The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com January 20, 2009
OHIO STATE 65, MICHIGAN 58

(ABOVE) Freshman Zack Novak reaches for a rebound in Saturday's loss to Ohio State. The Wolverines were dominated in the paint by the much-taller Buckeye big men. (BELOW) Sophomore Manny Harris chipped in a game-high 21 points in the loss.CLIF REEDER/Daily
0-H-OH, NO!

Michigan's season hinges
on Penn State game

Throwback jerseys
can't help 'M' in loss

f you thought wins over UCLA
and Duke were statement
games, you haven't seen any-
thing yet.
The Michigan men's basketball
team's biggest moment so far this
season won't
happen inside
storied Madi-
son Square
Garden or amid
hundreds of
students rush-
ing the Crisler
Arena court.
The Bryce RUTH
Jordan Center
in State College LINCOLN
will do just fine.
Yes, those two upsets provided
national attention and reinvigo-
rated a frustrated fan base. But
tonight's matchup at Penn State has
the makings to be Michigan's loud-
est statement this season.
Coming off back-to-back losses
against Illinois in Champaign and
Ohio State at home Saturday, the
Wolverines (3-3 Big Ten, 13-5 over-
all) are at the lowest point of the

season.
Tonight, Michigan has some-
thing to prove.
A win in a hostile environment
would prevent this two-game skid
from becoming another one of the
Wolverines' lackluster conference
campaigns every Michigan fan
would like to brush away, bury and
never speak of again.
Everyone thought the team that
beat UCLA and Duke was different.
It wasn't the team that suffered a
program-record 22 losses last sea-
son or fell into a downward spiral
in conference play under former
coach Tommy Amaker. This new
team made an NCAA Tournament
bid after an 11-year absence look
like a real possibility.
"(The program's) getting
rebuilt," sophomore forward
Manny Harris said after Michi-
gan's win over Duke on Dec. 6.
"We're trying to put it back on the
map, and that's where I think we're
going."
Harris echoed the swagger
and confidence his teammates
See LINCOLN, Page 4B

By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily Sports Writer
A night of celebration ended in
utter disappointment at Crisler
Arena Saturday.
While wearing blue replica jer-
seys to honor the 1989 National
Championship team, the Michigan
men's basketball team suffered a
gut-wrenching 65-58 loss to Ohio
State. The defeat dropped Michi-
gan from the Top 25 in both nation-
al polls.
Michigan made a 9-2 run to end
the first half and cut the Buckeyes'
lead to four. And after a riveting
ceremony to honor the 1989 team,
with appearances by Sean Hig-
gins, Mark Hughes, Glen Rice and
Rumeal Robinson, Crisler Arena
was buzzing. The Wolverines fed
off the extra energy and came back
to take their first lead of the game
with eight minutes left.
But the Buckeyes went on a 17-3
run and took a 57-47 lead with
about a minute left, leaving fans
and players stunned.

"I'm not sure (what happened),"
said junior DeShawn Sims, who fin-
ished just 4-for-13 from the field.
Sophomore Manny Harris led all
scorers with 21 points, while fresh-
man Stu Douglass tied a season
high with four 3-pointers.
The Buckeyes' 1-2-2 matchup
zone defense proved troublesome
for the Wolverine offense, which
mustered up just seven first-half
field goals.
Ohio State's tall, athletic guards,
combined with a duo of big men
in the paint, made it difficult for
Michigan's offense to establish a
rhythm. In order to break the zone,
the Wolverines had to get the ball to
Sims in the lane. But his shots were
long on nearly every jumper and he
failed to convert easy layups.
"(They were) shots I'd normally
make," Sims said. "It's just one of
those things where I'm critiquing it
mentally too much and I just need
to keep shooting."
His 10-point performance
marked his second straight tough
See BUCKEYES, Page 4B


FOOTBALL
Tryout finds five,
potential walk- ons

By ANDY REID
Daily SportsEditor
A far cry from last February's
turnout of60-plus students, a small
group of 26 University students
gathered at Schembechler Hall
Friday afternoon to showcase their
skills in front of the Michigan foot-
ball coaching staff.
But Rich Rodriguez and his
coordinators learned more about
the difficulties of playing football
with a tennis ball than what the
potential walk-ons could bring to
the team.
* With their hectic schedule,
including recruiting visits and last
week's American Football Coach's
Association conference in Nash-
ville, Tenn., Rodriguez and his staff
convened together in Ann Arbor for

the open walk-on tryout. Because
of early-season NCAA restrictions,
which prohibit coaches from par-
ticipating in certain drills, the staff
couldn't use actual footballs in the
tryout.
"I feel bad for the kickers, punt-
ers and specialists that came
today," Rodriguez said. "We had to
send them home. They'll come back
and try out for spring ball, because
with NCAA rules (we couldn't use
a ball today)."
Instead, wideouts, the most
represented position at the tryout,
ran routes and tried - and most
times failed - to catch tennis balls
thrown by offensive coordinator
Calvin Magee or one of the three
quarterback hopefuls. But Magee
still used the exercise to weed out
See TRYOUT. Page 4B

Sauer
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Writer
Senior goaltender Billy Sauer
finally got the goal support he
needed
to win BOWLING GREEN 3
Satur- MICHIGAN 0
day.
One
goal. MICHIGAN 1
But BOWLING GREEN 0
for
a netminder whose team had
just 11 goals of support from his
offense in nine games this season,
it's better than usual. Michigan
didn't score in three of those nine
games.
Sauer hadn't won a game since
No. 8 Michigan's series against
Ohio State Oct. 31, but Sauer shut
out the Falcons 1-0 Saturday to
salvage a split against Bowling
Green.
In a series- that was clearly
dominated by goaltending, both

salvages series split
Sauer and the Falcon's Jimmy
Spratt proved to be the differ-
ence makers. The Bowling Green
netminder held the Wolverines
(10-6-0 CCHA, 16-8-0 overall) to
just one goal on the weekend off
68 total shots. Spratt earned the
3-0 shutout win Friday night at
Yost Ice Arena.
Sauer has just a 3-6 record, so
getting the win in hostile terri-
tory was an improvement this
season.
"I haven't (won) in awhile, so it
felt great," Sauer said. "Especially
in a game that close, to know that
you were the difference, it feels
good."
Sauer last played in the team's
3-0 loss to Wisconsin Nov. 28.
Michigan coach Red Berenson °
named sophomore Bryan Hogan
the starter after that game, and
Hogan rewarded his coach with
a 6-0 record before losing to the FILE PHOTO
Falcons Friday. Senior Billy Sauer shut out Bowling Green 1-0 on Saturday in his first start since
See FALCONS, Page 3B Nov 28. Before this weekend, his last win came on Oct. 31 against Ohio State.

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