8A -- Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Badgers bank three at buzzer to thwart
upset bid, put 'M' tourney hopes in doubt
By ZAK PYZIK
Daily Sports Editor
For 39 minutes and 54 sec-
onds, the Wolverines beat No. 12
Wisconsin last night.
In the other six seconds, the
Badgers hit a buzzer beater to
beat the WISCONSIN 53
Michigan MICHIGAN 52
men's bas-
ketball team, 53-52, at Crisler
Arena.
Wisconsin guard Jordan Tay-
lor received the inbound, but
after being double teamed, he
passed it to teammate and fresh-
man Josh Gasser. He banked in a
3-pointer with Michigan guard
Stu Douglass's hand in his face to
spoil Michigan's upset bid.
"We had them," sophomore
guard Matt Vogrich said. "We
had them for so long. We had
momentum. But then something
like that happens. It's just not a
good feeling, especially when
you're that close. It was like
what, five seconds?"
An upset against Wisconsin
was exactly what the Wolverines
needed to get onthe bubble of the
NCAA Tournament. And with
less than a minute remaining,
sophomore guard Darius Mor-
ris went to the free-throw line
with the chance to seal the deal
by netting two foul shots on his
one-and-one opportunity.
But Morris missed his first
shot from the charity stripe and
the Badgers had possession with
about 20 seconds left. With three
fouls to give, the Wolverines
fouled Taylor on three-straight
inbound plays to leave Wiscon-
MAX cOLLINS/Daily
No.12 Wisconsin celebrates the close win over the Wolverines, who are running out of time to make a tournament run.
sin with just 6.9 seconds left -
enough time to make one last
shot.
"The game was coming down
to these last few possessions,"
sophomore guard Eso Akunne
said. "Wisconsin's known for
shooting solid. We just didn't
want to give them (an opportu-
nity) to get an uncontested shot."
"Gasser took it out, (freshman
guard Tim Hardaway Jr.) was
guarding Gasser and I switched
with Tim," Douglass said. "Tay-
lor was going to go back to his
right hand - that's what he likes.
He did, I touched the ball, and he
just ripped it out and found Gas-
ser spaced while I was trying to
reach in."
After maintaining a comfort-
able lead for most of the first half,
Michigan went into the locker
room at halftime with a 31-30
Your
Class of 2011
design here
advantage. Two dunks from red-
shirt freshman Jordan Morgan,
one from Hardaway Jr. and two
3-pointers from Hardaway Jr.
gave Michigan all the momen-
tum it needed in the first stanza.
But halftime doomed the Wol-
verines. Though they started
with a 3-pointer from Douglass,
Wisconsin slowed down the
game and exchanged leads with
Michigan.
The Wolverines shot 35 per-
cent from the field in the sec-
ond half, which allowed the
Badgers to dictate the games
tempo and use coach Bo Ryan's
offense to its full potential -
suck the shot clock dry, score
at the buzzer and get offensive
rebounds on any misses to kill
its opposing team's momentum.
Wisconsin shot just 32 per-
cent in the second half but
outrebounded the Wolverines,
32-30 - the Badgers collected
nine offensive boards to Michi-
gan's two.
"A lot of balls fell in their
hands," Vogrich said. "They
rebounded, it kind of kills you.
They miss a shot and then they
rebound and make the next
one. We just have to keep our
heads up."
Using the home crowd to its
advantage, Michigan swapped
leads with Wisconsin 10 times.
The Wolverines stayed in the
game until the final minutes
but the Badgers found a way to
win.
Taylor provided the most
problems for the Wolverines,
recording the game-winning
assist and scoring a game-high
20 points.
The Wolverines would have
taken fourth place with a vic-
tory against the Badgers which
would theoretically put them
on the bubble of an NCAA
Tournament postseason. But
instead, they fell to seventh
place in the conference stand-
ings.
Michigan takes on Min-
nesota on Saturday, hoping to
regroup from a devastating loss
at the buzzer.
"Each time you lose that
opportunity (to get into the
NCAA Tournament) you've got
to beat somebody else to make
up for it," Michigan coach John
Beilein said. "It comes down to
a numbers game a little bit ...
close doesn't count."
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Michigan ans
should embrace
the pain
E mbrace it - that's what The Wolverines held Wis-
Michigan coach John consin to 17 points under its
Beilein said to his team season average in scoring, near-
after the No. ly 10 percent under its shooting
12 Wiscon- percentage and only allowed
sin men's the Badgers to get to the line
basketball three times, when normally
team came they get there 13 times.
from behind Embrace the fact that the
to beat the 12th-ranked team in the coun-
Wolverines, try needed a blessing from God
53-52. and the glass to beat a team
Junior CHANTEL that was expected to finish at
Stu Doug- JENNINGS the bottom of the Big Ten, but
lass sat on clawed its way to the middle of
the baseline, the conference.
his hands covering his face, his The undersized and less
body collapsing to the floor as experienced Michigan post
shock rushed through his body. contingent outscored Wiscon-
As he relived a nightmare. sin in the paint. Redshirt fresh-
Embrace it. man Jordan Morgan dunked
Freshman Tim Hardaway twice.
Jr. - mouthguard nearly fall- Embrace the fact that two
ing out of his mouth, jaw stuck leading scorers - Morgan and
open, arms wilted at the side Hardaway Jr. - are first-year
of his body - stared without players under Beilein. And thatI*
expression as the Badgers sophomore point guard Darius
dog-piled freshman John Gas- Morris held his own against
ser, whose 3-point bank shot junior point guard Jordan Tay-
spelled refuge for Wisconsin. lor, who's the nation's best floor
Embrace it. general, statistically.
Gasser, the freshman, the
kid who averages six points
per game (he had five against
the Wolverines), the guard that The No. 12
shoots 28 percent from 3-point
range, ascending valiantly team needed a
from the floor who would later
say, "When it left my hand, I blessing from
thought it was goingto bank
in, and it actually did. God and glass.
"So that's pretty funny."
Embrace it.
"Don't like it, but you gotta
use it," Beilein said after the Beilein has said all year that
game. "You've gotta use it right this team wants to learn, wants
now. They're all going to think to get better. They are nothing,
back in the next day, 'Geez, if not resilient.
if I would've done this, if I Embrace the fact that all is
would've done that,' Well those not lost. The two remaining
are probably all things we can games in the regular season
do, that as a young team has to feature two squads with top-50
do. Don't use this as a crutch RPI's. Two teams that should
right now." be scared to face a team that
Last year at the Big Ten will be more hungry than dis-
Tournament, when Michigan couraged after that loss.
was fighting for a spot in any After the game, the locker
kind of postseason play, Ohio room was dead silent. Answers
State junior Evan Turner hit were succinct. Eyes were
a long 3-pointer over the out- glazed.
stretched arms of Douglass to For Minnesota and Michigan
beat the Wolverines, 69-68. State, this could very well be
That shot ended the careers the quiet before the storm.
of DeShawn Sims and Manny Because that 3-point shot,
Harris. it ended the season for a Hail Mary over the flailing
everyone else. body of Douglass, ended the
So what's to embrace? Wolverines' season last year.
Embrace the fact that this Michigan won't let it be the
team plays well against good one that ends this year.
teams. Michigan has yet to beat
a ranked opponent, it's 0-6in - Jennings can be reached
that category. But it'll get there. at chanjen@umich.edu
Win $250 cash.
The Alumni Association is sponsoring a T-shirt design competition to celebrate
the Class of 2011.
The T-shirts will be available at graduation ticket pickup with all proceeds
benefiting Welcome Wednesdays, 30-Minute Mentors, Real Life 101 and free
memberships for new grads.
The deadline to submit entries is Monday, March 21.
The prize is $250 cash and your design produced by the Alumni Association.
Complete rules and entry details at umalumni.com/classof2011shirt-
Facebook.com/AAUMstudents
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
MAX COLLINS/Daily
Sophomore point guard Darius Morris missed a crucial free throw on a one-
and-one opportunity in the final minute of last night's game.