The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I January 7, 2009
'M' looks
to shake
road-game
troubles
By ANDY REID
Daily Sports Editor
Before the season, Michigan men'sobasketball coach
John Beilein knew what the Wolverines needed to do
to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since
1998.
Turnsome heads in the nonconference season. Two
wins against top-five opponents on national television
- check.
Protect Crisler Arena against Big
Ten foes. A decisive 10-point victory Michigan
over an improved Illinois team, even at Indiana
when Crisler was less-than-impos-
ing because students were home on Matchup:
break - the jury's still out, but signs Michigan 11-3;
point to check. Indiana 5-8
Steal a few conference games on When: Today,
the road. That's not so easy.
With a travel schedule that 6:30 p.m.
includes upcoming games at Illinois, Where:
Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Assembly Hall
Minnesota, the Wolverines' game TV: BTN
tonight against struggling Indiana
- their only contest against the bot-
tom-feeding Hoosiers this year - is crucial, despite
Indiana's lack of depth and veteran talent.
"(With) the state of our program right now, any
win on the road is just huge for us," Beilein said. "We
haven't had a lot of road experience, so this would
really be an important win for us, just in the confer-
ence and going on the road. Because that could be con-
tagious as well."
Finding success in rival Big Ten gyms would be
just another step for the Wolverines to put last year's
dismal 10-22 season behind them. Although a win at
Indiana - where they haven't won since 1995 - might
not look like much to a selection committee, it could
give the Wolverines confidence going into the meat of
Big Ten play.
Beilein knows that his team will more than likely
slip up on the road at some point this season - but
Michigan won't be the only team to do that.
"When Sparta went to Athens, they probably lost,
and when Athens went to Sparta, they probably lost,"
See HOOSIERS, Page 3B
Caporusso
" earns MVP at
Great Lakes
Invitational
By GJON JUNCAJ
Daily Sports Writer
DETROIT - Entering the Great Lakes Invitational
on Dec. 27, the Michigan hockey team had two con-
cerns: how rusty the Wolverines would look after a
three-week layoff and
how the offense would MICHIGAN TECH 0
adapt to the absence of its MICHIGAN 5
leadingscorer, sophomore -
Aaron Palushaj. MICHIGAN 5
. LouieCaporusso MICHIGAN ST. 1
answered both questions -
in 12 minutes.
With eight minutes left in the first period of the
tournament's opening round against Michigan Tech,
the sophomore forward completed a natural hat trick,
effectively clinching the eventual 5-0 victory before
the first intermission.
1 The Woodbridge, Ontario native added another
goal the following night in No. 10 Michigan's 5-1, tour-
nament-clinching win over Michigan State. Caporus-
so's prolific weekend earned him tournament MVP
honors. The Wolverines (7-5 CCI{A,13-7 overall) have
now won five of their last six games.
See GLI. Page 3B
Laval Lucas-Perry transferred to Michigan from
Arizona after less than a semester in Tucson. Now
in maize and blue, 'LLP' has found the perfect fit
for his explosive shooting abilities.
The day before the Michigan
men's basketball team upset
then-No. 4 Duke, redshirt fresh-
man Laval Lucas-Perry played
the part of Blue Devil Kyle Sin-
gler on the scout team.
This was normal for Lucas-
Perry. Since he was the most
talented Wolverine on the scout
team, he often played the part of
the opposing team's best player.
It was a role he had to play while
sitting out a year after transfer-
ring from Arizona.
After being outrebounded by
12 against Duke when the two
teams played two weeks before,
Michigan coach John Beilein
added another rim atop the bas-
ket to cause more rebounds.
Shortly after the drill began,
Lucas-Perry swished a high-arc-
ing 3-pointer from the left wing.
Beilein stopped the drill for a
moment.
"Laval, you weren't supposed
to make that shot," he said.
"Great shot."
Minutes later, against Michi-
gan's starting five on a normal
rim, Lucas-Perry hita step-back,
fade-away jumper in the face of
freshman guard St nDouglass.
To those in attendance, it was
clear Lucas-Perry was special.
It's good to be back
Had it not been for the unex-
pected departure of former
Arizona coach Lute Olson,
Lucas-Perry probably would still
be in Tucson, Ariz., and Michi-
gan would be without one of its
top shooters.
After rivals.com ranked him
a top-25 point guard as a senior
at Flint Powers Catholic High
School, Lucas-Perry chose Ari-
zona over Boston College, Iowa,
Michigan State, Penn State, Wis-
consin and Michigan. Olson was
one of the main reasons he chose
to leave his home state.
Lucas-Perry felt comfortable
with Olson, the way he ran his
program and the success that the
Wildcats had had on the court.
Olson took a leave of absence
prior to the first game of the sea-
son due to undisclosed personal
and medical reasons, and with
interim coach Kevin O'Neill at
the helm, Lucas-Perry decided
to transfer.
Lucas-Perry averaged just
four points, 1.6 rebounds and .8
assists per game in five games at
Arizona.
Last December, Lucas-Perry
informed Beilein of his deci-
sion to attend Michigan. Due to
NCAA regulations, Lucas-Perry
had to sit out the rest of last sea-
son and the first semester. Sit-
ting on the bench wasn't easy for
him, especiallywhilehewatched
Michigan finish 10-22.
"365 dayssis a long time,"
Lucas-Perry said.
When the 2008-09 season
rolled around, local message
boards started heating up with
speculation about how Lucas-
Perry would fit into the lineup
when he became eligible Dec. 20
against Oakland.
With nine games and count-
less hours of practice already
behind them, there was a chance
the Wolverines would have a
rough time welcoming a new
See LUCAS-PERRY, Page 3B
KRISTA BOYD/Dail
ABOUT
L AVA L
Height: six feet,
three inches
Weight: 185
pounds
Forty Time: 494
seconds
* High School:
Flint Powers
Catholic
AAU Team: The
Michigan
Mustangs
Rated the No. 6
recruit in the state
of Michigan as a
high school senior
(Manny Harris was
No. 2)
Committed to
Arizona: July 19,
2006
Transferred to
Michigan: Dec:19,
2007
Named one of
Dick Vitale's top
five impact trans-
fers of 2008-09
Wants to apply
to the Ross School
of Business, accord-
ing to mgoblue.com
SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Sophomore Loule Caporusso tallied four goals en route to
Michigan's second straight GLI Championship.