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8A - Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Sparks generating heat*

TODD NEEDLE/Daly
Members of the Michigan football team cheer at Michigan's victory over Indiana at Crisler Center earlier this season.
At 14-0 Blue continues
to protect homecourt

By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Writer
When the No. 5 Michigan
hockey team trekked to play
Northern Michigan for the first
CCHA series of the season, junior
forward Lindsay Sparks was, well,
the team's spark.
On that October weekend in
Marquette, he commanded the
team's offense, scoring two goals
and recording two assists while
skating on the third line.
After the first five games of
the season, Sparks was leading
Michigan in points. Now, Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson is ques-
tioning whether he should even
be in a lineup. Sparks has been in
a slump since the Wolverines' los-
ing streak in November.
The team broke out of its funk.
But Sparks is still in the middle of
his - and he's been payingfor it.
"He definitely started off the
season with a little bit of a 'wow'
factor," Berenson said. "Then, it
just slipped. Whether he lost his
confidence, lost his touch, (I don't
know, but) he ended up out of the
lineup."
The fact that Sparks was hav-
ing difficulty finding the back of
the net has nothing to do with
his lack of playing time: Berenson
scratched him for eight games
because of his minus-five plus/
minus streak earlier in the year.
Berenson can accept that play-
ers don't always score - as long
as they can adapt and become
two-way forwards. But when
they become a defensive liability,
it becomes a problem. Sparks has
gotten the message.
"I've definitely tried to be more
defensively minded," Sparks said.
"It's not really about points for
me, it's really about keeping the
other team from scoring now."
Sparks still hasn't accumulated
any points since being reinstated
into the lineup on Jan.20, but he's
starting to make his presence felt
again. He's currently on the third
line with freshman Zack Hyman
and sophomore Luke Moffatt.
Against Michigan State last
weekend, Sparks had four shots
on goal. He didn't convert, but

0


ADa M GL dnZMAN/Daiy 0
Junior forward Lindsay Sparks has worked his way hack onto the third line.

By BEN ESTES
Daily Sports Editor
You can talk about Zack Novak
all you want, but ex-NFL defen-
sive end Eric Ogbogu is the unof-
ficial heart and soul of the No. 17
Michigan basketball team. The
Wolverines don't realize this, and
Ogbogu himself certainly doesn't.
In fact, it's likely nobody recog-
nizes Ogbogu's underrated con-
tribution to the program.
The ultra-muscular former
benchwarmer became a phenom-
enon when Under Armour hired
Ogbogu to be its spokesman and
to star in its commercials.
Everyone remembers those
spots from several years back. The
Under Armour-clad Ogbogu ral-
lied his teammates before giving
one final admonition: "WE MUST
PROTECT THIS HOUSE!"
And though Michigan coach
John Beilein and his team prob-
ably didn't look to those com-
mercials as inspiration, they've
definitely taken the message to
heart. The Wolverines have been
determined to protect home court
thisseason. Refusingto lose at the
Crisler Center has been a theme
for the group "from day one," as
redshirt sophomore forward Jor-
dan Morgan put it.,
"We practice all the time on
this court," said junior guard
Matt Vogrich. "It's just a motto of
ours, 'Protect Crisler.' And we've
been trying to do that all year."
It's nothing new, really - keep-
ing opponents from besting you
on your own floor is a goal for all
teams. But the Wolverines have
been particularly adept at it, a fact
evident from their perfect 14-0
record at the Crisler Center.
That success extends into
last year, too. Michigan has won
15 straight home games, and
that mark would be 19 games if
it weren't for the last-second,
heartbreaking 3-pointer courtesy

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. 23 of last season. Before It's possible that no team this
e Wolverines hadn't lost at season has made Wisconsin look
since Jan. 15 against Min- worse than when the Wolverines
blew out the then-18th-ranked
nwhile, Michigan has had Badgers by 18 points in January.
less sucess in true road Indiana and Illinois did come
The team has turned it back to make a game out of it.
I with wins at Nebraska when those teams traveled to Ann
Purdue in two of its past Arbor, but the Wolverines never
ips, but before topping the really relinquished control in
nakers, the most common either affair.
m of the Wolverines was In comparison to the other
sability to win in unfriend- games against the Hoosiers and
nes. Spartans, the home-road split
y have had success in neu- is even more evident. Michigan
es, winning two of three looked markedly worse against
at the Maui Invitational those two when playingin Bloom-
ping Oakland at the Palace ington and East Lansing.
urn Hills, but trying to win "We like playing here,"Vogrich
tile environment has prov- said. "Shots fall at Crisler. ... We
h more difficult. Michigan think we're good enough not to
s just 2-4 in conference lose here."
the road, with three road The success could be attrib-
maining. uted to the hostile atmosphere
for opposing teams. Michigan has
already sold out six games this
th n , season - four more than a year
e thmk we're ago - and the primetime clash
against No. 3 Ohio State this Sat-
)d enough not urday and senior night against
Purdue a week later are fair bets
lose here." toseout,too.
That would make eight sellouts
for the season, twice as many as
Beilein has had in any season in
sink the Big Ten just has his tenure in Ann Arbor and just
f really good teams with a two less than he's had here total.
eally good arenas, and it's Whatever the reason, should
to go and take a road win the Wolverineswin their final two
omebody," Morgan said. games at the Crisler Center, they'd
body has more energy at enter the record books as just the
nd they get alot ofmomen- third team in program history to
home, so (wins are) tough finish undefeated at home and the
e by." fourth to go undefeated in Big Ten
maybe the narrative should play at home.
ped - perhaps the story And ;the team would have an
n't be how mediocre the argument for the best home per-
ines play on the road, but formance in Michigan history,
ell they perform at home. since its 16 wins would top the
than a hard-fought, one- previous best of 14, set in 1977 (the
in over then-No. 9 Michi- last time the Wolverines com-
ite and an overtime victory pleted an undefeated home slate).
Northwestern, Michigan Of course, Michigan needs to
really come close to falling beat the Buckeyes before that can

it's a good step forward for him
in Berenson's mind, especially
because Sparks has been making
strides defensively.
"If he can add some offense,
good," Berenson said. "He's got
to capitalize on his chances, and
thenhe's got to be agood two-way
player. That's what our third and
fourth lines are doing."
JUNIOR STANDING: All eyes
will be on the senior class this
weekend, when it takes to the ice
at Yost Ice Arena for the'last regu-
lar-season home series.
The seniors are the unques-
tioned leaders of the Wolveines,
but recently, the junior class has
been stealing the offensive thun-
der. And for Berenson, it's about
time.
"You can't stay the way you
were when you were a freshman
or a sophomore," Berenson said.
"The junior class has to take a big
step if we're going to be a good
team."
Berenson was specifically
referring to junior forward A.J.
Treais, who notched three goals
last weekend. Berenson proudly
proclaimed that Treais is finally
starting to look like the "man
amongst men" that he saw while
recruiting Treais from the U.S.
National Team Development

Program. On Monday, Berenson
repeated his age-old mantra: the
team with the best defense wins,
and it helps when all of the wol-
verines can contribute. The rest of
the second line is finally starting
to see that progress in Treais.
"He's been playing really well
defensively ... and that's led to
some offensive production," said
senior forward Luke Glendening.
"He gets to the open ice and he
gets great shots. He finds ways to
be open, soit's easy to get him the
puck."
HARD HITTERS: Even in physi-
calgames wrought with penalties,
there's one hit that junior forward
Chris Brown doesn't mind taking.
"Usually, my first shift of the
game, either I'm going to take a
big hit or I'm going to try and give
one," Brown said.
Brown intentionally lets him-
self get slammed into the boards?
"It's just something mentally
that's screwed up," he said. "If
someone hits me hard, I'm ready
for the game. I've done it ever
since I could start hitting."
NOTES: Though no official
announcement has been made,
Berenson confirmed that a game
against Cornell next season is
in the works. It is expected to be
played in New York.

M' tries to slow Hawkeyes

By MATT SPELICH
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's basket-
ball team stands at rest on a set of
metaphorical train tracks outside
of the Crisler Center. Meanwhile,
the Hawkeye Express, which left
the Iowa City
station a week I
ago, is running Iowa at
at an exponen- Michigan
tially increasing Matchup:
rate towardAnn Iowa 16-10;
Arbor. The two Michigan 15-7
are set to collide When: Thurs-
on Thursday at day, 8 P.M.
8 p.m. - what
will the Wolver- Where: Crisler
ines have to do
to derail Iowa? TV/Radio:
The colli BTN
sion - Michi-
gan's upcoming game against
the Hawkeyes - will be a study
in athletics's corollary concept
of momentum. On the physics
side, Sir Issac Newton posed that
an object in motion will stay in
motion unless acted upon by an
outside force and that when two"
objects collide, the one with the
higher momentum and larger
mass will better keep its coyrse.
If we are to believe that the
same holds true in athletics -
holding that a team's momentum:
and mass increase with each con-
secutive victory - then the team
with a longer winning streak will

keep its course. In their last five when she uses the word "need."
games, the Hawkeyes are 5-0 and It appears Michigan will need to
the Wolverines are 2-3. Do the be running on all cylinders if they
math. hope to crack Iowa's defense - a
Now, the corollary is not per- formation that Michigan coach
feet. Some opponents carry more Kevin Borseth calls "The Buzz."
weight than others, based on the The Buzz, according to Bors-
theory of athletic relativity, and eth, is a free-for-all 2-1-2 set
therefore certain wins and losses designed to funnel guards down
more dramatically affect a team's the middle of the court, stop the
velocity - these are called upsets. dribble and create turnovers by
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, taking away the passing lanes.
Iowa has pulled off two major The scheme has been particu-
upsets in its five-game stretch - larly effective for the Hawkeyes
one against No. 17 Purdue two in their recent run because the
weeks ago and the other against formation is rarely seen in the Big
Michigan State on Sunday. In Ten and often takes teams by sur-
more physics, the wins have prise.
transformed Iowa from a hand- There's a reason Borseth has a
cart to a bullet train in less than name for the defense: he runs it
two weeks. all the time. This maybe theweak
While Michigan awaits this spot in Iowa's runaway locomo-
unavoidable collision, the team tive that the Wolverines have
has been building its own arse- been looking for.
nal to prepare the ever-nearing "Most teams struggle against
Hawkeyes. The Wolverines are The Buzz because they've never
coming off of a'bye week, which seen it before," Boylat said.
has given them valuable time to "Lucky for us, we've had the
rest and regroup before this final pleasure of using it against other
stretch of the regular season. teams in the past, and because
"The best part about the bye we've run it against teams in the
is that we got Sunday off," said past, we have a couple of things
senior guard Courtney Boylan. that will hopefully work.
"That's given us Monday, Tues- "One of the ways to break it is
day and Wednesday to prepare by going up the sides and not get-
for Iowa. The extra time was defi- ting trapped in the middle. We've
nitely needed. When it gets this been working on ways to score out
late in the season, our legs need a- of those kind of formations, and I
break." think it's going to be really good
Rnvln iGn+t -xaverotng overall"

eA' dL;e \teV/N/saie y
Senior guard Courtney Boylan and the women's basketball team will try to break through The Buzz, Iowa's defense.

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