The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com February 72011 -3B The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom February 7, 2011 - 3B MEN'S BASKETBALL BIG TEN ROUNDUP Here's what's happened in Big Ten basketball this past week. SUNDAY FEB. 6 Michigan 65 at Penn State 62 Michigan State 56 at No.18 Wisconsin 82 No.1 Ohio State 82 at Minnesota 69 SATURDAY FEB. 5 No. 24 Illinois 70 at Northwestern 71 Iowa 64 at Indiana 63 THURSDAY FEB. 3 Michigan 53 at No.1 Ohio State 62 WEDNESDAY FEB. 2 Michigan State 52 at Iowa 72 No. 20 Minnesota 57 at Indiana 60 TUESDAY FEB.1 Penn State 51 at No. 24 Illinois 68 No.10 Purdue 59 at No.18 Wisconsin 66 BIG TEN STANDINGS 1) No.1 Ohio State (11-0) 2) No. 19 Wisconsin (7-3) 3) No.11 Purdue (7-3) 4) Illinois (5-5) 5) Penn State (5-6) 6) Michigan State (5-6) 7) No.18 Minnesota (5-6) 8) Northwestern (4-7) 9) Michigan (4-7) 10) Iowa (3-8) 11) Indiana (3-8) ICE HOCKEY CCHA ROUNDUP Here's what's happened in CCHA hockey this past week. SATURDAY FEB. 5 No. 9 Michigan 0 at No.13 Miami 3 Michigan State 2 at Ohio State 4 Bowling Green 1 at Western Michigan 3 Lake Superior 2 at Northern Michigan 0 Ferris State 2 at Alaska 1 FRIDAY FEB. 4 No. 9 Michigan 2 at No.13 Miami 4 Michigan State 2 at Ohio State 0 Bowling Green 1 at Western Michigan 1 Lake Superior 4 at Northern Michigan 1 CCHA STANDINGS 1) No.13 Miami (45 pts.) 2) No. 10 Notre Dame (44 pts.) 3) No. 9 Michigan (43 pts.) 4) Western Michigan (39 pts.) 5) Ferris State (35 pts.) 6) Alaska (33 pts.) 7t.) Lake Superior State (31 pts.) 7t.) Ohio State (31 pts.) 9) Northern Michigan (29 pts.) 10) Michigan State (26 pts.) 11) Bowling Green (13 pts,) PENN STATE From Page 1B said. "It wasn't a time for me to be sad for myself ... it was (motivation). This is the Big Ten - you take hits like that. It's not the football side of the Big Ten, but it's real physical." Penn State (5-6, 12-10) recaptured the momentum and led by as many as 10 points in the second half. At that point, Morris wasn't capable of carrying the team on his shoulders anymore - but he didn't need to. With about seven minutes remaining in the game and the Wolverines trailing by six, freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr. stole the ball and took it to the hoop on a fast break, scoring his first points of the afternoon. Hardaway Jr. finished it by converting a foul shot to make it a three-point play. He ended the game with 13 points - all of which came in the 0 second half, as the freshman played just Michigan disappoints against Nittany Lions By DANIEL WASSERMAN Daily Sports Writer The Michigan wrestling team showed this weekend that it belongs among the nation's best. But Sunday's meet against No. 3 Penn State also showed the 13th-ranked Wol- verines (5-1 Big Ten, 10-3 overall) that they aren't quite in the Nittany Lions' league. After a commanding 26-9 victory over No. 6 Wisconsin in Madison on Friday, Michigan was outclassed by Penn State on Sunday, losing28-13. "I felt we wrestled really well Friday night," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said Sunday. "To be honest, I think we needed to wrestle tougher in situa- tions against Penn State. You can't give up three pins and a major decision and expect to beat a good team. It's unfor- tunate and a little disappointing, but we need to rebound and take something from this." SPECIAL TEAMS From Page lB "I can't figure it out," Michigan coach Red Berenson said after Saturday's game. "We're one of the least penalized teams in the league andthey mightbe one of the more penalized, and who gets all of the penalties (in) the first half of the game when the game's on the line? That's the story of the game." The Wolverines went 0-for-10 on the power play in the series, getting just nine shots combined onthose man-advantages. Even when Michigan pulled its goalie For every sour feeling the Wolverines were left with on Sunday, they had an equally positive Fridaynight. In a night of upsets, redshirt junior Justin Zeerip got Michigan started by squeaking past the Badgers' No. 12 Ben Jordan. Wisconsin (0-3-1, 9-3-1) and Michigan would split the next four matches. Red- shirt sophomore Ben Apland defeated the Badgers' No.11 Eric Bugenhagen, and sophomore Sean Boyle followed suit with awin of his own. Wisconsin pulled even at 9-9, but that was as close as it would get. Redshirt junior Kellen Russell and redshirt freshman Eric Grajales each won in major decisions, 10-2 and 11-3, respectively. Russell - ranked No.l in the 141-pound class - started a four-match win streak for the Wolverines to close the meet. Redshirt freshmen Brandon Zeerip and Dan Yates picked up the final two wins. in the closing minutes on Friday, it had trouble. With the six-on-five advantage, the Wolverines had four shots blocked before Cannone took one of those blocks the other way and tapped in the goal on the empty-net breakaway. Miami's game-tying and game-win- ning goals Friday - in addition to Can- none's goal on Saturday - were with the extra man. "Their power play is better than ours," Berenson said. "It's as simple as that." Looking at the players involved, that little pass by Miele was an even more accurate representation of the weekend than it appears. Miele and Cannone com- Despite riding the momentum that comes with a six-game win streak - four of which came over ranked teams - the Wolverines were unable to withstand the pressure of facing powerhouse Penn State. The Nittany Lions (3-2, 13-2) were No. 1 until falling to No. 3 this week after back-to-back losses. From the get-go,it was Penn State who seemed to want it more. "I think we got a little out-wrestled," Russell said Sunday. "People weren't wrestling as hard as they could in this match. I'd rather have it right now than next weekend. Hopefully we'll take this in, we'll digestit and work hard all week." Despite scoring on a takedown in the meet's opening seconds, junior Zac Ste- vens was thoroughly dominated,losing in a major decision. Russell won in dramatic fashion to extend his win streak to 28 and improve to 27-0 on the season. Matched up against Penn State's No. 7 Andrew Alton, who Russell has narrowly bined for nine points on the series and were involved in all seven goals Miami scored this weekend. Miele scored the game-tying goal on Friday. Cannone set up the game winner by making a deke on junior defenseman Greg Pateryn that will go on the Red- Hawk's season-ending highlight reel. Berenson summed up Miami's seven goals in two offensive outbursts as con- cise as possible: "Their best players were their best players." The sweep vaulted the RedHawks (13- 7-4-2 CCHA, 16-9-5 overall) into first place and dropped Michigan into third behind idle Notre Dame. The Wolverines DEFENSE From Page 1B Friday's loss was due to a three-goal third period comeback by the RedHawks - Michigan had previously been unde- feated, 15-0-3, when carrying a lead into the final frame. "We just have to play a full 60 minutes and we can't give their players time," sophomore forward A.J. Treais said after Friday's game. "They have two or three of the best players in the country and you can't give that guy time and space or they're goingto make plays, and that's what they did." The late-game defensive mishapswere captured perfectly in the RedHawks' game-winning goal on Friday. With just over four minutes left in regulation, Miami's Pat Connone entered the Michigan zone, and right when junior defenseman Greg Pateryn approached him with a challenge, Cononne pulled the puck back and darted around him with a flourish. With Pateryn beat, Can- defeated in two previous matches this year, Russell needed overtime to win, 3-1. With the score just 1-1 heading into overtime, Russell wasn't thinking about losingeither the match or the streak. "If you think like that then you're going to lose, bottom line," Russell said. "The whole time, I knew I was going to win. I was just trying to look for that opportunity to win.You're always glad to get out of that one (with a win), but there's always stuff you can improve on." But after Russell, the Nittany Lions controlled the rest of the bout. Penn State would take four of the next five matches - two of which were pins - to build an insurmountable 22-6 lead. Yates pulled off Michigan's lone win in that span. The Wolverines were able to finish the meet on a bit of a bright spot, as fifth- year senior Anthony Biondo and Boyle recorded victories. Boyle, who's won his last four matches, wasone of Michigan's lone wbright spots on the weekend. (14-7-1-0,17-9-4) have now lost three in a row after their loss to Michigan State last Saturday. Though the Wolverines do have two games in hand on Miami, they lost their games in hand with second-place Notre Dame by getting swept this weekend. "I think everyone's, somehow, looking at (the standings)," Hagelin said. "From now on, we're going to do everything we can to beat those guys, but at the same time they have to lose some games ... We have to prepare for every game like it's a playoff game." One 30-foot pass, one long bus trip home. none fed the puck across on a dime to Matt Tomassoni, who shoveled it into the net for the game winner. "If you're a forward, you say that's a good move - if you're a defenseman, you say that's a terrible move," Berenson said of Cononne's deke. "(Pateryn) missed him completely, you can't do that. You can't do that. You can't get beat. That goal really turned the tide." ThoughMichiganwasoutscored7-2 on the weekend, the deficit could have been much worse if not for stiff goaltending by Hunwick, who kept the Wolverines with- in fighting distance duringwhatBerenson described as a "shooting gallery" late in his 28-save performance on Friday. With the CCHA lead hanging in the balance, Michigan will not only need good goaltending, but it will also need to cut down on the number ofshooting gal- leries down the stretch. "Defense first ... just make sure that all the small things and all the details, play simple hockey," Hagelin said. "That's what we do when we play our best - everyone's got to chip in." Senior Carl Hagelin plays against lowa at Crisler Arena on January 30, 2011 verines defeated lowa, 87-73. FLOREK From Page 1B ther, I'll ask another question. When's the last time, somebody, literally any- body, on the Michigan team scored on a breakaway? It has been a problem all season. Michigan has no one who can create instant offense. Fortunately for the Wolverines, they have covered it up with their depth and timely scoring to remain near the top of the conference standings. Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe the Wolverines can ride their depth and timely scoring from the blue line to the Frozen Four. They were one whistled-off goal away from getting there a year ago with a similar situation. But at the risk of turningthis col- umn into a game of 20 Questions, do three minutes in the first frame due to foul trouble. "Motivation was key in that (half)," Hardaway Jr. said. "I just saw how my teammates were playing and just said, 'Darius (Morris) can't be the only one going to the lane and Matt Vogrich com- ing off the bench for me can't be the only one hitting open shots."' Hardaway Jr.'s scoring spurt trig- gered the comeback and Michigan knotted the game at 53 points with 4:40 left. Morris then hit a jumper and a layup to put his team ahead by two points. His roommate Jordan Morgan - who tallied a career-high 11 rebounds - practically sealed the contest with a monster dunk seconds later, giving the Wolverines all the momentum and a three-point lead. Keeping it within two possessions for the last two minutes, Penn State made it a game. The Wolverine bench players started biting their finger- nails when Morris got the ball on a fast break. But with the team only up by you think Michigan can make a second consecutive run through the postsea- son, without being down late in the game and needing a player to step up and score? The Miami series exposed Michigan's lack of a top-tier play maker. Michigan State coach Rick Comley called Michi- gan "the best team in the country top to bottom," after its game last week. But it didn't take much more than one guy to beat the top-to-bottom Wolverines. "I think that Miele guy, he's the only one who can really do things himself," Hagelin said. "Other than that, they're not a great offensive team." In this case, one isa lot more than none. - Florek thinks Hagelin is more like Luis Mendoza than Adam Banks. He can be reached at florekmi@umich.edu. five points, he decided not to shoot it and instead held onto the ball to con- trol the tempo. After being fouled, Morris missed his ensuing free throw, and Penn State had eight seconds to get back on offense and knot the game up with a 3-pointer. But Nittany Lion guard Tim Frazier was injured in transition, and with just four players on the offensive end, Penn State blew its opportunity. Michigan was able to pull out the win despite Morris's lapse of judgment. "How about that?" Beilein said. "You know what (Morris) said to me? He was trying to be classy, like (how) you don't run up the score when you're up ten. He was trying to just dribble it out and not show them up. (You don't do that) when you're up five." Beilein said that stunt will serve as something this youthful Wolverine team learns from. Michigan will return home to Crisler Arena to take on Northwest- ern this Wednesday in hopes of garner- ing its fifth conference win. S a l a t I-emi- 004 { 10 ye. H--. g F.ESprBoRe -ier~ 19an 'Ja M A Sa dy erary