The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, December 3, 2010 - 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, December 3, 2D1D - 7 Icers head to Columbus for series with Buckeyes Amaker returns to Crisler with Harvard By CASSANDRA PAGNI Daily Sports Writer To just about every Michigan athletic program, a matchup with Ohio State immediately draws talk of Michigan at the rivalry. Ohio State But for the S No. 11 Michigan Matchup: hockey team, Michigan 8-4- an upoming 4; OSU 5-7-1 an upcoming weekend match- When: Tonight up in Columbus at d3 is nothing more 7:05 p.m.a than two games Michigan needs Where: Value to win to come City Center home with a six- TV/Radio: point weekend. lie Ten "I can't sell Network (the team) a Live Blog: rivalry that michigandaily. really doesn't comw exist," Michi- gan coach Red Berenson said after Wednesday's practice. Over the history of the series, the Wolverines (7-2-1-0 CCHA, 8-4-4 overall) have more than taken care of business against the Buckeyes, boasting a 65-30- 11 series advantage. But Berenson said that Michigan tends to bring out the best in Ohio State. "We can do all the scouting we want ... but (Ohio State) will be a different team when they play us," Berenson said. Despite holding the historical edge, the Wolverines haven't had as much recent success against the Buckeyes. Looming in the rear view mirror is the fact that Michigan has split three of its last four series with Ohio State dating back to the 2007-08 sea- son. g Coming off a tie with Wis- consin and a 3-1 loss to No. 15 Minnesota in the 18th and final College Hockey Showcase last weekend, the Wolverines have faced the reality that, to be a top- tier team, they need to perform both nights, regardless of the opponent or environment. "The only people that can beat us are ourselves," senior forward Scooter Vaughan said. "(Last) weekend in Wisconsin, special teams beat us. The next Sunday we came out flat, and they had the power-play goal. We didn't rebound as well, we weren't real- ly in there. "I think if we come out and play our game and don't worry about the other team as much, I mean we need to respect them, but if we come out and do what we need to do, we're going to have a good game." Ohio State coach Mark Osiecki, formerly a member of Wisconsin's coaching staff, is in his first year as head coach of the Buckeyes. Coming off a weekend split with a shootout win and a loss to No. 14 Alaska, Ohio State (2-5-1- 1, 5-7-1) is riding the recent suc- cesses of junior Danny Dries, who factored into each of the Buckeyes' three goals against Alaska, and senior Peter Boyd, who is three points shy of netting 100 career points for Ohio State. But this weekend's match- up looks to be a battle on each defensive end, as Michigan and Ohio State rank 17th and 22nd in team defense, respectively. The Wolverines allowed seven goals in the Showcase last week- end - four on Friday and three on Sunday - and know that they will need their netminders to be stingy, especially against an Ohio State power play that ranks fifth in the CCHA. Senior goaltender Shawn Hun- wick is expected to start on Fri- day, with Bryan Hogan getting the nod in Saturday's contest. "I think when you go on the road, you've really got to be self- ish defensively," Berenson said. "If there's a battle cry going into this weekend, it's going to be defense. Better defense, bet- ter penalty killing, stay out of the box and then we'll make our chances count. We can't have to score five goals to win a game on the road." As Ohio State will be Michi- gan's last opponent before The Big Chill at the Big House, the outdoor hockey game to be played at Michigan Stadium against Michigan State, the Wol- verines have to put their sub-par "(Ohio State) will be a differ- ent team when they play us." Showcase weekend behind them and remain focused on rebound- ing against the Buckeyes. "(In) road hockey, we're not putting on a show," Vaughan said. "We're trying to take the momentum away from them. They're the home team, they have the home crowd. They're trying to put on a show, we're just trying to shut them down. We're going to get pucks deep, hit guys and just get everything to the net." By ZAK PYZIK Daily Sports Writer Harvard's men's basketball coach TommyAmaker is nostrang- er to Michigan basketball. In fact, Amaker has won Harvard at almost as many games with the Michigan Wolverines as Matchup: current Michi- Harvard 5-1; gan coach John Michigan 4-2 Beilein. When: Satur- In Amaker's day at 1 p.m. seven years of Where: coaching in Ann Crisler Arena Arbor, he won TV: an NIT title Big Ten and amassed a Network 109-83 record, Live Blog: posting four michigandaily winning seasons in the process. In March 2007, the Michigan Ath- letic Department fired Amaker and hired Beilein in his place just a month later. This Saturday, Amaker returns to Crisler Arena for the first time to take on Michigan (4-2). In 2007, Amaker coached his first game against the Wolverines and won 62-51 in Cambridge, Mass. In a teleconference on Thursday morning, Amaker said he isn't ner- vous about how the fans at Crisler will greet him. He said he's just excited to play Michigan since it will be a competitive game for his program. Harvard (5-1) is riding a five- game winning streak since los- ing to George Mason, 66-53 in its opening game. Like Michigan, the Crimson boast a roster without any fourth-year players. Junior for- ward Keith Wright and sophomore guard Christian Webster have led Harvard to its best start since ARIEL BOND/Daily Freshman forward Evan Smotrycz led Michigan with 18 points against Clemson. Amaker took the reigns in 2007. Wright and Webster have both averaged 16 points a game and accounted for more than 45 per- cent of the Crimson's scoring this season. Most recently, Webster tal- lied 18 points and a team-high four rebounds to blow out Fordham, 80-57. But Michigan has showed that it can compete against big-time shooters and even hang in games against top-notch defenses. The Wolverines are coming off arguablythe best week oftheir sea- son. Though they have lost two of their last three games, they nearly pulled off an upset against then- No. 9 Syracuse on Nov. 26. The Orange beat Michigan 53-50 after the Wolverines led by two going into halftime. Less than 24 hours later, they lost 65-56 to the Univer- sityof Texas -1ElPaso. On Tuesday, Michigan traveled again and defeated Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum, 69-61, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, a game that the Tigers were favored in. Freshman forward Evan Smotrycz led the Wolverines with a game-high 18 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr. also helped in the upset effort, adding 15 points of his own. Michi- gan led by as many as 20 points in the contest. "It was big for us to have that type of expert and execution (against the Tigers)," Beilein said after the Wolverines' win against the Tigers. "It becomes so men- tal after that. You just want to go home, butyou've still gottoplay." On Saturday, the Wolverines return home after a three-game stretch on the road. Michigan remains undefeated at Crisler this year, but Harvard will be its first true test athome. As for Amaker and the Crimson, a win in Ann Arbor would solidify a hopeful start for a young team. FOLLOW DAILY SPORTS ON TWITTER @MICHDAILYSPORTS GET YOUR SENIOR PORTRAIT TAKEN December 6'-10l in the Sophia B. Jones room of the Michigan Union The sitting fee is just $15! 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