2B - February 20, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
A GameDay to remember, on and off the court
February 18 is a day you'll
remember.
There wasn't a singular
moment - an announcement,
a shot or an overtime winner -
that defined Saturday, though
each played a role in the day.
But at some point, a chilly day
in Ann Arbor took a turn for the
legendary.
It was a 24-hour-long rage bri-
gade, a fury of Michigan fervor.
The day
started early.
A handful
of Maize
Ragers were
huddled out-.
side Gate D at
Crisler Center
before the
clock struck STEPHEN J.
midnight. NESBITT
They were
responding to
a challenge by ESPN GameDay
analyst Rece Davis:
"I think the one thing that
Michigan can do in the morning
is show itself to be a football and
basketball school," Davis said on
Friday.
Camped outside the arena, the
Maize Rage made an early state-
ment. Within hours, Michigan
proved the rest in an emphatic
manner: Michigan is a football,
basketball and hockey school.
For a quick summation,
Michigansjchmoozed with ESPN
GameDay all day in a packed
Crisler Center, toppled No. 6
Ohio State on the hardwood,
swept Northern Michigan at
Yost Ice Arena, then picked up
six four-star football recruits on
field (5).
Six four-star commitments in
a day. Series sweep. Beat Ohio
(past tense).
Michigan hockey never left.
But the football and basketball
programs are different stories.
Hoke and Co. brought Michi-
gan back with one season - a
10-2 record punctuated by a
Sugar Bowl squeaker. Michigan
basketball coach John Beilein
brought NCAA Tournament
expectations back to Crisler.
"The best part is both pro-
grams (basketball and football)
are back to where they're sup-
posed to be," said senior guard
Zack Novak on Saturday.
For the seniors, the ones who
knew nothing but heartbreak
on the hardwood and disaster
at the Big House, this is the
just reward. The basketball and
football teams are now unblem-
ished at home - a combined
23-0 home record in the 2011-12
seasons.
You can't ask for more than
that.
Saturday finally came to a
close. But it wasn't forgotten.
I got a text from a colleague
at 1:34 a.m. I was recuperating,
watching an episode of "How I
Met Your Mother." He was just
packing up at Crisler Center.
His Saturday started with
GameDay and went long into the
night.
"It was memorable," he wrote.
No. It was legen - wait for
it - dary.
- Nesbitt can be reached
at stnesbit@umich.edu.
ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Members of the Maize Rage showed up the night before the GameDay set went live to guarentee a spot in attendance on Michigan's historic Saturday.
the side.
What did you do with your
Saturday?
When the gates at Crisler
opened at 9:00 a.m., the Maize
Rage and hundreds of others
filed in. ESPN showed a clip of
Denard Robinson heading into
the bowels of the arena to give
the GameDay crew a pep talk.
One shirtless fan stood up to
show off his sign:
Kate Upton hates Ohio.
Others joined in.
OSU has Casey Anthony, UM
has Kate Upton. You decide.
Jeremy Lin hates the Buckeyes.
I (heart) Denard.
Clearly pop culture wasn't
lost on Michigan, and ESPN cap-
tured it all. The Wolverines' bas-
ketball program was on the main
stage for the first time since the
'Fab Five' in the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, Michigan coach
Brady Hoke and the football staff
- just three weeks after final-
izing the 2012 recruiting class
- were collecting stars like they
were playing Super Mario.
The four-star names rifled out
by the hour:
12:15p.m.: offensive lineman
Jake Butt. 12:50 p.m.: running
back Wyatt Shallman. 2:45 p.m.:
cornerback Jourdan Lewis. 2:45
p.m.: lineman David Dawson.
A few hours later at Yost,
junior forward A.J. Treais took a
feed from captain Luke Glenden-
ing and buried his shot to give
the Michigan hockey team an
overtime victory on senior night
and a series sweep over North-
ern Michigan. The win kept the
Wolverines in the hunt for their
second consecutive CCHA title.
A few blocks away and a few
more hours later at Crisler Cen-
ter, freshman guard Trey Burke
led the Wolverines to a 56-51 vic-
tory over the Buckeyes.
It was the basketball pro-
gram's first victory over Ohio
State in seven tries, dating back
to Jan. 3, 2010. And this one was
in front of a packed house and a
nationwide TV audience.
Saturday couldn't get any bet-
ter. Then it did.
10:45 p.m.: four-star lineman
Chris Fox.I11:20 p.m.: four-star
defensive end Taco Charlton.
Cha-ching. Charlton had
spent the basketball game beside
Michigan football coach Brady
Hoke and made his announce-
ment in the 11th hour, com-
pleting the Wolverines' most
successful 24 hours of recruiting
in documented history.
Michigan scored more com-
mits (6) on Saturday than three
Ohio State starters - William
Buford, Aaron Craft, Lenzelle
Smith Jr. - made shots from the
0
Blue falls to No. 1 Utah Michigan tops Ohio State
By GLENN MILLER JR.
Daily Sports Writer
Chances to upend a top-ranked
team don't come around often.
On Friday night, the No. 21
Michigan women's gymnastics
team let that opportunity slip
right throughtheir hands.
"We can't afford to let oppor-
tunities like this to keep passing
us by," said Michigan head coach
Bev Plocki.
After a strong start to the meet,
the Wolverines just couldn't hold
on down the stretch. Utah (5-1),
who came into Ann Arbor ranked
first in the nation, proved too
strong in their final two rotations
and took the contest, 196.050-
194.850.
The night looked promising
from the start, as Michigan (6-2)
continued it's season-long profi-
ciency on vault. Junior Brittnee
Martinez and sophomore Stepha-
nie Colbert started the event for
Wolverines with decent scores,
but it was the impressive perfor-
mance of juniorKatie Zurales that
energized the team. Sophomore
Joanna Sampson followed with
an electrifying vault of her own,
only to be topped by freshman
Sachi Sugiyama's event-best 9.900
at the tail end of the lineup. Not
only was Michigan's vault perfor-
mance their third-best of the sea-
son, but the team also continued
its streak of scoring above 49.000
on the event in every meet this
season.As the two teams swapped
events, the Wolverines held a
slight lead going into their second
rotation on bars. A pair of 9.700
scores from the duo of Sugiyama
and freshman Annette Miele led
the way for Michigan. The Wol-
verines finished the event strong,
as the trio of Sampson, Zurales,
and Martinez all scored 9.775.
The Utes held a narrow lead at the
halfway point, 98.050-97.825.
"We came out of vault really
confident, ready to hit bars, and
we didn't get exactly the scores
we wanted to on bars, but we were
still on a high," said sophomore
Shelby Gies.
Michigan looked to regain the
lead heading into the third rota-
tion, but knew it would need a stel-
lar performance on beam. Gies,
who competed in three events
for the first time in her collegiate
career, gave the Wolverines hope
with a 9.800 to start. Zurales'
9.850 tied for the event title, but it
wouldn't be enough, as Michigan
struggled towards the end of its
lineup. After the final two Wol-
verines fell and recorded 9.200,
the team was forced to count one
of the falls in their overall score.
With little hope of toppling
Utah remaining, Michigan would
need more of its previous magic
on the floor. Miele, who has
continued to improve her score
throughout the last three meets,
scored a season-high 9.800 early
in the lineup. Sampson attempted
to give the Wolverines a spark
with her own season-best, 9.925,
but it wouldn't be enough to make
up for the low scores of her other
teammates.
"We've been working on keep-
ing the energy high even if we
don't get the scores we wanted, or
it works out the way we wanted
to," Sampson said.
Sampson would go on to win
the meet's all-around perfor-
mance. Nonetheless, the con-
sistency of the Utes was simply
too much for the Wolverines to
handle.
By ALEX BONDY
Daily Sports Writer
After losing to Ohio State -
the first time in four years - the
Windy City Invitational on Jan.
14, the No.7 Michiganmen'sgym-
nastics team got its revenge.
Fueled by sophomore Sam
Mikulak claiming five of the six
events, the Wolverines posted a
score of 345.700 to the Buckeyes'
334.200. The Wolverines also
handily beat the SUNY Brockport
Golden Eagles - a club team -
which tallied 275.700.
The Wolverines (6-4 overall,
2-1 Big Ten) entered the matchup
with high hopes. They hadn't
competed as a team since Janu-
ary and were ridingthe success of
freshman Adrian de los Angeles,
freshman Stacey Ervin and Miku-
lak at the Winter Cup.
"I expected to win," said Mich-
igan coach Kevin Golder. "But we
knew Ohio State is a pretty good
team. We beat them by a pretty
good margin, but I was more
focused on our team tonight. Any
time we can beat Ohio State is
great."
Ohio State (5-2 overall, 4-1 Big
Ten) entered the season ranked
nationally as the No. 2 team and
was undefeated in conference
play before the weekend.
Michigan started off strong in
the first rotation on floor. Miku-
lak placed first with a 14.90, and
junior Rohan Sebastian placed
third with a 14.50. Suffering from
a strained tricep, Sebastian was
only able to compete in the floor
and va
Inju
Wolver
two-tin
been o
with a
players
team's
success
injured
lineup.
sophor
has be
way ba
first on
career-
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"A
I
StE
"Aft
wasn't
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Dur
Michig
the sti
first w
lowedY
with a
Gaaren
ult events. a career-best of 14.70. The three
riesseemtobeplaguingthe combined to give Michigan a sea-
'ines as of late. Senior and son-high 56.50.
me captain Syque Cesar has While the Wolverines' great
ut with a torn bicep, along performance on the rings gave
handful of other injured them the lead, their sweep on
. According to Golder, the the vault truly secured the win.
depth allows it to still be Mikulak described it as "vaulting
sful, despite having many the lights out," and Golder said
I players forced out of the the team "vaulted up a storm."
In the second rotation, Mikulak took home top honors
sore Michael Myler, who with a 15.30. De los Angeles and
en continuing to work his freshman Stacey Ervin each tal-
ack into the lineup, placed lied 15.10 and Michigan finished
the pommel horse with a with a total of 60.10 - only the
-best score of 14.90. Miku- second time this season the team
ok third on the pommel has scored in the 60s.
with a 14.00, the only event The Wolverines continued to
not place first in. perform strongly, with Mikulak
taking the title on the parallel
bars with a 15.30 and freshman
Mark Panhorst finishing second
fter pommel with a 13.70. In the final rotation
on high bar, Michigan suffered
horse ... We several falls, but still claimed
. the top two places in the event,
epped it up." as Mikulak placed first (15.40)
and de los Angeles placed second
(14.50). The last round would mir-
ror the first- and second-place-
er pommel horse - which ment Mikulak and de los Angeles
our best event - and then would receive in the all-around,
g back on rings, we stepped with Mikulak placing first with
Mikulak said. "(We) got a 90.00 and de los Angeles after
ur issues of falling off pom- him with an 85.50.
rse and really took it to the "Ohio State hadbeaten us at the
vel." Windy City," Mikulak said. "We
ing the third rotation definitely drew some fire from
tan took all three places on that. I think everybody pulled
ll rings. Mikulak finished it together. I was ready to go the
ith a career-high 15.00, fol- whole time, and I was fueled the
by de los Angeles in second entire night with my team behind
t 14.80. Sophomore Jordan me. Cominginwewere confident,
nstroom placed third with and it worked out well for us."
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