4B-- December 6 , 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
6
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Michigan to face cross-town NAIA school
.0
By BEN ESTES Ann Arbor certainly represents a
DailySports Writer monumental step up in competi-
tion, even though the Cardinals
When the Michigan men's bas- reside in the same city.
ketball team squares off with And the Wolverines (5-2) are
nearby Concordia tonight, don't perhaps playing their best bas-
expect the game ketball of the year, having upset
to be close. Clemson on the road last Tuesday
After all, the COncordia before coming back to beat a solid
Cardinals (5-4) at Michigan Harvard team Saturday.
are an NAIA pro- Michigan sees the game as
gram, meaning Matchup: an opportunity to continue to
that with just 774 Concordia 5-2 improve and is trying to treat it
students, their like any other game.
school is too When: Tonight "I just want for us all to come
small to be a part 7:30 p.m. out with the same mentality,"
of the NCAA. Where: sophomore guard Matt Vogrich
And Concor- Crisler Arena said after the Harvard win. "Don't
dia is just a mid- TV/Radio: take it for granted and get ahead
die-of-the-road Big Ten and just see what happens.
NAIA team, hav- Network "Hopefully, everybody can con-
ing already lost tribute."
to Lourdes Col- The matchup should provide
lege and Michigan-Dearborn. chances for the Wolverine bench
So the University of Michigan- to continue to get vital minutes one
game a
30 poir
like Vo
man fo
who bo:
victory
"I
us a
W.
Vogr
sharpsh
with hi
sons atI
Agair
knockec
from lor
fter scoring a season-high high seven points and also appear-
nts, especially for players ing more comfortable defensively.
grich and redshirt fresh- McLimans, despite only playing
srward Blake McLimans, seven minutes, made an impact in
th took steps forward in the the victory over the Crimson.
over Harvard. With redshirt freshman for-
ward Jordan Morgan struggling
to defend Harvard postman Keith
just want for Wright, McLimans spelled Mor-
gan early in the second half and
ill to come out promptly slowed Wright down.
The Hamburg, N.Y. native
ith the same blocked one of Wright's shots and
didn't let him convert much else
mentality." down low.
McLimans also scored four
points, the last two tying the game
at 38-38, helping the Wolverines
ich has a reputation as a regain momentum in their come-
tooter but has struggled back.
s shot in his first two sea- Beilein said after the Harvard
Michigan. game that the big man "played
nst Harvard, though, he with no baggage," meaning he
d downboth of his attempts didn't worry about his perfor-
ng range, scoring a season- mance and was just focused on
competing hard.
"(McLimans) needs to just
know what it takes to win basket-
ball games," Beilein said. "But he
gave us some length ... (he) was
just out there trying to get it done.
I was proud of the way he played."
Michigan traditionally plays
a Division II team every season.
Games against those teams and
NAIA squads don't count against
a school's RPI - meaning there's a
benefit to playing them instead of
a lower-level Division-I team that
could submarine the Wolverines'
strength of schedule.
And with Concordia allowing
Michigan to use its gym when the
Wolverines can't use their own
during Crisler Arena renovations,
as well as the Cardinals' proxim-
ity to the University, a matchup
with the Cardinals was a perfect
fit.
"There are a lot of teams in
the state that we could play ... We
decided that it should be a local
team," Beilein said after the Har-
vard game.
"So it's one day's rest (after Har-
vard) and then we have to go play
again, so we'll have to be ready for
that."
Beilein said the team's upcom-
ing home stretch - including the
matchup with the Crimson, the
Wolverines will play eight straight
and 10 of their next 11 games at
Crisler - will be beneficial, espe-
cially for the squad's many young
players.
But he also warned against
complacency.
"You cannot take any team at all
for granted," Beilein said. "We're
going to practice (Sunday). It's
almost an atmosphere like you're
at a tournament.
"Get a day off, you got to get
back, you got to rest some people."
0
Former coach Tommy Amaker
returns as Harvard headman
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Blue fades down
the stretch inloss
to hot Iowa State
ByZAK PYZIK
Daily Sports Writer
Harvard men's basketball
coach Tommy Amaker returned
Saturday to Crisler Arena for
the first time since being fired
from the Michi-
gan program in NOTEBOOK
2007. And when
Amaker's name was announced at
the start of the game, he received
applause - a classy showing from
the fans.
Amaker said in a teleconfer-
ence last Thursday that he didn't
know how he would be greeted in
his return to Ann Arbor, but in the
Wolverines' 65-62 win over the
Crimson on Saturday, he saw noth-
ing but respect from the Michigan
fan base.
In fact, there wasn't a single
chant from the Maize Rage all
afternoon targeting the opposing
coach - something that normally
happens multiple times in a game.
"It's kind of weird knowing that
he helped get you here," junior
guard Stu Douglass, whom Amak-
er tried to recruit to Harvard, said
after Saturday's game. "When I
saw him, I just said hi and good
luck.
"We just went out there to get a
win for our coach."
Amaker embraced his opportu-
nity to return to Michigan.
"We were so focused on the way
we've been playing, and I think
our kids were focused on that
as well, so I tried to stay in that
moment for our guys," Amaker
said on Saturday. "But it certainly
is always great to come back to
Ann Arbor. It's a great community,
a great town.
"I enjoyed my time here as a
coach and being a part of this great
school."
A TALE OF TWO HALVES: The
Wolverines went into halftime
trailing by seven points.
But Michigan coach John
Beilein made some adjustments
to respond to Amaker's defensive
attack and started Douglass in the
second half.
"Douglass played very well in
the second half," Amaker said on
Saturday. "I thought he shot the
ball really well. I'll wait to look
at the tape to see if we lost him a
few times. Sure, they missed some
opportunities to finish around the
goal as well, but we just couldn't
finish around the basket. I thought
By KEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Writer
Before Sunday's contest against
the Michigan women's basketball
team, No.19 Iowa State had won 51
straight
regular MICHIGAN 47
season IOWA STATE 60
non-con-
ference home games - a stretch
that goes all the way back to
December of 2003.
And after the game at Hilton
Coliseum, the Cyclones made it 52
straight with a 60-47 victory over
the Wolverines in front of a crowd
of 11,829 rowdy Iowa State fans.
But for much of the game, the
Cyclones' (6-1) streak looked like
it was in jeopardy.
Playing in front of more fans
than it has seen in three total home
games this season, Michigan (4-4)
didn't looked phased early on.
"It was pretty intense," senior
guard Veronica Hicks said of
the crowd. "There were so many
people screaming, so it was kind
of hard to communicate. You just
had to block out what is going on
around you."
Hicks silenced the crowd
early, scoring four of the Wolver-
ines' first eight points and grab-
bing their first three rebounds as
Michigan took an early 8-7 lead.
But after getting called for her
second foul with just under 13
minutes left in the first, Hicks was
forced to tone down her aggres-
sive play.
"It made me a little more cau-
tious when I was defending the
ball," Hicks said. "Offensively, I
didn't want to cause anythingthat
would make them call a charge or
anythinglike that. I didn'twant to
force anything."
With Hicks in foul trouble,
the Wolverines found a way to
take control of the game midway
through the first half.
After Iowa State guard Kelsey
Harris hit a 3-pointer to give the
Cyclones a 15-14 lead, Michi-
gan responded with an 8-0 run,
capped by a layup from sopho-
more Sam Arnold to give the Wol-
verines a seven-point lead with
just over six minutes left.
But Iowa State responded.
Senior sharpshooter Kelsey Bolte
drilled a 3-pointer to end the
drought for the Cyclones, and
with just six seconds left, junior
guard Lauren Mansfield drove the
length of the court and hit a layup
at the buzzer to give Iowa State a
26-24 lead heading into the break.
"That is absolutely inexcus-
able," Michigan coach Kevin
Borseth said after the game.
"(Mansfield) was left-handed, and
we just let her go left and score."
Even after the Cyclones' 9-0
run to end the half, Michigan
was still only down by two. And
a 3-pointer by sophomore Jenny
Ryan tied the game at 34 with just
under 12 minutes to play.
But down the stretch, Iowa
State proved to be too much for
the Wolverines. Bolte caught
fire, converting on three critical
3-pointers in the game's most cru-
cial minutes.
"We wanted to guard her closer
than that," Borseth said of Bolte,
who averages more than 16 points
per game. "She got 20 shots off in
situations that, in my opinion, are
inexcusable. We should have cov-
ered her a lot better than we did."
Michigan still hung around
until the closing minutes. Hicks
hit a 3-pointer at the three-minute
mark to cut the deficit to five, but
6-foot-7 sophomore Anna Prins
responded with a 3-pointer of her
own on the other end.
The Cyclones dominated the
offensiveboards downthe stretch,
eliminating any chance of a Wol-
verine comeback as Iowa State
finished with a 43-31 advantage on
the glass.
For Michigan, this is one that
slipped away. The Wolverines shot
just 2-for-9 from behind the arc in
the second half, compared to the
Cyclones' 7-of-14. Michigan also
got just four points out of its nor-
mally reliable bench.
"We did a good job defensively
of holding them down and not
giving them great looks," Borseth
said. "We got sloppy late in the
game defensively and then didn't
answer offensively. We had good
looks. We were wide open and just
didn't convert."
Former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker went to Harvard after being fired from Michigan in 2007.
01
that was the difference, just not
being able to score."
Douglass tallied 16 of his 19
points in the second stanza. He
shot 5-for-7 from three-point
range, two of which were well
beyond the arc.
"He got some open shots, and he
got some non-open shots and he
just knocked them down," junior
guard Zack Novak said on Satur-
day. "I think he is embracing his
sixth man (role). He's coming off
the bench and giving us such a
huge spark, it's big for us. I mean
he won us the game today."
Michigan shot 50 percent from
three-point territory in the second
half, but just 28 percent in the first
half.
POSTGAME ANALYSIS: Crim-
son forward Keith Wright scored
a team-high 18 points, 16 of which
came when Michigan redshirt
freshman Jordan Morgan covered
him.
But when Morgan got into foul
trouble, Beilein played redshirt
freshman Blake McLimans in his
spot.
The forward covered Wright
effectively and limited him to just
two points, both on free throws.
On the other end, McLimans tal-
lied four points of his own, a
rebound and a block in the seven
minutes that he had played.
"Blake has really benefited
from embracing the process from
his development," assistant coach
Bacari Alexander said. "It's nice
when you can see the benefit from
that embracement. You can see
what happened from the practices
leading up from the game. Blake
today had a hot moment where
he figured out angles, competing,
scrapping and fighting.
"Wright is a load right there, he
is first team, all caliber IVY league
player, and Blake accepted the
challenge. He used his length and
his size and those are things that
we have been emphasizing."
McLimans and the rest of the
Michigan bench scored 30 points
against Harvard, the biggest con-
tribution the team has seen from
its bench all season.
"We have a saying at Michigan
this year where we need all hands
on deck," Alexander said. "So
whether it's Blake McLimans one
night or Eso the next night. Name
a player.
"Everyone on our roster has a
valuable role, and we are going to
call on them when the time dic-
tates it."
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
M' starts season with intrasquad
AD Brandon a
celebrity judge
at annual Maize vs.
Blue meet
By EMILY BONCHI
Daily Sports Writer
Seven freshmen took to the floor
in Crisler Arena on Sunday after-
noon, ready to compete in their
first collegiate meet.
Luckily for them, the pressure
was off. The Michigan women's
gymnastics team held its annual
Maize vs. Blue Intrasquad meet,
pitting the athletes against one
another for some friendly compe-
tition.
The Maize team took the win,
beating the Blue team, 7-6, after
dominating the final routine in
floor exercise.
The meet's decision came down
to two-time All-American senior
Kylee Botterman and All-Ameri-
can sophomore Natalie Beilstein -
the same matchup from last year's
tie-breaking floor event.
Botterman came out on top, pro-
viding Maize the victory and earn-
ing top scores from the celebrity
judges: Michigan Athletic Direc-
tor David Brandon and Michigan
Insider radio personalities Sam
Webb and Ira Weintraub.
"We showcased some of our
depth and it was a chance to see
how some of our gymnasts per-
form in competition," Michigan
coach Bev Plocki said afterward.
Tori Kane was the only fresh-
man to earn a point for her team
after performing the final balance
beam routine of the day.
Fifth-year senior captain Sarah
Curtis, who has competed in the
all-around the past three years,
kicked off her final season as
a Wolverine by giving the Blue
team a point in three of her four
events.
"This will be the fourth year
doing it, so it's pretty normal for
me, although I can't say it gets eas-
ier every year," Curtis said of her
all-around competition.
Senior captain Jordan Sexton
also took to the floor, taking points
for the Maize team in both the
bars and floor exercise.
The Wolverines boast a.division
of experience, as its 15-player ros-
ter includes five seniors and seven
freshmen - Michigan's biggest
freshman class in 20 years.
"The seniors are vital to the
success of our team this year and
getting all these freshmen on the
right path, keeping them under
their wing," Plocki said. "They've
been doing a great job so far."
Michigan has won 17 of the last
19 Big Ten titles, including last
year's, and the team looks to con-
tinue its conference domination
this season.
But before that can happen,
Plocki is hoping for a completely
healthy team.
"We have three athletes - one
sophomore and two freshmen -
who are injured and were not able
to perform today," Plocki said.
"But they should be able -to get
healthy sometime in January.
"There are freshmen that have
great stuff, but that nobody got to
see today. I can't wait to put them
into the lineup."
The Wolverines have a one-
month break to prepare for their
2011 season.
To kick off their conference sea-
son, they will take on Michigan
State, Iowa and Western Michigan
in East Lansing on Jan. 7.
01
Senior guard Veronica Hicks plays in a loss to Xavier on Nov.15.