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* The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I November 25, 2013

" Five Things: Iowa

Battered and bruised,
this one isn't on Gardner

By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
1. Devin Gardner looks hurt.
Michigan's redshirt junior
quarterback has taken a beat-
ing over the last month, dealing
with a struggling offensive line
and an underachieving group of
wide receivers.
After Saturday's 24-21 loss
to Iowa, Gardner seemed to be
dealing with an injury to his
right arm, isolating the append-
age by hooking his right thumb
into his belt loop. When asked
if he was injured, all Gardner

could saywas, "I'm fine."
But clearly, he's not. He
doesn't look like the same play-
er who electrified Michigan's
offense at the beginning of the
season. At times while scram-
bling, he looks tentative.
Gardner finished Saturday's
game with just 98 yards on 13
completions and managed 12
yards on the ground. This is the
same player who combined for
360 yards against Penn State and
584 against Indiana.
It could be a specific shoul-
der injury, or it could be just the
general pain that comes with
getting sacked 20 times in four

games. Whatever it is, it's affect-
ing him, and Michigan's offense
is becoming more and more
stagnant without him at full
strength.
2. Derrick Green is going to be
a force.
His stat line - 23 yards on 11
carries - wasn't particularly
impressive, but the offense looks
different with the freshman run-
ning back in the game. It's not a
knock against fifth-year senior
starter Fitzgerald Toussaint, but
Green is a battering ram who can
See FIVE, Page 3B

IOWA CITY -
The man wearing the No.
98 jersey on Saturday
wasn't the
same player
wearing that
jersey two
months ago.
This
Devin Gard-
ner walked EVERETT
into the COOK
media room

after Michigan's 24-21 loss
to Iowa with his right thumb
hooked into the belt loop of
his pants, creating a makeshift
sling, seemingly to limit move-
ment in his right arm. This is
a common practice for people
with shoulder injuries that can
make every miniscule move-
ment feel like the rotator cuff
is being held together by very
tiny, very sharp knives.
He sat down and quietly
answered questions, barely

audible over the hum of video
cameras, using 117 words to
answer 11 questions.
He used 10.6 words an
answer, and almost all of them
blaming himself. It was his
fault Michigan lost, again, he
said. That last fumble, the one
with two minutes remaining in
the game and Michigan driv-
ing, that's what lost the game,
he said. Gardner was close to
tears.
See GARDNER, Page 3B


WOMEN'S SOCCER
For second time,
'M' in Elite Eight

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Charlotte outlasts Michigan in
Puerto Rico finals heartbreaker

By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
With the temperature drop-
ping well below freezing, Notre
Dame goalkeeper Jennifer Jas-
per was walked off the field by
two teammates as tears streaked
down her face, thinking of the
one goal she
couldn't NOTt DAM E0
stop. MICHIGAN 1
What
made it hurt even more was that
she had to walk by the Michigan
women's soccer team, which sang
"The Victors" in celebration of its
1-0 win.
After 11 years, Michigan had

earned its second-ever spot in the
Elite Eight.
The Wolverines will face Vir-
ginia in Charlottesville later this
week after the Cavaliers beat
Wake Forest late Sunday evening,
2-0.
"It's the best day I've had since
I came to Michigan six years
ago," said Michigan coach Greg
Ryan. "I'm the luckiest guy in the
world to coach this great group of
players and especially this great
senior class."
The Wolverines hosted both
the second and third round of the
NCAA Tournament at U-M Soc-
cer Stadium this weekend. On
See ELITE, Page 4B

49ers counter
Wolverines' last-
second layup with
one of their own
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -
On Friday, the Michigan men's
basketball
team won CHARLOTTE 63
in dra- MICHIGAN 61
matic fash-
ion. On Sunday, the result was

reversed, as the Wolverines lost
to Charlotte in the Puerto Rico
Tip-Off championship game,
63-61, after a put-back by Ter-
rence Williams with 0.4 seconds
remaining.
"We were right there at the
end," said sophomore guard Nik
Stauskas. "We had a great oppor-
tunity to win. It just didn't work
out for us."
After a corner 3-pointer by
freshman forward Zak Irvin cut
the lead to two with 38 seconds
left, Stauskas fouled Williams.
After making the front end of the
one-and-one, Williams missed
the second, giving Michigan a

chance to tie with a triple. But
sophomore guard Caris LeVert
missed from beyond the arc,
forcing the Wolverines (4-2) to
foul again.
That time around, Denzel
Ingram missed the front end of
the one-and-one, and sophomore
guard Spike Albrecht drove
to the hoop. Initiating contact
at the basket, Albrecht's shot
missed, but he earned a trip to
the line. After making the first
free throw, the second hit the
rim - fifth-year senior forward
Jordan Morgan collected it in
the scramble as Michigan called
its final timeout. Morgan col-

lected nine rebounds, including
five offensive ones, in13 minutes
of action.
"I thought it was going in,"
Morgan said. "I just wanted tobe
there just in case it did come off
(the rim)."
After a game-tying layup
from sophomore forward Mitch
McGary with less than eight sec-
onds remaining, the 49ers drove
to the hoop, where they convert-
ed in the final second.
Michigan trailed 35-30 at
halftime after shooting 8-for-34
from the field in the first half.
The deficit only grew as Char-
See HEARTBREAKER, Page 3B


THANKFUL FOR OSU
The line has been leaky, the offense has
been terrible and the season miserable.
But a win Saturday can erase that all.
Page 2B

NIAGARA FALLS
The Michigan hockey team drowned
Niagara in a one-game series Friday, in
one final tune-up before the Big Ten
season. Page 4B

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