U The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com ( February 20,2012
. Michigan knocks off No. 6 Ohio State
'
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By
Mic
woke u
day and
In t.
Beilein
to the
attende
Day,
took hi
throug
archrivs
M' triumphs In front of a packed Crisler
Center and a nationwide TV
.r Buckeyes for audience on Saturday night, the
Wolverines led throughout and
st time in last stormed to a perfect 15-0 home
record with a 56-51 victory.
seven tries "To walk into that arena today
was a bit moving," Beilein said. "I
NEAL ROTHSCHILD felt it wasn't just a rivalry game
Daily Sports Editor - it was contending for a Big Ten
championship. I thought it was
higan coach John Beilein special."
p at about 5 a.m. on Satur- Freshman guard Trey Burke
d stayed up well past 1 a.m. overcame stingy defense from
he intervening 20 hours, Buckeye guard Aaron Craft to
passed out doughnuts put up one of his most spectacu-
Maize Rage at sunrise, lar performances yet, scoring 17
ed ESPN's College Game- points and adding five assists.
dispensed interviews, Though Craft limited Burke in
is team through its walk- the half-court, the freshman
h, and for dessert, beat found other ways to lift the Wol-
al Ohio State. verines.
Burke's electrifying assists, back attempt fell short.
layups in transition and clutch Sophomore guard Tim Hard-
basket with 11 seconds to go away Jr. continued his emer-
helped Michigan overcome the gence down the stretch of the
team that pounded the Wol- Big Ten season, after bricking his
verines by way through
15 in Burke's the opening
hometown of two-thirds of
Columbus just "To w alk the conference
three weeks schedule. He
ago. into that arena made four of
His child- five shots and
hood best today was a bit swished both
friend, Jared of his 3-point
Sullinger, moving. tries, finishing
along with for- with 13 points.
ward Deshaun In the first
Thomas, did half, Ohio
what they could to bring Ohio State didn't make a 3-pointer,
State back. The pair of forwards and when the team tried to take
accounted for almost all of the it to the basket, it often found
Buckeyes' offense, but the come- itself called for an offensive foul.
The Buckeyes finished the game
3-for-16 from behind the arc and
were called for five charges.
"Weknewthatacoupleoftheir
playersgo to the rack hard, attack
the rack really hard," Burke said.
"We knew that if we could step
over and take a charge, then the
game would go in our favor."
Craft picked up one of the
charging fouls and was forced
to sit for the last four minutes
of the half. Meanwhile, Burke
found Buckeye freshman Shan-
non Scott guarding him and took
advantage. He penetrated and
kicked it out to senior guard Stu
Douglass for a3-pointer, he drove
the baseline and drew a foul on
Scott, and he buried a step-back
jumper from the free-throw line
two possessions later.
Thatfieldgoalgave Michigang
25-18 lead, buta layup just before
the buzzer from Thomas cut the
Wolverine lead to five at the half.
It was Ohio State's lowest-scor-
ing first half of the season.
Michigan emerged from the
locker room with some flash.
On a fast break early in the
second half, Burke completed a
smooth, one-handed bounce pass
to a streaking Jordan Morgan,
who finished with the left-hand-
ed flush.
Two possessions later, Burke
spiked another bounce pass to
Morgan, the redshirt sophomore
center, in transition. Craft tried
to kick out his leg to stop the ball
and the Michigan scorebut Mor-
gan picked up the ball and cre-
See UPSET, Page 3B
Morgan thwarts Sullinger,
collects first double-double
ICE HOCKEY
Wolverines sweep
Wildcats with OT
senior-night win
By BEN ESTES
Daily Sports Editor
It was a battle of wills, a game
between two rivals, with noth-
ing but pure heart deciding the
outcome.
It was a contest to see if Mich-
igan was tough enough to take
the next step, to truly contend for
a Big Ten title.
It was a physical clash, with
Ohio State - the king of the con-
ference - and its star big man
Jared Sullinger determined to
wear down the Wolverines,
determined to make them buckle
on a home floor they've protect-
ed all season long.
Through it all, Jordan Morgan
stood tall.
"We said before the game, 'It's
going to be ugly,' " the redshirt
sophomore forward said. "(We
wanted to) make it ugly. We
wanted to bring the hammer."
At 6-foot-8 and a chiseled
250 pounds, Morgan is, without
question, the biggest and stron-
gest member of the No.17 Michi-
gan men's basketball team. That
means he's also the player that
Michigan coach John Beilein
must depend on to bring physi-
cality to the court every single
game - Beilein doesn't have any-
one else, especially with injured
sophomore forward Jon Horford
relegated to the bench.
And Morgan was especially
needed against No. 6 Ohio State.
Most Big Ten matchups are
physical affairs, but it was evi-
dent early on Saturday night that
the game would be especially
rough-and-tumble.
But it also became clear early
on that the Wolverines, so often
criticized for being weak in the
paint and on the boards, were
ready to bring the fight to the
bigger, longer and more ath-
letic Buckeyes. Morgan led the
charge.
"That's the
Jordan Morgan sI
we've seen
flashes of."
__rfrdJdar nscdpoERns KIRKLdgD/Daiy
Senior forward Jordan Morgan stated 11 points and gathered 11 rebounds.
By EVERETT COOK
Daily SportsEditor
On Friday night, the No. 5
Michigan hockey team relied on
its freshmen from the get-go to
carry the scoring load. Forward
Phil Di Giuseppe scored a goal
for the first
time since NMU 1
Dc2,ad MICHIGAN 4
Dec. 2, and
forward NMU 2
Alex Gup- MICHIGAN 3
till gave the
Wolverines the lead for good later
on in the first period.
Those two goals would be the
difference for Michigan in a 4-1
victory over Northern Michigan.
But on Saturday, the upper-
classmen played like they had
something to prove to the crowd
on senior night at Yost Ice Arena.
The game had a different vibe to
it.
Michigan and Northern Mich-
igan (11-6-3 CCHA, 14-12-6 over-
all) needed an overtime period
to settle the last regular-season
game at Yost, trading punches for
the first 60 minutes to a 2-2 dead-
lock.
Junior forward A.J. Treais
made quick work of the extra
time. He needed just 1:20 of over-
time to score on a wrister to the
left side of the net, tying Guptill
for the team lead with 15 goals.
Michigan is 9-2-1 in 2012, and
Saturday's win guaranteed it a
bye in the first round the CCHA
Tournament.
Treais has seven goals in as
many games, but the biggest one
of that stretch sent Michigan (14-
8-4,20-10-4) home with a 3-2 vic-
tory.
"It's pretty fitting," said senior
captain Luke Glendening. "The
way he's been playing has been
unbelievable."
But Michigan doesn't come
close to winning that game with-
out its seniors.
Senior defenseman Greg
Pateryn was on a mission, deliv-
ering bone-jarring hits every
chance he got. There were a
handful of instances on Saturday
where Pateryn and a Wildcat had
an open-ice collision. Pateryn
won every time.
"I saw my opportunities and I
tried to step up," Pateryn said. "If
I can get a few big hits like that,
it kind of gets everyone going as
well. That's kind of what I was
See WILDCATS, Page 3B
The Detroit native served
notice in the game's opening
possession. Ohio State immedi-
ately dumped the ball down low
to Sullinger, a Big Ten Player of
the Year candidate at forward.
Sullinger has had his way with
Michigan in the past, but this
time, Morgan was ready, holding
tough in that initial matchup and
forcing a missed shot.
That was the story most of
the night. Sullinger had his most
ineffective performance against
Michigan to date, converting on
just six of 14 field-goal attempts.
And much of the time, it was
Morgan and Morgan alone
defending the Buckeye, work-
ing feverishly to deny him the
ball and holding his ground
when Sullinger tried to back him
down. The Wolverines doubled
him and gave help on a few occa-
sions, especially in the second
half. But Beilein said he was
See MORGAN, Page 3B
GAMEDAY GONE WILD
# Michigan's Saturday took a turn for the
legendary, from football to basketball to
hockey. Page 2B
DEFENDING YOST
The Michigan hockey team swept
Northern Michigan, giving it a shot at the
CCHA regular-season title. Page 4B