8A - Thursday, January 24, 2013 S o
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
After loss,'M' faces IU
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Redshirt junior centerJordan Morgan said the short break between games provided time to get back to fundamentals.
For nation'slikely N.1,
back to basics vs. Purdue
By STEVEN BRAID
Daily Sports Editor
The extended break couldn't
have come at a better time for the
No. 2 Michigan men's basketball
team.
With seven days to prepare
for Thursday's contest against
Purdue (3-2 Big Ten, 10-8 over-
all), the Wolverines utilized the
opportunity to get back to the
basics.
"Wejusttook
some time to Purdue at
get back to our Wigan
fundamentals,"
said redshirt Matchup:
junior center Purdue 10-8;
Jordan Mor- Michigan 17-1
gan. "Things When: Thurs-
we might have day 7 p.m.
spent more Where: Crisler
time on earlier Center
in the season ... TV/Radio:
basic stuff that ESPN
kind of gets lost
in the shuffle of
guarding all these offenses that
different teams run."
Sandwiched in between a road
swing against two top-15 oppo-
nents and a stretch that includes
four games in 10 days, the Wol-
verines (4-1, 17-1) welcomed the
layoff with open arms.
"When you have the games
during the season, if you play two
games a week, it's really hard to
get back to basics because you're
always trying to rest after one
game and trying to get ready for
the next game," said Michigan
coach John Beilein. "We had to
get back to basics.
"There's scouting reports, and
then there's just the fundamen-
tals. Sometimes you get so much
into scouting reports that you're
playing to play instead of playing
basketball."
Michigan will hope to be a
much more sound team against
the Boilermakers than it was in
its previous contest. In the Wol-
verines' last outing, an 83-75 vic-
tory against Minnesota last week,
they were uncharacteristically
shaky on defense. They commit-
ted 19 total fouls - seven more
than they average per game -
and allowed the Golden Gophers
to knock down 8-of-16 shots from
downtown.
Junior swingman'Tim Hard-
away Jr. will look to continue
his hot shooting. The reigning
Big Ten Player of the Week tal-
lied 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting,
breaking out of a two-game mini-
slump in which he connected on
just 35 percent of his attempts.
Though Purdue struggled at
the beginning of the season, los-
ing six of its first 10 games, the
Boilermakersave reignited as of
late. Purdue has taken advantage
of a weak portion of its schedule
and is currently riding a three-
game winning streak, coming
off a 79-52 win against West Vir-
ginia. Led by a staunch defense,
Purdue's effectiveness will hinge
on its ability to limit easy scor-
ing opportunities by Michigan's
high-scoring attack.
Purdue center A.J. Hammons,
who ranks first in the Big Ten in
blocks (2.1) and leads all confer-
ence freshmen in rebounds (6.3),
anchors one of the best defenses
in the conference. The Boiler-
makers allow just over 60 points
a game, hounding opponents into
shooting worse than 40 percent
from the field. They will have
their hands full with the Wolver-
ines, though, who shoot 51 per-
cent from the floor - fourth-best
in the nation - and 41 percent
from beyond the arc.
"Purdue has played us tough
over the years since (I've) been
here," Beilein said. "Their
defense - they're physical."
Purdue will depend heavily
on its defense because its offense
won't offer much support. The
Boilermakers have struggled
shooting the ball from every-
where on the floor thus far this
season, connecting on just 42 per-
cent of their field-goal attempts,
32 percent of their 3-pointers,
and 63 percent of their free
throws. Guard Terone Johnson
leads all scorers with 13.3 points
per game while also acting as one
of the team's primary playmak-
ers, dishing 3.1 assists a game.
Despite losing to Purdue at
home last season on senior night
- a game in which Johnson led
the Boilermakers with 22 points
- the Wolverines are not think-
ing about the past. Their sole
focus is on the future.
"We haven't really put that
much thought into it, it's more
about this game right now and
what it does for us now," Morgan
said. "We definitely can't over-
look them because they're a very
good team."
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 23 Michigan wom-
en's basketball team will look
to bounce back on Thursday
when it takes on Indiana (1-4
Big Ten, 10-8 overall). Coming
off a 10-point loss to Penn State
on Monday, which snapped a
program-best 10-game winning
streak and four-game winning
streak in Big Ten play, the Wol-
verines will seek to start anew
against the Hoosiers.
Despite an all-time losing
record against Indiana, the Wol-
verines (4-1, 15-3) have won the
last five matchups, including a
65-48 victory just three weeks
ago. Michigan was led by senior
guard Jenny Ryan, who nearly
recorded a triple-double with
11 points, nine assists and eight
rebounds.
Besides Ryan's fantastic play,
the Wolver-
ines received
key production Michigan
from several at Indjana
other players.
Senior forward Matchup:
Sam Arnold Michigan 15-3;
Indiana 10-8
had a career-
high 17 points When: Thurs-
to lead the day 7 p.m.
team, while Where:
senior forward Assembly Hall
Nya Jordan TV/Radio:
contributed a MGoBlue.com
double-double
with 14 points
and 12 rebounds to help Michi-
gan outrebound Indiana, 36-27.
In addition, senior forwards
Rachel Sheffer and Kate Thomp-
son added nine and eight points,
respectively, for the Wolverines.
For Michigan to have success
in Bloomington this time, such
scoring depth might be necessary.
The Wolverines shot aseason-low
28 percent from the field against
Penn State, with just one double-
digit scorer in Sheffer, who had
Junior forward Rachel Shefferhad 20 points and 10 rebounds Monday.
20 points and 10 rebounds. the team in points with 18.1 per
While Sheffer played well in game and, like Sheffer, scored the
the post, Michigan'sscoring lead- 1,000th point of her career in her
er, Thompson, was held to just team's last game.
nine points. She struggled to 3-of- Besides Sinclair, the only
16 shooting with14 attempts from other Hoosier averaging over 10
beyond the arc. Though seven points a game is guard Jasmine
made 3-pointers - a feat Thomp- McGhee, who comes in averaging
son accomplished two games 12.3 points per contest to go with
back - might not be needed for a team-leading6.4 rebounds.
the team to beat Indiana, a game McGhee was the lone double-
more reminiscent of her averages digit scorer for Indiana against
for the season will likely be need- Michigan last time around, and
ed for Michigan to be successful. has carried the slack for the Hoo-
"The big picture is we're hav- siers in recent games, scoring in
ing an awesome year right now," double figures in six of Indiana's
Sheffer said. "We had great last seven contests.
bounce-backs on our last two While Michigan coach Kim
losses. That's what we're focused Barnes Arico is satisfied with her
on right now, bouncing back from team's record up to this point, she
(the Penn State) loss." still is keeping a level head about
For the Hoosiers, the game this game and the remaining road
represents a chance to snap their games on the Wolverines' sched-
three-game losing' streak and ule.
produce momentum going into "If you told me when I was
their next conference game at hired that we would be 15-3 right
Northwestern - the lone team it now, I would say 'woo,' " Barnes
has beat in the Big Ten this sea- Arico said. "I would take that, but
son. as a coach, all I'm worried about
If the Wolverines want to stop is beating Indiana and trying to
Indiana, the key will be limit- get better because when you go
ing the production of its premier on the road in the Big Ten, any-
scorer Aulani Sinclair, who leads thing can happen."
4
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LIVE COLLEGE
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Behind Enemy Lines:
Purdue guard D.J. Boyd
By COLLEEN THOMAS,
Daily SportsEditor
Last season, the Michigan
men's basketball team was one
home win away from complet-
ing an undefeated home record
and sending then-senior guards
Stu Douglass and Zack Novak out
with a win on senior night.
But the Wolverines' perfect
night was spoiled by Purdue and
their senior star Robbie Hum-
mel, as the Boilermakers won the
game, 75-61.
With Hummel's leadership
experience gone and an incom-
ing class of talented freshmen
- including Indiana natives A.J.
Hammons and Ronnie Johnson,
who currently are two of Purdue's
top four scorers - Purdue turned
to senior guard D.J. Byrd to lead
the young squad in what many
have perceived as a rebuilding
year for the Boilermakers.
The Daily got the chance to
talk to the senior captain at Big
Ten Media Day in October.
The Michigan Daily:What are
the big challenges as a freshman
coming into college basketball?
D.J. Byrd: First of all, there's
the physical toll of practice every
day. It's three hours a day, along
with weights. You may not neces-
sarily get a lot of sleep every night,
you have class, you have tutors,
you have a lot of stuff on your
plate as a freshman. So taking
care of all that and having to limit
your distractions is very impor-
tant. Our freshmen have done a
good job of handling itso far, and
hopefully they can improve every
day.
TMD: You had to play a lot
when you were a true freshman,
were there ever any moments
where it was a little bit over-
whelming? Any particular phase
of basketball that was difficult?
DB: Well the main thing was
just managing your time, being
able to get getting certain things
done, whether you have to study
for an exam, practice, then you
had to go to dinner - you get to
be a good planner. Luckily I had
some good guys ahead of me,
Chris Kramer as a senior, Keaton
Grant, Rob Hummel that helped
me out. That's what me and the
older guys have been doing, just
trying to help those guys any way
we can.
TMD:Your freshmen are obvi-
ously important this year, so what
kind of things are the upperclass-
men doing to help get them accli-
mated?
DB:You knowyou got coaches
telling you so many things during
practice, yelling at you, helping
you, but I'm just being another
guy that they can come ask about
a play, something off the court -
just being there and being open
to whatever they have. I think
is important just to have that
between the coaching staff and
(ourselves).
TMD: Is this group of fresh-
men wired to handle this stuff
right away?
DB: Yeah, they've grown a lot
in the past couple weeks. They've
really gotten to where they plan
ahead now. They had some expe-
rience in the summer - they got
to do some classes on campus -
but now with the season going
on, it's going to be pretty busy.
They've done a good job so far,
and they're getting better, both on
and off the court, and that's what
we need.
TMD: You've had a couple of
good senior classes in the past,
but what's going make this year's
senior class different?
DB: Me and Dru (Anthrop) are
a little different, but it's all about
helping the younger guys right
now. Last year with Robbie Hum-
mel, you have All-American type
guys graduating, and thisyear it's
trying to help the younger guys
get to where they need to be. For
me, I've learned from those guys
in the past - JaJuan Johnson,
E'Twaun Moore, Kramer - and
I've kind of learned a little bit
from each in terms of knowing
how to handle the team and how
to help everyone on the team
work to a certain degree every
day. It can be hard on a young per-
son, soI try to be a leader.
TMD: How would you define
your leadership role to the fresh-
men?
DB: It's not just the freshmen,
it's the whole team. But the fresh-
men coming in, it's the most dif-
ficult for them. I try to be a coach
on the floor, either by example or
vocally, and be that guy they can
come talk to.
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