The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com ( January 28, 2008
OUh, brother
FRIDAY: MSU 1, UM 0* SATURDAY: MSU 2, UM 2* SUNDAY: MSU 77, UM 62
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
Junior Brandon Naurato battled for puck control Friday night in the Wolverines' second home loss of the season.
'M'narrowly dodges sweep
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK Jeff Lerg to spoil the Spartans' chances for two wins
Daily Sports Writer against the Wolverines.
"I think he grabbed it with his hand, actually, and
EAST LANSING - Michigan State's last goal threw it into the net," Rust said. "It was pretty lucky.
saved the Wolverines' weekend. I'll take it, and our team will take it."
Just a minute and 38 seconds away from being Michigan State coach Rick Comley felt the goal
swept for the first time this season, the Michigan was more than just luck.
hockey team escaped with a 2-2 tie Saturday against "Obviously, Ratchuk was cross-checked from
the defending National Champions when the Spar- behind, and there should have been a penalty, but
tans' Matt Schepke knocked the puck into his own they didn't see it," Comley said. "If they didn't see it,
net. then they can't make a call."
The late goal was the Wolverines'lone lucky break But the rest of Saturday's game didn't lack pen-
this weekend. After a 1-0 loss Friday, No. 1 Michigan alty calls. The hostility between the Wolverines and
(15-2-1 CCHA, 22-3-1 overall) fell out of first place in fifth-ranked Spartans surfaced early as the teams
the CCHA standings. tallied five combined penalties in the first two min-
It was the first time the Wolverines lost a series utes - four of them for roughing after the whistle.
all season. After Saturday's first period, Michigan State led
As Michigan State defenseman Mike Ratchuk 10-3 in shots and controlled the pace of the game.
protected the crease, freshman Matt Rust's cross- But a little more than six and a half minutes into
check sent Ratchuk to the ice. The puck deflected off the middle stanza, freshman Max Pacioretty took a
Rust's stick and Schepke batted the puck past goalie See HOCKEY, Page 3B
Offense sputters vs. Spartans
Freshman Manny Harris posted 11 points in Michigan's 77-62 loss on Sunday to intra-state rival Michigan State.
Wolverine woes continue
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Last week, Michigan coach
John Beilein preached the importance of winning
four-minute segments.
Yesterday in the first half, histeam dominated one
of those four-minute spans by 13 points.
But No. 10 Michigan State outscored the Wolver-
ines by 28 for the rest of the game in yesterday's 77-
62 loss at the Breslin Center.
"When we got on the court, things didn't go our
way and some people put our heads down," fresh-
man Manny Harris said.
For the first seven minutes of the game, the Wol-
verines suffered through one of their typical field-
goal droughts.
Like other droughts this season, this one resulted
from poor shot selection, no offensive rhythm and
turnovers. Michigan missed its first seven shots
- nine, including free throws.
Then, five 3-pointers in three minutes put the
Wolverines ahead by five, 19-14. Over that stretch,
the team hit eight of its 10 first-half field goals.
But Michigan's first strike was its last.
The Spartans (6-1 Big Ten, 18-2 overall) held the
Wolverines to just three points over the next eight
minutes.
At the same time, Spartan pointguard Drew Neit-
zel found his shot and his teammates during a 21-3
run. Senior Ron Coleman said Neitzel's performance
in that stretch made the difference in the game.
Neitzel finished the game with a game-high-tying18
points and seven assists.
"Teams make runs," sophomore DeShawn Sims
said. "And there wasn't enough room for error, espe-
cially being away and playing a team like Michigan
State."
Coming off a morale-boosting three-point loss at
No.11 Wisconsin last Tuesday,
Michigan (1-7, 5-15) hoped to carry the momentum
See BASKETBALL, Page 2B
System's working, players aren't
By ANDY REID
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - When the Michigan hockey
team's offense is on cue, it's one of the most explosive
units in the country.
But the Wolverines never NOTEBOOK
found their rhythm this weekend
in a 1-0 loss and 2-2 tie against Michigan State.
Seniors Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik usually
lead the way on offense. The dynamic duo has usu-
ally executed with near-flawless precision this sea-
son using crisp passing and smooth puck movement
to crash scoring opportunity for their team.
But the Wolverines never adjusted to Michigan
State's speed this weekend. The Spartans intercept-
ed pass after pass inside their own zone, keeping the
Michigan offense off-balance all weekend. With lit-
tle time in the offensive zone, the Wolverines never
found their groove.
"They always had three or four guys back, so it's
tough to get your offense going," Porter said.
Michigan State held Michigan to just three shots
on goal in the first period of Saturday night's game.
"We've got to get more pucks to the net," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said. "There was a point in
the game where we hardly got a shot at (goalie Jeff)
Lerg."
Even when the Wolverines broke through the
stout Spartan defense, they still had to face Lerg,
who's been lights-out since the start of the new
year.
The junior goaltender came into the weekend with
three consecutive CCHA Goalie of the Week honors.
He turned in a performance against Michigan that
should win him a fourth.
SPECIAL TEAM WOES: The Spartans won the
special teams battle, often the difference in close
games. All three of Michigan State's goals came on
the power play. The Spartans' penalty kill unit also
held the Wolverines to just one man-advantage goal.
After a fight broke out in the Michigan zone
See NOTEBOOK, Page 3B
EAST LANSING -
With one foot in the shower, it was hard
to ignore the steam
rising behind the
broad shoulders of sophomore
DeShawn Sims.
Maybe he was tryingto warm
up after his frigid 1-for-7, six- w
point showing from the field.
Or it could have had some- °
thing to do with his team being
thrown into the fire of a raucous MARK
Breslin Center crowd, hell bent GIANNOTTO
on avenging the "Little Brother"
comments made by Michigan
football star Mike Hart in November.
Anyway you look at it, the Wolverines left East
Lansing steaming mad after their latest setback
- this one a 77-62 loss to the Spartans.
But the score wasn't indicative of how disap-
pointing a loss it was. Nobody on this team was
angry after Tuesday's encouraging 64-61 defeat to
No.11 Wisconsin. That was a glimmer of hope for a
team desperately searching for something to boost
its morale.
After shooting barely 35 percent from the field
and going 8-for-31 from beyond the are yesterday, it
looks like hope isn't on the horizon.
"It's been a long year and we have a ton of
losses," Sims said. "You learn something out of each
loss and we are going to get all the losing out of the
way now, because we're going to be a special team
one day."
To be something more than a 5-15 team, though,
there has to be improvement. Are these Wolverines
really gettingbetter?
After competing with the Badgers for 40
minutes, Michigan reverted back to its old ways
against Michigan State. Aside from a four-minute
stretch in the first half - the only time it led the
contest - the Maize and Blue couldn't defend and
couldn't shoot.
See GIANNOTTO, Page 3B
BIG BROTHER TIMELINE
What's happened on the playing field for the
Wolverines and Spartans since Mike Hart
called Michigan State "little brother."
a. 2
The Spartans couldn'tfind success in
Orlando. Boston College edged Michigan
State, 24-21 in the Champs Sports Bowl.
The Michigan hockey team showcased its
dominance at the 43rd Annual GLI. The
Spartansforgot toshow up, finishinglast.
The Wolverines sent Lloyd Carr out
with a bang, when they defeated
Florida 41-35 in the Capital One Bowl.
The Michigan women's basketball team
ended a six-year drought when it beat
Michigan State, 64-51at CrislerArena.