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January 15, 2013 - Image 7

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0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - 7

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - 7

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Freshman guard Nik Stauskas didn't register a single point in Michigan's 56-53 loss to Ohio State on Sunday, well below his season average of 12.7 points per game.
Ine "
n Columbus crucible, yout
finally exposed for Wol-verine s

For first time in 10
years, 'M'.ranked
By DANIEL FELDMAN Taking a team that has failed
Daily SportsWriter to achieve a Top-25 ranking
for a long duration of time and,
For the first time since Dec. getting them into the poll is
23, 2002, the Michigan women's nothing new for Barnes Arico.
basketball team is ranked by During her tenure at St. Johns,
the Associated Press women's Barnes Arico led the Red Storm
basketball poll. The Wolverines to their first appearance in the
(3-0 Big Ten, 14-2 overall) enter Top 25 at No. 25 in 22 years
the poll at No. 25 after a 54-43 in 2006. With that in mind,
victory over Wisconsin on Sun- Barnes Arico knows how her
day. players should act moving for-
"I think it (is) great for peo- ward.
ple around the country to see "I want to keep our kids (in
Michigan women's basketball the same thought process) and
in the Top 25 because of the humble and (make sure they
way that our kids have worked remain) the hardest-working
and because I think they're team in America and just try-
deserving of it," said Michigan ing to get better each and every
coach Kim Barnes Arico. "I day," Barnes Arico said. "(We
think anytime you get that rec- need to continue) trying. to
ognition, it's grind it out
great for your one win at a
program, and ggtime and try
great for your I don't want US to become a
university . better team."
and it brings toforget how For the
exposure to Wegot her " "'Wolve"in .
your program weg e and their
and your uni- five seniors,
versity." including
While senior guard
Barnes Arico found the media Jenny Ryan, this is the second
attention surrounding the rank- major accomplishment that
ing to be funny, she nonetheless Michigan has achieved in the
believes her team which boasts last calendar year - the Wol-
the 19th-best RPI is deserving verines made their first NCAA
of a top-25 ranking considering Tournament in 11 years last
its quality wins over Florida, season.
and Iowa. "When we first got here, we
Under the direction of its weren't really known on the
first-year head coach, Michigan national level," Ryan said. "I
is currently riding a nine-game just think on a program level, it
winning streak, the second lon- shows how far we've come."
gest in program history after a In addition to the ranking,
10-game streak in the 2001-02 Michigan is also off to its best
season. start ever to begin Big Ten play,
Though Barnes Arict consid- at 3-0. While these feats are
ers the streak an outstanding noteworthy, the team is more
achievement, she likes to think focused on the bigger picture
about the team's preparation and the early stages of Big Ten
and process of gaining success play.
rather than the success itself. "It's great to be in that posi-
"I don't want us to forget tion, but it's still really early
how we got here and what we're in the season," said senior for-
trying to do," Bdrnes Arico said., ward Rachel Sheffer. "It's really
"That's why we don't talk about early to be looking at those
(our ranking) at all as a staff, as kind of things. I think as a team
a program, in the locker room. we're not really about rankings
We just talk about our next or stats, we just need to keep
opponent." moving to the tournament."

By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Editor
In a season full of success and
promise, the youthfulness of the
No. 5 Michigan men's basketball
team has been the storyline all
season.
First, it -was freshman guard
Nik Stauskas' impressive shoot-
ing abilities that helped earn him
a spot in the starting five. Then, it
was the development of freshman
forward Mitch McGary in the
post as he lost weight and learned
to control his body. Next, it was
freshman forward Glenn Robin-
son III who went on a hot streak,
scoring at least 10 points per game
in a stretch between Dec. 20 and
Jan. 9. All of the doubts about a
young team struggling early in
the season had slowly disappeared
over the course of the Wolverines'
16-0 start. But after an ugly 56-53
road loss to No. 11 Ohio State on
Sunday, in which Michigan trailed
by as 'much as 21 points, the inex-
perience in a tough conference
game was noticeable.
"I don't like to make excuses
about our young team, but we
found out the way that game
started (Sunday) about the speed
and the strength of the Big Ten,"
said Michigan coach John Beilein.
"Our young guys - and once
again, we have two juniors play-

ing, a sophomore playing and five
freshmen that are playing a lot
of minutes - are going to really
learn how this game is played in
this league very quickly. It will be
a very hands-on experience for
them."
Stauskas, McGary and Robin-
son Have continued their improve-
ments on bot] sides of the ball
through the first few games of
the conference slate. The recent
emergence of freshman guard
Caris LeVert as one of the team's
best defenders coming off the
bench and freshman guard Spike
Albrecht's career performance
against the Buckeyes have made a
case for the Wolverines as one of
the deepest teams in the Big Ten
with eight players - five freshmen
- consistently contributing.
But Sunday was a struggle for
four of the five rookies. Staus-
kas was held scoreless -lie went
0-for-3 - due to sophomore guard
Trey Burke's inability to penetrate
and kick out and Ohio State guard
AaronCraft doing his best to deny
Burke anything in the lane or
passing options on the perimeter.
The Mississauga, Ontario native
got in foul trouble early, too, which
limited his playing time.
"The foul trouble is going
to limit his touches, and Ohio
(State)'s defense is going to limit
his touches as well," Beilein said.

"You don't know (the limits) until
you see it. They did the same thing
last year to some of our guys, and
they locked the rails and make
you play two on two through the
middle.
"We said that between having
Craft and (Evan) Ravenel, those
are tough guys to be able to beat.
They said, 'Somebody else is going
to beat us besides Nik Stauskas.'"
Robinson scored eight points,
close to his average of 12 per game,
but was held to only one rebound.
Coming in from the wing, Rob-
inson is one of the team's great-
est rebounding assets, averaging
almost six per game, but struggled
against a more physical Buckeye
squad.
Stauskas and Robinson, the two
freshman starters, shot a com-
bined 27 percent on Sunday. The
duo, along with Burke and junior
guard Tim Hardaway Jr., have
combined for 59 of Michigan's
average of 79 points per game but
on Sunday, they tallied just 40
points. In addition to Stauskas
and Robinson, McGary, the Wol-
verines' leading rebounder, was
limited on the boards and LeVert
played just nine minutes and
missed both of his free throws.
So as much as the freshmen
struggled on Sunday, how do you
prepare the youngsters=for a chal-
lenging Big Ten road game?

5
Freshmen who played against OhioState
Sunday

21
Cobndpoints bhpthosenfreshmennn
Siuda

"It's hard to do that," Beilein
said. "We thought we did as much
as we could by playing Arkansas,
by playing North Carolina State,
Kansas State, Pittsburgh, going
to Bradley, you do everything you
can. There's a process, there's
some things in the process that
you can't speed up, no matter what
you do.
"They have really performed
way above what many freshmen
accomplish at this time. (Ohio
State) was too difficult a task."

Reeling Michigan shuffles lineup, again

By GREG GARNO the third time during the season,
Daily Sports Writer paired with sophomore Mike
Szuma. Berenson also started
Michigan coach Red Beren- freshman goaltender Steve
son sat down in his office with a Racine in goal after junior goal-
coffee mug after a rough week- tender Adam Janecyk allowed
end during which the Michigan four goals on Tuesday against
hockey team was swept by Alaska Bowling Green.
for the first time in program his- For Berenson's final naneuver,
tory. freshman forward Andrew Copp
inscribed on his mug filled was inserted onto the first line
with coffee --black as always, no for the first time in his career.
cream or sugar - were the words Copp, raised in Ann Arbor and
"Start every day with a smile." originally not offered a scholar-
Ironically, though, the Wol- ship, has emerged as one of the
verines never received the sues- hardest workers from a team that
sage on Monday. Fronm the nearly has disappointed all season.
quiet practice on the ice to the The results were mixed,
demeanor off of it, Michigan though. Copp managed to tally
looked sullen, frustrated and two points - scoring a goal and
tired of losing. You can't blame recording an assist - but Racine
them for a lineup constantly in allowed four goals in two periods
flux, unable to end up with a win. behind a defense that struggled
It's clear the Wolverines have to bail him out.
struggled to take advantage of "It's a special feeling," Copp
extra opportunities, and now said of the chance to start. "Obvi-
both coaches and players are ously, being from Ann Arbor, it's
searching for a catalyst to jump- pretty cool to be in the starting
start the program for a late-sea- lineup where you're growing up
son run. from, but it doesn't mean any-
During last weekend's series thing unless you start putting
against the Nanooks, Michigan wins together."
made a handful of changes with Feeling desperate the next
the hope of sparking the offense. night, Berenson chose to insert
Before Friday's game, missing Janecyk into the starting lineup
0 a pair of defensemen to injuries while moving sophomore for-
-junior Mac Bennett and sopho- ward Zach Hyman ahead of
more Brennan Serville - Beren- senior forward Kevin Lynch.
son moved senior forward Jeff The changes were less effee-
Rohrkemper back to defense for tive than previous nights, leaving

the Wolverines with scowls and a
bitter taste in their mouths.
"There's a depressing feeling
around the room right now," said
sophomore forward Alex Guptil.
"It's hard when you're not win-
ning games. The older guys need
to step up - the guys that have
been there before."
Added Copp:"We need to bear
down on chances. We need to
keep working in practice and not
take anything for granted. Some
games we have it (effort) and
some games we don't. We just
need to find that consistency."
Look for Berenson to make
more changes to the lines in
his attempt to find chemistry
between his young athletes.
Though not quantifiable, the
29-year veteran coach is aware of
the ability of players to function
at a better rate together instead
of alone.
"We've got the same cast of
characters really, but we're try-
ing to put players with players on
the lines that need whatever they
bring to the table," Berenson said.
"It might be a player going on the
line that you're not worried about
the line scoring more, you're
worried about them being scored
on, or you're worried about them
being out-worked."
It's worth noting that even
with the changes, the top line
of Copp, Hyman and senior for-
ward A.J. Treais finished with

a minus-one rating on Saturday
night. The lineup, however, has
spent limited time together, most
of it coming on the power play
that struggled mightily over the
weekend.
"I wouldn't say we have a first
line or a second line," Berenson
said. "Our lines are fairly well
balanced. You look in terms of
experience, in terms of work
ethic, in terms of physicality, in
terms of offensive skill, I'm look-
ing at all those things. But I'm
also looking at two guys that can
carry a line and compliment a
third player."
The goaltending core is also
failing to produce consistently,
as no candidate has managed to
solidify the position. Keep an eye
out inthe upcomingweeks for the
head coach to keep giving Jane-
cyk and Racine chances, wait-
ing for one to. gain the hot hand.
Berenson could also be prompted
to insert freshman goaltender
Jared Rutledge into the starting
sport in the hope that a fresh face
may be all that's needed.
"We're not giving up on any-
one," Berenson said. "We're look-
ing for life from our goalies."
Most of all, look at the faces
of each athlete, as they surely
won't have a smile until they put
together a winning streak. For
now, they won't be starting their
days with the sunny outlook
Berenson's mug encourages.

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico has the Wolverines ranked for the first
time since 2002.
LIKE JOURNALISM?
LIKE BEING AWESOME?
WORK WITH US!
COME TO ONE OF OUR WINTER
MASS MEETINGS
Meetings will take place at 420 Maynard St.,
behind Betsy Barbour and Newvberry Halls at
7:30 p.m.
Wed., Jan.16
Sun., Jan. 20
Thurs., Jan 24

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