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." 0 a. , ,e 464 $,s .e , . S 4 99 0 p4. 9 9,, " t i '' 'ilOr AD ds 4 * 4 9 . 1 9jt oo 00 0*e a 9, ** * tee. ci * W *.,e,,e- . i!IERNST&YOUNG Quality in Everything We Do uiullllll llllllllllu i" ................... A