8A -- Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Michigan Daily michigandailycom
8A - Wednesday, November 28, 2012 The Michigan Daily -- michigandailycom
Stauskas emerges as threat
Sophomore guard Trey Burkefinished with 18 points and 11 assists for his first career double-double.
Mwards off Wolac
By EVERETT COOK relentless play of N.C. State to seven minutes after halftime, he
Daily Sports Editor hang on to the seven-point lead hit a pull-up 3-pointer to score
late. his 10th point of the night - and
Three minutes into No. 3 Mich- "I'm still coming off the bench, secure his first career double-
igan's 79-72 win over No.18 North but at this point that's something double. He finished the contest
Carolina State in the Big Ten/ I'm fine with," Stauskas said. with 18 points, 11 assists and zero
ACC Challenge, it was quiet in the "(Michigan coach John Beilein) turnovers.
Crisler Center. likes me coming into the game "I was getting deep in the paint
The stu- and he is giving me the green light and guys were kind of shading
dent sec- N.C. STATE 72 to shoot and do what I want, so the perimeter," Burke said. "(The
tion was MICHIGAN 79 you can't ask for any more than second half was) when I could get
full for the that." to the rack ... it was just matter of
first time this season and had After his first bucket of the making reads."
been loud during the pregame game, Stauskas went on a stretch The Wolfpack were trying to
ceremony when Michigan raised where he scored 10 of Michigan's push the ball at every available
a banner to honor last season's co- 12 points. He finished the first half opportunity, and also attempted
Big Ten Championship. But now, with 13 points on five shots and a full-court press at one point.
three minutes into the game, the helped key a 16-4 Wolverine run. The pressure caught the Wolver-
crowd had quieted down, waiting The Wolfpack had their biggest ines napping at points during fast
for the Wolverines to get going. run of the first half when Stauskas breaks but wasn't as effective as
Play started sloppily - the two was onthebench, scoringsevenin N.C. State hoped.
teams combined for four turn- a row. With Stauskas back in the Michigan finished the game
overs in the first three minutes game, Michigan stopped the run with just six turnovers - two of
- and Michigan's starting shoot- and regained the game's momen- which were given up in the first
ing guard, Matt Vogrich, had just tum. The freshman finished two minutes of the game. On top
picked up his second foul. Plus, the hight with a game-high and of that, the Wolverines' first turn-
the senior had started off the career-high 20 points, a total that over of the second half came with
game with a turnover that led to included four 3-pointers. 4:34 left in the game.
an easy Wolfpack dunk for the The other impressive night. N.C. State had four play-
first points of the contest. belonged to sophomore point ers score in double figures, but
In came freshman guard Nik guard Trey Burke, who tied his couldn't do enough defensively
Stauskas, who kick-started the career-high in assists, nine, at to slow Michigan down. The lead
Michigan offense. After a quick the end of the first half. Burke shrunk to within five points with
Stauskas bucket, the crowd was finished the first half with zero less than a minute to play, but an
back into it. Stauskas, and Michi- points and zero turnovers. offensive foul drawn by freshman
gan, didn't look back. The Wol- The second half started a little Mitch McGary effectively sealed
verines ultimately overcame the differently for Burke. Less than the game.
By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily SportsEditor
A few things about freshman
guard Nik Stauskas: Though
Canadian, he doesn't watch
hockey. He doesn't know who
Alanis Morrisette is but he's a big
Justin Bieber fan. He particularly
likes the Canadian popstar's new
stuff, and appreciated his biopic,
"Never Say Never."
Oh, and Stauskas has also
emerged as the Michigan basket-
ball team's new dynamic offen-
sive threat. The 6-foot-6 Ontario
native scored a career-high and
game-high 20 points on just 10
shots, fueling Michigan in its
79-72 win over North Carolina
State on Tuesday.
Flashing his inveterate shoot-
ing ability while also punish-
ing Wolfpack defenders off the
dribble, Stauskas makes it hard
for Michigan coach John Beilein
to keep him out of the starting
lineup.
"He's a pure shooter," said
sophomore point guard Trey
Burke.
"And when you have a guy like
that that can shoot and put the
ball on the ground and get to the
paint and create for others, it's a
big plus because he can open the
defense up."
Senior guard Matt Vogrich
started, but was yanked by
Beilein after two fouls, which
came on the heels of an errant
pass that led to the game's first
points.
Insert Stauskas.
On his first possession, Staus-
kas took the pass, took his
defender off the dribble into the
paint and curled out to the block,
scooping the ball in with his left
hand.
Then came the 3-point bar-
rage. He made three straight
from range, including one as he
was falling down and nearly 25
feet away from the basket.
It doesn't come as a surprise
to Burke, though. Stauskas has
S
Freshman guard Nik Stauskas scored a career-high 20 points.
been doing that since he arrived
in Ann Arbor this summer.
"That's probably the best
shooter I've played with," Burke
said. "He shoots like a pro. Just
gotta be honest."
Stauskas finished the game
6-for-10 from the field and
made four of his seven 3-point
attempts. He's shooting 60 per-
cent from the field on the season
and has a nearly identical 3-point
make rate. Despite coming off
the bench, he's scored in double
figures. the last five games and
finds himself third onthe teamin
scoring.
"Shooting is what I do," Staus-
kas said. "I'm comfortable with
it. I've probably taken a million
shots in my life. That's pretty
much all I did when I was a kid,
just go outside and shoot."
But when he just went outside
to shoot, he wasn't being closely.
defended. Stauskas's three miss-
es from 3-point range all came
on uncontested shots. It was the
tough ones, with a hand in his
face, which he was burying.
"I think I shoot better when
I have people running at me,"
Stauskas said. "I don't think
about it as much when people
are running at me. I just shoot it
quicker.".
It may prove difficult, then, to
make sense of Stauskas's free-
throw shooting. No defenders
running at him there.
Stauskas made all four of his
attempts from the line, mak-
ing him 20-for-21 on the sea-
son - a 95-percent clip. That
may prove especially decisive in
close games later in the season.
With strong free-throw shooters
needed to close out opponents
who foul late in a tight contest,
Stauskas could become the Wol-
verines' biggest weapon.
"I wouldn't say he replaced
Zack (Novak) on defense,
because we don't have a replace-
ment for that," Burke said. "But
he replaced Zack in free-throw
shooting because he's just as
good if not better than Zack at
shooting free throws."
The only thing left to figure
out is why Stauskas isn't start
ing yet. According to Beilein,
it could have something to do
with the'superstition of keeping
things the same on an unbeaten
team - but change may be on the
horizon.
"I want to see Matt have
some success in there, but Nick's
adapted so well in it," Beilein
said. "It is something youhave to
consider down the line."
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