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The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com March 18, 2013

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D O W N
Wisconsin bounces It took Michigan more than five mir
into the second half to record a field
Michigan in Big Ten and Wisconsin found offensive succe
,feeding forward Ryan Evans in the P,
Tournament, Wolverines and finally getting some 3-pointers to
fall to a four seed The Badgers shot 36-percent from 3-po
fallr tn ah four seedtin ivm

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CHICAGO - This game, unlike the last
time the Michigan and Wisconsin men's
basketball teams met, didn't have heroics. It
didn't have a last-second buzzer beater or a
photo finish.
What it did have was two entirely differ-
ent halves.
Michigan (12-7 Big Ten, 26-7 overall)
couldn't overcome a massive second-half
push by Wisconsin and fell in the second
round of the Big Ten Tournament to the Bad-
gers, 68-59.
The first half was about as bland a half of
basketball as Michigan has played this sea-
son. There were a cou-
ple big, athletic plays MICHIGAN 59
- namely a half-court WISCONSIN 68
heave fromsophomore
guard Trey Burke to guard Tim Hardaway
Jr. that the junior caught high above the rim
before finishing the alley-oop - but points
were few and far between. Michigan's 20
first-half points marked its lowest scoring
half of the season, but if possible, Wiscon-
sin's offense looked even worse.
The Badgers couldn't buy a made basket,
shooting just over 17 percent from the field
in the first stanza, half of Michigan's 34 per-
cent. Nothing was falling, especially during
a scoreless five-minute stretch, while the
two teams combined to shoot 2-for-18 from
3-point range.
The two teams also combined for 14 turn-
overs in the first 20 minutes, which didn't
help to boost offensive numbers on either
side.
It looked like Michigan would be without
Hardaway for the remainder of the half, and
potentially the game, after he fell hard on
his left ankle after missing a short jumper.
Hardaway returned less than five minutes
later, though, fighting through what was
officially announced as a sprained left ankle.
After the game, he said the ankle was stiff,
but that it wasn't too serious.
The second half was a
completely different
animal.
"In the first half,
we were play-
ing pretty good
defense overall,
and it was an
outstanding first
half, " said fresh-
man forward
Mitch McGary.
"In the second
half, I don't know
if we got bored or
something, but we
just weren't commu-
nicating as well and
they were getting too
many open looks. They
caught fire."

didn't let them play well."
Sophomore forward Alex Gup-
till had two goals while junior Luke
Moffatt added three assists to lead a
proficient Michigan offense that dom-
inated from the very beginning of the
game.
Just 1:08 into the game, senior
defenseman Le Moffie sailed a puck
from the top of his own right circle
with laser precision, slicing through
traffic to a streaking senior forward
Kevin Lynch. The puck found Lynch's
stick, he broke free with an open look
and he buried it in the right corner.
With 3:24 left in the same period,
Michigan struggled to clear the puck
out of its zone, scrambling around to
regain control. The Broncos capital-
ized on a disorganized team, though,
as Colton Hargrove's attempt'from
the slot found its way past goaltender
Steve Racine.
The freshman netminder, who
faced just 18 shots on Friday night, had
another easy night between the pipes.
Racine made 22 saves on just 23 shots
from the Broncos.
Three minutes into the second
period, Michigan's offense opened
the floodgates, using'its speed to put
Western Michigan on its heels.
Moffatt, too fast for the Broncos,
found space in the center of the ice to
bring up the puck. The junior dished
to senior forward A.J. Treais, who
was originally stopped by Western
Michigan goaltender Slubowski, who
then slid outside the crease. With the
net wide open, sophomore forward
Andrew Sinelli buried a shot from the
slot, where he had been waiting for
Treais' pass.
The Broncos - who suffered their
first loss in the CCHA playoffs under
second-year coach Andy Murray Fri-
day night - increased their pressure
for the next seven minutes before a
penalty put them a man down.
The Wolverines proved why they
have the second-ranked power play in
the CCHA, swinging the momentum
in their favor when Guptill scored his
first goal of the night 10 minutes into
the period. Following a scramble in
front of the net, where Slubowski once
again spent time outside his crease,
the sophomore took a loose puck and
lifted it too high for the confused
goalie.
"It's one of those nights where the
puck always seems to be on your stick,"
said Guptill, who nowhas14 goals this
season. "Guys made good plays to me,
and I had some good chances."
DeBlois's goal, 49 seconds later,
prompted Murray to pull his netmind-
er. Slubowski, second in the nation in
minutes played, made 20 saves on 24
shots.
"They've got a real good goalie
over there, and we got the best of him
tonight," Treais said. "We caught him
out of position a few times, and a few
of those were empty net, but just get-
ting pucks to the net and getting guys
to the net (made a difference)."
Yet whether it was Slubowski or
ackup, Lukas Hafner, Michigan's
ffense could not be slowed.
With seconds remaining in the
eriod, Moffatt once again brought
he puck down the ice, stopping on
dim at the top of the left circle,
reversing direction and flinging the
puck into the slot. Guptill was there
o take the puck and rip a shot too
quick for Haffner to add a tally with
8 seconds remaining in the frame.
"(Moffatt) wanted to play better
than he did lat night," Berenson
said. "One of his strengths has been
with the puck and he's a shooter, but
he made some plays tonight."
Michigan's penalty kill would
close out the sluggish third period,

See ONE UP, Page 3B


IN THE ZONA
The Michigan softball team knocked
off No. 2 Arizona State, its biggest win of
the season and one of four wins on the
weekend. Page 4B

THUMBS DOWN
Senior centerfielder Patrick Biondi suf-
fered a sprained thumb, and the Wolverines
couldn't make up for the lost production,
dropping two of three. Page 4B