4B - Januar y 17, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wolverines live and die by -MN;ASK
y Road woes hit again
Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. , against Hawkeyes
IOWA CITY -
So, Michigan lostbecause
it's tough to win on the
road in the Big Ten. Or it
lost because Iowa's actually bet-
ter than we thought. Or it lost
because Michigan didn't have
the right energy for this game.
Yada yada
yada.
Nuh-no.
These may r
be the conve-
nient answers
for why the
Wolverines
suffered their
highest-mar- NEAL
gin loss of the ROTHSCHILD
season to a
team that was
blown out by Progresso ... check
that ... Campbell on its home
court earlier this season. But they
don't explain the loss in any clear
terms beyond Mysticism, Daoism
or Tebowism.
The real explanation for a
loss like this is a little less fun to
mock. The Wolverines have two
star players. If neither impacts
the outcome of the game, Michi-
gan will likely lose, unless it's
playing Atlanta A&T.
Sophomore forward Tim
Hardaway Jr. and freshman point
guard Trey Burke are the two
stars on the team. Sure, Zack
Novak is a sensational role player,
leader and ambassador, and
once in a while, Evan Smotrycz
reminds us how to spell his
name. But neither of them dictate
whether or not Michigan will win
a game.
Michigan is a 10th-place team
in the conference without Hard-
away and Burke, so it only makes
sense that it would play like such
on Saturday with Trim Hurke
contributing nothing.
Hardaway shot 2-for-13 from
the field and missed all eight of
his 3-point attempts. He was able
to get to the foul line, but only
when he thought better of tak-
ing contested 3-pointers early in
the shot clock. And with just two
rebounds,.two assists and two
turnovers, it was clear that Hard-
away was better off staying in
Ann Arbor for the weekend.
Burke is a different story.
You, box score dweeb, may be
saying, "Neal, you turd. How can
Trey Burke have played badly
when he scored 19 points and hit
most of his shots? Nice argument,
Sophomore guard Tim HardawayJr. is one half of Michigan's top-tier scoring duo.
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
ya GDI." remaining. By that point, there
Well, box score dweeb, I didn't was no doubt that the Hawkeyes
say Burke played badly. I said he were cruising to a double-digit
had no impact on the game. He win. Burke went on to pour in 13
committed his second foul just points in the waning minutes of
seven minutes into the game and the game, but they were all mean-
Michigan coach John Beilein ingless.
benched him the rest of the half If you're keeping track, from
Between then and halftime, Iowa 13:16 left in the first half to 5:44
increased its lead from two points left in the second, Burke made no
to 10 points and the Wolverines impact and Iowa had stretched its
were already lead from two
against the - - points to 15
ropes. points. Defend
As for the M ichigan has that, box score
decision to dweeb.
bench Burke? the stars to The Wolver-
A point guard ines are a qual-
being whistled compete ... but ity team. Their
for two fools thedthree previous
is hardly a not depth. losses were all
big deal, plus to teams cur-
Burke plays rently ranked
the easiest in the top 16.
position to exercise self-restraint Ina 12-point loss at Virginia in
and avoid fouling. So, Burke was late November, Hardaway scored
overzealously removed and kept just five points. And in the loss
on the bench from most of the to Indiana two weeks ago, Burke
first-half action, and Michigan went 4-for-15 and missed each
suffered for it. Aside from two of his three free throws. Both
3-pointers early on when the played well against Duke, but
score was close, Burke was absent the Blue Devils are an elite oppo-
in the half. In the second half, nent that are always goingto be
Burke couldn't find his way to tough for Michigan to take down.
the basket until six minutes were What I'm saying is that Michigan
enjoys the luxury of having two
star players, but they have to play
like star players for the Wolver-
ines to benefit.
If neither makes an impact,
then we should expect the Wol-
verines to lose. If one plays well,
we should expect Michigan to
be competitive. And if both play
well, we can expect the Wolver-
ines to be competitive with the
top teams in the country.
Last Wednesday, Northwest-
ern almost took down Michigan
at Crisler Center. The Wolverines
made a second-half comeback and
needed overtime to stave off the
Wildcats. With Burke struggling
throughout regulation, Michigan
needed Hardaway to be effective.
"It's no secret, (Hardaway is)
our leading scorer," Beilein said.
"We don't beat Northwestern if
he doesn't go ona run and make
four, five in a row in the first
half."
Michigan has the stars to com-
pete at the top of college basket-
ball, but not the depth. When that
happens, the stars control the fate
of program. No pressure, Tim and
Trey.
- Rothschild can be reached
at nealroth@umich.edu.
By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
IOWA CITY - After a terrible
first half on Wednesday against
Northwestern, it would've been
hard to imagine the Michigan
men's basketball team playing a
worse first half all season. But the
Wolverines
did just that MICHIGAN 59
in Iowa. IOWA 75
Michi-
gan couldn't find any rhythm on
the offensive end, even before
freshman point guard Trey
Burke took a seat for the last 13
minutes of the half after picking
up his second foul. The struggles
continued into the second half,
when the Wolverines could never
sustain momentum, eventually
falling 75-59 to the Hawkeyes,
remaining winless in true road
games this season.
Michigan shot just 25.8 per-
cent (8-for-31) from 3-point
range.
Burke was the Wolverines'
only offense early on, leading
Michigan (4-2 Big Ten, 14-4 over-
all) with just six first-half points
as the Wolverines sputtered to a
33-23 deficit at halftime.
Senior guard Zack Novak kept
the Wolverines in the game early
in the second half, knocking
down two 3-pointers, and a Tim
Hardaway Jr. layup plus a free
throw drew Michigan within
six with just under 13 minutes
left in the game. But the Hawk-
eyes surged ahead for 10 straight
points, highlighted by a two-
hand slam from Iowa's Melsahn
Basabe that ignited the crowd,
forcing Beilein to call a timeout.
When Novak finally ended the
run with his third 3-pointer of
the half, it halted a span of 4:58 in
which the Wolverines were held
without a point.
Michigan finally found second-
half momentum with just under
six minutes to play, when senior
guard Stu Douglass capped a 7-2
Wolverine run that pulled them
within 12 points, prompting Iowa
coach Fran McCaffery to take a
timeout.
The Hawkeyes (3-3, 11-8)
missed a shot right out of the
break, but Iowa's Zach McCabe
was able to corral the miss -
which had found its way to half
court - by out-diving junior
guard Matt Vogrich. Moments
later, Iowa's Matt Gatens con-
netted on a 3-pointer to put Iowa
ahead by 15, essentially clinching
the game.
Gatens tied for a game-high in
points with 19, thanks largely to
four 3-pointers.
It was McCabe who set the
tone for the Hawkeyes from the
get-go, scoring the game's first
six points and finishing with 11
points and seven rebounds.
Burke got Michigan on the
board - after more than three
-and-a-half scoreless minutes
- with a 3-pointer and followed
up an Iowa 2-point basket with
another long-range bomb.
The Wolverines were again
marred by porous first-half
shooting. After shooting 28.1 per-
cent against the Wildcats earlier
in the week, Michigan connected
on just 15.8 percent (3-of-16) of
its 3-pointers on Saturday. Hard-
away Jr. was fairly absent in
the first half, scoring just three
points, finishing the game with
nine. Sophomore forward Evan
Smotrycz couldn't find his way
out of a recent funk, missing all
six of hisfield-goal attempts and
being held scoreless for the first
time this season.
Hardaway Jr. put the Wolver-
ines ahead at the halfway point
of the first half with a free throw,
but Iowa reserve Josh Oglesby
came off the bench and scored
seven consecutive points for the
Hawkeyes, who entered halftime
leading, 33-23, thanks to a buzz-
er-beatingshot by Devyn Marble.
Burke finished with 19 points
- most of them coming late in
the second half, while Novak
finished with 14 points and eight
rebounds, despite being in foul
trouble for much of the second
half. Though Burke still had a
good stat-line, the freshman is
yet to win a true road test.
"I wouldn't even say it's
the crowd, really," Burke said.
"When they made their run, we
were calm when we were in the
huddle.... The visiting team feeds
off the crowd ar- I they hit some
big shots. It's just the home-court
advantage, I guess. We have it at
home. We just have to continue to
learn so we can get some bigwins
on the road."
Michigan now has just three
days to bounce back from this
loss and prepare for Tuesday's
matchup with Michigan State,
who might be ranked in the top-5
in next week's rankings.
0
WRESTLING
Michigan captures eight of 10
match titles against Hoosiers
Despite beam, 'M'tops OSU
By LIZ NAGLE
Daily Sports Writer
Friday the 13th is a worrisome
day for the superstitious. And
though the No. 11 Michigan wres-
tling team felt none of its effects,
its opponent suffered a night of
bad luck.
The Wolverines walked off the
mat last weekend with their tails
between their legs after a harsh
loss against Illinois. But they
looked like a brand new team on
Friday, dominating Indiana in a
33-6 victory.
And they were certainly
dressed like one. After more than
two decades, Michigan coach Joe
McFarland decided it was time
to test out the white singlets at
home.
"They look great in the box,
but you're never sure how they're
going to look on the guys until
you get them on," said Michigan
assistant coach Sean Bormet. "But
I think they look pretty good. It's
good to change it up. The guys
were excited to get them."
That excitement and change
translated onto the mat. Michi-
gan left the Hoosiers scoreless in
the firstseven bouts while racking
up bonus points with major deci-
sions, technical falls and a pin by
133-pound senior Zac Stevens.
Following an aggressive start,
Stevens forced the fall on Indi-
ana redshirt freshman Joe Duca
in just 1:42 to win his first home
match this season.
"It felt good,kind of like getting
the monkey off the back," Stevens
said.
Redshirt sophomore Brandon
Zeerip felt that same way after
winning his first 157-pound bout In the lineup between Stevens
of the season at Cliff Keen Arena. and Zeerip was fifth-year senior
Zeerip followed 149-pound Kellen Russell, who never fails
redshirt sophomore Eric Grajales to add to the stat sheet. Russell
with a consecutive major deci- improved to 120-12 in his career
sion. Zeerip accumulated a 25-12 with the latest victory being a 3:59
win after wrestling back from a technical fall on Hoosier redshirt
5-0 deficit early in the first period. freshman Ryen Nieman.
He gadded six additional take- Russell is a single win away
downs with 2:26 in riding time in from becoming Michigan's 16th
the final two periods. winningest wrestler. As it stands,
Zeerip's comeback mirrored Russell shares the 17th place with
the Wolverines' own resilience Lanny Green and is on pace to
coming off the Illinois loss. surpass No. 16 Tyrel Todd. Coin-
cidentally, both of the alumni
were in attendance to witness
the victory of their successor.
"It felt... like Though they had enough
. 'cushion from the lightweights
getting the and middleweights, the Wolver-
ies suffered two close losses -
monkey off the Hoosiers managed to get on
thehboard with two back-to-back
the back." wins at 184 and 197 pounds. But
redshirt junior Ben Apland man-
aged to win to stop the super-
stition that "bad luck comes in
There was a noticeable differ-,threes" from ringing true.
ence in the team between their Apland won the heavyweight
last two matches. After being match against Indiana'redshirt
knocked off the pedestal of their sophomore Adam Chalfant after
No.8 rank, Michigan felt the pres- taking the lead from a 2-2 tie at
sure to win. the end of the first period. With
"The coaches stressed to us a body lock and single-leg take-
about being mentally tough," down, Apland pushed himself to a
Zeerip said. "Last week we went perfect 4-0 record in the current
out kind of flat without any ener- Big Ten season.
gy. We definitely worked on our "Our team is good enough to
toughness and effort." be a top-five team," Stevens said.
Each Wolverine that took the "We want to bring home a tro-
mat allayed the coaching staff's phy."
concerns of inconsistent aggres- Michigan may be well on their
siveness. way after leaving Indiana feeling
"Our attack rate was good," helpless. And though the night
Bormet said. "We put several remains infamously unlucky,
guys, at several weight classes, on the Wolverines have yet to walk
their backs." under the ladder.
ByISABELLAACHENBACH
For theDaily
Last Friday night was the first
event of the season for the No.
10 Michigan women's gymnas-
tics team at
the newly OHIO STAT E 62
renovated MICHIGAN 73
Crisler
Center. Competing against No. 18
Ohio State, the pressure was defi-
nitely on.
The Wolverines ended the
competition with a final score of
195.500, besting the Buckeye total
of 195.175. Four Michigan gym-
nasts won individual titles for
specific events, including junior
captain Katie Zurales on beam
and in the all-around.
There were four events being
judged - vault, bars, balance
beam, and floor. After both the
vault and the bars rotations,
Michigan was up, 98.325-97.650, a
pretty significant lead in gymnas-
tics competition.
Then came time for the beam.
After sophomore Joanna Samp-
son and freshman Annette Miele
fell in the middle of their rou-
tines and others looked wobbly,
Ohio State was back in the natch,
aheadby just .225.
"The kids have done really,
really well (in practice), so actu-
ally I was a little bit surprised that
we didn't do as well as we have
been doing on beam," said Michi-
gan coach Bev Plocki.
The floor exercise was the final
rotation - a game changer for
Michigan. Junior Natalie Beil-
stein won first place in this event,
tying a career-high of 9.925.
"Our strongest event for the
team as a whole (is) floor," Samp-
son said. We all really love having
fun with the crowd and the judg-
es, and everyone on the sidelines
ERIN KIRKLAl
Junior captain Katie Zuraleswon the all-around title against Ohio State.
gets so into it."
"Overall, I think we did great
on three events for the first meet,"
Plocki said. "Had we stayed on
beam, right now we would be
sitting with one of the highest
opening scores in the country, so
I'm very optimistic about what I
think we're capable of this year
and excited to have this first one
behind us."
The team has changed a lot
since last year, losing five seniors
including Kylee Botterman, the
2011 NCAA All-Around Cham-
pion. The Wolverines gained just
two freshman, Sachi Sugiyama
and Miele. This season, the team
is not only smaller in numbers but
also younger.
"There's been all this conversa-
tion about how we graduated five
kids, we have no seniors, we lost
all of our leadership," Plocki said.
"In reality, I think we do have
some underclassmen on this team
that are becoming really good
leaders. They've really banded
together and they're ready to go
out and prove to the world that
they can stillbe good without Bot-
terman and some of the seniors."
The team certainly proved they
were capable in this event.
"I was really excited for my
team 'to bring it and to show
everyone what a young team can
do," Zurales said. "I know we're
small but everyone's ready and
everyone's feeling really confi-
dent."
The team prepared for thesea-
son throughout the fall and has
had a few mock intrasquads and
one official intrasquad.
"I think (the intrasquad) got
everyone exposed to the competi-
tion setting and also got the fresh-
man in Crisler Center," Zurales
said. "It helped to get the nerves
out and to be able to also visualize
yourself doing your routine."
This Saturday, the women's
gymnastics team will compete
against No. 22 Minnesota in Min-
neapolis.
"I think next week we'll be
ready to go and really do our best
on everything," Sampson said. "As
a team I think we're just gonna do
a little bit more of the fine tweak-
ing now that we've actuallygotten
out, shown what we can do, and
really gotten the season going."