I The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, January 27, 2012 - 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, January 27, 2012 - 7 Wolverines falter in paint at Crisler Junior guard Nya Jordan collected a double-double against Penn State on Thursday, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the Wolverines blowout loss. Ps M Pe nn a SWd Mi chigan MICHAEL LAURILA Daily Sports Writer It's the same story, just a dif- ferent chapter. The Michigan women's bas- ketball team lost to No. 18 Penn State on Thursday at the Crisler Center, their second loss to the Nittany Lions in as many weeks. Two weeks ago, when the teams met at State College, the Nittany Lions used their ath- leticism and speed to score 24 points in transition, running the Wolverines out of the gym in a 78-63 victory. Thursday, Michigan was able to contain a speedy Penn State team, but was unable to stop the Nittany Lions'. impressive inside-outside strategy. Junior center Nikki Greene, standing at 6-foot-4, dominated the paint the entire contest. Greene's ability to establish herself down low allowed the Penn State guard trio of Zhaque Gray, Maggie Lucas and Alex Bentley to get open looks all night. "Nikki Green was pretty dom- inant in the first half, and any time you can have a post player that has that kind of presence inside, I think it opens things up for our shooters," said Penn State coach Coquese Washing- ton. "Usually we're a team that if we get great shots, we make a pretty good percentage of them." The Nittany Lions took advan-, tage of those opportunities in the first half to shoot 49 percent from the field - with 22 points coming from Lucas and Bentley. Because the Wolverines were forced to pay more attention to Green than they anticipated, the guards were freed up to score. Michigan, which started out playing a help-oriented defense, switched to a zone for a majority of the game to stop Greene. But when the ball went to Greene and the Wolverines collapsed on her, she was able to kick it back out to her open guards. Junior forward Sam Arnold attributes the open looks to Michigan testing different defensive strategies. "Since we were switching up our defense, so much, you're try- ing something new every time down the court," Arnold said. "You just need to know where you're. at and find the people near you." Arnold, who comes off the bench for junior forward Rachel Sheffer, came into the game because she was better able to compensate for Greene's height and strength. Though she didn't fare much better than Sheffer on defense, she was able to get some tough points in the paint offen- sively. "(Greene) is a big girl and we were outsized a little bit,"Arnold said. "I also think it comes down to knowing the other people on the floor and we needed help to be there." The only problem was that even when the help came, it was ineffective because Greene dished to the perimeter. Greene, who averages 8.2 rebounds per game, finished with 11 - four offensive and seven defensive. Though Greene isn't even one of the top-two best offensive weapons for Penn State, she was crucial in Thurs- day's victory. Neither coach said they had made big changes following the teams' first meeting two weeks earlier. Both Borseth and Washing- -ton knew what their opponent's game plan was. Penn State did something entirely different though - attacking the paint. The key similarity was that the Wolverines happened to come out on the short end of the stick yet again. "Their best part of their game is transition," Borseth said. "They're really good. "When they get you in transi- tion, all of a sudden you're try- ing to stop Bentley, who's just a bulls-eye onthepull up, and then you try to rush up with (Lucas), and then you have to block out (Greene), and one thing leads to another, it snowballs, and (the lead) just gets bigger and big- ger." COLLEEN THOMAS Daily Sports Writer If the Michigan women's basketball team had trouble with Penn State two weeks ago, it wasn't any better PENN STATE 77 Thursday MICHIGAN 561 night. The Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten, 16-5 overall) shot uncharacter- istically poorly in the first half, digging themselves into a deficit they couldn't overcome. It didn't help that the 18th-ranked Lady Lions (6-2, 16-4) shot 56 percent on the night. Michigan tallied a season- low 19 points in the first half on 24-percent shooting. None of the starters found rhythm early, and a 13-0 run by Penn State in the first half seemed to seal the deal. The Lady Lions went on to win, 77-56. "They're a good team," said junior forward Sam Arnold. "They were getting great shots as well. "We were trying to switch up our defense and throw different things at them based on who's in our lineup and cater to the play- ers out on the court." Unfortunately for the Wol- verines, no matter what defense they threw at it, Penn State was going to make its shots. The Lady Lions were yet again fueled by sophomore Mag- gie Lucas, who led all scorers with 23 points. Juniors Alex Bentley and Nikki Greene also put up double figures, scoring 18 and 13 points, respectively. The trio was unstoppable, combining for 23-for-33 shoot- ing. But it didn't work out as well for the Wolverines, who made only eight shots in the first half and weren't able to improve much in the second half. The Wolverines shot 34 percent overall and 15 percent from behind the arc. Arnold led the Wolverines with 12 points,.and junior guard Nya Jordan and senior guard Courtney Boylan each had 10 points. Though it was an off night for Michigan, the team believes it was getting the right looks. "We were getting a lot of open looks, and it was just a mat- ter of knocking them down," Arnold said. "They were making us move a lot faster and we just needed to slow down and take a good shot." Added Jordan: "I think the game started off fast, so a lot of us were getting good shots. We were shooting so fast because their defense was really fast- paced. We needed to take more. time and focus on the shot." But the Wolverines couldn't execute that in Thursday's game. Every missed shot turned into a defensive rebound and an opportunity for Penn State to extend its lead. The lead was stretched to 31 at one point, and it didn't help that Michigan went one-and-done almost every trip down the court. Though the Wolverines had an off night, Borseth won't detract from Penn State's stellar play. "They are by and far the most talented team in our confer- ence," Borseth said. "They're the team in our conference that can go and put a dent in the NCAA tournament because they have all the pieces in the puzzle. (They're) big, fast, strong, ath- letic, and (have the) shooters and skills. They're a really good team." NOTE: Senior guard Car- men Reynolds tied the program record for career 3-pointers tonight when she hit the shot early in the second half. She now sits atop the list with Alayne Ingram ('99-'02) with 182 career 3-pointers. . . . .M 'works in off-week Behind Enemy Lines:Visiting 0 LIZ VUKELICH with Ohio State's Craft,-Matta Dal prsWie i LUKE PASCH Daily Sports Editor Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta has proven once again that he is one of the nation's top recruiters. A season after three of his five starters graduated - Dallas Lau- derdale, Jon Diebler and David Lighty - his fourth-ranked Buck- eyes still have the firepower to hang with the country's perennial elite. Featuring a dominant front- court led by returning NCAA Freshman of the Year Jared Sullinger and a backcourt led by the nimble Aaron Craft, Matta's Buckeye squad is still quite formi- dable. When No. 20 Michigan (6-2 Big Ten, 16-5 overall) travels to Columbus on Sunday to take on Ohio State (6-2, 18-3), the two teams will be tied atop the Big Ten standings. And taking control of first place won't be easy for the Wolverines, as the Buckeyes haven't lost at home in 38 straight contests. At Big Ten Media Day in Octo- ber, Matta and Craft sat down with the Daily to discuss the upcoming season. The Michigan Daily: Is it dif- ficult to replace guys like Lighty, Diebler and Lauderdale? Aaron Craft: It is definitely dif- ferent. There were a few times in the summer, when we went in the locker room, went in the weight room, and those three guys weren't there. Not just from lead- ership standpoint, but their per- sonalities are gone. It's definitely different. (The team has) grown into it now I think, -and it's a cool experience. The freshmen have been really understanding. Even though Jared and I and (forward Deshaun here a y listen an is aweso Thad got one never pl are sopi makes a thing I l know w until we TMD that Sul his soph TM:] one (he not even is if weh to win1 ship, he He e he's 19y young m sity. "V go ... it Cl TMD the offs AC: H mess-ar when it now. He to be tak AndI is he wt self to lo That's ju to the c he is.' TMD: n Thomas) have only been Michigan this season? ear, they're still willing to TM: I think Michigan's got nd ask us questions, which great experience back. It was me. unfortunate that the young man Matta: When you've (Darius Morris) left. senior, one junior who's I loved him as a player. But I ayed for you, and the rest think you look at what they have homores and freshman, it coming back, I view them as a big challenge.... The great great basketball team this year, I ike aboutrthis team is they really do. , eve got a lot of work to do AC: The experience that they play our best basketball. have coming back is always a : Were you ever worried plus. Just losing the point guard, linger wouldn't return for I think (freshman point guard) omore season? Trey (Burke is) a great player, and He had told me from day he could step into that role really was returning) - it was well. Beilein is a great coach, and n an issue. The only thing he's going to put them in the best ad been fortunate enough position to win. the National Champion- TMD: Did you notice that may have gone. Burke showed up to last year's njoys college. You know, Michigan-Ohio State showdown years old, and he's a great in Columbus... nan, He loves the univer- AC: ... wearing Michigan gear. Yeah, our ticket lady was really angry about that. They got tickets and were right behind our bench with Michi- hen you've gan stuff on, and she wasn't very happy about that. But good thing t one senior we played well and won that game, so that kind of cooled her ma es a big off a little bit. mh aesa if" TMD: Are you excited to play h lenge. against Trey like in your high school days? AC: I've known him - we both played AAUunder the same name How has he grown over of All-Ohio. And he knows Jared eason? and (Diebler) really well. I've seen le's still the goof-around, him, I've played against him a few ound Jared, but he knows times. He's an awesome kid. He's 's time to get things done definitely grown since I've met knows when things need him and his family, so it'll be fun ten serious. to see him up there. I think the biggest thing TMD: Any trash talking as able to discipline him-. between you two? se the weight that he did. AC: Nothing major. He came ast an awesome testament into our gym this summer before haracter and person that he left, played with us, kind of talked to us. A little jeering here What do you see out of and there, but nothing major. Senior defenseman Greg Pateryn has been working hard this season to bring certain tro- phies back to Yost Ice Arena. December saw 'the return of the Great Lakes Invitational's MacInnes trophy to its familiar perch on a table outside of Michi- gan coach Red Berenson's office. A month later, it was joined by a 40-pound figure of a hockey play- er from the Wolverines' victory at the Frozen-Diamond Faceoff. But on Thursday, Pateryn brought a different trophy out of hibernation. A Michigan hockey helmet set on a wooden platform left its usual home on top of a refrigera- tor in Yost and saw ice for the first time in a couple years. This week saw the Michigan hockey team pitted against each other as White versus Blue in a weeklong battle of three-on-three games that culminated in a skills competition. This year, the Blue team - under the direction of Pateryn - won the contest and brought the unnamed trophy out of the case. "(The trophy) started years ago," Berenson said. "We used to have a time when we had a week off. We decided to have a three- on-three trophy. It's been around for a long time." Though the competition isn't a staple event for the Wolverines, they're currently on a bye week, Berenson thought a friendly chal- lenge would give the team a little fun while still staying focused on upcoming games. . Michigan started playing its three-on-three games on Tues- day, with the points adding onto each other as the days progressed. Though the bulk of the week's practice focused on improving some of the Wolverines' lacklus- ter units - notably the power play - the scrimmages allowed for a little bit of experimentation on Berenson's end. Berenson specifi- cally divided the teams by match- ing players who don't normally skate together. "You'll see us do three-on- threes early in the week some- times, especially for players that don't silay a lot," Berenson said. "They get a chance to get in a good competitive situation." The skills-based portion of the competition saw the lighter side of the Wolverines' practice, which started off with a radar gun mea- suring the team's hardest shooter. "Two years ago one of the base- ball kids brought a handheld gun out there," Pateryn said. "I got a 96 (mph)." How much of an improve- ment did Pateryn see Thursday? Enough to win him the title of Michigan's strongest shooter. "Today, I finally got the 100." Other skill-based drills includ- ed breakaway simulations, accu- racy tests and agility relays. Berenson tried to highlight each player in areas where he thought they'd best excel. Though the Blue team ulti- mately walked away from the week victorious - freshman forward Alex Guptill marked the occasion by mimicking a cel- ebrational photo shoot with the trophy - the contest was closely contested. Though the White team led in the three-on-three, its Blue coun- terpart snuck ahead to seize the win with victories in the skills categories. In fact, Berenson compared the end result to a situation the Wol- verines have become quite famil- iar with this season. "It's like a shootout," he said. "The one team might have been the better team, but the other team wins in the shootout." NOTE: Senior forward David Wohlberg collided with a team- mate at the beginning of practice on Thursday. He wore a sling on his left arm, as a precaution for an upper-body injury.