8 - Friday, February 4, 2011
Th Mchga Dil -mihianaiy Io
Blue will catch
Ohio State
soon enough
CHRISDZOMBACK/aily
Freshman guard Tim HardawayJr. led the Wolverines with his 15 points on 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
Michigan's upset bid falls short
against top-ranked Buckeyes
By BEN ESTES try and take our shooters away
Daily Sports Writer from it, and (to) try to sag off our
big men," Morris said. "(Fresh-
COLUMBUS - The scene was man forward Jared) Sullinger
all too familiar. was at the hole justwaiting for me
For the second straight Thurs- if I did break down the defense ...
day, the Michigan men's basket- They really wanted to take our
ball team found itself in a hated shooters out of the game and
rival's arena, clinging to a lead make us dribble drive. That's why
and hoping to outlast the more sometimes our offense was just at
powerful home team. a standstill."
But this time - unlike in East Michigan did most of its dam-
Lansing - the Wolverines fell age in transition in the first
short. frame, capitalizing on 10 Ohio
No. 1 Ohio State recovered State turnovers and plenty of
from a three-point halftime defi- missed shots -'the Buckeyes shot
cit to defeat Michigan, 62-53, at just 9-for-25 from the field in the
Value City Arena. Similar to the first half.
two teams' previous matchup this Ohio State had open shoot-
season - a 68-64 Buckeye victory ers on the wing often in the first
- play was evenly matched for half. The Wolverines sent help
most of tiegame. against Sullinger in the post, and
Ohio State (10-0 Big Ten, 23-0 the freshman easily passed out of
overall) opened the game on a 7-0 double teams to feed the shooters
run, and the skittish Wolverines on the perimeter. But the home
looked like they would be run out team hesitated on some opportu-
of the gym. But Michigan stayed nities and missed several more,
composed, despite the raucous going just 2-for-8 from 3-point
crowd, quieting it with bucket range in the half.
after bucket and prevented the But after the break, Sullinger
Buckeyes from going on a run. went back to work down low.
Sophomore point guard Darius "We just took our intensity
Morris created his own offense to another level," Sullinger said.
when the Wolverines (3-7, 13-10) "We know that it's Michigan,
went stagnant in their sets, which and they were going to give their
happened often against Ohio toughest game. We knew about
State's tough defense. the rivalry, and we just had to
"They had a great gameplan to take it to another level."
Michigan quickly got into
foul trouble, with Morris, junior
guard Zack Novak and freshman
forward Evan Smotrycz picking
up their third fouls with 14:20
still left in the game.
The Wolverines had to reign
in their aggression defending the
post, allowing Sullinger to easily
score over the guards who came
down from the perimeter to help
hinder him.
After the game, Michigan
coach John Beilein compared the
freshman superstar to former
Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin,
who dominated the Wolverines in
the NCAA Tournament two sea-
sons ago.
"When you're guarding the
length and the quicknessthat they
have, and when you're guarding
Jared Sullinger, it is very hard to
guard him and stop him without
fouling," Beilein said. "You're
looking at the No. 1 team in the
country. You're looking at a team
that really has a great plan, (and)
they're trying to get the ball to the
right people."
Though Michigan managed to
hold Sullinger to just 12 points in
Ohio State's win at Crisler Arena
on Jan. 12, this time around the
forward exploded for 19 points
and 15 rebounds.
And Ohio State quickly reached
the bonus in the second frame.
The Buckeyes went just 15-for-25
from the foul line for the game,
while the Wolverines had just
four attempts.
Guard William Buford's
3-pointer with 11:34 left in the
game capped another 7-0 Ohio
State run and allowed the Buck-
eyes to firmly establish momen-
tum after an up-and-down start
to the second half.
"We knew they were going
to come out with a momentum
shift," freshman guard Tim
Hardaway Jr. said. "It was just
how we could (respond to) it.
(Against) Michigan State, we did
a great job capitalizing on it and
weren't getting discouraged. But
things go that way."
Michigan - hampered by its
inability to execute its gameplan
on defense - found itself stum-
bling yet again on thesother end.
Redshirt freshman forward Jor-
dan Morgan had 10 second-half
points, but more often than not,
the Buckeyes stymied the pick-
and-roll attack that they forced
the Wolverines into.
"We tried to make more
adjustments about how they
were playing us," Beilein said.
"They did a great job. They took
us out of some things that more
experienced players would be
able to adapt to. We did not do it
well."
COLUMBUS -
f only John Beilein had a
fast forward button.
Thursday LUKE
night's PASCH
matchup
between the On Men's
Wolverines Basketball
and the
top-ranked Buckeyes was yet
another sign that it just isn't
Michigan's year to shine onthe
hardwood.
Beilein's squad didn't play a
polished game of basketball - not
even close. In Michigan's 62-53
loss to Ohio State, the Wolverines
were just 6-for-19 from beyond
the arc. They lost the rebounding
battle yet again. They finished
with more turnovers than assists.
And they picked up a whopping
23 team fouls - the team's Achil-
les heel all'nightlong.
Butcould you have really
expected anything different?
The man-to-man matchups in
this game were justosilly - it was
hard not to laugh outloud during
the team introductions. Redshirt
freshman forward Jordan Mor-
gan on senior Dallas Lauderdale.
Freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. on
senior David Lighty. Freshman
forward Evan Smotrycz on fresh-
man center Jared Sullinger.
I'm not kidding - that last
one actually happened. The
slow-footed, relatively unathletic
Smotrycz was expectedto lock
down 6-foot-9, 280-pound player-
of-the-year candidate Jared Sull-
inger. Yeah, likethatwas goingcto
happen.
It didn't matter much when
Smotrycz had help either. Late in
the first half, Sullingerstreaked
to the hoop, and senior William
Buford lofted an alley-oop pass
from the perimeter. Michigan
junior guard Zack Novak eased
off his man to step in front of the
play, onlyto getposterized and
have Sullinger's feet dangling in
his face as the Columbus native
hung on the rim for what seemed
like ten seconds.
I know you'rectired of hearing
this. In fact, I'm tired of saying
it. And I'm tired ofgBeilein saying
it. But itsjust the fact: Michigan
is young - too young to beat the
Buckeyes this year, along with a
number of other experienced Big
Ten teams.
But here's something different,
something constructive.
In Beilein's eyes, and in mine,
the Wolverines are built to win
this battle inthe long run. I'm
telling you this because it's hard
to see it without going into the
locker room after games. It's
not something you notice from
a baseline seat in the Maize
Rage, or from your couch as you
watch Sullinger rack up 19 points
against Michigan on ESPN.
One year from now, the Wol-
verines will winthis game.
After this season, Ohio State
will bode farewell to an incred-
ibly talented senior class. Bye-bye
Lauderdale. Bye-bye Lighty.
Bye-bye Jon Diebler. And at that
point, why would Sullinger stay?
Bye-bye Jared Sullinger, have fun
in the NBA.
That'snot to saythe Buck-
eyes are going to be pushovers,
as freshmen forward Deshaun
Thomas and point guard Aaron
Craft are well on their way to
becoming premiere Big Ten tal-
ents. But all of a sudden,cthey'll
only have one senior in Buford
(There are two, actuallybuthave
you ever heard of Lenzelle Smith
Jr.? Yeah, me neither).
Then, you look at the Wolver-
ines, who will do nothing but
welcome new faces to next year's
squad. Everybody will be a year
older. Nobody is leaving.
Here's what will happen next
winter: Michigan's young front-
court defense will learnto be in
the right position more often, so
Smotrycz and Hardaway won't
combine for nine fouls. Morgan
will learn that he's too under-
sized to go straight up to the
hoop, so he'll show offsome more
polished post moves to score.
Sophomore pointguard Darius
Morris will learn that he can't
always score by dribbling into
traffic, so he won't turn the ball
over six times.
Oh, and something you may
not have seen on ESPN - Michi-
gan commitTreyBurke, one
of the nation's top point guard
recruits, was decked out in maize
and blue at a hostile Value City
Arena.
When Iasked Beilein about
his conversation with Burke
after the game, he didn't tell me
much. But the ear-to-ear grin on
his face was all I needed to see.
Michigan's future is bright.
Beilein knows it. Ohio State
coach Thad Matta knows it. I
know it.
And soon, everyone will know
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Penn State overwhelms Michigan lacks aggression,
'M'to stay in first place offense struggles in loss
v i
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Writer
Late in the firsthalf, the Mich-
igan women's basketball team
trailed Penn State by just three
points
despite PENN STATE 81
being rid- MICHIGAN 63
died for
15 minutes with lethargic play.
Sophomore guard Jenny Ryan
had just hit a 3-pointer, and the
Wolverines seemed to be right
back in the game, their early
struggles notwithstanding.
110 seconds later, they were
down by 10.
It was that kind of night for
Michigan.
The Wolverines took a beat-
ing from Penn State on Thurs-
day night, losing 81-63 in a game
where they looked stagnant from
the opening tip. Michigan (6-4
Big Ten, 13-9 overall) had an
outside chance to pull into first
place in the Big Ten with a vic-
tory, but instead fell into atie for
fourth with Purdue.
Apart from their 3-point
shooting, the Wolverines played
a solid game on offense. They
shot a dismal 27 percent from
downtown in the first half, but
were able to find easy shotsunder
the basket. Michigan's back-
court of junior Courtney Boylan
and senior Veronica Hicks each
scored 10 points on the game,
even with intense defensive
pressure from the Nittany Lions.
Sophomore forward Rachel
Sheffer led the team in scoring
for the third straight game with
13 points-most of those coming
off close shots on dishes from
Ryan. She finished with seven
assists and eight points, freeing
up an abundance of open perim-
eter shots. The issue, however,
was that Michigan wasn't mak-
ing them.
"I honestly just think we
couldn't hit shots," Boylan said
after the game. "It just seems
like we hit those shots on a regu-
lar basis, and in the games we're
winning, we seem to hit them
and tonight, it just didn't hap-
pen."
Offense wasn't the most glar-
ing issue for Michigan, though.
Penn State (8-2, 19-5) and its
vaunted offense came into the
contest averaging 80 points per
game, and it was clear why from
the get go.
When Michigan scored or
gained momentum, Penn State
often responded with a bucket of
its own.
"It seemed to me like we were
stuck in the mud," Michigan
coach Kevin Borseth said. "They
just did whatever they wanted to
on the offensive end of the floor."
Penn State shot 57 percent
from the floor, including an
astounding 68 percent in the sec-
ond half to put the game away.
Even in the rare occasion that
the Nittany Lions missed, their
post players still did a good job of
cleaning up the boards, scoring
14 points off offensive rebounds.
Five Penn State players scored
in the double digits, but none was
more impressive than freshman
guard Maggie Lucas. She scored
agame-high 23 points, punishing
the Michigan defense any time it
made even the tiniest mistake.
"We flew at (Lucas) probably
more times than we wanted to,"
Borseth said. "Every time we
flew at her, she did one dribble,
pulled up and boom. They can
really pull up and shoot, that's
what they're good at."
The Nittany Lions proved they
are in first place for a reason.
"They hit a lot of shots obvi-
ously; we gave them a lot of
shots," Borseth said. "But they're
really good."
Michigan has a quick turn-
around, playing Illinois at home
on Sunday, in a game that will be
very important for the Wolver-
ines' Big Ten standing.
"We just need to go back in the
gym, get our confidence back and
work at it," Hicks said.
Michigan shot just
44 percent against
Nittany Lions
By CAITLIN SMITH
Daily Sports Writer
Sophomoreguard Kate Thomp-
son went to the line to shoot two
free throws with 0.1 seconds left
on the game clock. She hit both,
but the two points were a mere
dent in the Wolverines' then-20
point deficit.
Her last second freebies
were two of just four free throw
attempts in Michigan's 81-63 loss
to Big Ten leader Penn State.
The negligible amount of the
Wolverines' trips to the charity
stripe could easily be explained
by a lack of aggression. Michigan
could've used those extra points
at the line; it just didn't have the
opportunity.
"It can be taken a bunch of dif-
ferentways," seniorguardVeroni-
ca Hicks said after the game.
"Maybe it's lack of aggression,
maybe it's notgettingtwofeetand
making the refs call the foul. It's
somethingwe'llhave tolook at the
film more and see what we could
do better in that area."
The Wolverines were stagnant
on offense all night. Junior guard
Courtney Boylan made the first
shot oft
only tin
the lead
TheI
nexttw
to exten
gin fror
As t
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percent
the game, but that was the game.
me Michigan would hold Credit should be given to Penn
. State, though, for being the top
Nittany Lions sunk their team in the Big Ten - leading the
ofieldgoals and continued conference in scoring, field goal
nd their comfortable mar- percentage and steals, and boast-
m there. ing a freshman guard in Maggie
hey shot just 44 percent Lucas, who made 23 points in the
he floor on the night, the contest and dominated the Wol-
ines were hurt even more verines. Michigan couldn't keep
rlack of aggressive play on up with Lucas simply because it
rds. missed its open shots and didn't
display its usual aggressive
spunk that draws the fouls.
.ou ye ott iBut in all reality, the Nittany
Lions did not out-play the Wol-
able to make verines. Michigan just simply
didn'tshow up.
hots and we "(Penn State) didn't do any-
thing defensively to disrupt
didn't." us, the only disruption we had
is what we caused ourselves,"
Michigan coach Kevin Borseth
said.
igan grabbed just four "In a game like this you've got
ve rebounds, culminating to be able to make shots and we
re 22 boards compared to didn't make them."
tate's 39. The Wolverines The Wolverines struggled in
displayed such a poor numerous aspects of the game,
ding game since early in but the fact that they couldn't hit a
son against Texas A&M shot - or get to the charity stripe
vier, who were ranked at - handed Michigan its second
e. straight Big Ten loss.
Nittany Lions capitalized "We want to get to the free
higan's stagnant play, tal- throw line obviously," Borseth
points off both turnovers said. "We want to put the ball on
ffensive rebounds. And the floor and get there, but it's a
tate shot an outrageous 68 physical game and you need to I
in the second half of the create some ofthatto getthere."