The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
January 24, 2011 - 3B
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom January 24, 2011 - 38
MEN'S BASKETBALL SWEEP
BIG TEN ROUNDUP From Page1B
Here's what's happened
in Big Ten basketball this
past week.
SUNDAY JAN.23
No. 18 Wisconsin78 at Northwestern 46
Indiana 77 at Iowa 91
SATURDAY JAN.22
No.1 Ohio State 73 at No. 23 Illinois 68
No.15 Minnesota 69 at Michigan 64
No.17 Michigan State 76 at No.14 Purdue
86
THURSDAY JAN.20
SIUE 55 at Northwestern 98
Indiana 60 at No.18 Wisconsin 69
WEDNESDAY JAN.19
Iowa 48 at No.1 Ohio State 70
Penn State 62 at No.14 Purdue 63
TUESDAY JAN.18
No.17 Michigan State 62 at No. 23 Illinois 71
Michigan 60 at Northwestern 74
BIG TEN STANDINGS
1) No.1lOhio State (7-0)
2) No. 14 Purdue (6-1)
3) No.18 Wisconsin (5-2)
4) No. 23 Illinois (4-3)
5) No.17 Michigan State (4-3)
6) No. 15 Minnesota (3-3)
7) Penn State (3-4)
8) Northwestern (3-5)
9) Michigan (1-6)
10) Iowa (1-6)
11) Indiana (1-6)
ICE HOCKEY
CCHA ROUNDUP
Here's what's happened
in CCHA hockey this
past week.
SATURDAY JAN.22
Alaska 3 at No.6 Michigan 4
No.8 Notre Dame 4 at Ohio State 1
No.12 Miami 4 at Michigan State 0
Western Michigan 4 at Lake Superior State 4
Ferris State 1 at Northern Michigan 3
FRIDAY JAN. 21
Alaska 0 at No.6 Michigan 2
No. 8 Notre Dame 1 at Ohio State 6
Western Michigan 2 at Lake Superior State 2
Ohio State 2 at Western Michigan 4
Ferris State 1 at Northern Michigan 2
CCHA STANDINGS
1) No. 6 Michigan (43 pts.)
2) No. 8 Notre Dame (41 pts.)
3) No. 12 Miami (36 pts.)
4) Northern Michigan (29 pts.)
4) Western Michigan (29 pts.)
4) Ferris State (29 pts.)
7) Ohio State (28 pts.)
8) Alaska (27 pts.)
9) Lake Superior State (22 pts.)
10) Michigan State (20 pts.)
11) Bowling Green (8 pts.)
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4-1-0 CCHA, 17-6-4 overall)
gave up 76 shots during the
two games - the most in a two
game stretch this series. Senior
goalie' Shawn Hunwick was
forced to make a number saves
on odd-man rushes after the
Wolverines turned the puck
over when breaking out.
But in both games, Michi-
gan bailed itself out with other
aspects of its play - Friday
night it was Hunwick and on
Saturday it was the Wolverines'
offense.
After Friday's game Beren-
son said Hunwick had "earned
this shutout more than he
should have to."
With the game 0-0, Alaska's
Joe Sova jumped out of the
penalty box into an immediate
breakaway. Hunwick made the
second period stop to keep the
game scoreless. He followed it
up with a number of stops on
point-blank shots to preserve
the lead.
Saturday, the Wolverines
scored four goals in the first
two periods, before playing
more conservatively in the
third. After freshman defen-
seman Jon Merrill scored the
first goal of the game, the teams
alternated scoring. Every time
the Nanooks (7-9-4-2, 10-10-4)
scored, Michigan responded
within the next six minutes,
despite launching 17 fewer
shots on net.
Senior forward Scooter
Vaughan's shot off the faceoff
late in the second period'-
beating Alaska goalie Scott
Greenham far side - was the
deciding marker. The goal made
up for a shorthanded marker
given up, in which a turnover
allowed Alaska's Cody Kunyk
to takea pass and out-skate two
Wolverines to the net.
"We didn't come back hard
enough so they got some three-
on-twos," Hagelin said. "In
the second period we turned
the puck over a lot on our blue
line and obviously you're going
to get chances if you turn the
puck over."
Michigan also had its fair
share of luck. Alaska had a goal
called off in the third period
Saturday for goaltender inter-
ference and had a couple more
shots go through the crease.
Senior Louie Caporusso reaches for a loose puck against Alaska.
Early in Friday's game, another
turnover created a 2-on-O for
Alaska, but after Nanook for-
ward Kevin Petovello deked
Hunwick, he hit the side of the
open net.
The Wolverines extended
their winning streak to five
games, finding a way to win
both games despite poor play
in their own zone.
"I think it's a good thing,"
Berenson said. "You're play-
ing to win the game. You've got
to find a way to win and you
want all your players to play
well, but if enough of our play-
ers play well enough ... We had
a lot of guys playing hard, but
our team didn't play as well as
it needed to."
MINNESOTA
From Page 1B
looking for his shot - they're
trying to get the best shot for
theirteam."
Early on, Michigan took
control by taking advantage of
Minnesota's sloppiness - the
Gophers had four turnovers by
the first media timeout.
And the Wolverines
responded by firing from the
outside. Junior guard Zack
Novak made three 3-pointers
in the first half, the last giving
Michigan itsbiggest lead of the
night, 24-15.
But Minnesota slowed down
Michigan's attack by switch-
ing to a 2-3 zone on defense.
The Wolverines still managed
to shoot 46.4 percent in the
second half, but their offense
often stagnated against the
zone. Players struggled to find
openings and rarely got the
ball inside.
"We're not super quick,"
Michigan coach John Beilein-
said. "We really have trouble
getting into gaps sometimes ...
I liked some of the shots that
we got. Some other times, we
did not do very well.
"It's more than a schematic
issue. Man to man, they're
bigger than us, and it affected
us. We had those open ones
to start the second half, (but)
we didn't make them and they
did."
Minnesota held Michigan
scoreless for just over seven
minutes - from the 2:18 mark
of the first half until there was
14:44 remaining in the game.
The Wolverines didn't have
a field goal in the second half
until nearly seven minutes had
elapsed afterthebreak.
And while Michigan stayed
mostly on the perimeter, the
Gophers attacked inside, led
by rugged forward Trevor
Mbakwe's 10 points in the first
half. The Gophers scored 38
points in the paint, compared
to just 18 for Michigan.
And the Wolverines went
just 5-of-16 from deep in the
second period. By the time
COMMITTEE
From Page 1B
marked his first two lamplight-
ers since he scored two in The Big
Chill at the Big House on Dec.11.
"It's awesome (to see the defen-
semen score)," Vaughan said.
"Merrill, Pateryn, Burlon - I
think they're all above 10 points,
which is phenomenal for a defen-
seman. They're all playing well.
It's good when you can throw the
puck back to the (defense) off a
cycle and you know they're going
to get it through, it's not going to
get blocked. We have a lot of con-
fidence in our (defense) and they
are showing it on the ice."
While the defensemen have
chipped in 20 goals and 52 assists
this season, the Wolverine offense
has also been aided recently by
different contributors from each
of its four lines.
Senior forward Carl Hagelin
leads the team offense with 13
goals and 22 assists - a role that
many expected him to be in at the
start of this season. Hagelin has
been a consistent offensive threat
this campaign and is a big reason
why Michigan's offense is ranked
tenth in the nation. The Wolver-
ine captain is currently on a nine-
game point streak and earned an
assist on five of Michigan's six
weekend goals. But aside from
Hagelin, the Wolverines have
recently benefitted from a variety
of players' offensive production.
En route to Michigan's 4-3
victory over the Nanooks, senior
alternate captain Matt Rust got
the monkey off his back, scoring
with five minutes remaining in
the first period to give the Wol-
verines their second lead of the
game.
Rust plays on a line with Hage-
lin and sophomore forward Chris
Brown. While Hagelin has been
the scorer as of late, both Brown
and Rust picked up ' goals this
weekend. Rust hadn't scored
a goal since mid-November,
despite playingstrong during that
drought.
"(Rust) has a huge impact on
the top line, mostly defensively
but also offensively," Berenson
said after Friday's game. "They
were on the ice for both of the
goalsthat we scored. He's a part of
that. He was screening the goalie
on Jonny Merrill's shot. Rust is
doing a lot of things - faceoffs,
penalty killing. I mean, he's a
team player on our team and he's
playing like it."
The senior finished the week-
end with a 1-1-2 line and a plus-2
rating each night.
Also adding to the offense
this weekend was Vaughan, who
netted his ninth of the season
on Saturday. Vaughan's goal in"
the middle of the second period
proved tobe the game-winner.
For Berenson, the offense is
still a work-in-progress, but he
can't help but be pleased with the
load that some Wolverines have
put on their shoulders as of late
to help out their slumping team-
mates.
"I don't think we're consistent
enough to say that we rely on one
line anymore," Berenson said on
Saturday. "You've seen all year,
we're scoring by committee. Our-
defense is stepping up and they're
providing offense and they did
again (on Saturday). We have a lot
of guys that think they should be.
scoring that aren't, but that still
can."
ANNA SC
Freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. led all scorers with his 20 points
gan's loss to No.15 Minnesota.
they
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started getting inside, "Now that (Smotrycz and
Minnesota continuing Morgan) are up against bigger
re with ease, the deficit bodies, people just see it and
too much to overcome. get us right away," Beilein said.
ionally, with Morgan "We've been over this. We
reshman forward Evan showed it in film today. It's just
rycz again in foul trou- habits. We've done everything
Michigan was thin in the that I can imagine and we just
e. got to stay with it."
Michigan fought until the
end, finding itself down by just
five points with 18 seconds
[e just really left. But the young Wolverines
could only watch as the Golden
eed to take Gophers sealed the game from
the free-throw line.
rood look at "We're never satisfied with
a loss," Smotrycz said. "It
ourSelVeS." doesn't matter whether it was
one point or in overtime. It
doesn't matter.
"We just really need to take
exasperated Beilein a good look at ourselves in the
ed to be running out of mirror, and say the season can
ers to teach the young either turn from here, or keep
ow to avoid silly fouls. going the same way."
U-M Computer Showcase
Michigan Union - Pierpont Commons
http://showcase.itcs.umich.edu - www.apple.com/education
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around and current five-game
BITT winning streak. On Saturday,
Page lB it was senior forward Scooter
Vaughan - the surprise per-
idays compared to 7-0-2 former of the season so far
turdays - the Wolver- - who played hero. His ninth
have finally broken the goal of the season late in the
and proven that they second period was the Wol-
ut together a complete verines' fourth and final goal
y. of the night.
Any way you look at it,
Michigan is a different team
than the 26-man squad that
's the clutch faltered in a season-opening
tie with Mercyhurst. And the
ringthat has program is light years ahead
red the team's of the where it was a year ago
- a CCHA bottom feeder at
urnaround 9-9-1-0 before making a late-
season turnaround.
This team has learned how
to win, and the bandwagon
anted, Michigan very isn't slowing down. They
ould have lost the see- aren't necessarily blowing
'attle against Alaska on teams away, but the Wolver-
day. The Nanooks had a ines are gutting out victories
disallowed in the third with quick, gritty, physical
d and threw 40 shots at Michigan hockey.
'goalie Shawn Hunwick. In addition, Michigan is
's the clutch scoring that winning largely without the
eyed the team's turn- expected offensive production
from the likes of Louie Capo-
russo, Matt Rust and Chris
Brown - three of the top four
returning goal scorers from
last year - who have added a
combined 15 goals this season,
well below their 47 goals last
season.
But the Wolverines have
Carl Hagelin and Shawn Hun-
wick, and you couldn't ask
for much more. Hagelin has
tallied 19 points over the past
nine games, while Hunwick
has returned to last postsea-
son form, making 73 saves
against the Nanooks.
With just nine conference
matchups remaining, the
Wolverines are in first place
in the CCHA, and couldn't be
hotter.
This weekend, Michigan
took care of a pack of musk
oxen. Next up, a mob of Spar-
tans.
- Nesbitt can be reached at
stnesbit@michigandaily.com and
wants you to look for Quick Hits
with Chris Brown later this week.