4 8A - Wednesday, November 14, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0 Wright in shape, ready to shoot By DAN FELDMAN Daily Sports Writer For a player who thrives on the jumper, Anthony Wright was, coincidentally, just a drive away from being ready to contribute to the Michigan men's basketball team. Although the forward wouldn't have played much last season because of the seniors in front of him, Wright doesn't dance around why he couldn't immediately con- tribute. "Iunderstand whateverybody's perception was," he said. "I was out of shape." But getting his drivers' license in April changed all of that. Since he could drive, the Ster- ling, Va., native could play about three times as many games this summer than last. He traveled 20 miles from his home in Virginia each Monday, Tuesday and Thurs- day and 30 miles Wednesdays and Fridays to play in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Wright dropped 30 pounds in the process. Many criticized former Michi- gan coach Tommy Amaker for offering Wright a scholarship. Although Wright played for famed Oak Hill Academy, he didn't start until late in his senior season. The doubts seemed justified when Wright redshirted his freshman year. Wright had back spasms his sec- ond-to-last high school game and took some time to recover - too much, he admits, as his compla- cency led to his weight problem. Now, Wright can do simple things like running up and down the court - something he strug- gled with all of last season. He has even carved out his niche on the team. Michigan coach John Beilein compared him to a pair of players he had at West Vir- ginia, Patrick Beilein (8.0 points per game as a senior) and Frank Young (15.3). "This guy that comes in, and if he can see the rim, he shoots it," Beilein joked. But the numbers show some truth. Wright's 12 shots lead all reserves, and his .3 shots per min- ute, third on the team, only trails Michigan's top two scorers, soph- omore DeShawn Sims and fresh- man Manny Harris. Wright has done more than scoring, though. He has made hustle plays that energize the team, too. Midway through the second half of the Wolverines' win over Brown Sunday, sophomore Ekpe Udoh missed a free throw, and after Ron Coleman tipped the ball, it appeared to be going out of bounds. But Wright leaped over the baseline and flung the ball over his head to set up another possession. Michigan didn't score, but it's doubtful Wright could've come close to making a play like that last season. "He doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, dumb or anything," Harris said. "He's a good player, a good, solid player." Redshirt junior C.J. Lee said Wright likes to mess around and see what he can get away with when shooting around in the gym. So Lee has a response every time Wright misses in a game. "When he misses a shot, I always say 'Quit trying to miss,'" Lee said. Having made 4-of-9 3-pointers this season, Wright is reverting back to an old, bad habit - not try- ing hard enough. This time, though, it's OK. 4 4 FILE PHOTO Fifth-year senior Brandent Englemon can't wait to get on the field Saturday to try and end Ohio State's winning streak over the Wolverines dating back to 2004. Streak can't stop seniors By KEVIN WRIGHT Daily Sports Editor Brandent Englemon is sick of it. The fifth-year senior has been questioned again and again about Michigan's three-game losing streak to rival Ohio State, and he's had about enough of the talk. "Any time you have a rivalry and you haven't won in a couple of years, you get tired of hearing, 'Oh, they can't beat O State' or 'They can't win this game,' " Englemon said. "It's getting old." Englemon and several other fifth-years watched from the side- line in 2003 - the last time the Wolverines won - but the true seniors face the scenario of ending their careers at Michigan without a win over their biggest rival. That possibility is an aberration for this group of Wolverine seniors. They came to Michigan expecting to win Big Ten titles - and beat Ohio State. Just go back to the 2003 game. Englemon and fellow fifth-year seniors Adam Kraus and Jake Long remember watching the atmo- sphere in the Big House after the win. They just didn't realize at the time that would be their only mem- ories of winning The Game. "I didn't really understand what it takes to get there being a fresh- man," Englemon said of about win- ning a Big Ten Championship. "I just thought it was kind of given to you." And for the 2004 recruiting class, which featured stars like running back Mike Hart, quarter- back Chad Henne and safety Jamar Adams, it will have to find a way to stamp a happy ending to what has already been a topsy-turvy season for the Wolverines. Michiganwasprimedtocollapse after its 0-2 start, but the seniors wouldn't let the poor beginning ruin the final chapter to their col- lege careers. They held a meeting after the Oregon loss to refocus the team around a single goal, a Big Ten Championship. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr never gave up on his team's potential. And now, with one game left on the regular-sea- son schedule, the seniors have a chance to go out with a Big Ten Championship. "I think that's part of being at Michigan," Adams said. "The seniors have to step up. The seniors are the guys that have been around the longest, have the experience. And it's our time now, you know what I mean? It's our time." They claim they're not focused on past failures against Ohio State, but the mental block can't be writ- ten off so easily. That last Wolverine Big Ten title, captured in 2004, came on the heels of a bitter loss in Colum- bus. The following two seasons, Ohio State added to a winning streak against Michigan unheard of in the mid-1990s, back when Carr owned a 5-1 record against then-Ohio State coach John Coo- per. Still, the Wolverine seniors aren't focused on the doubters sur- rounding their class. They seem adept at bouncing back. It started with the 2005 cam- paign, where the Wolverines slugged out a 7-5 season. The criti- cism attacked the team's talent and effort as if Michigan had lost its elite status in college football. But the Wolverines silenced those naysayers through 10 games last season, posting an unblem- ished record. Then Ohio State eked out a win for the Big Ten Champi- onship, and Southern Cal rolled in the Rose Bowl. The seniors seemed as upbeat as they could be during the summer, especially considering their 0-3 record against Ohio State and in bowl games. Then Appalachian State rewrote the history books and Oregon flew through the Big House. Still, the seniors didn't waver. They centered their goals, and with a win on Saturday, they will recapture a Big Ten Championship and break the streak. "Right now, I don't care what happened in the past," Long said. "I don't care what my record is against them. I just want to go out and focus on this game and win this game." At least then Englemon wouldn't mind talking about the most recent edition of the rivalry. 4 4 4 Phillips powers Blue past Bearcats By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sporto Writer CINCINNATI, Ohio - After falling behind Cincinnati, the Michigan women's basketball team needed a big solution to its prob- lems. It found just that in 6-foot-6 cen- ter Krista Phillips. The sophomore simply domi- nated down low in Michigan's 55- 46 win over the MICHIGAN 55 Bearcats CINCINNATI 46 last night at Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati took it to the Wol- verines early in the game, staking a seven-point lead in the contest's early stages. Kahla Roudebush opened the game up with nine points for the Bearcats in the first 12 minutes. Michigan's sloppy play didn't help as the Wolverines jacked up poor 3-point attempts and threw away several errant passes. But Phillips provided a double remedy to Michigan's interior defense and post scoring. She shot 7-of-9 from the floor to finish with 17 points. Philips also picked up six rebounds and swiped three steals in just 20 minutes of play. "She played a monster game," Cincinnati coach Kelley Hall said. "She gave them a defensive pres- ence inside and altered some of our shots - if she didn't block them." Phillips also starred in a more unsung role, tipping away inside passes and shutting down Cincin- nati's post and transition play. The Wolverines shot just 4-for- 12 from behind the arc in the first half. Michigan coach Kevin Bors- eth was angry with the number of bad 3-point attempts in the game but was even more upset with the lack of rebounding prowess his team displayed without Phillips on the court. "We rebounded poorly," Borseth said. "They had 17 or 18 offensive rebounds at one point. We're not a very good rebounding team at this point, and she bailed us out." To make matters worse, the Wol- ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily Junior Billy Sauer seta personal-best shutout streak over the weekend. Sauer steps up, finds success with 'M' legend By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN Daily Sports Writer As "Billy Sauer" chants rever- berated in the Yost Ice Arena rafters during Michigan's Friday night shutout win over Alaska, the junior's transformation this year from a struggling to successful netminder was obvious to every- one watching. But no one gazed up at the press box, where the man primarily responsible for the change, Michi- gan volunteer goalie coach Josh Blackburn, sat. Sauer's stats from his first two seasons barely resemble this year's. His goals-against average is down by more than a goal, and his save percentage is now over the 90 percent hump. On top of that, Sauer just set a new personal-best shutout streak of 128:30 - more than 30 minutes better then his previous mark. Put simply, it's the 19-year-old's best start as a Wolverine, and he's no longer the brunt of criticism. So where did Blackburn, Mich- igan's netminder from 1999-2002, start with the goaltender? "The biggest thing that we worked on was him playing out of the net more," Blackburn said. "And him staying out when pres- sure was coming, staying out, not ALL10N GHAM Da/Ooily backing in." Rather than backing up toward the net after a defensive break- d to double down on down, Sauer now positions his ould kick it out to get giant white pads at the edge of the ts." crease. erines may have But aside from working on read- e season with two ing the rush and fine-tuning the eth doesn't think this fundamentals, Blackburn helped ty will change for a Sauer in the more intangible aspects of playing the position. ing caught so many He's now addressing aspects of old mode, and they Sauer's game, such as how to pre- y-ups and wide open pare for and compose himself in h said. games, something Sauer said he had never considered. "This is the most coaching Billy has probably had on a week-to- week basis," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Whereas lastyear, our coach was here for a couple days, then he wouldn't be here for three or four weeks. "I think (Blackburn's) pres- ence alone has been huge for Billy Sauer." Sauer now has someone to help him through tough stretches. In the goalie world, which can be awfully lonely when pucks fre- quently find the back of the net, Blackburn is someone he can turn to. "(Blackburn) knows what it takes," Berenson said. "He knows the ins and outs of beinga Michi- gan goalie, a starting goalie play- ingback-to-back. All the issues." But it'd be shortsighted not to realize the impact Blackburn, who holds the all-time best Michigan goals-against average, has had on the team as a whole. He has helped transform Sauer into a more confi- dent player. And on a particularly young Michigan team, anchoring the Wolverines with strong goal- tending is crucial. Sauer is boldly challenging shooters and letting his talent shine through with his aggressive play. "It's definitely a big confidence booster back there, knowing that Billy is going to bail us out if we get beat or if they geta good scor- ing chance," said Mark Mitera, the defense's lone upperclassman. But while the Yost faithful recognized Sauer's improvement with cheers, Blackburn hopes Sauer isn't noticed. "(The goal is) the team not hav- ing to worry about him," Black- burn said. "(That) they just know if Billy is in, he's going to have a good game." a 4 I Sophomore Krista Phillips scored 17 points to lead Michigan past Cincinnati last night, 55-46. verines' weak defensive recogni- tion prevented them from picking up several loose balls. Michigan began the second half in a slump as the Bearcats stormed out of the gates with a nine-point run to give them a 31-24 lead. But Phillips again proved to be the cure, making two lay-ups and shutting down the Cincinnati offense. The Wolverines pulled away from the Bearcats with a 15- point run to burst out to a 55-39 lead that essentially iced the game. When Cincinnati doubled Phil- lips in the post, the Wolverines passed the ball outside. Senior Janelle Cooper was the biggest beneficiary from the inside- outside game. Cooper finished sec- ond in scoring with 12 points, all of which came from behind the arc. "We started to get the ball into the post a lot," Cooper said. "So when they trie (Phillips), we c some open sho The Wolv opened up th wins, but BorsI team's mentali long time. "We're gett times in the', were gettingla shots," Borseth I