The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, January 29, 2007 - 3B
Charity stripe
kind to Blue
Icers near perfect for month
By DANIEL BROMWICH
Daily Sports Editor
BLOOMINGTON - The Michi-
gan men's basketball team followed
the popular
coaches' logic NOTEBOOK
espoused by
ESPN commentator and former
coach Rick Majerus that if you
attempt more free throws than 3-
pointers, you should win the game.
But the Wolverines encountered
an unforeseen problem.
Three points is more than one.
And since Indiana made more
than 50 percent of its long-range
attempts, the Hoosiers had no
trouble running away with the
victory Saturday afternoon.
"They spread the floor and leave
the inside open for (senior D.J.)
White, and then they have the
shooters and the drivers on the
perimeter,"senior Dion Harris said.
"That wasn't a surprise to us - they
just did what they do today."
And they did it well.
Indiana made 8-of-14 first-half
attempts from long range, en route
to sinking 10 attempts from beyond
the arc in the game. Michigan made
an adjustment by halftime, holding
the Hoosiers to just two 3-point-
ers in the second frame by mixing
in several zone defenses. But the
damage had already been done.
With the Wolverines paying
extra attention to the long ball in
the second half, Indiana had no
problem settling for shorter, easier
shots.
Their percentage certainly
didn't suffer, as the Hoosiers
knocked down 7-of-8 attempts
to begin the second half (none of
which were from outside), and
extended the lead to 20 in that
short span.
SEASON HIGH/LOW: Michigan
recorded season bests in two criti-
cal categories on Saturday, as it
attempted 35 free throws against
Indiana and converted on 29 of
those chances.
The previous high for Michigan
in both categories came against
Davidson (Nov. 11), but many of
those free throws were a product of
Davidson fouling late in the game.
Against the Hoosiers, the
Wolverines sought to attack the
aggressive Indiana defense, and
get to the free throw line, where
they would have easier opportuni-
ties to score.
Fou r Michigan starters attempt-
ed at least five free throws during
the game, and each of those play-
ers shot better than 80 percent
from the line. Junior Ron Coleman
was 9-of-9 from the charity stripe,
senior Courtney Sims was 7-of-8
and Harris was 5-of-5.
While Michigan was able to get
to the free throw line seemingly at
will, a difficult task on the road, it
didn't have the expected influence
on the game's outcome.
"If someone had told me (the
number of free throws we shot
and made), then I would have
predicted that we would probably
have been a lot closer, if not been
able to win, this basketball game,"
Amaker said. "We werethe aggres-
sor, I thought. We tried to use the
foul line as a weapon to score, and
that was the only way...we cer-
tainly weren't able to get too many
threes, and not being able to score
from the floor in the paint was dif-
ficult for us."
Michigan set a season-low in
field goals against the Hoosiers,
converting on just 15-of-43 tries
(35-percent).
INJURY - UPDATE: Sophomore
point guard Jerret Smith didn't
travel with the team to Blooming-
ton. He stayed behind to recyver
from a mild concussion suffered
in Michigan's loss Wednesday at
Wisconsin.
Amaker professed no knowl-
edge of Smith's situation or when
the Romulus native would return.
The Wolverines certainly could
have used Smith's help against the
Hoosiers. After playing two of his
best career games against Penn
State and Purdue, the injury comes
at a bad time.
Smith provided a contribution
in the scoring column in those two
games, but his biggest contribu-
tion against Indiana might have
been freeing up his teammates
to score. With Smith on the floor,
Harris can play more of his natural
position, shooting guard, where he
is more comfortable and effective.
"(Smith) would have helped me
to get off the ball a little bit," Har-
ris said. "I was mainly on the ball
the whole time today, setting up
things, and couldn't really carry
the mgin spoting load tonight."
ByAMBER COLVIN
Daily Sports Writer
Winter blues? Midseason slump? Forgotten
New Year's resolutions?
Not for this hockey team.
The Wolverines fin-
ished the month of Janu- NOTEBOOK
ary with an almost perfect
6-1 record, the lone blemish coming from a 2-1
home loss to lowly Northern Michigan.
After a disappointing first half of the sea-
son, culminating with a major letdown in the
Great Lakes Invitational, many players vowed
to vault the team to where it belonged in the
second stretch. Aside from the loss to the
Wildcats, it seems like the Wolverines took
that resolution to heart.'
"This is the time of year that Michigan
teams need to be at their best," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "Let's face it: We are
a pretty good team. We underachieved in the
first half, and we need to have a good second
half - a real good second half."
Michigan outscored opponents 37-14 this
month. In December, the Wolverines were
outscored 15-22, going 1-3.
The key to the new year has been a
revamped emphasis on defense - lowering
the goals against average from 3.57 in 2006 to
2.0 in 2007 - while maintaining a booming
offense.
Though the Wolverines seem to be hitting
their stride at a crucial part of the season, they
have yet to face a ranked team in 2007. Two of
their five remaining opponents are currently
ranked.
Michigan has eight games leftin the regular
season and sits one point shy of second place
in the CCHA. Notre Dame leads the league
with 32 points, followed by Miami (Ohio) (29),
Michigan (28) and Michigan State (25). The
Wolverines have played the same number of
conference games as the Irish (20), while the
RedHawks have played two more, and the
Spartans one less.
The top four teams get a first-round bye in
the CCHA playoffs and home-ice advantage in
the second round of the tournament. Michi-
gan hasn't finished outside the top four since
1988.
"This late in the season, we do not have any
games to waste," senior captain Matt Hun-
wick said. "We have to win every one."
HELPING HENSICK: It's a rare night when
senior T.J. Hensick doesn't tally a point. On
Saturday, with less than two minutes remain-
ing in the game, it looked like it would be one
of those atypical nights - until a Jack John-
son slapshot zoomed into the net.
Hensick's assist on the goal moved him into
sole possession of fifth place on the Michigan
career assist list. His 135 career helpers are
also the most of any active NCAA player.
The Hobey Baker Award hopeful leads the
country in assists (34), assists per game (1.2)
and points (46).
Hensick is also on the cusp of 200 career
points after his three-assist weekend put him
at 199 points.
No Alaska? No problem: After staying home
during lastweekend's trip to Fairbanks to rest
his injured knee, freshman defenseman Steve
Kampfer rejoined the lineup Friday. The Jack-
son native didn't notch any points, but he made
his presence known at the other end of the ice
with a team-leading four blocked shots.
JOHNSONS EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK: Sopho-
more defenseman Jack Johnson may have
wowed many with his first career hat trick
Friday night, but he wasn't the onlf member
of the Johnson family entertaining the crowd
at Yost Ice Arena.
Minutes after Johnson scored his second
goal of the night, the second intermission
arrived, and his younger brother Kenny took
the stage in the Score-O competition. The lit-
tle Johnson put the biscuit in the basket with a
little assistance from those holding the Score-
O board.
Soon after, Johnson's father did his usual
second-intermission dance, accompanied by
football players Jake Long and Adam Kraus.
Johnson helps D' create ''
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Writer
You couldn't talk to anybody involved
with the Michigan hockey program without
hearing it: "We've got to do better with goals
against."
Michigan coach Red Berenson said it every
time he met with reporters. Players spewed
the mantra like politicians with talking points.
Defense was clearly the Wolverines' top prior-
ity.
This month, Michigan has played like a
defensive juggernaut, allowing just two goals
per game.
Surprisingly, the biggest benefit of improved
defense might actually be diverse offensive
production. And much of the credit for the
Wolverines' varied goal scoring goes right
back to Michigan's blueliners.
As if to let off some steam from their efforts
in the defensive zone, senior captain Matt
Hunwick and sophomore Jack Johnson spent
some time this weekend contributing on the
offensive end.
On Friday night, Johnson recorded his first
career hat trick - including two shorthanded
tallies. On Saturday, he used his -blistering
slapshot to light the lamp twice more. All told,
Johnson had eight points in the two games
against Ferris State.
"I just kept firing," Johnson said after Sat-
urday's game. "The past 10 games or so, they
were not going in for me, but I had the men-
tality to keep shooting, and eventually one of
them is going to go in."
Or five.
Johnson's goals came primarily from the
point, but Hunwick jumped up on the attack
for his marker.
Hunwick, trailing the offensive rush,
received a backhand pass from sophomore
Brandon Naurato. With Ferris State goalie
Mitch O'Keefe leaning the wrong way, Hun-
wick buried the puck, giving Michigan its first
goal on Saturday.
"(The forwards) are always talking about
helping the 'D' out as far as coming back,"
Naurato said. "If (defensemen) can jump up in
the play and then still get back, that's even bet-
ter. It helps us a lot."
Goals from defensemen had been scarce up
to this point in the season, with just 12 of the
team's 107 goals tallied by the blueliners.
Equally rare, at times, were goals from the
third and fourth lines. But those have come
more regularly in the past two weekends, too.
Even afterswitching from the top line to the
third, sophomore Travis Turnbull has kept up
his solid offensive output. The Chesterfield,
Mo., native deposited a goal in each game this
weekend. He now has points in four straight
games.
Naurato, also a third liner, had three assists
on the weekend, and his point streak stands at
four games, too.
"I just love playing with Turnbull and
(sophomore Tim) Miller," Naurato said. "I
think we've got pretty good chemistry going.
Hopefully we can keep up as a unit every
weekend."
Saturday night, the goals weren't coming
from the usual suspects. Of Michigan's top-
six goal scorers going into the weekend, only
sophomore Andrew Cogliano managed to beat
O'Keefe.
Even for an offense as star-studded as
Michigan's, there's a benefit in evenly distrib-
uted scoring.
"It helps out our team when guys like Nau-
rato and Miller and guys like that can score,"
said junior Kevin Porter, who is tied for the
team lead in goals with 18. "It's huge for our
team; it gives us confidence."
But as happy as Porter was with the offen-
sive output, all he really wanted to talk about
was allowing fewer goals against.
CAGERS
From page 1B
senior, guard Dion Harris, tied
for the team lead with 12 points,
but failed to score until just nine
minutes remained in the first half
Abram and junior Ron Coleman
also mustered 12 points.
"Before the game, (Michigan)
coach (Tommy) Amaker was tell-
ingus that they were going to come
with their best shot," Coleman
said. "He told us that the first four
minutes of the game were going to
be important, and the first four of
the second half were going to be
important."
But Michigan didn't heed the
warning.-
After three minutes of basket-
ball, it trailed 11-0.
The Wolverines (4-3 Big Ten,
16-6 overall) fell into the early hole
due to their inability to defend the
3-pointer. The Hoosiers sank three
shots from beyond the 3-point line
in the game's first four minutes,
and went on to sink 8-of-14 first-
half attempts from behind the arc.
Each time Michigan threatened to
tighten the game, the Hoosiers (5-
2, 15-5) responded with a dagger
from downtown.
"We really felt it was going to be
an emotional start for them, and
I was hopeful that we were going
to have a chance to match that,"
Amaker said. "But we weren't able
to do it, and they hit the first few
buckets and the first few threes,
and it really got things rolling for
them."
The Wolverines responded to
the early deficit, however, as they
cut the deficit to five on a Courtney
Sims lay-up. But Indiana coun-
tered with a 3-pointer by junior
A.J. Ratliff to extend the lead to
16-8.
Michigan continued to rally,
reducing the lead to six twice in
the half But both times, late defen-
sive rotations by Michigan allowed
Indiana senior Roderick Wilmot
to knock down a 3-pointer and
push the lead back to nine, where
the margin stood at halftime.,
"We'll make a play, but then
we would come down on offense
and wouldn't score, and then they
would come back down and score,"
Petway said. "So that would put us
right back where we were. We just
couldn't get over that hump, and
that's what we need to address. We
just need to find a way to get over
that one hump."
The Wolverines appeared
unready to start the second half,
too. Indiana junior D.J. White
began the half with a quick base-
line jumper that started the Hoo-
siers on a 14-3 spurt. That run
extended the lead to 49-29, and the
deficit proved too much for Michi-
gan to respond to.
"(The) start of the second half,
that was the difference in the bas-
ketball game," Amaker said.
Michigan threatened to catch
up to the Hoosiers late, cutting the
margin to eight with three min-
utes to play. But Indiana junior
Mike White put back his ownmiss
after Petway pinned it against the
backboard. Courtney Sims was
late coming over to box out, and
committed his fifth and final foul
on White as the junior finished the
play.
That started the exodus of Wol-
verine seniors, as Petway and then
Abram followed Sims to the bench
with their fifth fouls.
The loss in Bloomington is
another example of Michigan's
troubles winning on the road this
season. Its road record stands at 2-
5, and 1-3 in Big Ten play, with the
lone win coming against a North-
western team with just one con-
ference win.
"I think it's the same game (as
the other road losses)," Harris
said. "I just don't know what to
say about how we perform on the
road. I haven't figured it out yet."
If Harris and the rest of the
seniors don't figure out how to'win
on the road soon, they're probably
going to end up arriving late for yet
another event.
And the doors of the Dance
don't look kindly upon stragglers.
BOSCH
From page 1B
types of mistakes that continue to
bury the team on the road.
"I'm concerned with that," said
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker of
his seniors' performance. "There's
no question we addressed that ear-
lier in the season, and it's certainly
something that hasn't gone away
completely.".
With another road loss under the
Wolverines' belts, one wonders if the
seniors are going into road games
expecting to lose.
The class continues to fall deeper
into a losing culture on the road, and
the remaining road schedule only
gets tougher. Amaker must think of
something drastic and it may require
shuffling the starting lineup again.
While it's unrealistic to expect a
team to be completely oblivious to a
road environment (they are, after all,
just kids), with four seniors in the
starting five, Amaker should expect
a little more than a complete break-
down from his most experienced
players.
One game, it might be turnovers.
Another game, it might be a lack of
rebounding. Or (as was the case in
the loss to the Hoosiers) it may be a
porous defense mixed with lackadai-
sical starts to each half.
It doesn't matter which road loss
you look at, there's always some
aspect of the game that the Wolver-
ines severely underachieve in. And
since the seniors have talked about
carrying the team in the past, the
blame of Michigan's shortcomings
should be placed on them.
"I just don't know what to say
about how we perform on the road,"
senior Dion Harris said. "I haven't
figured it out yet."
Maybe it means starting freshmen
Ekpe Udoh and DeShawn Sims and
bringing Courtney Sims and Brent
Petway off the bench. The younger
players are still raw but their inten-
sity has impressed many this season,
and with the ship sinking faster and
faster, why not give them a shot to
prove themselves?
Maybe it means starting Jerret
Smith at the point to allow Harris
to play his natural shooting guard
position. Smith may not be the con-
ference's best point guard, but until
his injury against Wisconsin, he'd
strung together a couple of good per-
formances.
Smith may not average 11 points,
six boards and seven assists (his
totals against Purdue on Jan. 20), but
if Harris can catch fire, Michigan
won't need Smith to score.
Making Abram, Petway and Sims
come off the bench wouldn't be the
end of the world. A reduction in min-
utes may be what they need to play
sharper basketball. By introducing
some true competition rather than
symbolic competition, Amaker may.
finally get the best out of these play-
ers.
This column could've been about
the first time the Wolverines had won
in Bloomington since Nickelodeon
still aired new episodes "Guts" and
"Legends of the Hidden Temple."
Instead, it must question why
Amaker is still loyal to the seniors.
Have they earned the "benefit of the
doubt?" In four years, has this class
done anything to give the fans rea-
sons to believe that Amaker should
stick with them?
It's not that the seniors aren't try-
ing. And Amaker shouldn't consider
benching them solely to send a mes-
sage. They know they played poorly,
and they remember all to well their
up-and-down past.
The time has come to try some-
thing new.
During the second half of the
game, three Indiana students dressed
as Flintstones characters held up a
sign that read "Beating 'M' is so easy,
even a caveman can do it."
Unfortunately for the seniors, that
has become their legacy: an easy
home win for the best teams in the
Big Ten.
At least give the younger players a
chance to forge a new identity.
For themselves and for the pro-
gram.
- Bosch can be reached at
hectobos@umjch.edu.
BULLDOGS
From page 1B
Hunwick, Johnson's part-
ner on the top defensive pair-
ing, also showed how potent
the defense could be in the
offensive zone. He notched
five points this weekend,
including a career-high tying
three assists on Friday night.
Although the scoreboard
read a convincing Michigan
triumph on Friday, the play.
on the ice told a different
story. After jumping out to a
4-0 lead in the first period,
the Bulldogs controlled play
in the second, outshooting
the Wolverines 24-6.
"They came out in the see-
ond period and put on a clin-
ic," Berenson said. "We are
lucky we survived the period.
... I can't tell you it was in
doubt, but it was in doubt the
way we were playing."
If not for a few fortuitous
bounces that led to break-
away chances for Michigan,
Friday night's contest could
have been much closer than
the final score would indicate.
In fact, Ferris State outshot
Michigan 40-30 on the night,
and Berenson considered
pulling sophomore goalie
Billy Sauer after the second
period to give him some rest.
But a sweep-hungry Michi-
gan squad controlled play for
the onset on Saturday, jump-
ing out to a 2-0 first-period
lead with the aid of a 12-4
advantage in shots.
This weekend's games
mark the team's final home
weekend series of the season.
The next time the Wolverines
will have the opportunity to
rock out to Elton John in the
locker room to mark a home
weekend sweep would be
after a CCHA playoff win.
SOONERS
From page lB,
improving," sophomore Scott
Bregman said. "Last week, we
thought, 'How are we going to
top this?' And then we come
out and go four points higher."
For the third week in a row,
the Wolverines jumped out to
the lead after one rotation and
remained there throughout the
meet. Once again, all six com-
petitors on the first event, floor
exercise, scored a 9.0 or higher.
Bregman set a new team record
with his 9.8 score, which won
him the Newt Loken award for
best performance of the night.
Despite some difficulties on
pommel horse and vault, Mich-
igan - maintained a slim lead
through four rotations. Elkind
took home the individual hon-
ors on rings with a 9.65.
And after the penultimate
event, parallel bars, the Wol-
verines had the competition in
the bag. But they still put on a
show for the final apparatus,
sending the fans home glow-
ing.
The Wolverines will need
all the momentum they can
garner from the decisive vic-
tory because their next big test
is just around the corner. Next
Saturday, Michigan will take
on No. 2 Penn State in State
College - a far more hostile
environment than Cliff Keen
Arena.
"We should be confident
going in there, but it's always
a lot easier at home," Golder
said. "When everybody's say-
ing, 'Let's go, Blue,' it's a lot
easier than when you're hear-
ing that Nittany Lion roar.
That'll be the big challenge.
I think we can beat them. ...
We better come away with a
victory."
0 HOOSIERS
From page 1B
perimeter shots, as Michigan came into the game
shooting just 28 percent from 3-point range.
"The statistics say they aren't a great 3-point shoot-
ing team," Legette-Jack said. "We took our chances
not coming out and defending as quickly as we should
have. But today was their day, and it was their time to
come back."
Without Michigan's lackluster start, the team's dra-
matic comeback may not have been necessary.
Just eight minutes into play, Michigan fell behind
18-3. The Wolverines turned the ball over 15 times
in the opening frame alone. Indiana's hot shooting
put the Hoosiers ahead and kept them there during
the opening half Indiana connected on three of its
first four 3-point attempts and shot 48 percent from
the field. Improved play toward the of the first period
helped chip away at the deficit, but the Wolverines still
trailed 34-23 at the break.
Though the team was behind, there was a differ-
ence in the team's mentality at halftime - at least for
freshman LeQuisha Whitfield.
"I didn't want to lose," Whitfield said. "I told my
team at halftime, 'Guys, we're not going to lose this
game.' We were down by 15, and I still had faith."
Despite that conviction, Michigan struggled might-
ily to start the second half The Wolverines missed
their first seven shots of the period, and the Hoosiers
used a 6-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game,
40-23.
But that was when Michigan turned it on, and the
Hoosiers began to tire.
Two things gave the Wolverines a chance to win
down the stretch.
After turning the ball over 15 times in the first half,
Michigan committed just three turnovers in the sec-
ond frame.
The other factor was Whitfield, who scored a team-
high 15 points - all of which came after halftime.
The forward nailed two clutch 3-pointers down the
stretch.
The first trey tied the game at 59 with just under
three minutes to play.
The next one brought the crowd to its feet, giving
the Wolverines a 64-61 advantage they wouldn't relin-
quish with 1:17 remaining.
"I just played intense and with passion," Whitfield
said. "I was really confident in what I was doing."
That poise lifted Michigan to its first two-win sea-
son in the Big Ten since the 2003-2004 campaign.
Even though the victory marked the Wolverines'
largest comeback of the year, Burnett claims she
always had faith in her team.
"My favorite quote is from Winston Churchill,"
Burnett said. "He said,'Never, ever, ever give in.' Even
when we got down, these kids were being competitive,
and I'm happy they pulled it off."
ti