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.