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8A - Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

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Sauer could see ice time again

CHANEL VON HABSBURG-L+
Redshirt freshman Laval Lucas-Perry, shown here against Ohio State, scored 10 points Sunday at Northwestern.

IGEN/Daily

Lucas-Perry shakes slump

By ANDY REID his first six games in a maize-and-
Daily Sports Editor blue uniform.
---- "I'm a shooter, and shooters
It seemed like a dream - Laval shoot the ball well and they create,"
Lucas-Perry sunk his first shot as a Lucas-Perry said after the Oakland
member of the Michigan basketball game. "I just went out there and
team. just got my shot going. Three hun-
And then the next one. And the dred and sixty five days is a long
next. And the one after that. time, and I think I was ready for
The Michigan fans at the Palace this moment."
of Auburn Hills that day in Decem- With sophomore Manny Harris
ber cheered louder and louder for leading the team, junior DeShawn
Lucas-Perry with each successive Sims down low and Lucas-Perry
bucket. The redshirt freshman and freshmen sharpshooters Stu
transfer from Arizona had to sit Douglass and Zack Novak hitting
out the first semester this season 3-pointers, Michigan seemed like
because of NCAA rules. In his first a sure-thing NCAA Tournament
day back on the court, he exploded team.
out of the gate, pouring in 14 points Then the wheels fell off - both
on Dec. 20 against Oakland. for the Wolverines and Lucas-
For a team with an already- Perry. Before scoring 10 points in
impressive NCAA Tournament Sunday's 70-67 overtime win at
resume, Lucas-Perry's arrival Northwestern, Lucas-Perry had
was perfect. Another hot-handed scored more than five points just
shooter seemed to be exactly what three times since Jan. 17. He hadn't
the Wolverines needed enteringfBig scored in double digits since his
Ten play. career day against Indiana on
And it just kept getting better for Jan. 7.
the Flint native - 10 points against His minutes dwindled, too. He
Wisconsin, 13 against Illinois, a bottomed out at Connecticut on
career-high 18 at Indiana and a six- Feb. 7, scoring just one pointin eight
game double-digit scoring streak in minutes of play.

And during his slump, Michigan
struggled to a 3-7 record from Jan.
11 to Feb. 10. But the Wolverines
toppled Northwestern this week-
end, with Lucas-Perry entering the
double-digit column.
Lucas-Perry seemed to get back
into form against Northwestern,
scoring 10 points, including a clutch
3-pointer that gave Michigan a one-
point lead midway through the sec-
ond half.
"They're tough to play against
for a guy that's just trying to assim-
ilate into this kind of basketball in
the Big Ten," Beilein said after the
game Northwestern game Sunday.
"It's been difficult for him."
Before the game, Beilein instilled
his trust in his young guard.
"I think my confidence is back,"
Lucas-Perry said. "(Beilein) told
me, 'Keep shooting. Great shoot-
ers always shoot,' and I believe it's
going in every time. You've got to
find a way to score."
Lucas-Perry is coming out of
his freshman slump, and Michigan
grabbed a much-needed conference
road win - both critical steps in
Michigan's late-season push for an
NCAA Tournament bid.

By GJON JUNCAJ
Daily Sports Writer
After winning 14 of its last 16
games, the No. 3 Michigan hockey
team has resoundingly put its dis-
appointing first half behind them.
Although the Wolverines have
seemingly resolved their consis-
tency issues, there isstill a question
that has gone unanswered:
Will Billy Sauer ever get any goal
support this season?
The senior goaltender rotated
with sophomorefBryan Hogan as the
starter in Michigan's first 16 games.
During that stretch, the Wolverines
scored 10 goals with Sauer in net
and 37 in front of Hogan. Despite
near identical goals-against averag-
es, saves made and save percentage,
Hogan became the full-time starter
in December.
Sauer, who set single-season
program records last year in goals-
against average and save per-
centage, routinely was a healthy
scratch.
Michigan coach Red Berenson
started Sauer in Saturday's 4-2 win
over Nebraska-Omaha, just the
second nod he's gotten this semes-
ter. Berenson has maintained that
he wants two goalies ready for the
postseason, and he said the coaches
had been planning to start Sauer so
he could become reacclimated to
game situations.
Berenson said Tuesday that
Sauer will "probably" play again at
some point in the final four games
of the regular season, but Beren-
son also said Hogan will still be the
starter Friday at Ohio State.
After Saturday's nightmarish
opening period in which the Mav-
ericks scored two power-play goals
30 seconds apart, Sauer kept the
Wolverines within striking dis-
tance all night.
He saved 28 of 30 shots that
night. In his last three games, dat-
ing back to Thanksgiving weekend,
Sauer has stopped 74 of 78 shots.
"Billy's last couple of games have
been phenomenal," sophomore
defenseman Scooter Vaughan said.
"He held us inthatgame (Saturday).
It could've gotten a lot worse in that
first period with all those 5-on-3s."
And the conference's top offense

SAID ALSALA H/Daily
Senior Billy Sauer may be seeing more playing time in Michigan's last fourgames.

finally gave its veteran goalten-
der some help. The Wolverines'
four goals marked the most scored
with Sauer in net since Halloween.
Michigan's 40 shots ots goal Satur-
day werc a season high with Sauer
as the starter.
"Yeah, it took awhile," Sauer
said. "I was like, 'Here we go again,'
in the second period. But these guys
did great and really came through
for me."
Entering Saturday, the Wolver-
ines had scored at least four goals
in 10 of their last 15 games. But in
Sauer's only start in those contests,
Michigan scored one goal.
Berenson said Saturday that
Sauer was probably wondering if lie
would ever be the benefactor of a
great offensive night again.
"That's a tough thing to try to
describe," senior forward Travis
Turnbull said. "It's not like we're
playing any different in front of
Billy. We have confidence in Billy's
ability to win games, and I think
we showed that (Saturday). I know
sometimes, you just can't put the
puck in the net."
A victim of odd circumstance
more than anything, Sauer has put
on a great face in public regarding
his bizarre season. He has jokingly
lamented his lack of offensive skill
after low-scoring games, and he
has been quick to praise Hogan,
who is in his first season as the
starting goalie.
Asked in December if he took

the lack of goal support personally,
Sauer told Wolverine Sports Maga-
zine: "I think I was at first. It went
to the point where it was sad. Now
it's funny.
that sas the week of the Michi-
gan State series, when Hogan
became the full-time starter. But at
that point, the coaching staff hadn't
decided to stick with Hogan.
Two months (and two starts)
later, it's unclear when Sauer will
be in net again. As his collegiate
career winds down, Sauer isn't bit-
ter about his strange senior year.
"It's got to be tough for him,"
Turnbull said. "Butihe understands
that you've got to produce every
single night and that he has to wait
his turn sometimes. He's handled it
very well. I'm really proud of him.
He hasn't let anybody know that
he's upset or anything like that.
That's a great thing, especially for
the locker room."
When Hogan left in the third
period of Friday's 8-3 win due to ill-
ness, Sauer finished the final seven
minutes, stopping all four shots he
faced. At least 10 players skated
right to Sauer and congratulated
him before post-game handshakes.
After Saturday's stellar perfor-
mance, he was mobbed by team-
mates for his performance under
much more dire circumstances.
"Billy's a great kid and he's a
great teammate," Turnbull said.
"You can't be anything but happy
for him."

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