THURSDAYS AT MOTT: Michigan athletes take time every week to visit C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. PAGE 8B THE SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN: Ian Herbert: The biggest mistake I've ever made is underestimating 'Bron. PAGE 3B HELLER LIFTS BLUE: The men's tennis team wins close dual match. PAGE 7B _ t :.} t , SPORTSMO January 30, 2006 1B a e moto migttq. MICHIGAN 85, I 0 S YS 0 U Cagers top No.23 Wisconsin, claim share of Big Ten lead By Jack Herman Daily Sports Editor It's been a long time - almost eight years in fact - since any- one on Michigan has had the chance to utter these very spe- cial words. "It's going to be interesting to see what (our ranking) is," junior Brent Petway said. "But we've all said that we know how talented we are. But again, it is nice to have nationwide recog- nition and to have people note we have some good basketball going on over here and not just football." In front of a sold out Crisler Arena crowd on Saturday, Mich- igan topped No. 23 Wisconsin 85-76 for its second consecutive win over a ranked opponent. Coupled with last Wednesday's victory over intrastate-rival No. 11 Michigan State, the Wolver- ines' triumph ties them for first place in the Big Ten. The victo- ry almost assuredly guarantees that Michigan - ranked 26th in the coaches' poll and 32nd by the Associated Press a week ago - will join the top 25, a feat it has not accomplished since 1998. "That's what we came here for, to be ranked, to win cham- pionships, to be on the national stage," junior Courtney Sims said with a smile. "We can't lie about it; it's something every player in this locker room has been looking forward to. We've been saying for years now that we're one of the most talented teams in the Big Ten, but when we go and play other teams, we haven't been proving it. But this year, I think we are." The game against the Badgers (5-2 Big Ten, 15-5 overall) lends credence to Sims's claim. Time and time again, Michigan (5-2, 15-3) has relied on guard Daniel Horton to lead it to victory. But on Saturday, the rest of the team proved it's just as willing - and able - to take on that task. "That's what we are - we're a good group of guys, where anybody can contribute at any moment," Petway said. "(One guy) going on a little scoring tangent, and then somebody else can come in and go on a little tan- gent. We just got a good group of guys, and we just got to continue to share the ball like that." See BADGERS, page SB Wi over ranked Badgers was no upset; the better team won A s I was flipping through TV stations last Mon day night, I came across Rece Davis and Digger Phelps discussing the NCAA Tournament on ESPN. When the topic of Final Four sleepers came up, Phelps picked Michigan. The look of shock on Davis's face was priceless, and he proceeded to laugh at his colleague. And I was with Davis. How could a Michigan team that hadn't even beaten a ranked opponent be thought of as a team that could. make noise in the tournament? Shouldn't it have to prove it could even make the tournament first?Y Well, after Saturday and Michigan's second straight big win, maybe it's not SCO quite time to have Phelps committed to BEL an old folks' home. This team appears to be for real, and others are finally takingTOO notice. Following Michigan's 85-76 win against No. 23 Wisconsin, I sat and watched to see if students would rush the court like they did after the Wolverines beat Michigan State on Wednesday. They didn't, and rightfully so. It wasn't an upset. Forget the fact that Wisconsin entered the game in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. It didn't matter that Michigan hadn't beaten ranked teams back-to-back in more than a decade. The better team won. The win puts the Wolverines in unfamiliar territory - first place in the conference - and will surely bring them to another place they haven't been since 1998 - the national rank- ings. When they come out today, I'll be shocked if Michigan isn't ranked at least No. 20. The Wolverines came up just short in T their first three chances to make a state- L ment against a ranked team. Late turn- overs killed them against UCLA. The In absence of Lester Abram proved to be too much to overcome against Indiana. And a red-hot Dee Brown put an end to any hopes of getting over that hump at Illinois for the Maize and Blue. See BELL, page 5B T L oo STEVEN TAI/ Junior Courtney Sims scored 18 points in Just 15 minutes of play in Michigan's 85-76 victory against No. 23 Wisconsin on Saturday. Blown lead leaves Icers feeling sick By Mark Giannotto Daily Sports Writer DETROIT - Looking at the Michigan State locker room after the game, you would have thought they had captured a decisive victory over arch rival Michigan. Spartan players were joking and laugh- ing, while the Wol- verines walked to the bus with heads held low and frowns: on their faces. But the Wolver- ines out-shot, out-hustled and generally out-played the Spartans. But it was all for naught. Michigan gave away four leads, includ- ing a two-goal advantage with less than nine minutes remaining in the third period, and skated to a 5-5 tie against Michigan State. "It's a sickening feeling to have a game like this where we had them where we wanted them, and we really thought we were outplaying them," alternate captain Brandon Kaleniecki said. "We just let it slip away." Trailing 5-3, Michigan State (8-7-6 CCHA, 14-9-5 overall) was on the brink of defeat when Spartan junior Tyler Howells scored his second goal of the night with just 8:23 remaining in the third period. Three minutes later, Michigan freshman give them credit. They are a good team." In overtime, each team had chances to come away with the victory. With just one minute remaining in the extra period, Spar- tan defenseman Corey Potter was called for a penalty, and the Wolverines went on the power play. Junior T.J. Hensick, who had two assists in the game, fed sophomore Chad Kolarik in the slot. The forward unleashed a slap shot, but it was blocked by Michigan State goalie Jeff Lerg. The best opportunity in the extra stanza belonged to the Spartans. Michigan was in the middle of a line change when Michigan State freshman Justin Abdelkader broke free of the defense and skated in alone toward Sauer. Abdelkader, the Detroit Red Wings' second-round draft pick in 2005, juked right and fired a shot at the net. But freshman goal- tender Sauer made a nice pad save to rescue the Wolverines. "I was hoping it wouldn't go in, and Billy made a nice save on it," freshman Andrew Cogliano said. Michigan has itself to blame for the overtime period. The Wolverines built leads throughout the game, but each Michigan goal was countered by a goal from their in-state rivals. Four minutes into the first period, Michi- gan had a two-man advantage and scored the contest's initial goal. N WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Badgers duo By Daniel Bromwich Daily Sports Writer On the few occasions that Batman falters on a mission to save the world from evil, his trusty sidekick Robin is right there to help him out. Together, the two are always able to finish the job. The Michigan women's basket- ball team would have done well to read up on its comic books before its Sunday afternoon game against visiting Wisconsin. Badger sophomore Jolene Anderson played the part of the caped cru- sader, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds in the Badgers' 75-65 victory over the Wolverines. It was her 21st consecutive double-figure scoring game, and it marked her conference-leading ninth game of the season with at least 20 points. But most of her damage came in the first half. In the second period, Michigan (0-9 Big Ten, 6-15 overall) held Anderson to just six points on 3-of-10 shooting. But Robin, played by senior guard Ashley Josephson, quickly came to the rescue, hitting two big threes down the stretch for Wisconsin (2-7, 8-13) and icing the game with four free throws in the final minute. She finished with 23 points and made 5-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc. "Those two are roommates, and they really know each other," Badger coach Lisa Stone said. "They are going to look for each other, and they are both willing to shoot it. Our team knows that 41 (Anderson) has to have the ball in her hands at the end of the game. She can find Ashley, and if Ashley is stuck, she's looking for Jo." The Wolverines were able to stay with the superhero duo for most of the game, and their offense showed some signs of life against Wisconsin's