The Michigan Daily ( michigandaily.com I January 22, 2013
B1G REALITY
CHECK
'M' denied 11th st
Wolverines drop
contest of last two
Big Ten unbeatens
By GLENN MILLER JR.
Daily Sports Ediotr
After Purdue lost to Iowa on
Sunday evening, the scene was
set for the only two undefeated
teams left in the Big Ten to face
off in a battle for conference
supremacy. But by the end of
Monday's affair between No. 23
Michigan and No. 8 Penn State,
only one team would remain
standing without a blemish on its
record.
That team was not Michigan.
The Lady Lions topped the Wol-
verines, 59-49, and now sit atop
the Big Ten standings.
Michigan (4-1 Big Ten, 15-3
overall) battled against Penn
State's aggressive defense, but it
couldn't maintain senior guards
Maggie Lucas and Alex Bent-
ley. The Lady Lions (5-0, 15-2)
declawed the Wolverines' persis-
tent attempts to fight back inthe
second half despite getting into
early foul trouble.
"We went against a top 10
team tonight and everybody
that was watching here and
everybody watching around the
country I think now believes,"
said Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico. "That was the big ques-
tion, 'Is Michigan for real?' And I
think everybody got an opportu-
nity tonight to see that Michigan
is for real."
In a defensive battle that
resulted in poor shooting from
both teams, Lucas led Penn
State's offensive attack with 19
points. Bentley, whose impact
was felt on both ends of the floor,
finished with 16 points end five
steals.
"You see how many points
they scored and you think we did
a crummy job, but then you look
at their shooting percentages and
we actually did a pretty decent
job," Barnes Arico said.
Senior guard Kate Thomp-
son struggled from the field all
night,shooting 3 for 16 with nine
points. In her absence, senior
forward Rachel Sheffer domi-
nated in the paint, contributing
a double-double on 20 points and
10 rebounds. Senior guard Jenny
Ryan added seven points and six
assists, though she struggled to
raight
make only 3 of 10 shots from the
field.
The firsi matchup between the
two teams this year had a post-
season feeling throughout. With
emotions running high, the Wol-
verines' tenacity was evident as it
dove for loose balls and retained
the tempo to hold the Lady Lions
scoreless through the first 3 min-
utes of play.
Michigan started the game in
a 2-3 zone, causing nine turn-
overs early. Penn State attempted
to counter with full court pres-
sure out of the starting gate,
something the Wolverines strug-
gled with against Northwestern,
and aptly forced nine turnovers.
"They're a team this year
that's one of the best in the con-
ference and their record shows it,
See MICHIGAN, Page 7A
Michigan
wedding blues
T his was the moment. gan, were in place as well.
The stage was set. The Something old, something
audience was present. new, something borrowed, and
The attention-that this team so of course, something'lue.
clearly The gifts for its hard work
deserved and preparation were star-
was ing them right in the face:
finally ' -:straigfi victpri6 5-0
here. conference record, the oppor-
All the tunity to be the last undefeated
arrange- team in the Big Ten. Every-
ments for thing was out on th-table for
its dream DANIEL the taking.
wedding, FELDMAN For ateam that has had six
in what players suffer ACL injuries
has been since the summer and has
a dream season thus far, were relied on an eight-player rota-
set. tion, Monday represented a
The wedding customs for night to take on the power-
the bride-to-be, No. 23 Michi- See FELDMAN, Page 3B
ICE HOCKEY
Sweep eludes
Wolverines.
against Lakers
Burke highlighted on 'The Journey'
-On Friday, hockey
earned first road
win of the year
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Editor
SAULT STE. MARIE - On the
same night the NHL returned
to the world following 116 days
without a game, the Michigan
hockey team sought to end a
drought of its own and find the
weekend sweep that it had failed
to collect all season.
Despite overcoming one
obstacle and notching their first
road win of the season the night
before, the Wolverines were
unable to finish out the weekend
on top, falling to Lake Superior
6 State in a 3-2 decision on Satur-
day night.
It was already a tough pill to
swallow, but even more disheart-
ening considering that Michigan
coach Red Berenson believed
that the Wolverines were playing
at the highest standard they have
all season.
"(The team) had probably
their best weekend of the year in
terms of commitment and work
ethic and playing the way they
needed to play," Berenson said.
"We had a good result last night
and not a good result tonight. It's
too bad that everything's based
on results - our team laid it on
the line and they weren't good
enough tonight."
Michigan's power play showed
its colors early in the first period
- though unable to capitalize on
a 5-on-3 advantage, freshman
forward Boo Nieves scored in
the waning seconds of the second
power play.
That momentum appeared as
if it could carry the Wolverines
(5-11-2 CCHA, 8'14-2 overall)
See ROAD WIN, Page 3B
Sophomore
re-hashes his
decision to return
to Ann Arbor
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
On a darkened court at the
Crisler Center, Trey Burke drib-
bles a ball in and out of his legs,
surrounded by black.
As the sophomore point guard
discusses his decision to forego
the NBA Draft and return to
Ann Arbor for his sophomore
year, the camera pans over the
darkened court.
Burke, at the center, is the
lone source of movement.
He talks about how much he
has grown as a point guard, and
how important it was for him to
return for his sophomore year at
Michigan. Then, the screen cuts
to Michigan coach John Beilein,
who provides his own take on
Burke's decision.
"I'm sure there are some days
he thought it might be best for
him to go (to the NBA)," Beilein
said on the show. "But I know
when he said to the coaching
Sophomore point guard Trey Burke was featured on the documentary-style show on the Big Ten Network last week.
staff and his teammates, 'All the off-the-court lives of players
right, I'm in here, let's go,' that's and coaches in Big Ten basket-
all we cared about." ball every week.
Burke, along with other point Over the last four years, the
guards in the Big Ten, was fea- show has worked almost like a
tured in this week's edition of documentary, giving viewers
"The Journey," a show on the an inside look to the interwork-
Big Ten Network that dives into ings of teams inthe Big Ten each
week. It does behind the scenes
features and interviews, often
getting unparalleled access with
players and coaches.
"The Journey" was created
four years ago, meaning that
most playersin the Big Ten have
See BURKE, Page 3B
MICHIGAN'S NO.1 TEAMS
Early on in their seasons, both the
women's gymnastics team and the men's
swimming team are the No. 1 teams in
their respective sports. Page 4B
HELLO, HAR-BOWL
Not sure if people realized this, but the
two Super Bowl teams are coached by broth-
ers. Brand new information, right? Still, the
connection goes back to Michigan. Page 2B
A
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