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.) WANT MORE DAILY SPORTS COVERAGE? Visit www.michigandaily.com for daily updates on your favorite Michigan sports. AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @MICHDAILYSPORTS 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 with to sco was t Addit and f Smotr ble, M middl i" n a An seeme answe duo h< 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 NESI From on Fr on Sa ines trend can p series It SCC key t Gra well c saw b Saturc goal perio senior But it has k 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.