8 - Friday, March 1, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com I
Spartans to invade Crisler Behind Enemy Lines:
MSU coach Tom Izzo
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan men's basketball
team's season-defining stretch
was supposed to be the four games
between Feb. 2 and Feb.12 - three
road games, three games against
ranked opponents: Indiana, Ohio
State and Michigan State. It was
supposed to be a showcase of dom-
inance, swagger and style.
But after fal-
tering in the last Michian
four minutes
at Penn State State at
on Wednesday Michigan
night, strug-
gling to beat Matchup:
Illinois and the MSU 22-6;
Nittany Lions
last week in When: Sun-
Ann Arbor, the day 4 P.M.
fourth-ranked Where: Crisler
Wolverines have Center
another stretch TV/Radio:
that could be CBS
more telling
than their previ-
ous tough set of games.
Michigan (10-5 Big Ten, 23-5
overall) still has two games
against the Big Ten's top two
teams - No. 9 Michigan State and
No. 1 Indiana - and though it's all
but out of the race for the confer-
ence title, Michigan is still play-
ing for a top-four seed in the Big
Ten Tournament and a high seed
in the NCAA Tournament later
in March. So this stretch might
be more telling than the previous
one.
The Wolverines host the Spar-
tans (11-4, 22-6) on Sunday, and
though Michigan State put a 75-52
drubbing on Michigan in East
Lansing on Feb. 12, the Spartans
are on a small slide of their own.
Michigan State has dropped its
past two games, and both coaches
are concerned about the way their
teams have been playing recently.
"We didn't play with the same
energy in the last couple games
that we need to play with," said
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan coach Jon Beilein and the Wolverines likely loan their shotlaala Big Ten title with a less In Penn Stale Wednesday.
in a Monday teleconference. "This
week, we're going to work on get-
ting back to who we are and what
the program stands for because
we didn't guard like a team needs
to guard in the last three games."
Added Michigan coach John
Beilein: "We played like we had
two pianos on our back at Michi-
gan State, that was the one that
was most glaring to us. After the
Wisconsin loss, we weren't acting,
we were reacting too much. We
had to just go out and make the
cuts that we make. ... We empha-
sized in practice, 'This is our style
of play, let's go back to it."'
Though the Spartans have
faced stiffer competition in Indi-
ana and Ohio State, their back-
court has struggled offensively as
well. Point guard Keith Appling,
who played well against Michigan
while keeping sophomore guard
Trey Burke in check defensively,
has gone on a dry spell in recent
games.
Appling has tallied nine com-
bined points on 2-of-14 shooting in
the past two games and the junior
hasn't done a great job distribut-
ing the ball, recording just six
assists. He typically averages 13.4
points per game - he's the team's
leading scorer - and four assists
per game.
But freshman guard Gary Har-
ris has stepped up in Appling's
scoring absence. Harris has shot a
50-percent clip from the field and
has led Michigan State in scoring
its past two games. The freshman
hit five of his nine 3-pointers in
the Spartans' win over Michigan,
and Izzo has acknowledged Har-
ris's impressive showing with the
team's inconsistent play as of late.
For Michigan, turnovers have
become an issue as of late. Soph-
omore guard Trey Burke, who
averages 1.9 turnovers per game,
coughed the ball up a season-high
six times against Penn State. As a
whole, the Wolverines committed
15 turnovers, compared to the six
they had the first time they faced
the Nittany Lions.
Also, Burke hasn't gotten the
offensive help of his teammates in
recent games. The sophomore has
dominated each of the past three
games offensively - scoring 18, 26
and 19 points, respectively - and
the Wolverine frontcourt, with
a healthy Jordan Morgan, hasn't
produced like it did at the begin-
ning of the conference season,
especially in rebounding. With
the sophomore at the helm of the
offense, protecting the ball down
the stretch and grabbing boards
will help Michigan maintain a
lead and close outgames.
"It is a cardinal sin heth to turn
the ball over in practice," Beilein
said. "If I look atthe Big Ten over-
all, I think every team really takes
care of the ball. It's essential to
winning, just like rebounding -
it's an extra possession, either
offensively or defensively, (and) so
is alack of a turnover. It's an extra
possession for you."
Despite the recentslide for both
teams, the matchup on Sunday is
a must-win of sorts for each team
- Michigan State can keep its
sights on a Big Ten championship,
and Michigan will add a resume-
boosting win over one of the best
teams in the nation. But as both
Izzo and Beilein noted, if either
the Spartans or Wolverines want
to stop their recent slides, they'll
have to get back to playing their
style of play.
"If you can't get up for No. 1
in the country (Indiana), if you
can't prepare to play your best
basketball, then something's not
motivating in your ticker, there's
something missing," Izzo said.
"We did play well against Michi-
gan (on Feb. 12), but since then,
we've had some issues that we've
had to deal with. Now we can get
back to doing things the way we're
supposed to."
By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Editor
After a loss to Penn State,
which was previously winless in
the Big Ten, Michigan has even
more to prove on Sunday when
Michigan State, which beat the
Wolverines by 23 earlier this
month, comes to town.
Spartan head coach Tom
Izzo knows a thing or two about
beating Michigan, and after the
game in East Lansing, he said
that his team had an "axe to
grind." A sweep over the Wol-
verines wouldn't just give the
Spartan fans bragging rights, it
would keep their team within.
striking position of a Big Ten
title for the second-consecutive
year and fourth time in five
years.
Izzo sat down with the Daily
at Big Ten Media Day in Octo-
ber, and had some choice words
for his rival.
The Michigan Daily: Every-
one's tied for first place right
now, all at 0-0, but at the end
of the year, who do you think
comes out on top?
Tom Izzo: What a loaded
question. You're right, every-
one is in first place or last place
- depends if you're optimistic
or pessimistic. But I think Indi-
ana has deserved its ranking
and I think that the league has
deserved that there's five other
teamsin the Top 25. Some (rank-
ings) have four in the top-10. I
think that's all deserved in the
preseason hype. The problem
is, last year we were not in that
group and we won the league
and were a No. 1 seed. There's
always surprises. If you look at
Indiana, they've got guard play,
they've got the best inside guy,
they've got a great coach and
now they've added the depth.
They've also had players that
have hit rock bottom, those guys
that played their freshmen and
sophomore years - the (Jor-
dan) Hulls and the (Christian)
Watfords of the world - and
got stomped on for a while. Last
year, they started stomping
back, and if they continue that,
I think they are the preseason
favorite and deserve to be.
TMD: In terms of the Michi-
gan and Michigan State bas-
ketball programs, is this the
highest level you've seen them
at together, at the same time, in
your tenure?
TI: In my time as ahead
coach, I'd say that it is. We were
down, they were down - we'll
see though. There's time. One
or two years doesn't make that,
either way - it didn't make it
for us when were the ones com-
ing up. I don't think it makes it
for anybody, you know. We'll
see how people handle success,
including us, and we'll see how
you handle failure, but I'd say
right now, it's at thehighestlevel
it's been because we have two
teams ranked and everybody's
top 15 and it's been a while since
that happened. Maybe when I
was an assistant, it happened a
couple times, but since I've been
a head coach, I'd say definitely
not.
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In their last night at Crisler, seniors carry Michigan
By GLENN MILLER JR.
Daily Sports Writer
This wasn't just another free
throw. For senior guard Jenny
Ryan, it was the last shot she
would ever take on the Crisler
Center floor.
Ryan swiftly sunk the basket
as she's done throughout her
123 appear-
ances as a N-WESTERN 50
Wolverine, MICHIGAN 55
but this
time she took an extra second,
stepped back and took it all in.
A rare moment for the captain of
the Michigan women's basket-
ball team, Ryan, who typically
has an intense demeanor, took on
a different expression - one of
reflection.
"At those moments, it kind of
hits home that this it," Ryan said.
In their final home game, the
Wolverines' five seniors ensured
their swan song wouldn't be
spoiled by Northwestern.
They imposed their domi-
nance on offense, accounting
for 52 of the Wolverines' 55 total
points. The Wildcats (5-10 Big
Ten, 13-15 overall) attempted
to make a late run but couldn't
overcome 18 turnovers, failing to
Michigan, 55-50.
An emotional night for the
Wolverines' seniors began with a
ceremony that honored the grad-
uating class, but the tears and
sentiments were pushed aside
until the final buzzer sounded.
Meanwhile, Michigan (9-6, 20-8)
pounded the ball into the post
to collect 34 points in the paint.
Though Northwestern won the
rebounding battle, it struggled
from the field, shooting just 37.7
percent from the floor.
"I thought we played well in
spurts, and I thought we strug-
gled in spurts, but it was nice to
be able to grind one out," said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. "It was really an impor-
tant night for our senior class
and there were alot of emotions.
As a coach, you always try to
eliminate distractions on a night
like tonight, but you really can't
do a great job of that."
Senior forward Rachel Sheffer
controlled the post for the Wol-
verines, scoring a team-high 17
points along with six rebounds.
9
Senior guard Jenny Ryan scored 12 points and had eight assists in her last game at Crisler center. As a whole, the seniors scored 52 of Michigan's 55 points.
Ryan contributed her fair share,
finishing with 12 points and
eight assists on the night.
Completing her seventh dou-
ble-double of the season, senior
guard Nya Jordan scored 11
points and grabbed 11 rebounds
against the Wildcats.
Northwestern's freshmen for-
ward duo of Maggie Lyon and
Lauren Douglas helped lead the
Wildcats back into the game
on a couple of impressive runs.
Lyon, who had been named the
Big Ten Freshmen of the Week
for the past three weeks, scored
18 points and gathered seven
rebounds in the contest.
After a back-and-forth first
half that saw Michigan go on
an 8-0 run only to be answered
by a 7-0 Northwestern run, the
Wolverines went into the locker
room holding a 24-21 lead.
Out of the break, Wildcat for-
ward Kendall Hackney scored
two consecutive baskets to fuel
Northwestern's offensive charge.
The Wolverines responded
though, distributing the basket-
ball and allowing their seniors to
battle for the lead.
Sheffer sparked a 9-0 run by
converting eight points from
offensive rebounds, but the
Wildcats were persistent.
Northwestern managed to
spark a 15-5 scoring streak with
less than 10 minutes left, cut-
ting the Michigan lead to three
points. Yet it was Michigan's
leader, Ryan, who knocked down
four late free throws to edge out
the Wildcats.
"Northwestern has grown so
much as a team throughout the
Big Ten season," Sheffer said.
"They started a little rocky, but
they are a really good team. They
definitely put it to the pedal
tonight. We had some moments
where we were a little shaky, but
to come out and grind it out was
really big for us."
At 9-6 in the Big Ten, the Wol-
verines no longer control their
own destiny in the conference
standings.
After two consecutive losses
coming into Thursday night's
game, Michigan must now jostle
with four other teams to earn a
bye in the first round of the Big
Ten Tournament.
"We won the game on senior
night, but I think we're more
excited because we bounced
back off a couple of losses," Shef-
fer said. "We got more momen-
tum going into Ohio State and
the Big Ten Tournament."
Even if the Wolverines don't
receive a first-round bye in the
upcoming conference tourna-
ment, this season has been far
from disappointing. Thurs-
day's victory over Northwest-
ern marked yet another record
for this season's team as Barnes
Arico broke the record for all-
time program wins as a first-year
head coach.
The seni6r class has done
something that no other team in
program history has been able
to accomplish - take Michigan
women's basketball to an elite
level.
This season, the Wolverines
have already accomplished the
program's best start while crack-
ing the Associated Press Top 25
for the first time in 10 years.
"Our goal coming in was
always just to leave the program
better than we found it," Ryan
TERRA MOLLENGRAFF/Daily
said. "That progressive climb
has led us to where we are. I'm
not surprised as to what has hap-
pened because of all the hard
work over the years from every-
body, but we're happy where it's
at now. "
So while their basketball
careers at Michigan aren't yet
completed, the seniors were
able to join Ryan in a moment of
reflection.
And even if this was their final
game at Crisler Center, the lega-
cy of the Wolverines' graduating
class surely won't be forgotten.
"(The seniors) are going to
have one of the best legacies
ever - one of the best four years
that has come through Michi-
gan women's basketball," Barnes
Aric said. "This senior class
really put Michigan's women's
basketball on the map."
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