The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, February 1, 2008 -- 8 0 MINNESOTA 77, MICHIGAN 65 Wolverines get rLoning for the Dast revenge on Irish v v i Revei Notre t freshma With the, sc tied 3-3 the be of-seven upon M junior I the far c After Muresa second, "I sta and set, when yc have, y< match out." Mure winner eventua teamma shoulde After Muresa the mat ended t watchin the base tory for "Den Michiga said. "SI By ALEX MANN ball in play, so you know you have For the Daily a shot." After starting the season with nge against archrival No. 12 a pair of 7-0 losses at Vanderbilt Dame (1-1) rested solely on and Kentucky, the Wolverines (0- an Denise Muresan's racket. 2) started out yesterday's quest for -- revenge with a solid effort, earning ore NOTRE DAME 3 the pivotal doubles point, 2-1. in MICHIGAN 4 "Winning the doubles point was st- really big," junior Chisako Sugiya- match, all eyes were fixed ma said. "Notre Dame's known for turesan and Notre Dame rarely losing at doubles, so thatgave Katie Potts doing battle on us confidence going into singles." ourt. As singles play began, Michigan winning the first set 6-3, jumped on Notre Dame, getting n dropped the hard-fought two quick and easy straight-set set 4-6. victories from Sugiyama and fresh- irted to feel it after the sec- man Whitney Taney. Notre Dame " Muresan said. "I just think rallied, though, as the Irish shot ou've been playing as long I down sophomore Tania Mahtani, ou learn to focus on your freshman Rika Tatsuno and junior and zone everything else co-captain Lindsay Howard. "We have four freshmen, and san reared back and fired they're all very talented," said after winner at Potts, senior co-captain Allie Shafner, illy going up 5-2 in front of who did not play in yesterday's tes standing shoulder-to- event because she was rehabbing r. a surgically repaired wrist. "Right dropping the eighth game, now they're just working out the n looked anxious to wrap up nerves." ch. Exhausted, she finally As for the win over Notre Dame, he day in the ninth game by Bernstein believes a quality win like g a Potts forehand sail over this will boost the young squad's line, sealing the match vic- confidence. No. 23 Michigan, 4-3. "Anytime you get a win, it feels ise really did a great job," great," Bernstein said. "It feels in coach Ronni Bernstein extra special when you can beat a he's always going to put the Notre Dame." 0 AM WOLSON/Daily Sophomore Ekpe Udoh scored just three points last night as Minnesota's frontcourt dominated the Wolverines Crisler fanfare can't lead 'M' to win By H. JOSE BOSCH Daily Sports Editor On a night when the Michigan basketball program celebrated its proud past, it couldn't hide its disheartening present. The Wolverines dropped another Big Ten contest at Crisler Arena, this time to Minneso- ta and first-year coach Tubby Smith, 77-65. "At times in a game, you see improvement," senior Ron Cole- man said. "And there's times when you see guys taking steps back - maybe taking plays off or not wanting to play together. That's something that we have to fix." With Michigan's best big man ever, Cazzie Russell, being hon- ored along with the house that he built, it was the Gophers' big men who dominated the paint. Minnesota outscored the Wol- verines 44-20 in the paint, some- times scoring with two or three Michigan players in the area and no one challenging the shooter. Michigan's lack of size and experience hampered its efforts across the board. Minnesota's biggest player, 6- foot-9 center Spencer Tollackson, tips the scales at 260 pounds. The Wolverines' biggest man, sopho- more Ekpe Udoh, is an inch taller but 30 pounds lighter. Tollackson and fellow senior Dan Coleman both have more than two years of starting expe- rience. Michigan's three big men - Udoh, sophomore DeShawn Sims and redshirt sophomore Zack Gibson - have less thantwo years of combined experience. Coleman and Tollackson scored 11 of Minnesota's first 15 points to help the Gophers build a nine-point lead in the first eight minutes. Coleman finished with a team-high 17 points and Tollack- son ended with 14. But the Gophers' offense was fueled by their pressure defense. Rather than sit back and contain, like the Wolverines' last few opponents, Minnesota's defend- ers engaged the ballhandler, forcing poor shots and untimely turnovers. The Wolverines two best offensive players, Sims and fresh- man Manny Harris, committed a combined 10 turnovers. "We put the ball on the floor and just said, 'I'm just going to drive it,' " Michigan coach John Beilein said. "I thought that set the tone more - their defense (rather than) their offense set the tone." Like it has much of the Big Ten season, Michigan put together a late-game run when it was too late for a real comeback. Trailing by 21 points with a little more than four minutes remaining in the game, the Wol- verines went on a 13-2 surge to pull withinten and awakened the sparsely filled Crisler Arena. But they mustered just four points in the rest of the contest. The loss was a sour note on an otherwise happy evening for the program. The Wolverines celebrated Crisler Arena's 40th anniversary by honoring the first team to ever play in the arena and the man who "built" it. But by the end of the night, the building belonged to Minnesota and its coach. A large and loud contingent of Gophers fans filled Crisler with chants of "Tubby, Tubby" and the first-year coach pointed to the crowd and smiled. It was the coach's 400th win. Russell, who left the arena several minutes earlier, exited with much less fanfare and a tired expression on his face. BENJI DELL/Daily Junior Carly Benson's late three-point basket was not enough to reclaim the lead in the Wolverines' 61-58 loss to Michigan State. Blue blows lead in lo ss to Spartans Grady returns to starting lineup By DAN FELDMAN Daily Sports Writer No matterwhathe does, Mich- igan coach John Beilein just can't seem to win. With his team struggling through slow starts all sea- NOTEBOOK son, Beilein adjusted his starting lineup once again to geta spark. Freshman point guard Kelvin Grady returned to the starting five, replacing redshirt junior C.J. Lee because Beilein thinks Lee plays better off the bench. It didn't work. Minnesota jumped out to an 11-2 advantage, and the Wolverines never led. Grady had two points, two assists and two turnovers in 26 minutes. Senior guard David Merritt subbed in for Grady and was his primary backup (15 min- utes). Lee didn't play until mid- way through the second half. Grady started Michigan's first 13 games, but Lee started the next six. Still, Grady has seen pretty consistent minutes, play- ing 23 minutes per game in starts and 20 per game off the bench. "He's just continued to play hard," Merritt said. "A lot of peo- ple, when they lose their starting spot, they kind of lose their confi- dence, and it kind of affects their play. But he accepted it and just kept working hard." FINALLY PLAYING HEALTHY: Sophomore center Ekpe Udoh caught a glimpse of senior Ron Coleman's eyes before last night's game and knew the forward was ready to go. Coleman sprained his ankle against Indiana Jan. 8. He missed games at Northwestern and Wis- consin, but played against Illi- nois and Iowa, aleit just for a combined 11 minutes. He scored just three points at Michigan State Sunday, when he said he was fully healthy. Coleman cane off the bench last night for his firstdouble-digit scoring game in a month and a half, scoring 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Although the Wolver- ines shot just 38.7 percent from the field last night, Merritt hopes Coleman will help turn around their shooting woes - with his ability and leadership. "You have more impact when you're on the court than when you're sitting in dress clothes," said Merritt, who, in his second year with the team, called Cole- man the team's only true senior. Coleman scored eight straight Michiganpoints midway through the first half. Back-to-back 3- pointers started the run. THE HOUSE THAT CAZZIE BUILT: Michigan celebrated Crisler Arena's 40th anniversary last night. Several members of the first team to play at the arena, along with Cazzie Russell, were hon- ored during halftime. Russell, whose No, 33 jersey hangs from the rafters, was introduced last night drawing a standing ova- tion. Although Crisler Arena is called the "House that Cazzie Built," Russell never played there as a Wolverine. Originally planned to open for his senior year, construction was behind schedule, and Crisler Arena didn't open until the next year. Russell played there once - as a member of the New York Knicks, which picked him first overall in 1966, in an exhibition against the Detroit Pistons. Russell, in his 12th year of coaching the basketball team at the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design, addressed the Wolverines before the game and talked to them about staying together as a team and learning to win together. By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - Another road game. Another nail-biter. Another loss. The -- --- - Michigan MICHIGAN 58 women's MICHIGAN STATE 61 basketball team suffered its second-straight road defeat last night, falling 61-58 at Michigan State. Down three points with 7.6 sec- onds remaining, the Wolverines had a chance to tie. Junior Jessica Min- nfield drove through the lane and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Janelle Cooper on the perimeter. But the senior missed in the closing seconds. "We didn't even plan (it)," Michi- gan coach Kevin Borseth said. "We just get it down the court, pitch it to someone and shoot it. ... It was a good shot that gave us a chance to tie it." Although the Wolverines had a chance at the comeback, it never should havebeen that close. With six minutes to play, Michi- gan led the Spartans by eight, 53- 45. But 6-foot-9 Spartan center Alyssa DeHaan chipped away from the charity stripe, making 10 free throws down the stretch to give the Spartans a 59-55 lead with 21 sec- onds left. Junior Carly Benson revitalized Michigan's chances making a three pointer with 10 seconds left. "We had the lead," Borseth said. "Granted, they made some shots, especially free throws. They made shots down the stretch and we didn't." Michigan has lost three close Big Tenroad gamesthis season: Purdue, Iowa and Michigan State. In each game, Michigan (5-5 Big Ten, 12-8 overall) had a lead in the final min- utes only to let it slip away. "We've done that three out of the last four games," Borseth said. "Our goal before the year was to getcin the game, and now we are in it. I haveto do a better job of getting them pre- pared down the stretch." Borseth's frustration was evident during the game. With 4:31 remain- ing, Borseth called a play using a clipboard and slammed it to the ground, shattering the board into pieces. The Spartan faithful responded to Borseth's actions with renewed energy. And Michigan State fed off the momentum. The Spartans (5-6, 13-10) outscored the Wolverines 13- 5 to close out the game. The Wolverine offense was clear- ly frustrated by Michigan State's switch from man-to-man to zone defense. The frustration was dou- bled by the DeHaan's awakening in the final minutes and the number of free-throw chances given to the Spartans. Although Michigan was unable to finish, it was able to largely build its lead through the efforts of Steph- any Skrba. The shifty junior led the Wolverines in scoringwith 16 points off the bench and six rebounds. Skrba had success driving through the Michigan State defense and getting open down low. Benson, who led theteamin scor- ing after the first half with 10 points, was shut down by Michigan State and made just the 3-pointer in the final seconds. "I wasn't doing a very good job getting open." Benson said. "Brit- tany Thomas was guarding me pret- ty tightly. I was just trying to focus * more on screening because of the defensive pressure." The Wolverines have become competitive in the Big Ten, butthey have been exposed to more pressure situations. Though Michigan has not pulled * out some of these close games away from home, it have learned one thing: It's tough to play Big Ten bas- ketball on the road. 4