The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, January 28, 2011 - 7
The ichganDail - ichgandilyom rida, Jnuay 28 201.-
NOVA K-ING DOWN
Throw out the
: ยข expectations
CHRIS RYBA/Daily
Juniorguard Zack Novak scored a team-high 19 points and hit six 3-pointers in Michigan's upset over Michigan State.
Novak's triples pace Blue past
MSU for first time since 2007
By CHANTEL JENNINGS
Daily SportsEditor
EAST LANSING - In the
dead of winter, four young men
stood
at the MICHIGAN 61
front MICHIGAN STATE 57
of the
Michigan State student section
behind the baseline at the Bre-
slin Center. Their chests read:
1181.
It was the total number of
days since a Michigan football
or men's basketball team beat
Michigan State.
But at the end of the game
all they could do was grab their
shirts and head for the exits as
the Wolverines (2-6 Big Ten,
12-9 overall) ended that drought
and made those numbers a thing
of the past.
With Michigan's 61-57 win,
the Wolverines snapped a six-
game losing streak and picked
up the Michigan men's basket-
ball team's first win over the
Spartans since 2007.
The young squad showed
a poise that's been missing in
close games as the Wolverines
built upon a seven-point half-
time lead over No. 25 Michigan
State (4-4, 12-8).
The Spartans' poor shooting
and their struggle to finish easy
buckets under the basket sealed
the deal for the Wolverines.
Despite shooting 44 percent
from the floor, Michigan State
missed several layups and put-
backs. And the Spartans only hit
five shots from behind the arc
the entire game.
Junior guard Zack Novak hit
six.
It was Novak's four first-half
3-pointers that gave the Wolver-
ines the cushion heading into
the break, but he came out even
more on fire in the second half
hitting two more shots, finish-
ing with 19 points.
"It was one of those nights,"
Novak said after the game,
unable to hide his smile after
coming out of a locker room that
was raucous with shouts of 'The
Victors.'
Sophomore point guard Dar-
ius Morris added 17 points and
eight assists - the most assists
he's had since the Wolverines
traveled to Indiana two weeks
ago.
But even with Morris' and
Novak's monster games, the
Wolverines never put the game
out of reach. With under two
minutes remaining in the game,
the Spartans cut Michigan's
once 14-point lead to a meager
two points when senior guard
Kalin Lucas drew a foul and
converted on the additional
point from the charity stripe.
Michigan was unable to con-
vert on the ensuing play and the
Spartans found themselves in a
position to steal back the lead.
Michigan State's Keith Appling
shot a 3-pointer from the right
wing that just barely dinged off
the rim and redshirt freshman
Jordan
ball.
It w,
game.
Mor
represc
on the
straigh
frontcc
stride,
to clea
of the;
accoun
Wolver
0
pry
Foll
and a
Wolver
clock a
and kic
glass
3-point
i Morgan corralled the' The win was the Wolverines'
first win over a ranked oppo-
as his only rebound of the nent and just their second Big
Ten win.
gan's performance was With this victory under
entative of the post play Michigan's belt, it returns to
boards. For the second- Ann Arbor to face Iowa, who is
it game, the Michigan dwelling alongside the Wolver-
ourt struggled to find its ines at the bottom of the confer-
calling upon the guards ence.
n up the glass for most But the upset provides the
game - who collectively Wolverines with a burst of con-
ted for 90 percent of the fidence as they round the mid-
ines' rebounds. way point of the conference
slate. And it snaps a six-game
losing streak.
"I think after the third or
W e busted fourth or fifth loss of that streak
we were-kind of hoping too
ur butts in much and not putting forth the
execution or putting forth the
actice and it work in practice," Douglass said
after the game.
paid off." "We kind of told ourselves
we were but we really weren't
doing 100 percent.
"And we busted our butts in
owing Morgan's rebound practice and it paid off.".
Michigan timeout, the That work has given the Wol-
ines ran down the shot verines another victory but it's
nd Morris drove the lane also given them a new number,
ked it to an open Stu Dou- maybe one that could be painted
who hit a quick-release on Michigan students' chests -
ter from the right wing to 37.
At Big Ten media day, Zack
Novak had higher expectations
for the Wolverines than others
did.
"We are a young team with
a lot of guys that are kind of
naive because they're young,"
Novak said. "They don't know
that they're not supposed to win
some of these
games. They
don't know
that they
should lose
to teams like
Kansas. So
youth can
help us." ZAK
As Michi- PYZIK
gan entered
Big Ten play
with an 11-2 record, itseemed as if
the junior was correct. The Wol-
verines hung with then-No. 8 Syr-
acuse in Atlantic City, they also
forced No. 3 Kansas into overtime
at Crisler Arena and, in the same
week, they lost to now-No.I Ohio
Statehbyjust four points.
But things changed. The Wol-
verines were blown out at Assem-
bly Hall by Indiana - who hadn't
won a conference game at that
point. After that, John Shurna,
who couldn't jump because of a
high-ankle sprain, led a strug-
gling Northwestern squad to vic-
tory after scoring 24 points on a
Wolverine defense that left their
dignityback inBloomington.
Expectations lessened.
Then when things seemed as
if they couldn't get any worse,
Michiganlostto No.15 Minnesota
athome.
Unfortunately for Michigan
- a team that starts three fresh-
men, a sophomore and a junior
- its youthfulness was exposed,
to the tune of six-straight losses.
Heading into East Lansing to face
Michigan State, we all thought
Michigan had learned how to lose.
How could Novak ever think
that youth, of all things, would
actually propel a team to upsets
over top-25 programs, or a rival
like the Spartans? Novak was
the one who had set his expecta-
tions too high. But on Thursday
night at around 9:30 p.m., I bit my
tongue. As the buzzer sounded
and Michigan State fans began
to pick fights with those wearing
maize andblue, mytongue fell out
of my mouth because of how hard
I bit it.
The Wolverines beat the Spar-
tans 61-57 in East Lansing on
Thursday. It was the first time
Michigan had defeated Michigan
State at the Breslin Center since
1997.I, and manyothers, ruledthe
Wolverines out of this one before
it even started.
I had an entire article writ-
ten as if Michigan lost its seventh
straight game. In fact, I was about
to call Novak out for thinking this
young team could hang with the
big boys of the Big Ten. The same
Novak that notched a team-high
19 points to cash in the upset bid,
the same Novak that scored the
first four 3-pointers he shot on
Thursday, the same Novak that let
me know I was terribly wrong for
passing judgment onthisteamtoo
soon.
Novak said before the Michi-
gan State game that this team
needs to get back ontrack, he even
said how great it would be for the
Wolverines' realignment to come
from beating the Spartans - a
program he said he hates more
than any other.
But not many, includingmyself,
gave Michigan a shot. I mean, do
you blame me? The Wolverines
came in having not beaten the
Spartans in 1181 days. For good-
ness sakes, it wasn't even a gam-
ble, it was a promise.
To my disbelief, the Wolverines
shot SO percent from the field and
48 percent from 3-point range,
Michigan's defense forced 12
turnovers and Wolverine guard
Tim Hardaway Jr. collected a
team-higheight rebounds - more
than Michigan State's Draymond
Green. Michigan did everything
in this one game that it hadn't
done in its last six - it played
sound basketball.
So while I sat in an empty Bre-
slin Center, I asked myself one
question(actuallyIthoughtofone
question because I couldn't speak
since my tongue was still in the
bleachers) - was this a fluke or is
this the start of a new Michigan
team?
And as I was about to write
another 200 wordsato answer that
question, Michigan basketball
Sports Information Director Tom
Wywrot jokingly said, "so much
for your pregame video." He was
referring to the video in which
I predicted Michigan would be
obliterated by the Spartans. At
that point I hit the backspace
button a few times and realized
I couldn't answer that question.
And I shouldn't at this point,
because there's a whole lot of bas-
ketball left.
Because of Thursday night's
upset, I have no idea of what to
expect from this team in the sec-
ond half of their Big Ten season.
But there is one thing I did learn:
don't make expectations, period.
Novak may have been right, you
never know what to expect from a
young teamlike this one.
Tom was right; I'm the naive
one.
give Michigan a five point lead
with under 20 seconds.
"(I've hit) some big shots
(before), but for the situation,
the location and time of season
and just the team that we have,
it was a big shot," said Douglass,
who said he knew it was going in
when it left his hands.
Because when the two teams
face off against each other at
Crisler Arena, that will be the
number of days since a Spartan
team has defeated the Michigan
men's basketball team.
See a multimedia piece about
R this story on MichiganDaily.com
Sheffer's big night gives 'M' series sweep of Buckeyes
ByKEVIN RAFTERY
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - The Michigan
women's basketball team defied
history last night.
After trailing by 14 points early
in the second half, the Wolverines
climbed
all the way MICHIGAN 69
back to beat OHIO STATE 66
the six-
time defending Big Ten champion
Buckeyes, 69-66. It was the first
time in Michigan women's bas-
ketball history that they swept the
two-game season series with Ohio
State.
With the Buckeyes' 6-foot-4,
two-time All American Jantel
Lavender lurking in the post,
Michigan knew it would have to
key its defense down low.
And for the most part, the Wol-
verines succeeded. Lavender was
held to just 10 points, which ties
her career low for points in agame.
Michigan hounded her in the post
all night long, often putting three
or four defenders in her face as
soon as she touched the ball.
"It's frustrating when you can't
do what you like doing," Lavender
said after the game. "And (it's frus-
trating when) it's not really hap-
pening throughout the course of
the game."
But in the first half, it didn't
matter what Michigan did defen-
sively.
Ohio State junior guard Saman-
tha Prahalis, was absolutely
unstoppable, going 7-7 from the
field (5-5 from deep) en route to a
19-point first half.
"She was the X factor in the first
half," Michigan coach Kevin Bors-
eth said. "She was hitting step-
backs, she was hitting pull-ups,
taking it right at us - she was hot
as a pistol"
But Michigan has a few shoot-
ers of its own and they weren't
willing to let Prahalis steal the
show completely.
Sophomore forward Rachel
Sheffer, junior guard Courtney
Boylan, senior guard Veronica
Hicks and sophomore forward
Kate Thompson all had two
3-pointers in the first half.
The Wolverines shot 67 percent
from behind the arc in the first
frame. They still went into the
break down 46-33.
"I thought we did a pretty good
job for the most part in the first
half," Michigan coach Kevin Bors-
eth said. "At times we got a little bit
nervous, a little bit anxious offen-
sively and turned the ball over.
"I just thought in the second
half if we could get to the free
throw line, continue doing what
we're doing and get to Prahalis a
bit, we'd have a chance."
To start the second half, Ohio
State started hot from deep once
again. After Sheffer hit two free
throws, Ohio State senior guard
Brittany Johnson drilled her third
3-pointer of the contest to give the
Buckeyes a 14-point lead - their
biggest of the game.
But from there, Michigan went
on a run of its own. After a pair of
free throws by junior guard Car-
men Reynolds, an Ohio native,
Sheffer went on a tear, scoring
eight straight points. Her 3-point-
er with 14 minutes to go cut the
Ohio State lead to just four.
Suddenly, it was an entire differ-
ent ball game. The Buckeyes were
wary of a Wolverine comeback.
They became stagnant on offense,
often settling for a contested jump
shot rather than looking into the
post. Michigan took the Buckeyes
right out of their gameplan.
"If you look at the difference
between what they did and what
we did, you'll see that they hit ten
threes," Ohio State coach Jim Fos-
ter said. "But they never forgot the
post."
The Wolverines kept the game
within reach for the rest of the
game. After a jumper by Hicks
with 2:12 remaining, they found
themselves down by just two.
"We just wanted to stay with
it," Borseth said. "We knew if we
stayed close, got stops, and took
JAMES WEAVER/Daily
Sophomore forward Rachel Sheffer scored a career-high 23 points in the Wolverines' 69-66 win over Ohio State.
care of it, (we would have a good
chance to win the game)."
And Michigan did all three of
those things. After Prahalis hit a
jumper to increase the lead to four,
Sheffer made what was arguably
the best move of her career.
With Lavender guarding her,
the 6-foot-1 Sheffer received the
ball deep in the post with her back
to the rim, spun to her right and
converted the left-handed layup
with Lavender in her face - and
she was fouled on the play. She hit they wouldn't relinquish.
the freebie to cut the lead to one. After Ohio State guard Alison
After a defensive stop, Sheffer Jackson - who was only in the
was fouled again with 29 seconds game because Prahalis fouled
remaining. Once again, she nailed out-missed two free throws with
the two shots. 3 seconds remaining, the victory
"Just like every day in practice," was all but sealed.
she said. "Make them, you know. Michigan wrapped up its first
No pressure really." victory in Columbus since 2001.
The two from the charity stripe "The team fought," Hicks said.
gave the Wolverines their first lead "When it got to a three-point game
of the game since early in the sec- ... I was like, 'We're gonna win
ond half. This time, it was a lead this."'
A