8 - Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Illini pose familiar threat
with dominant guard play

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'Mshoulcl
adjust hopes
to WN IT

Blue will look to
Morris to stop
leading scorer
Demetri McCamey
By CHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Editor
Coming off a particularly dis-
heartening contest against Penn
State on Saturday, dropping their
record to 13-13 overall, the Wol-
verines enter a
tough final four Iljlnojs at
games, starting Mihia
tonight with a
contest against Matchup:
a surging Illi- Michigan
nois team that is 13-13; lli-
lookingto securen
an at-large bid in When: Tonight
the NCAA Tour- 7 p.m.
nament. Where:
One key Crisler Arena
matchup will be TV/Radio:
between fresh- ESPN
man Darius Mor-
ris's defense and Illinois's leading
scorer, guard Demetri McCamey,
who leads the Fighting Illini (9-5
Big Ten, 17-10 overall) with 15.2
points per game.
"Because he is 6-3, he sees over
people," Michigan coach John
Beilein said of McCamey during
yesterday's Big Ten teleconfer-
ence. "I remember the first time
I saw him play as a freshman, he
just could see over everybody and
pass. His shooting and shooting
off the dribble was just develop-
ing. But now he could pass, he
could shoot and he has the mid-
range."
Although McCamey provides
the freshman with another chal-
lenge, Morris held Penn State's
Talor Battle in check when given
the opportunity last Saturday.
In the final seven minutes, when
Morris finally came off the bench
to provide defensive relief, Battle
and the Nittany Lions were held-

scoreless until 14 seconds left in
the game.
Before Morris entered the
contest, Penn State tore apart
the Wolverines' defense, scor-
ing 34 points in the paint, many
of which came in the second half
off of dribble penetration from
Battle and assists to wide-open
forwards in the paint. Without
Morris on the floor, Michigan
didn't have the speed to match
both Battle and Penn State guard
Tim Frazier. The two combined
to extend the Nittany Lions' lead
to nine with 7:53 to play in the
contest.
"Sometimes one of the guards
would get in there and we were
forced to help," Morris said. "And
that caused the other help man
that was guarding Battle or Babb,
because they're such great three-
point shooters, a little slow on
the rotation down there on the
block and they were getting easy
layups."
Although McCamey doesn't
possess Battle's speed, he will
once again posea threat from the
perimeter, which Michigan has
struggled to stop. And though
McCamey scored just six points
in Illinois's 75-65 loss to No. 4
Purdue last Saturday, the guard
tallied 16 assists, tying him for
fourth all time in Big Ten history
for a single game.
"He's not as quick as Battle -
few are," Beilein said. "But he's
got a big body, so he's able to
get leverage on people not just
using speed, but his body, and he
can see over the top of screens
because of his great vision and
court awareness."
None of those attributes bode
well for Michigan. And with
7-foot-1 center Mike Tisdale -
who tore up Michigan last season
with 24 points at Assembly Hall
- and 6-foot-9 forward Mike
Davis, tomorrow's matchup could
be even uglier for the Wolverines.
But Morris's performance
could be paramount. All season,

In Michigan coach Kevin Bors-
eth's first season at the helm of the
Wolverines in 2007-08, the Michi-
gan women's basketball team made
an unexpected run to qualify for
the Women's National Invitation
Tournament.
Two years later, with a grander
goal - an
NCAA Tourna- A
ment bid - and ALEX
even lesser HERMANN
expectations On Women's
- the team Basketball
was picked to
finish last in
the Big Ten preseason by both the
media and coaches - this season's
Wolverines hoped to make an even
bigger splash.
But following Sunday's 73-61
loss to Wisconsin, that dream may
have been shattered.
The loss dropped Michigan to
6-10 in the conference and 14-12
overall. The Wolverines have
fallen to eighth place ina confer-
ence that sent five teams to The
Big Dance a year ago. And with
two games left before the Big Ten
Tournament, the team has no
chance of even finishing .500 in
conference play.
"We don't necessarily sit down
and say ... 'We wantto win 20
games or we want to finish first
place in the conference,"' Michi-
gan coach Kevin Borseth said at
Big Ten Media Day prior to the
season. "I just think there are
goals inside you every year that
tell you, you want to get into the
NCAA Tournament. I think that's
what every program wants to do."
But barring an unlikely run in
the conference tournament, that
hope won't be realized.
Still, Michigan has plenty to
play for. Though the Wolverines

may not accomplish their ultimate
goal, they are in a good position
to qualify for the WNIT, which
would serve as more than just a
consolation prize for ateam with
six freshmen.
A WNIT berth would also
reward seniors Krista Phillips and
Kalyn McPherson with a few more
games in their college careers.
Of course, the Wolverines still
have some work to do, and looking
too far ahead won't do any good as
the regular season comes to a close.
The 2007 WNIT team finished
9-9 in the conference, 16-12 overall
and added a win in the Big Ten
Tournament.
A year ago, Indiana and Wiscon-
sin went to the WNIT out of the
Big Ten. The Hoosiers had finished
11-7 in the conference, while the
Badgers finished with a meager
6-12 record, but made it to the
semifinals of the Big Ten Tourna-
ment.
Michigan, already in good
position record-wise, has several
advantages over the WNIT teams
from three years ago.
The national perception of the
Big Ten has improved since three
teams advanced to the Sweet 16 of
the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
This year's Michigan team also put
together an impressive nonconfer-
ence slate, including a win atthen-
No.8 Xavier.
For the Wolverines, a strong
enough finish to make those post-
season aspirations a reality would
include winning at Minnesota and
beating Purdue in the regular sea-
son finale.
And should theteam still hold its
preseason dreams of playing in The
Big Dance, three or four wins in
the Big Ten Tournament wouldn't
hurt much, either.

91

. TOREHAN SHARMAN/DAII
Freshman Darius Morris, pictured here, was able to shut down Penn State's star
guard Talor Battle in the Wolverines' loss this past weekend to the Nittany Lions.

the Wolverines' shooting has
been streaky at best and coma-
tose at worst. But with Mor-
ris's speed at the top of the 1-3-1
zone or guarding the point guard
in man defense, Michigan can
potentially slow down the versa-
tility of the Fighting Illini.
Wit the Wolverines looking
to refocus after Saturday's dis-
appointing loss, it will become

harder and harder to avoid sim-
ply looking toward next season.
"I don't think there's any issue
with refocusing," Beilein said.
"The opponent I do not believe
is ourselves as much as it is Illi-
nois. We've got to regroup and
get better. That's what our main
focus is, getting better. Whether
it pays off this year or next year,
it's going to pay off."


With career winding down,
Ciraulo sees success on ice

By TIM ROHAN the outgoing class for their contri-
Daily Sports Writer butions.
"It's going to be a good night
The stats don't lie - when senior for our seniors," Ciraulo said. "It's
forward Anthony Ciraulo plays, the been a great four years and it's a
Michigan hockey team wins. The great night for us. I'm excited."
Wolverines are 5-Q when Ciraulo Louie's picking up steam: Junior
laces up his skates. forward Louie Caporusso may
It first started NOTEBOOK have turned back into the potent
Nov.21 inToledo, scorer he was last year for Michi-
when Michigan gan. He had three assists in Sat-
took on Bowling Green the night urday's 5-4 win over Northern
after the Wolverines lost to the Fal- Michigan, after being just minus-
cons atYost. Ciraulo alsogot thenod one with no points in Friday's 3-1
a week later in one of Michigan's loss to the Wildcats.
most impressive home weekends of Friday was the first in the past
the season - defeating Wisconsin five games in which Caporusso
3-2 and Minnesota 6-0. hadn't registered a single point.
And last Saturday morning, after Michigan is just 2-3 in its past five
Michigan's pregame skate, Ciraulo games, but he has tallied four goals
was told that he would be playing and three assists in that span.
that night against Northern Michi- Caporusso is third on the team
gan. He may only have one assist on with 11goals and 28 points. But this
the season, but he wants his pres- time last year, he had 23 goals and
ence to be felt on the ice. 40 points entering the final week-
"He only played nine shifts the end of the regular season.
other night," Michigan coach Red "I think he forgot how hard he
Berenson said after Friday's game. had to work last year," Berenson
"But nine shifts is nine times you said. "Some things came easy for
could go out and embarrass your- him last year. This year, they're
self or you could go out and show not. ... Now he's had to learn to
why you should be playing. And I compete harder."
thought it was the latter." Olympic-sized hockey: Monday
Berenson said that Ciraulo's marked the 30th anniversary of
name has been coming up more the colossal Olympic upset in 1980,
and more when he discusses pos- when ayoung American squad beat
sible lineups with his coaches. the USSR in what was later billed
And he further proved it at cen- as the "Miracle on Ice."
ter Saturday where he was 6-0 on Berenson was on the Canadian
faceoffs. Berenson doesn't expect Olympic hockey team in 1972. That
Ciraulo's lines to score a lot, but team faced a juggernaut Soviet
he does expect the senior to lead a Union squad thatended up winning
plus line. gold. Eight years later, some of the
Thursday night's game against same hockey players were still on
Notre Dame at Yost will be Senior the Soviet Union squad that Team
Night for the Wolverines. It will U.S.A defeated in the 1980 game.
be a chance for the home crowd to Berenson was coaching in the
recognize Ciraulo and the rest of NHL with the St. Louis Blues at the

time of the infamous game, but he
still remembers it fondly.
"I was home watching the game.
I was so proud, so excited, because
I had been through some of that in
'72 when we playedthe Russians....
For the American college players
to beat them was a miracle, a true
miracle."
And Sunday night, there was
more United States Olympic hockey
that caught Berenson's eye. The
U.S. defeated Canada 5-3 in the last
round of the preliminary games at
the Vancouver Games. The win on
Canadian soil gave the Americans
a bye to the quarterfinals - but it
wasn't on the same level as the Unit-
ed States' 1980 win, Berenson said.
"It's not a big upset," Berenson
said. "Everybody thinks, 'Oh this
is like the Miracle of 1980.' This is
nothing like that. I mean these are
all NHL players playing against
NHL players. They just happen to
live across the border."
Berenson called ita "good game
for college hockey," as a few of the
CCHA's own were on displayinthe
Americans' victory.
Michigan hockey alum Jack
Johnson played a team-high 21:58
on the ice. He is plus-two with one
assist in the team's 3-0 start to the
Olympics. And other CCHA alum-
ni also had an impact on the game
too. United States goalie Ryan Mill-
er, a Hobey Baker award winner
for Michigan State, made 42 saves,
while Ohio State hockey alum Ryan
Kesler scored an acrobatic empty-
net goal to ice the game.
Sunday's game may not be as
impactful as the "Miracle" was 30
years ago, but Caporusso called
it the best hockey game he's ever
seen. And yes, the Ontario native
still wants Canada to winthe gold.

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