10 - Tuesday, March 13, 2007
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The Michigan Dailv - michigandailv.com
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Amaker upbeat entering NIT
By DANIEL LEVY
Daily Sports Writer
It would be natural to assume
that Michigan would be extremely
disappointed one
day after it was Utah State
officially left out
of the NCAA Tour- at Michigan
nament's field of When:
65, settling for yet Tonight, 7 p.m.
another National
Invitational Tour- Where:
namentbid. Crisler Arena
But despite
the news, Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker was his usual optimistic
self at yesterday's press conference.
"It's always an honor to be in
postseason," Amaker said. "There
are some teams that would certainly
like to trade places with us and have
a chance to continue their years.
We're one of the fortunate few."
Those fortunate few teams
Amaker referred to are the 97 com-
bined teams (65in the NCAA and 32
in the NIT) that still have games to
play.
And while Amaker was very
upbeat about the whole situation,
it's important to note that seniors
Brent Petway and Dion Harris, two
of the team's most vocal players,
were made unavailable to the media
yesterday.
But senior captain Lester Abram
was willing to discuss the reality of
missing the Tournament.
"You don't have a choice (but to
get over it)," Abram said. "We've got
a game Tuesday. It's a quick turn-
around."
That turnaround is probably a
good thing. Instead of dwelling on
what they didn't getdone during the
season, the Wolverines (8-8 BigTen,
21-12 overall) can focus on tonight's
opening-round game against Utah
State at Crisler Arena. Michigan
enters the NIT as the North Region's
No. 3 seed, which means tonight
will be the lone tournamentgame in
Ann Arbor if the higher seeds take
care of business.
The more pressing issue is how
the Wolverines will prepare for a
team they know very little about.
Amaker and his staff immediately
went to work, breaking down game
footage of the Aggies after they
learned of Michigan's first-round
matchup.
"I see a team that has won 23
games," Amaker said. "I think
they're a ballclub that has one of
the top scorers in the country, so a
dangerous player there. And they're
also one of the top free-throw shoot-
ing teams in the nation."
The scorer Amaker mentioned
is guard Jaycee Carroll. The junior
averaged more than 21 points and
six rebounds a game for the Aggies
this season. And the fact that
Amaker, who is always very accu-
rate in assessing Michigan's oppo-
nents, couldn't mention Carroll by
name shows how much work the
Wolverines have left to prepare for
tonight's matchup.
"No," Abram said, asked if he
knew anything about Utah State.
"I just know their record was 23-
10 (sic). That's pretty decent, so
I'm sure they're a good basketball
team."
Carroll gives Utah State (9-7,
23-11) some offensive pop, but the
Aggies will also be undersized in
tonight's contest. Their tallest start-
er is 6 foot 8, and they have just one
reserve taller than that.
This could be a mixed blessing
for the Wolverines. Courtney Sims
has struggled in the past against
smaller lineups. A team with equal
size might defend Sims one-on-one,
allowing the 6-foot-11senior to go to
work in the paint. But smaller teams
have gotten creative in denying Sims
the ball, constantly double-teaming
or sagging back defenders to clog
the paint and forcing the Wolver-
ines to shoot over them.
The other key will be where the
minds of Michigan's players are.
The Wolverines can count on a
lackluster crowd supporting their
NIT cause. While Amaker and the
players have talked abut finishing
the year on a high note - like they
have two of the past three seasons
with an NIT championship in 2004
and a finals appearance last season
- it will be hard to gauge the team's
energy until the game gets under-
way.
The NIT may not be where the
Wolverines wanted to be, but it is
where they are. Tonight we'll see
just how much Michigan appreci-
ates being one of the "fortunate
few."
RO~RIGO GAYA,
After falling short against Ohio State, the Michigan men's basketball team now
faces a return trip to the NIT. The Wolverines' first game is tonight at 7 p.m.
40
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Wait
worth
it for
Sauer
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Writer
Billy Sauer had been waiting for
last weekend for a long time:
Not just the 12 days between
the end of the regular season and
the beginning of the playoffs, but
the two years since he played post-
seasonhockey.
And when his playoff opportu-
nity finally presented itself, the
sophomore,goalie loved it.
"It was awesome," Sauer said.
"Not being able to play (in the
playoffs) the last couple years and
coming out and to get two wins as
quickly as we did and as confident-
ly as we did, it's a great feeling."
Going into the weekend, it was
a different goalie getting his first
taste of the playoffs who garnered
the attention.
Northern Michigan goaltender
Brian Stewartcame into the CCHA
quarterfinal series off a magical
weekend against Ohio State.
The 22-year-old freshman
replaced the Wildcats' starting
goalie during their 6-2 Game loss
to the Buckeyes. Stewart went on
to acrobatically lead Northern
Michigan to victories in Games 2
and 3, securing the upset.
But at YostIce Arena last Friday,
it didn't take long for Sauer to steal
the show from Stewart.
The Wolverines got to Stew-
s headed art quickly, scoring three goals in
Friday's first period. Meanwhile,
tng training Sauer made the most of his first
playoff game.
need to "Billy Sauer made some key
saves in the first period," Michi-
tthat gan coach Red Berenson said fol-
lowing Friday's game. "I thought
al growth Billy was sharp when he had tobe,
and he gave us some protection'
go- p Along with his solid goalkeep-
ing Friday night, Sauer got in on
ers Michigan's high-powered offense.
The Waworth, N.Y., native got the
initial assist on Matt Hunwick's
power-play goal in the first period.
It was Sauer's first career point.
In the second period, Sauer
wowed the Yost crowd yet again.
With a Northern Michigan player
chasing down a loose puck for a
sure-fire breakaway opportunity,
Sauer made a rare foray from the
crease.
Sprinting out toward the blue
line, Sauer reached the puck just
in time, sliding on his knees as he
cleared the puck.
"It was the playoffs, so I felt
more comfortable (leaving the
crease)," Sauer said. "I was more
revved up."
The added energy obviously
paid off. After Friday night, Sauer
couldn't ask for a better playoff
stat line: one game, one win, one
goal against, a .955 save percent-
age and one assist.
The numbers weren't as impres-
sive in Game 2, but the result was
the same.
Despite giving up three power-
play goals, Sauer was solid yet
again. None of the goals were Sau-
er's fault, senior Tim Cook said.
Sauer even got to take a breather
for the final five-and-a-half minutes.
Michigan was up by five goals
and Berenson gave senior third-
string goalie Mike Mayhew some
playing time in his final game at
Yost.
But Sauer will be back in net
for Friday's semifinal game versus
Michigan State.
"I'm pumped (for Friday),"
Sauer said. "Especially playing
03 against Michigan State - there's
not much more that needs to be
said about that."
7p We Do After such an impressive week-
end, it's no wonder he can't wait.
a
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