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The Michigan Daily i michiganclaily.com March 19,2012
- BEAT(EN BY) OHIO
Michigan 60
Ohio 65
By BEN ESTES
Daily Sports Editor
-, NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A faint redness showed
in the eyes of Stu Douglass, an early trace of the
tears that would soon be shed.
For four years, those eyes - intense, perhaps,
yet so unassuming, so innocent - seemed to
promise to Douglass's opponents that the man
who wore them was not a basketball player to be
feared, lulling them into a false sense of security
before Douglass suddenly drained a 3-pointer or
surprised with an acrobatic layup.
At this moment, those eyes, opened wide in
Y-C & numbness, were locked on the shot clock above
his team's basket. The red numbers read triple
zeros, and they told Douglass that it had all come
to an end.
On Friday night, in an upset - which so typifies
the NCAA Tournament - the four-seed Michi-
gan basketball team fell to 13-seed Ohio, 65-60,
in Nashville. The Wolverines exit the Big Dance
in the second round without winning a game, the
first time that has happened in the four tourna-
y ment appearances during Michigan coach John
Beilein's tenure.
k "I was just trying to hold it in, make it to the
locker room," Douglass said. "I was just kind of in
a state of disbelief. I'm still in it."
Call it a Cinderella-style upset if you want, but
it was clear from the beginning that Ohio didn't
see itself as an underdog by any stretch of the
imagination.
Star guard D.J. Cooper and Ohio took the fight
ALDEN REISS/Daily to the Wolverines first, eventually establishing
The Michigan men's basketball team was upset by Ohio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. See OHIO, Page 3B
Senior Kellen Russell, shown in a match earlier this season, took home his
second-consecutive national championship in St. Louis this weekend.
Russelc lms second
By LIZ NAGLE you're not as strong or as fast as
Daily Sports Writer your opponent, everybody sees it.
If you quit, everybody sees it."
It was the beginning of March But Russell didn't make him-
Madness - the Michigan men's self vulnerable, nor did he let any-
basketball team just fell to Ohio one witness signs of weakness or
in the NCAA Tournament, and exhaustion. Of the 18,919 in atten-
everyone donned Irish-green dance, notone would say they saw
apparel in the spirit of St. Pat- him quit - Russell fought until
rick's Day. the referee raised his arm in vic-
Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Kellen tory.
Russell was wrestling in his last "Most of these wrestlers today
moments of glory. are expected to just tell them-
On Saturday, the fifth-year selves, 'This is just like every
senior stepped onto the mat for other match,' " said Anthony
the last time in a maize and blue Robles before the finals on Sat-
singlet. When he walked off, he urday.
was a two-time national cham- Robles, who earned last year's
pion. 125-pound national title, despite
Russell's journey was long being born with only one leg,
and physical. He spent count- continued, "but really, it's not like
less hours training for a single every other match."
moment. But in the last weeks of "This is what they train for
his college-wrestling career, Rus- year round, what they dream
sell made history, sought revenge about. So it's all about who can
and passed on a tradition. come out tonight, perform under
Russell is an irreplaceable the lights for one more match."
puzzle piece. Without him, the But it wasn't just Russell's last
Michigan wrestling team would match that mattered.
not have been able to complete After three early wins, Russell
its 11th-place finish at the NCAA squared off against Ohio State's
Championships this weekend. Hunter Stieber in the semifinals.
But with him, the Wolverines The Buckeye was Russell's only
built upon their legacy and added loss in 72 matches over the last
Russell's name to the short list of two seasons.
Michigan's multiple-time cham- Russell reflected on that match
pions. more than once. He knew his
Just after Russell's final vic- focus wasn't there. But this time,
tory, ESPN played a video about it was.
the challenges that wrestlers Stieber struck firstafter scram-
encounter. bling to keep a hold on Russell's
"You make yourself very vul- left leg. But in the second period,
nerable," said Oscar winner and Russell started in the down posi-
former wrestler John Irving. "If tion and scored an early escape.
you're tired, everybody knows. If See RUSSELL, Page 3B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Oklahoma offense too
much for Wolverines
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior goalie Shawn Hunwick made 22 saves in the CCHA final against Western Michigan at Joe Louis Arena, but Michigan lost, 3-2,to WMU
'M' edged in CCHA final
By ZACH HELFAND
Daily Sports Editor
DETROIT - After a grueling,
double-overtime affair against
Bowling Green on Friday, an
exhausted No. 3 Michigan hock-
ey team said it wasn't looking
toward
the NCAA BGSU 2
Tourna- MICHIGAN 3
ment. Not
yet. W. MICHIGAN 3
One MICHIGAN 2
large game
against Western Michgian
loomed, and this one wasn't just
for the CCHA Tournament title,
but also a chance for revenge
after last year's drubbing at
the hands of the Broncos in the
semifinals.
On Saturday, the Wolver-
ines' actions spoke louder than
words.
For the second straight year,
Western Michgian ended the
Wolverines' hopes for a ninth
CCHA Tournament Champi-
onship at Joe Louis Arena, this
time by a score of 3-2.
"Let's face it, we're not that
good," said Michigan coach Red
Berenson. "We're not any better
than anybody else, but I don't
think we're any worse than any-
one else. We're right there."
Western Michigan ordered
a constant assault on Michigan
fifth-year senior goalie Shawn
Hunwick, and exploited the
weakest part in his game. Mich-
igan surrendered three unan-
swered goals through the first
two periods, and all three goals
came off of rebounds.
Late in the first period, Ian
Slater tapped in a rebound on
a shot by J.J. Crew to put the
Broncos on the board.
In the second, Dane Walters
knocked in a loose puck after
another rebound for a power-
play goal. Chase Balisy added
yet another rebound goal later
in the second period to give the
Broncos a commanding three-
goal lead heading into the final
frame.
"(Hunwick) has a way of
placing his rebounds, where he
places them where he wants to,
and I don't know if he did that
tonight," Berenson said. "They
got shots through, and he bat-
tled hard. Let's face it, one of
the reasons we're here is Shawn
Hunwick."
Western Michigan played like
a team still fighting for a spot in
the NCAA Tournament. With
the win, the Broncos assured
themselves of a spot in the
NCAA Tournament. Michigan,
meanwhile, played only for the
hardware on Saturday.
And coming off the double-
overtime game that went late
into the night on Friday, Michi-
gan at times struggled to match
the quickness of Western Michi-
gan's speedy forwards. The
Wolverines dug themselves a
two-goal hole on Friday against
Bowling Green, but used a late
goal in the second period and a
desperate third-period effort to
force overtime.
With more than eight minutes
remaining in the third period
against the Broncos on Satur-
day, Michigan again captured
some late momentum. After a
highlight-reel shorthanded goal
by sophomore forward Kevin
See WESTERN, Page 3B
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's bas-
ketball team under coach Kevin
Borseth usually turns games
into a grind-fest, focusing on
long offen-
sive pos- MICHIGAN 67
sessions OKLAHOMA 88
and defen-
sive stops.
But that's hard to do when
your opponent scores 48 first-
half points.
The 11-seed Wolverines had
a hard time stopping redshirt
junior Whitney Hand and six-
seed Oklahoma in the first half
of their opening-round matchup
on Sunday. Hand scored 10 and
pulled down five rebounds in
the half to give the Sooners a
lead they'd never relinquish en
route to an 88-67 victory.
Oklahoma led by as much as
19 early in the second half, but
Michigan didn't let the game get
out of hand until the end. Senior
guard Carmen Reynolds led the
charge, scoring a season-high
20 points by hitting key 3-point-
ers to keep the Wolverines in
the game. Reynolds, who broke
the program record for most
3-pointers in a career earlier
in the season, added five to her
total on Sunday.
"Honestly, I would take back
every single one of those threes
if we would've got the (win)
today," Reynolds said.
She wasn't ready for her
career to end, and neither was
senior guard Courtney Boylan.
Boylan added 12 points on
6-of-14 shooting and kept the
team under control when things
may have seemed to get out of
See OKLAHOMA, Page 3B
t
CRUELTY OF MARCH
For 63 teams in the NCAA Tourna-
ment, including Michigan, March is
maddening. Page 4B
NO AVERAGE QB
How Denard Robinson embraced
the Maize Rage, and it embraced him
right back. Page 2B