tour. - Matt Singer appreciates the Icers try to shake off State demons By Daniel Levy Daily Sports Writer Soulstic died hobrnedvenR68 V .A Nov. 20,2004. Besides the sick feeling in their stomachs from watching the Michi- gan football team collapse against archrival Ohio State, most students probably don't remember too much about that date - with the possible exception of T.J. Hensick. Hensick - currently the alternate captain of the No. 8 Michigan hockey team - had two goals and one assist in a 5-4 vic- tory over Michigan State. That was the last time Michigan beat its in-state rival. Since then, the Wolverines (9-6-1 CCHA, 14-9-1 overall) are 0-2-3 against the Spartans, including a 0- 1-1 record this season. THIS No. 16 Michigan State No.8T (8-6-4, 14-9-5) enters No. 15 M Friday night's matchup 7: on a two-game skid, but the it should still Munn I be a confident with the Joe Lou contest being played on its home ice, where it defeated the Wolver- ines 2-0 on Jan. 17. In that game, the lot of our players, and we might have gotten a little rattled." Due to injuries, Michigan might be forced to juggle its lineup this week- end. The coaches have been toying with a few ideas, and it wouldn't be a shock if defenseman David Rohlfs, moves up to forward, his natural posi- tion. If that happens, sophomore Jon Montville will fill in on defense. Another plus for the Wolverines is that senior forward Brandon Kalen- iecki should be back in the lineup. But with him coming off a slew of injuries, it is hard to tell just how effective he'll be. One final change for the Wolverines could be who mans the pipes. Senior 4 :a if A' J IT =' iwir w wn ,r i i / Newsmaker Premier Motawn partg band WEEKEND Michigan vs. Michigan State 30 p.m. ce Arena, Fri. is Arena, Sat. being pulled Noah Ruden has been solid in net recently, despite allowing five goals in last Satur- day's loss to Bowling Green. But Berenson might use this as an opportunity to give freshman Billy Sauer some more game experience. Sauer hasn't been in net for the Wolverines since in the middle of their See the SAME anIVY Happi Hour prices! ;104" 6 ou P440w4 l Rear View Mirror WS-78's Dance Music v Spartan defense completely shut down Michigan. This time around, the Wol- verines are hoping that better execu- tion will produce a different result. "We thought we had a good plan (last time) and I think we did have exhibition game against the U.S. NTDP Under-18 team. "It's good for Billy that Noah played the game at Michigan State" Berenson said. "Billy got to see the environment and got to see what to expect." Rp~i rL'frnm Wvbi ir hnw Tparr finvfl icnir wl I