The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 5A Blue rolls to easy win over Demon Deacons M 58 B Ther outside day night, but despite the f Michig team rr the Der The cent fr percen in thei: Forest. The sive fir for the the gar The Michig the of Forest its exp] This early Veroni unansv over a r ines up The. was ne, "I ju .500 at home, to lose said aft "So [ichigan holds needs to be done for us to get this win, is what needs to be done." Vake Forest to After scoring zero points in Michigan's 67-49 loss to Texas season-low A&M last Saturday, Hicks po t istepped up big in a game the Wol- points in rout verines really needed to win. She finished with 13 points, y EVERETT COOK going 3-for-5 from behind the Daily Sports Writer "She feels like she has to do 'e were snowflakes falling well every game," Michigan of Crisler Arena Wednes- coach Kevin Borseth said. "I'm glad to be able to see her, espe- WAKE FOREST 58 cially after last game, to come MICHIGAN 91 back tonight and have a good game." rigid temperature, the It was junior forward Carmen an women's basketball Reynolds who came up the big- anaged to make it rain on gest, though. mon Deacons. Reynolds led all scorers with Wolverines shot 66 per- 25 points, 15 of which came from om the floor, including 52 beyond the 3-point line. t from the three-point line The Wolverines got the ball r 91-58 victory over Wake into the post often, which forced the Wake Forest players to col- Demon Deacons' offen- lapse defensively. epower was a big concern Nobody benefited from this home team coming into extra room more than Reynolds. ae. "Their defense gave us pitch- big question was whether rhythm threes and Carmen is an (4-3) could run with one of those kids that can make fensively minded Wake those shots in the game," Borseth team (5-2) and slow down said. losive offense. "She is a tough kid to leave question was answered open." on when senior guard Though Michigan scored a ca Hicks scored eight season-high 91 points, its defense wered points in a little may have been more impressive minute to put the Wolver- than its offense. by 10. Wake Forest came into this tone was set, and the lead game featuring the 13th-best ver relinquished. offense in the nation, averaging st knew that we were at 84 points a game. nd already lost a game at The Wolverines forced 19 and you really don't want turnovers and rarely allowed the a game at home," Hicks Demon Deacons an open shot, ter the game. holding them to a season-low it was like, whatever 58 points. Wake Forest is par- ticularly strong in transition, but Michigan slowed the game down to the pace it wanted to play in. "We didn't want them to get transition conversion shots, so we practiced getting back on defense and avoided letting them make any layups on fast breaks," Reynolds said. "I think that real- ly converted to the offensive end as well." Sophomore guard Nya Jordan and sophomore center Rachel Sheffer also played key roles. Sheffer scored 15 points, and provided an exceptional post presence. Jordan scored 11 points and set up outside shooters by driv- ing inside. She limped off the court late in the game with an apparent ankle injury, but it didn't seem to be serious. In the first game of the four- year-old ACC/Big Ten challenge, Michigan gave the Big Ten an early advantage in an event the conference has always struggled in. Since its inception in 2007, the Big Ten has never won the chal- lenge, though the Wolverines are now 4-0 in those games. This victory sets Michigan up nicely for its looming road matchup at Iowa State. The No. 19 Cyclones have not lost a non-conference game at home since 2004, and their rowdy fan base could cause prob- lems for the young Wolverines. "We want to keep the momen- tum going this Sunday against a top-20 team," Reynolds said. "It is going to be a challenge, but we will carry the momentum with us and keep our confidence going." ActFROMM/[ Freshman forward Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 12 points per game for the Wolverines this season. Against the Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday, Hardaway Jr. put up 15 points, going 2-of-6 from behind the arc. ily New Wolverines seem different in '10 n Michigan's home opener against South Carolina Upstate last month, I spot- ted a secluded fan snoozing in the student section of Crisler Arena. LUKE The kid PASCH was likely hung over _ On Men's the football Basketball team had just downed Purdue earlier that afternoon, and most students need some recovery time after the raging that follows one of Michigan's rare Big Ten football victories nowadays. But it was still quite the trans- formation from the start of last season. When I showed up to Crisler a few minutes late for the 2009-10 home opener against Northern Michigan, still high off Michigan's run to the NCAA Tournament a year earlier, I found myself jostling for one of the crummy student section seats next to the band on the baseline. It's not rocket science. The seats fill up when the Wol- verines (4-2) win. And after a dismal 2009-10 season in which Michigan coach John Beilein failed to garner even an NIT invitation and an offseason in which the team's two leading scorers - who accounted for 53 percent of all scoring last season - left for greener pastures, who could blame the students for not showing up (or not staying awake)? But a funny thing happened in the game against South Caro- lina Upstate. A few minutes into the sec- ond half, when the Wolverines were struggling to put up points, freshman forward Tim Hardaway Jr. drove to the hoop through traffic, elevated himself well above the rim and poster- ized the Spartan center as he slammed one home. Yep, sleeping beauty in the student section awoke, and he quickly stood up to applaud FOLLOW DAILY SPORTS ON TWITTER @michdailysports along with fellow fans, albeit a and that's an understatement. little confused about what had The Wolverines are one of four just happened. teams in Division I with no A few minutes later, freshman fourth-year starters (no seniors, forward Evan Smotrycz caught no redshirt juniors). Every a pass in the corner and took an game, the team invariably shows open baseline to the basket for its youth on the court at some another dunk. And on Michi- point - a poor pass here, a lack gan's next possession, juniorr of hustle there. guard Zack Novak threw one And for Michigan fans, it's down, hanging on the rim near- downright scary that Beilein ly long enough for a technical. will enter Big ten play in less That one got the Maize Rage than a month and start three going. They hadn't seen that first-year players in the front- much spunk in a Michigan play- court. er in any game since the team's But there's a reason to think tourney run. that this year's team is still good. There's a reason these Wolverines went to Atlantic Any given day City over Thanksgiving break and stuck with No. 8 Syracuse. a different There's a reason they beat Clem- son on Tuesday in the hostile Michigan player confines of Littlejohn Coliseum. It's the same reason every can beat you. coach in the country hates play- ing against a Beilein-coached team. On any given day, a dif- ferent Michigan player can beat But the Wolverines weren't you. done. Seconds later, Novak On opening day, Hardaway blocked South Carolina Jr. led the Wolverines' scoring Upstate's Chalmers Rogers and effort with 19 points in his col- passed up to sophomore guard legiate debut. In game three Darius Morris, who finished against Gardner-Webb, Mor- with a dunk on the fast break. ris registered 21 points and Three straight Michigan pos- 10 assists for the team's first sessions. Three dunks, all from double-double of the season. different players. And a crowd Against Syracuse, it was junior that was smaller than the Michi- guard Stu Douglass with a big gan Ultras contingent - the stu- day. Against Clemson, it was dents who fill the substantially Smotrycz. smaller bleacher seats of the You get the point. Last year, U-M Soccer Complex - cheered the team's success lived and louder than they had all of last died with the scoring abilities season. of Manny Harris and DeShawn I know what you're think- Sims. This season, opponents ing. That was South Carolina won't know who to prepare for, Upstate. Michigan's scrub play- and that makes Michigan a very ers could have beaten them. And scary group of youngsters with you're right, the Wolverines' tons of upset potential. first few games this season were Go to Crisler, stay awake and light matchups. see it for yourself. The team's goal for the post- season is still the NIT. I'm defi- nitely not saying you should go tell your friends that Michigan is making it back to the NCAA Tournament this year. Beilein's current squad is just too young, The new Line r Chinese Cuisine Kai Barden spcializing in Hong Ken W Hunan& pn the winter ony Szechuan private patio overlooking (734)995-1401 Style.Many sandy beaches and I 116 S.MainSt. vegetarian gorgeous crystal clear e dishes green waters of the (Between W. Huron and dGulf of Mexico. Washtenaw) Carryout and reservations accepted. Mon-Thur 111 Visit our w Wetseacohol F&a 11-11 Professio Open 7 Days Sun 121Interiorp A t Michigan 'D' keys victory over Wake offensive power BY CAITLIN SMITH Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's bas- ketball team has finally proven it has a defense. After struggling on the defen- sive end of the court since the beginning of the season, the Wolverines (4-3) shut down a competitive scoring opponent. In a well rounded effort, Michi- gan beat out Wake Forest 91-58 on Wednesday night at Crisler Arena. The Demon Deacons (5-1) are known for their offensive prow- ess, averaging 84 points per game so far this season and tally- ing more than 100 points in two of their contests. "(Wake Forest) can get up and down the court and they can do it in transition extremely well," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said after the game. "But we got back and closed those lanes down and played pretty good defensively and kept them at bay when we had to." Although Michigan's strategy was to play man-to-man defense for the majority of the game, there was no player who stood out among the rest. Instead, the Wolverines dis- played a strong defensive pres- ence as a team, and that proved successful. The balanced Demon Deacons have f threats points ines ke scoring Wak by 6-f Sandra 12.3 pi per ga to get i Cl la the W around two po Mic junior ages 11 per gai four po Alth reboun sive gl defens the po mizing attack. Wolver our prominent offensive time it needed to get back, reset who average at least 11 and defend. per game. But the Wolver- "(We hit our shots) and then pt all but two players from we got our defense to come g in double digits. back," Borseth said. "And then e Forest is typically led all of a sudden you're playing oot-3 sophomore center against a set defense as opposed Garcia, who averages to playing a defense that's just oints and seven rebounds maybe three-on-three. me. But Garcia struggled "And (Wake Forest) is a very into her offensive game as good three-on-three." By eliminating Wake Forest's typical transition plays and exe- cutingshots on the offensive end, "W e got the Wolverines sealed the deal. bac aMichigan also forced 19 Demon Deacon turnovers, resulting in 24 points. osed those in fact, Michigan has shown a nes d w unique defensive trend over the past three years, under Borseth's leadership. The Wolverines have a 40-13 overall record when hold- ing their opponent to less than 60 olverines smothered her points. Conversely, Michigan is I the basket, holding her to 11-35 when its competition scores ints on the night. more than 60 points. higan also shut down If the Wolverines continue to guard Secily Ray. She aver- play with a solid defensive effort, points and seven rebounds like that which emerged against me, but was held to a mere Wake Forest, there may be a posi- ints on Wednesday. tive turn for this barely over .500 ough Michigan was out- team. ded 23-4 on the offen- ass, its hand-in-your-face NEXT GAME: AT ive mentality made up for IOWA STATE nor differential by mini- Wake Forest's transition Check the Daily in print and And the sharp-shooting online at MichiganDaily.com rine offense gave it the for coverage.