The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com February 8, 2010
CA WJDLL
Spectacle
o outdoor
hockey is
priceless
MADISON - When I was 12 years
old, my family and I began a long-
lasting, simple tradition. With every
first snow of the season, my
extended family would gather
at our house tucked deep in
rural Michigan, for something
so pure, so harmless, so fun,
that we continued it for six
more years until I graduated
from high school.
The Kartje family snow
football game. RYAN
The game ran its course,
and it was never one filled KARTJE
with much athleticism, but
something about being out-
doors, running freely with the brisk wind
against your face (and generally freezing your
ass off for the sake of sport) that just felt unlike
anything else.
It's been three years since I've felt that same
purity of sports. No field turf. No heated seats.
And no way to plan for Mother Nature.
That is, until I sat down in the freezing cold
bleachers of Camp Randall Stadium Saturday
night for Michigan hockey's second outdoor
game in program history.
I hadn't packed gloves or a winter hat. My
layering was meager at best. And my teeth chat-
tered for the better part of two periods.
But as I peered down at the ice rink, sitting
squarely between both 17-yard lines, I felt the
same kind of nostalgic purity that I hadn't felt
since quarterbacking my family to a snow foot-
ball victory three years ago.
So much so that I pretty much had to be
dragged back to the press box.
And that's exactly what this campus needs to
reenergize a Michigan fanbase that's spiraling
toward clinical depression: the pure, freezing-
cold bliss of outdoor hockey.
At the Wolverines' Friday practice, the Mich-
igan players looked like kids in a candy store.
"I love it," junior forward Louie Caporusso
said. "I feel like I'm 10 years old again on the
pond with my dad. It's an unbelievable feeling,
and I'm cherishing every minute of it."
Senior captain Chris Summers called the
See Page 3B
MAX COLLNS/Daily
Junior forward Matt Rust drops to the ice as Wisconsin captain Brendan Smith scores the game-clinching goal, his second of the third period. The Wolverines held a one-goal lead with five
minutes remaining.
Penalties end Blue's bid in Camp Randall Classic
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
MADISON - In front of 55,031 peo-
ple, the Michigan hockey team still felt
isolated.
In the frigid confines of Camp Ran-
dall Stadium, with nothing above them
but black sky
and stadium MICHIGAN 2
lights, both WISCONSIN 3
Wisconsin -
and Michigan made the long walks
from their locker rooms underneath
the stands tothe ice.
All eyes were on the Badgers' trek,
which was lined by a throng of youth
hockey players. On the other side of the
field, the Wolverines shared the path
only with the zambonis.
It seemed fitting in the end. Even
with the novelty of an outdoor game,
No.19 Michigan had the same feeling of
loneliness it has experienced for much
of the season, with only itself to blame.
The Wolverines took two straight
penalties with under six minutes left
in the game. Two ensuing power play
goals by No. 3 Wisconsin (16-7-4) gave
the Badgers a 3-2 victory.
After going up 2-1 midway through
the third, Michigan was playing out of
character. Despite being ranked 11th in
the country in penalties, they had been
called for just one penalty the entire
game.
That all changed with about six min-
utes remaining. And it's only fittingthat
in an event that had as much to do with
the winter weather as the game itself,
it was a Summers that cost the Wolver-
ines.
Senior captain Chris Summers was
called for a tripping penalty. Ten sec-
onds later, the puck was in the back of
the Wolverines' net.
With about two minutes left, Sum-
mers was again called for a penalty. As
he argued with the referees en route
to the penalty box, the red-clad fans in
attendance went into a frenzy, jump-
ing and chanting throughout the entire
television timeout and into the Michi-
gan penalty kill.
"We were, I thought, carrying the
play five-on-five and it's unfortunate
that calls have to be made at certain
points in the game," Summers said.
"That's just the way the games goes....
He obviously saw something I didn't, or
maybe 70,000 other people."
Thirty-four seconds into that pen-
alty kill, Wisconsin defensemen Bren-
dan Smith, who scored Wisconsin's
first power play goal, jumped into the
slot. Smith took a cross-ice pass and
one-timed it past junior goalie Bryan
Hogan's glove.
With the same man in the box, the
same player scored on the same play
that led to the second Wisconsin goal.
"We knew pretty much what they
were doing, and they're good at it,"
MichigancoachRedBerensonsaid. "It's
five-on-four so you really have to do a
See CLASSIC, Page 3B
'M' outi
ByJOE STAPLETON
Daily Sparta Editor
This season, Michigan has played
quite a few bad halves of basketball.
The first half of Saturday's 62-44
loss to Wisconsin at Crisler Arena,
however,
was not one WISCONSIN 62
of them. MICHIGAN 44
The Michi-
gan men's basketball team shot 60
percent from the field and made both
of its 3-point attempts. It even played
tough defense for the vast majority of
the half.
The only problem for the Wolver-
ines was that Wisconsin (8-3 Big Ten,
18-5 overall) couldn't miss. The Bad-
gers shot 68 percent from the field
and 69 percent from 3-point land.
Wisconsin guard Jason Bohannon
even made a last-second heave from
midcourt before halftime in the per-
fect cap to a near-perfect 20 minutes
from the Badgers.
As a result, Michigan (4-7, 11-12)
played one of its best halves of the
season, but went into halftime trail-
ing by 14, en route to a thrashing at
home.
"They're amazing," Michigan
coach John Beilein said. "Usually,
even teams at the bottom of the Big
Ten, which I guess we are now, can
stay with teams in the first half. We
couldn't even do that."
Besides Wisconsin's shooting, the
stat that jumped off the boxscore in
the first half was Michigan's 3-point-
ers - just two the entire half. Cer-
Alayed by Wisco
Freshman Morris looks to
be floor general for Blue
ByNICOLE AUERBACH
Daily SportsEditor
Michigan freshman Darius
Morris is ready to change posi-
tions - slightly. Instead of being
simplya pointguard, he wants to
become the Wolverines' general
on the court.
Who better to tell him how to
make that transformation than
The General himself?
Gary Grant, a dynamic guard
for Michigan from 1985-88 who
earned the nicknamed The
General and was Big Ten Fresh-
man of the Year in 1985, was in
Ann Arbor this weekend for a
reunion. '
Grant watched the Wolver-
ines struggle through a 62-44
loss to Wisconsin. After the
game, he and Morris stood off to
the side of the locker room talk-
ing about the freshman's process
to become a general, too.
"As soon as we broke up out of
the huddle, I wanted to go (talk
to) him," Morris said. "He's been
through this. He's been in my
shoes. He was successful, so I
was just trying to get whatever
information I could from him.
He told me on offense just to be
a general, just tell people where
to go. He said everything would
fall into place.
"No matter what mistakes you
make or anything, if you have a
bad game, just keep your con-
fidence up. Even though I'm a
freshman, don't be afraid to tell
people what to do."
Saturday's loss, though the
score didn't indicate it, was
a good first step for Morris's
growth.
Michigan coach John Beilein
removed redshirt sophomore
Laval Lucas-Perry from the
starting lineup and inserted
Morris. He began the season's
first nine games in the starting
lineup but had been coming off
the bench in recent weeks.
The decision to start Mor-
ris came on Wednesday, the day
after Michigan was shellacked
by Northwestern 67-52. Morris
scored eight points and tallied
three assists in 33 minutes of
playing time against Wisconsin
on Saturday.
"Coach just said that I had to
be a solid point guard, it's what
the team needs," Morris said. "I
need to go out there and be an
outlet of him on the court."
It's been alongseason, and the
point guard position has been
one area where the Wolverines
have struggled all year. Sopho-
more Stu Douglass, naturally a
shooting guard, has talked about
challenges he's faced as someone
who has never really brought
the ball up the court on every
possession. Douglass knows
how hard the position is, and he
appreciates how Morris is natu-
rally comfortable there.
"He's been a point guard his
entire life," Douglass said. "He
knows how to lead a team....
He knows how to win, and he's
a natural leader like that. He's
been a big help this year, the win
and loss doesn't really show it,
but he's helped us a lot."
Morris echoed the impor-
tance of a point guard's leader-
ship. He emphasized being more
vocal on the court, and making
his teammates better by improv-
ing his own play. Part of that
comes from simply gaining more
experience.
"Three-fourths of the season
is under my belt," Morris said.
"Not really like a freshman no
more. I should be playing like
more than a freshman. I've had
an opportunity to get a lot of
minutes. You can't just go out
there and keep making freshman
mistakes."
Morris has shown that he's
learned from mistakes and has
made a concerted effort to limit
turnovers. He gave the ball away
just once in Saturday's game.
But, like Grant told him after
the loss, being a point guard -
See MORRIS, Page 3B
The Wolverines starting line up looks on as Wisconsin guard Trevon Hughes dunks a
Michigan's 62-44 loss at Crisler Arena on Saturday. x
tainly not the norm for a team that gan struggled mightily from the field,
relies heavily on long-range jumpers. causing the long bombs to become a
The key, according to Beilein, was necessity.
Wisconsin's ability to fight through And when they needed 3-pointers,
screens and stay in the faces of the as has been the case so often this sea-
Wolverines. son, they couldn't get any. Michigan
"They chase you off every screen shot zero percent from long range in
and they took that part away from the second half, missing all nine of its
us," Beilein said. "We were trying to attempts.
get open ones, we just couldn't get Wisconsin also cooled off sig-
any." nificantly, but because of Michigan's
In the first half, Michigan's scor- struggles, it didn't really matter. The
ing from beyond the 3-point line was Badgers shot just 36 percent from the
a luxury. In the second half, Michi- See Page 3B
CAMERON INDOORS
Wolverine Chris Cameron earned his
way on to the U.S. National Team for
the third straight year Page 2B
HAWAIIAN THRILLER
Michigan water polo finishes 2-2 after a
weekend filled with highly ranked West
Coast competition. Page 4B