7"'-
The Michigan Daily I michigandailycom February 1, 2010
IN
MICHIGAN 2, MSU 3 D
MICHIGAN 5. MSU 4
TRASTATE
AARON AUGSBURGER/Dail
Junior goaltender Bryan Hogan squares up for a shot in the Wolverines' come-from-behind 5-4 victory on Saturday against the Spartans. The Wolverines got out to a 3-0 start through the first period before giving up the lead on four unanswered goals.
Summers steps up to lead
Wolverines past Spartans
Botched call stripped
'M' of potential sweep
By MICHAEL FLOREK
DailySports Writer
DETROIT - In a season
full of questions for the Michi-
gan hockey team, senior cap-
tain Chris Summers has always
held the answers - it just
hasn't translated onto the ice.
Summers is often the first
player to come out and be bar-
raged by questions after his
team's devastating losses.
The often " unanswerable
questions are typically
met with a simple,
steady response, "It
starts in practice."
A ARON AUGSBERG ER/Daily
. Boards help Michigan
rebound from losing skid
No. 20 Michigan's 3-2 loss to
No. 12 Michigan State on Friday
at Munn Ice Arena saw freshman
Chris Brown's tying goal negated
by a quick whistle when the ref
lost sight of the puck as it slid into
the net. After the game, Summers
came out of the locker room to
address the media.
He knew what they needed
to do to avoid being swept by the
Spartans for the first time since
the 1997-98 season.
"Implementing our style of
hockey, playing Michigan hockey
for a full sixty minutes," Summers
said after Friday night's game.
"Speed, quick on the transitions,
solid defense, that's what won us
games in the past and what's won
Michigan games for years."
See SPARTANS, Page 3B
t felt a bit like ddja vu.
With the puck out in front
of the net
and just over
two minutes
remaining
in Saturday
night's game,
time seemed
to stand still
as the puck,
floated along
the crease in RYAN
front of Michi- KARTJE
gan State goalie -
Drew Palmi-
sano. Everyone
on the ice knew that this was it.
Chaos ensued. Sticks flew. Bod-
ies crashed.
But it was Chris Brown who got
his stick on the puck, continuing
to slam it at Palmisano, hoping to
finally get past him.
And as his efforts came to a
crescendo, the puck slid past the
Spartan goalie and into the net to
give the Wolverines a 5-4 lead, one
that looked unlikely after Michi-
gan State scored four unanswered
goals.
The Wolverines saved them-
selves from a season sweep by
their archrivals, probably saving
their season in the meantime.
It was a fitting ending, a heroic
ending, one that should've been fit
for, say, Friday's game, too - when
the exact same thing should have
happened.
As much as I hate to side with
the rabid fans who can't accept
their own team's shortcomings,
Michigan lost Friday night's game
to referee Matt Shegos, not the
Michigan State Spartans.
After one of the Wolverines'
more valiant comeback efforts
of the year - trailing by three
goals in the final half of the third
period - Brown deflected the puck
through Palmisano's legs and into
the goal. Lights flashed. Spartan
fans reared their heads in disgust.
But Shegos, who many CCHA
fans have complained leans toward
Michigan (since he is a Michigan
alum), jumped the gun like I have
never seen before. He blew the
See KARTJE, Page 3B
Blue defense shines
in victory over Iowa
By NICOLE AUERBACH
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan men's basketball coach
John Beilein walked briskly into
Saturday's postgame press confer-
ence like he always does, ready to
answer questions.
AfterhisteamhandilybeatIowa,
60-46, something was slightly out
of the ordinary. Beilein hadn't got-
ten a chance to look at the stat sheet
before talking to the media.
He joked about finally finding
his glasses, and glanced down.
"Nineteen offensive rebounds?
Wow, wow," Beilein said softly.
He paused, letting that sink in.
It's a staggering number, especially
for a team whose tallest starter is
listed at 6-foot-8. (That would be
senior forward DeShawn Sims,
who pulled down eight offensive
boards alone)
V "It wasn't a great offensive
showing, but that's what you have
to be able to do," Beilein said.
He was likely referring to the
Wolverines' rebounding effort as a
whole (42), which certainly set the
tone in the dominating defensive
victory.
"They set a tone from the get-go,
and we couldn't match it," Hawk-
eyes forward Aaron Fuller told
Iowa reporters after the game.
"They took advantage of that, and
they got second-chance points.
Adding it all up that's a lot of points,
and that's really why they won.
"We were soft really. They just
punked us down there. They got
every rebound that they wanted."
Beilein made a point of it, and
it remains true - the Iowa roster
doesn't have nearly as much height
as other teams Michigan has faced
and struggled against. But the Wol-
verines still look at those overall
stats and their effort on the boards
and see a positive sign.
"It's been a big emphasis, espe-
cially (after) last year," sophomore
guard Stu Douglass said. "We were
basically embarrassed last year
See Page 3B
By JOE STAPLETON
Daily Sports Editor
It was probably after the Michi-
gan men's basketball team took a
13-0 lead in the first six and a half
minutes of its 60-46 victory over
Iowa
thatit IOWA 46
became MICHIGAN 60
official:
The Wol-
verines had definitely put the soul-
crushing loss to Michigan State on
Jan. 26 behind them.
"It's been a long three days,"
sophomore Stu Douglass said after
the win on Saturday. "There was a
sour taste in our mouths a little bit.
We just tried to come out and leave
everything behind."
After the loss to the Spartans,
Michigan coach John Beilein told
his team to forget about the sea-
son's previous 20 games and focus
solely on the 10 games in front of
them. He urged the Wolverines
(4-5 Big Ten, 11-10 overall) to look
at the remaining games as a season
in and of itself.
"It's just a whole new season,"
Beilein said. "We put our sea-
son out there and use the etch-a-
sketch. A new etch-a-sketch."
Aggressive, in-your-face defense
was the key to Michigan's early
13-0 run against Iowa, consistent
with the kind of defense the team
has been playing of late, especially
against Wisconsin and Michigan
State, both of which had real trou-
ble scoring against the Wolverines.
The difference in this game was
that Iowa (2-7,8-14) had neither the
moxie nor the personnel to recip-
rocate, which allowed the Wolver-
ines to take advantage of scoring
opportunities that weren't there in
their previous three games.
At the end of the first half, all
five of Michigan's starters scored,
and senior DeShawn Sims led the
team with 11. Junior Manny Harris
See PageWW3B
Redshirt sophomore Laval Lucas-Perry attempts a shot during Michigan's 60-46
victory over Iowa.
RIVALRY RENEWED
A swimmer-turned-diver encounters
some hostility in the land of the
Scarlet and Gray. Page 2B
NITTANY CRYIN'
Wolverines win third straight game
against a Big Ten opponent for the first
time under coach Kevin Borseth. Page 4B