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 p 'p