8 - Tuesday, November 6, 2012
The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com 0
8 - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 0
WOMEW'S OCCER
Blue earns first home
NCAA game since '02
By ALEJANDRO ZU
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women
team likes to dance to "G
Style" before its home n
This season, it will keep
into November.
On Monday afterno
Wolverines (8-3-2 Big T
2 overall) earned an at-I
to the 64-team NCAA'
ment. They'll play Centra
gan (9-2 MAC, 15-6-1) in
round on Saturday at t
Soccer Complex.
Michigan hasn't ho:
NCAA Tour-
Sophomore point guard Trey Burke scored 16 points and added eight assists in Michigan's 76-48 exhibition victory over Saginaw Valley State on Monday
M handles Saginaw Valley
ByCOLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Writer
If there were any concerns
about Trey Burke after he
missed last Thursday's exhi-
bition game against Northern
Michigan, they're all gone now.
With less than six minutes
to play in the first half of Mon-
day night's
game, the SVSU 48
sopho- MICHIGAN 76
more
point guard dished the ball to
senior guard Matt Vogrich with
a 'smooth, no-look pass for an
easy layup in transition. Just a
few seconds later, Burke found
freshman forward Glenn Rob-
inson III for another transition
layup - no rust there.
Burke's 16-point, eight-assist
performance helped the No.
5 Michigan men's basketball
team to a 76-48 victory over
Saginaw Valley State in its last
exhibition game before its sea-
son gets underway against Slip-
pery Rock on Friday.
Burke, who averaged 36 min-
utes per game in his freshman
campaign, was suspended for
Michigan's first exhibition for
a violation of team rules that
he said happened over the sum-
mer, but he returned Monday
and saw 21 minutes of action.
"I felt comfortable (coming
back)," Burke said. "After the
first couple minutes, my team-
mates helped me get comfort-
able before the game. Plus, IOgot
out there and got a feel for the
game - I was fine."
Burke also had no problem
handing over the reins of the
offense to Spike Albrecht, his
freshman counterpart who
started last Thursday. Albrecht
made his impression with 16
points and six.assists in his first
career start, but was a bit more
silent in Monday's exhibition
- the Crown Point, Ind. native
tallied just two points and an
assist while playing a signifi-
cant chunk of the second half.
And just like Thursday, the
Wolverines relied on offense
from the rest of the freshman
class. The rookies totaled 33
of Michigan's 76 total points,
with Robinson leading the team
with 17. Robinson notched the
first four points of the game to
put Michigan ahead for good
and provided excitement to the
mostly silent crowd by finishing
an alley-oop from junior guard,
Tim Hardaway Jr. in the second
half.
Freshman forward Mitch
McGary, who seemed to be
recovering fine from a knee
injury that limited his action
Thursday night, was just as
emotional on the court as he
was in the exhibition opener.
The Chesterton, Ind. native
excited the crowd with an
emphatic block and a dunk
halfway through the second
half. McGary finished with six
points and 10 rebounds, but got
in foul trouble in the first half
with three fouls.
Aside from the knee trou-
bles, Beilein is concerned about
McGary's shape - he wants to
see McGary lose a few pounds
and increase his stamina.
"With the media timeouts,
he really can push himself,"
Beilein said. "(He has) to under-
stand, 'I can play hard, I can
play through these things.' He's
getting in better shape - game
shape is different from all the
sprints we run."
Aside from the rookies and
Burke, the rest of the squad was
silent Monday night.
Hardaway scored his first
points of the game with 2:32
left in the first half and finished
with just five points and six
assists in his 26 minutes of play.
Redshirt junior forward Jordan
Morgan finished with seven
points and seven rebounds
and Vogrich contributed eight
points.
Despite the lack of scor-
ing from Michigan's veterans,
offense wasn't a problem for the
Wolverines. The game wasn't
even close after Michigan took
the lead for good three minutes
in, which Burke attributed to
the team's talent after adding a
top-10 recruiting class.
"We have options, a lot of
options this year," Burke said.
"Last year, our offense was kind
of stagnant, and though these
are exhibition games, you can
tell that (we have options).
"It's going to be pretty hard
to guard us this year as long
as we make the right play and
make adjustments."
nament
game since
2002, when it
advanced to
the quarterfi-
nals.
Nervously
packed into the
home locker
room Mon-
day afternoon,
the Wolver-
C
te
NlIGA The Wolverines will partici-
r pate in their second NCAA Tour-
nament in three years under
's soccer Ryan. After taking over a pro-
angnam gram that went 3-9-6 in 2007,
matches. Ryan's squads improved each
dancing year before receiving an NCAA
Tournament selection in 2010.
on, the After suffering through an inju-
en, 14-5- ry-plagued 2011 season, the Wol-
arge bid verines are back in the national
Tourna- spotlight.
1 Michi- "We've come to a place in the
the first program where we expect to be
he U-M in the NCAA Tournament," Ryan 4
said.
sted an Michigan hasn't won an NCAA
Tournament
game since
2003, and the
"W e focus Chi~ppeasth
thewill pose a
)n thenext tough chal-
- lenge. Central
am in front Michigan lost
ofus. in the MAC
championship
game to Miami
(Ohio), but
made appear-
on when ances in the NCAA Tournament
ounced. in 2009 and 2010. Last season,
ord and the Chippewas salvaged a draw
Wolver- against the Wolverines in Ann
d a spot Arbor.
10-game "They're a good team," Ryan
ropelled said. "But I'd say we are two to
onally, it three goals better per game this
mark in year (than last year)."
the dis- Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois
t matter and Wisconsin were the other
Big Ten teams to earnspots in the
nemory," tournament. Michigan could face
eg Ryan. a rematch with the first-seed-
team in ed Nittany Lions if both teams
advance to the third round.
ines erupted in jubilatic
the selection was ann
Despite their solid ret
impressive resume, the
ines weren't guarantees
in the field of 64. After a
unbeaten streak that p
Michigan to No. 17 nati
stumbled through a 1-3-1
its final five games. But
appointing finish doesn'
any more.
"We have a short nm
said Michigan coach Gr
"We focus on the next
front of us."
FOLLOW ON TWITTER
We've got you covered.
@THEBLOCKM
I
4
0
'