MEN'S GY MNASTICS SEASON PRE With eight freshmen and talented leaders, the men's gyrr team looks to return Michigan to national glory. Page 4B The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I January 07, 2008 Beilein After six-week toughest hiatus, frosh gigyet WEST LAFAYETTE - Michi- gan coach John Beilein doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. Five times in the second half of Saturday's loss at Purdue, the Wolverines came within three points, only to let the Boilermakers re-extend their lead. Michigan DAN lacking a killer FELDMAN instinct? What a surprise. Chicka But things chicka were supposed yeah to be different under Beilein. He's won at every stop - Erie Community College, Nazareth, LeMoyne, Canisius, Richmond and West Virginia. Well, almost every stop. Not Michigan. The Wolverines (4-10) are the Big Ten's worst team. When Michigan hired Beilein, eight seasons separated the cur- rent team and the program's last game vacated by NCAA sanctions. Michigan won a semi-respectable 54 percent of its games in those eight years, the last six under Tommy Amaker. But the Wolver- ines rarely showed a competitive streak. Against ranked teams:10-49. On the road: 22-61. NCAA Tournament appearanc- es: zero. Amaker admirably moved the Wolverines past the Ed Martin situation, but when it became clear he couldn't take Michigan to the next level, he was fired. See FELDMAN, Page 3B returns to lineup for Blue By ANDY REID Daily Sports Writer When Louie Caporusso crashed into the boards during a practice in early November, noth- ing seemed out of the ordinary except a slight stinger in his right knee. But as the freshman tried to pick himself off the ice, he real- ized the injury was much more serious. After a magnetic resonance imaging scan the following day, Caporusso learned he had slight- ly damaged his medial collateral ligament, an injury that would sideline him for at least a month. After six weeks, 10 games and a painful rehabilitation process, Caporusso was finally ready to strap on the skates again with just one team practice remaining M before winter break. "When CAPORUSSO I found out what hap- pened, I was a little taken aback, but that's life," Caporusso said. "You know, knock on wood, but everyone at some point in their career is going to get injured and have to sit out a couple weeks. That's normal. It's more mentally tough than even physicallytough, so you have to stay mentally tough." In the weeks leading up to Caporusso's return to practice, he worked extensively with trainer Rick Bancroft to bring his knee back to full strength. Bancroft emphasized stimulation, balance, weight and bike training, but nothing replaces actual ice time. While isolated from the Wolver- ines, who were continuing nor- mal practices, Caporusso had to find the mental toughness to fight through the rehab process. When he was finally cleared to practice, the forward found just how far he had fallen behind the rest of the team. Donning a bright red sweater and socks to warn his teammates againstbeingtoo rough with him, the Woodbridge, Ont., native couldn't quite keep up with the pace set by the rest of the Wolver- ines. He often favored his right knee, which was still slightly ten- der. "The first few practices, you go into those practices and all those guys have been practicing for the past four weeks and are high tempo," Caporusso said. "You can work out and do as much as you want, but it's nothing like a real practice and being out there with the guys." Michigan coach Red Beren- son said before winter break that Caporusso still didn't have the endurance or stamina to com- pete in the Great Lakes Invita- tional. So while most of his team- mates enjoyed their break, Capo- russo hit a Toronto gym - the same gym he trained in over the summer - to try and get back in shape in time for the annual holiday tournament. In Toronto, Caporusso worked with trainers and the local junior hockey team to get quality ice time even though he was away from his teammates. He didn't focus on his knee during break, confident in Bancroft's rehabili- tation job. Caporusso said his main goal while training in Toronto was to keep skating, which helped him catch up with the Wolverines who hadn't skated over break. "I saw a kid that couldn't wait to play," Berenson said of Capo- russo's extracurricular train- ing. "But he didn't realize how quickly he was going to get tired. Hockey's a game of condition- ing. If you're going to go out and work hard the first shift, the next shift, you've got to be recovered and I thought his endurance was slipping." With just two team practices before their first-round game against Providence, Berenson pushed Caporusso to get him game-ready. Under Berenson's scrutiny, Caporusso focused on the "little things," like improv- ing faceoffs, keeping up with the pace and backchecking. The extra work helped Capo- russo regain the rhythm and flow he was missing before break, and never was that more apparent than when he tallied a goal on the first shift of his first game in six weeks. "(Scoring against Providence) felt good," Caporusso said. "The guys were all happy for me, too. There was definitely some added excitement coming from the bench when I scored." But even though his knee finally feels 100 percent, Capo- russo knows there's still room to get better. "I have to learn one new thing everyday," Caporusso said. "It was nice scoring on my first shift back, but there's still a lot of improvement, a long road ahead for me." CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Dai Senior Ron Coleman and the Wolverines' second-half comeback wasn't quite good enough to overcome a 14-point deficit. M' can't finish comeback By H. JOSE Bosch Daily Sports Editor WEST LAFAYETTE - With less than three minutes remaining in the game, the Michigan men's basket- ball team PURDUE 65 came MICHIGAN 58 within three points on three separate occasions. And for the third straight con- test, the Wolverines' best wasn't good enough. Michigan fell to Purdue, 65-58, Saturday, and lost its eighth game in the last nine. "We definitely see an improve- ment because we're getting bet- ter," sophomore DeShawn Sims said. "We hung in there longer than we ever have before, and it's just going to be that way. It's not going to be like this every game, but we just grow from this." While the only thing that seems to be growing is the loss column, Michigan put forth its best road effort this year. Facing a 14-point halftime deficit, the Wolverines stormed out of the gate in the sec- ond frame. Sims opened the scoring with a baby hook. Then redshirt junior C.J. Lee deflected a Boilermaker pass into Sims's hands and got the ball back for an easy breakaway layup to cut the Purdue lead to 10, 34-24. Four Manny Harris points later and Michigan's 14-point deficit was six points just two minutes into the half. "I think our kids at halftime were a little bit in shock," Michi- gan coach John Beilein said. "There wasn't any Knute Rockne stuff going on at halftime but (I said), 'We're better than this.'.. All of a sudden we get two and it's contagious and that's what really makes things go." Harris scored 15ofhis game and career-high 25 points in the sec- ond half. The Detroit native was all over the court, driving aggres- sively to the basket and pulling up quickly for long jumpers. Sims also contributed in a big way in the second half. He scored 11 of his 15 points in the second frame. The duo's play kept Michigan (4-10 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) in the game late. With more than two minutes remaining, Sims collected Kelvin Grady's missed shot and made a tough basket while drawing a foul. He completed the 3-point play to pull Michigan within three. Following a Purdue (10-4, 1-0) bucket, Harris made the Wolver- ines' deficit three again, 56-53, on a jumper over strong defense. The freshman notched his final two points of the game on a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left which made the score 58-55. Michigan failed to pull any closer. The Wolverines might have See PURDUE, Page 3B Queen's 12 points off bench, strong defense fuel fast conference start for young Wolverine squad By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA "We had good shots in the first half," shot over 25 percent from the field. And fident. She was taking it to the rack, Daily Sports Writer Borseth said. "They were all in rhythm. to prove its shots were in rhythm, all posting up, getting rebounds." Everything was in rhythm. I don't know eight Michigan field goals had an assist The Wolverines (2-1 Big Ten, 9-4over- Nobody ever said winning had to look why the ball doesn't go in the basket attached to them. all), reached their biggest lead (20) with good. when you need it to." The second stanza again started slowly 3:31 to go, but the game was effectively But after a MICHIGAN 54 Despite the early miscues, Michigan for the Wolverines, who took about three over at 7:50. Following one of Michigan's first half ugli- NORTHWESTERN 42 was the aggressor on defense. A major- minutes to produce their first points. But 10 steals, a quick outlet to Minnfield led er than . Don ity ofthe Wildcats' possessions ran down unlike inthe first half, Michigan took off, to a fast-break lay-in by senior captain Imus, it was a relief when the Michigan the shot clock without scoring baskets. thanks to Wildcat killer Melinda Queen. Ta'Shia Walker, pushing the lead to 15. women's basketball team pulled away Borseth was pleased with the Wolver- Like in last year's contest against Meshia Reed led the Wildcats (0-3, in the second frame for a 54-42 victory ines' intensity. Northwestern, the Oak Forest, Ill. native 4-11) with a game-high 24 points, includ- over Northwestern yesterday at Crisler "Coach called a timeout and he told us recorded a career high in points. This ing 19 of her team's 23in the second half. Arena. he doesn't care if we missed just as long time it was 12, one more than last sea- She was just one of just three scorers for "I don't know how pretty that was, but as we make stops on the defensive end," son's mark. And even more impressive, Northwestern. Michigan, on the other we wanted to win the game, so that was junior Jessica Minnfield said. "And that all came in the second half. hand, had 10 players in the points col- pretty big," Michigan coach Kevin Bors- gave us confidence to keep shooting the "Maybe it's an Illinois thing," Queen umn. eth said. ball." said. The Wolverines finished the contest Both teams struggled to find the bas- The Michigan defense eventually Queen was largely responsible for the shooting18-55 fromthe field. Itis the first ket from the opening whistle. The Wol- allowed the law of averages to play out in Wolverines' domination in the second time in almost a year that Michigan reg- verines took eight shots before getting the Wolverines' favor. Toward the end of half. With the Wildcats within six early istered a win without making 20 shots in on the scoreboard. And while the Wild- the first half, Minnfield and junior Carly in the period, Queen orchestrated a 7-2 a game. But the Wolverines were lucky to cats held the lead for most of the half, it Benson combined for three triples in a run to keep the game out of Northwest- find a team as cold as the Wildcats were. took them more than10 minutes to reach span of 2:20. The Wolverine surge pro- ern's hands. All her baskets during the Michigan will need stronger starts to double digits. duced their first lead of the game (18-16). run were off the drive. One, in particular, compete with the Big Ten's best. As frustrating as it is to miss shots, They took a two-point advantage into was a swift back-door move for the layup "We have to try and get ourselves out includingthe easy lay-ins, it's even more halftime. and a foul. of that hole, starting off slow," Minnfield troubling when a majority are smart Despite putting the Crisler crowd in "Queen stepped up big time," Min- said. "We've had that problem for a cou- shots. a bit of a lull, both squads surprisingly nfield said. "She did good. She got con- ple years now. Hopefully that changes."