Mixed emotions: Wolverines win CCHA, settle for tie with Lakers
Sealed with a kiss.
Michigan's nine seniors ended their regular season careers at Yost Ice Arena by planting their lips on the 'M' at center ice Saturday, just 24 hours after hoisting their fourth straight CCHA trophy toward Yost's rafters.
Hopes for tourney bid looking dimmer after loss
WEST LAFAYETTE - In what was pretty much a must-win game for both teams, Purdue showed that it must have needed this game more than Michigan.
Behind 25 points from Chad Austin, the Boilermakers moved closer to gaining a spot in the NCAA tournament with a 67-58 victory over No. 18 Michigan yesterday at Mackey Arena.
Women's hoops sweeps weekend: Gophers, Buckeyes fall to resurgent 'M'
The Empire struck back this weekend, and so did the Michigan women's basketball team.
Michigan beat Ohio State, 74-65, yesterday in its regular season finale, avenging a 78-55 loss to the Buckeyes on Dec. 28. Played in front of a record crowd of 3,803, the game was only Michigan's third win in 33 all-time meetings between the schools.
Tankers win 11th title
INDIANAPOLIS - The Big Ten women's swimming championship wasn't the 446.5-point blowout of last year. But in the end, the Wolverines pulled away, winning their 11th consecutive Big Ten title by 99.5 points.
Freshman Shannon Shakespeare won all three of the individual events in which she swam. Shakespeare, named co-Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, set Big Ten championship records in the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.87) and the 200 freestyle (1:47.34) and missed breaking fellow Wolverine Talor Bendel's 100 free record by one-hundredth of a second (49.
Longe leads 'M' to 2nd
CHAMPAIGN - In the end, Michigan's Tania Longe couldn't beat them all by herself.
Longe set the pace for the Michigan women's track team at this weekend's Big Ten championships, accounting for 32 points, more than either Indiana's or Iowa's entire teams.
'M' settles for fifth place
The Big Ten men's indoor track and field -championships were supposed to be a two-team race for first place. The remaining eight teams were to duke it out for third.
And that's the way things pretty much went this weekend as Wisconsin ran away with the title and Illinois followed in second.
Team spirit lifts women's track
CHAMPAIGN - The overpowering sounds of young women's laughter, excited cheers and general chatter filled the air, followed by high-fives, hugs and stomping up and down.
What does this scene bring to mind?
Urbanchek right to put the 'I' ahead of 'team'
Jon Urbanchek is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of Big Ten men's swimming. He is The Terminator. Okay, okay. Perhaps that's a stretch. Maybe The Dominator is a better title for the Michigan coach. Because in his 15 years in Ann Arbor, Urbanchek has dominated the Big Ten.
Dynasties converge at Yost
While one dynasty patted itself on the back, the other was kicking itself in the butt.
Before senior weekend, Michigan was on the verge of a league title and primed to honor the greatest class in its history.
Underclassmen steal senior spotlight on final weekend
Somebody forgot to tell the underclassmen that this was the seniors' weekend.
For the last regular-season home series of the Michigan hockey team's season, the stage was set for a memorable send-off for the Wolverines' winningest class ever.
Seniors honored, kiss 'M' goodbye
An emotional weekend at Yost Ice Arena was capped off Saturday night with a post-game ceremony honoring Michigan's nine graduating seniors. Playing in their final regular-season home game were Jason Botterill, Peter Bourke, Chris Frescoln, Mike Legg, Warren Luhning, John Madden, Brendan Morrison, Harold Schock and Blake Sloan.
Spartans fall to Ohio State, 8-3
COLUMBUS (AP) - Chad Power had two goals and an assist and Ohio State scored four goals in the third period as the Buckeyes beat Michigan State, 8-3, Sunday.
Power scored an unassisted goal at 10:38 of the first period to give the Buckeyes (9-15-1 CCHA, 12-22-1 overall) a 2-1 lead. He scored his second goal with 48 seconds left in the period to make it 3-1.
Downward spiral gets longer for Wolverines
WEST LAFAYETTE - The Michigan men's basketball team broke new ground yesterday in its 67-58 loss at Purdue, but the Wolverines should not be so proud.
The loss was the Wolverines' third straight - dropping them to 7-7 in the Big Ten - and marked the first time this season the Wolverines have lost three in a row. After grabbing a 20-point lead against Indiana at home Feb. 16, they fell in an overtime heartbreaker.
Minnesota clinches share of Big Ten title
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - John Thomas sank two free throws with 4.7 seconds left, lifting second-ranked Minnesota over No. 23 Illinois, 67-66, Saturday and giving the Gophers at least a share of the Big Ten championship.
Thomas, a senior center who had been shooting only 59 percent from the line this season, was fouled by Chris Gandy and sank both shots for Minnesota (13-1 Big Ten, 24-2 overall), which trailed for much of the game.
Michigan's woeful play not exactly a laughing matter
WEST LAFAYETTE - The next time you see Michigan basketball coach Steve Fisher on the street, give him a pat on the back. He needs it.
Tell him he did a good thing yesterday at Purdue, probably the smartest coaching move all season.
Tell him that it was a solid coaching strategy for this bunch of Wolverines, and it was a smart strategy against the Boilermakers, who start three players under 6-foot-3.
Ward's premature exit hurts Blue
WEST LAFAYETTE - The stat line of the year: two minutes, four personal fouls.
A conglomeration one might expect from foul-prone sophomore center Robert Traylor.
Play of senior cagers paved the road to success for Blue women
Martyrs - that's what you could call the four seniors on the Michigan women's basketball team.
While Amy Johnson, Silver Shellman, Catherine DiGiacinto and Mekisha Ross didn't exactly die for their cause, they did get slaughtered on a regular basis.
'M' supporting cast is the key to victory
The Pacific Ocean has the Mariana Trench, the deepest trench in the world.
The Wolverines have the Mariana Bench, the deepest bench in the conference.
Forfeits benefit Blue: Badgers beating ends grapplers' regular season
It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game. But if you don't play, it's pretty hard to win.
This was the lesson learned by the Wisconsin wrestling team in its Saturday night, 31-10, dual-meet loss to Michigan. The Badgers had to forfeit matches at 118 pounds, 158 and heavyweight, because those wrestlers failed to make weight. After two tough home losses to Minnesota and Illinois, the Wolverines were in dire need of a strong performance, as they prepare for the Big Ten tournament to be held March 8-9.
'M' men aren't able to burn the Flames
There's a silver lining in every dark cloud. For the Michigan men's gymnastics team Saturday, that silver lining was improvement and the realization that its first victory was almost a reality.
Illinois-Chicago defeated the Wolverines by a slim margin, 221.35-221.2. Michigan led after four events by 0.7 points, but it couldn't hold on. The Flames relinquished the lead on the parallel bars and the horizontal bar, handing Michigan its fifth loss in as many contests.
Road to 11th title bumpy at times
INDIANAPOLIS - It was a roller coaster ride for the Michigan women's swimming team.
The result: its 11th consecutive Big Ten title. But the meet could have ended differently.
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