The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, February 7, 2013 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, February 7, 2013 - 7A
On a hyped Tuesday night,
Hardaway stole the show
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Editor
As the Michigan men's basket-
ball team was finishing its post-
game celebration after Tuesday's
76-74 overtime win over Ohio
State, Tim Hardaway Jr. led the
team towards the Maize Rage.
The players high-fived the stu-
dents in the sold-out crowd at the
Crisler Center on their way to the
locker room, but the junior guard
stayed a while longer to soak in
the atmosphere of a crowd that,
as he later said, "uplifted (them)
throughout the entire game."
But it really felt like it was
Hardaway's energy that pumped
up the crowd as he took the game
into his own hands when the
third-ranked Wolverines needed
some momentum.
Down by five points midway
through the second stanza in
Tuesday's primetime matchup
against Ohio State, the junior
guard went on a run of his own.
Hardaway hit four consecu-
tive 3-pointers to give Michigan
a 52-50 lead, but more impor-
tantly, he brought the crowd
back to life after the Buckeyes
* had extended their halftime lead
to eight points.
"It was crucial," said fresh-
man forward Mitch McGary.
"(Hardaway) came out shoot-
ing well, and in the second half
he had that spark with (four) in
a row - he kept us in the game.
I didn't really think about it (at
the time), but sometimes (they)
would go on little runs and Tim
would come back with a (3-point-
er) right then."
To McGary, it seemed as if
Hardaway would make a key
shot to shift the momentum in
the Wolverines' favor, and Mich-
igan coach John Beilein said
after the game that Hardaway
was "terrific."
Penalty kill polished
By MATT SLOVIN becomes tentative, avoiding a big
ManagingEditor hitthatcan shift momentum. Say
nothing, though, and he could
Leading up to last weekend's take another costly penalty.
series against Michigan State, "Unless somebody is taking
Michigan hockey coach Red penalties after the whistle or
Berenson cau- discipline-type penalties, self-
tioned that, NOTEBOOK ish penalties that we need to get
despite the out of their game in general, we
Spartans' last-place standing, really don'ttalk a whole lot about
they still do several things well. that," said assistant coach Billy
Foremost, he referenced Powers. "(If) they start thinking
Michigan State's goaltender - about it too much, it's not a pro-
freshman Jake Hildebrand. The ductive thing."
Wolverines weren't to be denied, ONE DEFENSEMAN BACK ...:
though, sending eight total goals After sustaining a lower-body
past Hildebrand on the weekend. injury against Bowling Green on
Berenson also 'mentioned Jan. 8, junior defenseman Mac
the Spartan power play, led by Bennett will return to game.
sophomore forward Matt Berry. action Friday night against Notre
Again, Michigan controlled one Dame.According to Powers, Ben-
of the weekend's keys to victory, nett will play about 23 to 25 min-
and the penalty-killunitwas suc- utes and is expected to make an
cessful on all nine of its tries. In instant impact after rejoining
fact, on the Spartans' nine com- team practice Monday.
bined power-play chances, they "There's no question he's
mustered just eight shots. going to give us a huge boost,"
Part of the unit's improve- Powers said. "He's a vocal guy,
ment of late stems from younger which will help our locker room
players, like sophomore forward - another good voice in there.
Andrew -Sinelli, becoming more "And then, of course, what
acclimated to the Wolverines' he does on the ice. He's been as
system. The return of junior good an all-around defenseman
defenseman Jon Merrill to the as there's been in our league, not
Michiganlineup after being side- just our team."
lined with an injury for the first ANOTHER ONE DONE: Beren-
half of the season has also been a son announced this week that
crucial factor. junior defenseman Kevin Clare
Assistant coach Brian Wise- is likely done for the season with
man believes that limiting the a "lingeringupper-bodyinjury."
number of power-play opportu- Clare is able to skate and prac-
nities for opponents is behind the tice, buthe cannot take contact at
recent hot streak for the penalty game speed.
killers. "What I'm telling (Clare) is
But even as recently as the that I don't know if he will play
Michigan State series, senior again this year," Berenson said.
defenseman Lee Moffie found "Unless his injury really changes,
himself in the penalty box three but it hasn't changed enough."0
times in a game. Freshman The New Rochelle, N.Y. native
defenseman Jacob Trouba is by played Jan. 25 to 26 at Western
far the, team's most-penalized Michigan, but it became appar-
player with 64 minutes logged in ent that he wasn't himself.
the box. "If we're healthy, he probably
For the coaching staff, there's won't have to play (the rest of the
a delicate balance between cor- season)," Berenson said.
recting penalties and ignor- Clare has logged two points,
ing them. Make a comment to a both assists, in 19 games for the
physical player and he quickly Wolverines this year.
Juniorguard Tim Hardaway Jr. hit four consecutive 3-pointers in Michigan's win over Ohio State on TuesdayU
And once Hardaway got the
hot hand, the coaches gave him
the go-ahead on offense. The
junior finished with a game-
high 23 points while shooting
an impressive 50 percent from
the floor, including a scorching
6-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Aside from his 12 consecutive
points, Hardaway sealed the vic-
tory for the Wolverines with a
block of Ohio State's Aaron Craft
in the final seconds of overtime.
"It was just a reaction," Hard-
away said. "He had the ball up,
I thought he was going to shoot
it. We were up two, I was try-
ing to get the block or force him
to the free-throw line to tie it at
the line, and I just didn't want to
give it up."
Hardaway's performance
on Tuesday is just one of many
instances of the junior stepping
up in big games this season.
Unlike last year, where Hard-
away would go on mini-slumps,
this year, he's come up big in
clutch situations.
First, it was the Preseason
NIT Tip-off at Madison Square
Garden. The Miami, Fla. native
was the MVP of the tournament
as he combined for 39 points over
two games in New York.
Then it was in Brooklyn,,
where Hardaway scored 25
points in Michigan's drubbing of
West Virginia.
And in the past two games,
against then-No. 3 Indiana and
No. 10 Ohio State, Hardaway has
stepped into a larger offensive
role. He had 18 points on 8-of-16
shooting against the Hoosiers,
and was a catalyst in the Wolver-
ines' many runs that helped seal
the game against the Buckeyes.
His improvement is not only
visible in the energy he brings to
the floor, but also in his numbers.
This season, the junior is shoot-
ing 48 percent from the floor and
43 percent from 3-point range.
His clip is similar to last season's
- he shot 41 percent in 2011-12 -
but Hardaway has improved his
shooting from beyond the arc by
15 percent.
Hardaway credits most of this
improvement to "trying to do the
best (he) can to help the team,"
but Beilein has noticed signifi-
cant improvement between his
sophomore and junior cam-
paigns.
"We've been seeing (Tim)
evolve since the summertime,"
Beilein said. "He's done a lot of
work on his own and worked
with different members of our
staff, (and we) know that he can
lead us both with his actions and
how he presents himself to his
teammates."
Wolverines trying to end three-
game skid by hosting Illinois
By ALEXA DETTELBACH
Daily Sports Writer
What's wrong with the Michi-
gan women's basketball team?
After getting off to the best
start in program history, includ-
ing a 4-0 start in conference play,
the Wolverines have lost three-
straight, and four of their last five.
So, what's
wrong?
When the I|linOiS at
season started' Mican
the Wolver-
ines (5-4 Big Matchup:
Ten, 16-6 over- Illinois 13-8;
all) knew they Michigan 16-6
would find When: Thurs-
themselves with day 7 p.m.
size issues, but . Where: Crisler
their hot perim- Center
eter shooting TV/Radio:
helped mask the mgoblue.com
problem. Senior
forward Kate
Thompson is the tallest player on
the floor, at 6-foot-4, but her tal-
ent has never been utilized under
the basket. Instead, her presence
is felt out on the wing. In the first
15 games, Thompson averaged 16
points per game, including 3.96
3-pointers per game, which at
one point was good for first in the
nation.
Thompson's shot, however,
has gone cold. During Michigan's
last five games, Thompson has
averaged 12.2 points per game on
29-percent shooting.
"Kate needs to do a better job,"
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. "I -think teams really push
her up and off the screen and
really do not even allow her to use
screens. Every shot she has is pret-
ty much a contest shot."
But it's not only Thompson.
Michigan's five seniors, who
account for 82 percent of the pro-
duction, have been the offensive
leaders all season. Michigan has
also looked to sophomore forward
Nicole Elmblad, who is second on
the team with 6.1 rebounds per
game and is the only underclass-
man to start. Beyond those six
players, though, Michigan has
struggled to find its offense.
The shallow bench has proven
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Senior forward Kate Thompsonhas struggled to find her shooting form recently.
to be a huge problem through-
out the Wolverines' losing streak.
Senior guard Jenny Ryan has
played all but nine of the last 200
total minutes of play, and her
fatigue often shows. With injuries
cripplingthe bench duringthe off-
season, a thin rotation has meant
that the starting five are on the
floor for most of the night.
With players reeling from
fatigue, Michigan is no longer able
to mask its turnover issues with
speed and athleticism.
"The players have to know at
this point in the year that we've
got to be able to bounce back,"
Barnes Arico said. "We need to be
able to regroup, (be) as positive as
we can, but also at the same time
to work on what we need to work
on."
The Wolverines' 61-46 loss to
Michigan State on Monday was
a must-win game, so their game
against Illinois (6-3, 13-8) on
Thursday is even more dire.
Michigan needs both Thomp-
son and senior center Rachel Shef-
fer to shoot out of their slumps if
the Wolverines are to end their
longestlosing streak of the season.
The Fighting Illini have had
the opposite type of season. After
starting off slow, Illinois has
bounced back to win six-straight
road games and six of its last eight
overall. On Monday, the Fight-
ing Illini were named ESPNW's
national team of the week after
winning three games in seven
days.
Senior guard Adrienne God-
bold, who missed the first semes-
ter of play (academic ineligibility),
leads Illinois with 18.6 points per
game in her 10 games back.
In addition, senior forward
Karisma Penn has been the Fight-
ing Illini's most lethal player,
averaging 18.5 points per game
on 50-percent shooting to go with
10.1 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-
2, Penn will find herself matched
up with Thompson in a battle of
scoring forwards.
If Thompson and the Wolver-
ines can break out of their losing
streak, they can still find them-
selves in the thick of the Big Ten
race.
"If we don't improve, it's going
to be a long year," Barnes Arico
said.
A loss would put Michigan in
the bottom five in the conference
standings, making Thursday a
must-win game to save a season
that started off as the best in pro-
gram history.
Round trip buses to and from The Union
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