* The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com November 26, 2007 - 3B BENJI DELL/Daily Sophomore Ekpe Udoh blocked 11 shots in Michigan's 1-2 showing at the Great Alaska Shootout this weekend. Increased time for Udoh brings '-M'block party ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily Senior Kevin Porter leads the country in scoring with 16 goals in 14 games. His six-point weekend helped Michigan win its first College Hockey Showcase title since 2002. Man-down goals propel'M' By ANDY REID giving himself a wide-open look at Daily Sports Writer an empty netter. "Frazee misplayed the puck a Some teams just want to kill little bit, and I just happened to penalties. be there and throw it on net," Por- The Michigan ter said. "So it was kind of a lucky hockeyteamcame NOTEBOOK goal, but I'm glad to have it." out last weekend NOT-SO-STRONG FINISH: By IAN ROBINSON Daily Sports Writer With Michigan holding a 56-53 lead with 38 seconds left Friday against Eastern Wash- NOTEBOOK ington, Eagle guard Adris DeLeon tried to cut into Michigan's slim lead. But his jump shot ran into a familiar barrier - sophomore forward Ekpe Udoh. Freshman Manny Harris picked up the loose ball, was fouled and hit two free throws, allowing Michigan to seal the win. It was Udoh's fifth block of the game. He swatted 11 shots on the weekend. After injuring his knee before the season, Udoh has started to look more comfortable on the court. When starting center Zack Gibson found himself in early foul trouble against Butler, Udoh came off the bench and played 32 minutes, matching a career-high mark set last season. He followed that performance by playing 27 minutes against Eastern Wash- ington. Udoh averaged more than six points and four rebounds per. game this weekend. Just six games into his sopho- more season, Udoh is six blocks from joiningthe program's top 10 career leaders in that category. LEADING BY EXAMPLE: The MORE ONLINE at michigandaily.com Do you like our basketball, hockey and football cover- age? It extends far beyond the pages of the paper. Check out michigandaily.com for more stories as well as Web-exclusive content. outcome of Michigan's first four games this season had been decided before the final few min- utes. The young team hadn't yet faced game-deciding free throws. In Friday's game against East- ern Washington, the outcome was still up in the air in the final minutes. Upperclassmen Jerret Smith and Ron Coleman showed lead- ership by hitting a combined five free throws in the final minutes. Ahead by two with less than two minutes remaining, Coleman knocked down two free throws to extend the Michigan lead. After Eastern Washington hit a 3-pointer to cut the Wolverines' lead to just one, Smith stepped up to the line and hit both his free throws to put the Wolverines up three. Freshman Manny Harris hit four free throws in the final min- ute to ice the game and finish with a game-high 19. RON RACKS UP POINTS: Five points. That's Coleman's total in the Wolverines' first three games. He scored eight in the first half against Butler Wednesday night and kept up that production all weekend. Coleman reached double fig- ures in each game, averaging 12 points and six rebounds per game, including 3-for-4 3-point shooting in the loss to Butler. looking to do more than that. The Wolverines posted two game-changing shorthanded goals - one against Minnesota and the other against Wisconsin - that helped them post two qual- ity wins over ranked opponents. In the first period of Friday night's contest, senior Chad Kolarik created a fast-break opportunity when he deflected and errant Wisconsin pass near the Badger blue line. Already behind the defense, Kolarik faked Badger goaltender Shane Connelly and snuck a top-shelf glove-sider behind him for the score. The shorthanded tally put Michigan up 1-0 and gave the Wolverines enough momentum to power through Wisconsin for three straight goals. By the time the Badgers picked up some momentum late in the game, there wasn't enough time to stage a comeback. "I think (Kolarik's goal) was just hard work," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "If you watch the tape on Kolarik's goal, he backchecked hard and he created the turnover, and then he took off and got the loose puck. Remem- ber, the other team on the power play, they're not thinking defense. They're thinking offense. And they get a little cute. So, we want to be opportunistic, and that's another arena that we can do it in, the (penalty kill)." Saturday night was senior cap- tain Kevin Porter's turn to knock one in with aman disadvantage. The Wolverines kicked the puck out of their zone, and net- minder Jeff Frazee tried to gath- er it behind the net. He whiffed on his pass attempt, and Porter swooped around to steal the puck, Michigan held a comfortable three-goal lead against Wisconsin going into the final minutes Fri- day night. That all changed in 18 seconds. The Badgers squeaked a power- play goal in on junior goalie Billy Sauer with just more than two x minutes to play. "That penalty kill goal - that shot can't get through," Kolarik said. "That's my fault. I'm a senior,' and (Berenson) puts me out there to do a job the last two minutes of the game, and that's my fault, and I take full responsibility for that." Eighteen seconds later, Michi- gan's lead was cut to one. Wiscon- sin won the faceoff and stormed into the Wolverine zone. Junior Ben Street found the puck near the crease and punched it in to make things interesting. But Michigan drained the final two minutes of the game to hold on for the victory. "You saw what happens when we take those lapses we've been taking all year to a better team," Portersaid "Theyscoredtwo goals on us." YOST SANS STUDENTS: While the "C-Ya!" chant may have been less colorful than in games that ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily aren't during a student break, the Junior BillySauer tallied 50 saves and surrendered just three goals this weekend fans who filled Yost Ice Arena this against topts teams Wisconsin and Minnesota. weekend still created a fairly hos- tile environment. But nothing will top Yost with a Attention Freshmen! full student section. "There's no chant when they're Check your umich inbox for your going to the box," Kolarik said. invitation to participate! "That's always pretty exciting, but you can definitely feel the atmo- sphere when they're here. And it's a shame these games have to be over Thanksgiving break... where we can get them here and really give them the feel of Yost." I CH IGA PREVENTION AN1D ALCOHOL $AF1Y FOR STUDENTS Studv No: HUM(XXX)887 I Crohn's Disease o Ulcerative Colitis? President's Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights 'Anti-Sweatshop Efforts in a Global Supply Chain: Adidas' Labor Standards Compliance Program" If s, We Need Y''our Help at the Next IBD ~ ~~ .:de rup Met.. . Many students on and off campus manage a full time student life and their Crohn's / Colitis. We need STUDENTS to share their experiences and ideas, as well as to engage even more STUDENTS. Be a part of someone's life or make a difference in your own on Thursday, November 29th at the next group meeting! Date: Thursday, November 29th, 2007 Time: 7-9 P.M. Location: MASON HALL RM 3356 Let us know you are coming (I any questions): Email Alex: Hussey Room - Michigan League Tuesday, November 27 7:30 - 9:00 PM p Director of the University of Michigan's 080 Program fill Asl Ii '1 11 ,- w 0ai9 lw-0 44wwXi - iff