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