Wolverines rebound, crush Western, 92-78

By Raphael Goodstein

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men's basketball team (1-1) had no trouble taking Western Michigan seriously. After last Friday's 97-90 loss to Oakland, the Wolverines came out and pounded the Broncos 92-78 in their home opener.

"I sensed it Friday. We weren't ready," said sophomore Gavin Groninger who had a career-high 20 points. "It was a wake-up call for us. People realized we have to be ready for every single game."

The game may have marked a stepping stone in the development of junior Chris Young.

The center has had trouble offensively in his first two seasons, but scored 14 points, one shy of his career high last night. He also snagged a career-high 13 rebounds. Young avoided the foul trouble that has plagued him throughout much of his short career.

"I decided Friday night that I wanted to be a leader," Young said. "Coach (Brian Ellerbe) challenged us that we don't have a leader and I want to be that leader."

Young's teammates noticed the improvement in his overall game.

"He's a lot tougher," Groninger said. "There's been some talk that the upperclassmen are soft. He proved that he's not soft."

Said Ellerbe: "Chris has made up his mind that he wants to be as good a player as he can be."

The game featured a new look for the Wolverines. The tougher Young started alongside fellow center Josh Moore, who was making the first start of his two-game career.

It was clear from the opening tipoff that the Wolverines intended to utilize the size advantage. Michigan was successful in doing this as Moore and Young scored seven of the Wolverines' first 10 points.

Moore finished with nine points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

"I liked the pace tonight," Ellerbe said. "It kept us fresh, it allowed us to do some things offensively."

After Michigan built a cushy 84-57 second-half lead, the Broncos used a late run to cut the margin down to 84-70.

But a 3-pointer by Groninger ended any upset hopes Western Michigan might have had.

Michigan's next game is at home against Wagner on Saturday at 2 p.m. Wagner scored at least 110 points in every game this season.

"I just want to worry about tomorrow," Ellerbe said.

Garber-age Time: Last night's victory had more firsts than just the first win of the season for Michigan.

The game also marked the first time junior walk-on Ron Garber has played in an organized game since middle school.

Yesterday's box

MICHIGAN (92)

FG FT REB

MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS

Blanchard 28 7-12 1-2 1-2 1 4 19

Young 30 4-5 6-7 5-13 0 3 14

Moore 22 4-6 1-1 2-6 0 4 9

Queen 18 0-2 0-0 0-3 3 3 0

Robinson, Jr. 28 4-11 8-9 1-4 3 1 16

Jones 18 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Searight 20 3-5 1-2 0-1 6 2 7

Dill 1 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 2

Gibson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Gotfredson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Garber 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Groninger 13 5-6 7-9 0-0 0 2 20

Asselin 18 0-2 5-8 3-7 1 0 5

Adebiyi 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 200 28-52 28-38 12-39 14 21 92

FG%: .538 FT%: .7633-point FG: 7-14 .500 (Blanchard 4-7, Groninger 3-3, Jones 0-2, Robinson, Jr. 0-1, Queen 0-1). Blocks: 5 (Young 2, Moore, Searight, Garber). Steals: 7 (Queen 2, Robinson, Jr. 2, Searight 2, Blanchard). Turnovers: 22 (Young 6, Robinson, Jr. 4, Searight 3, Groninger 2, Jones 2, Gotfredson 2, Asselin, Queen, Moore, Blanchard). Technical fouls: none.

Western Michigan (78)

FG FT REB

MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS

Reynolds 34 10-21 4-4 3-6 2 4 26

Powell 18 3-7 1-1 1-2 0 5 7

Bro 17 2-4 0-1 1-5 0 4 4

Cavette 29 3-6 1-2 0-3 6 4 9

Berry 35 5-12 3-4 4-5 3 3 16

Slater 16 3-6 0-0 1-3 0 4 7

Carter 21 0-0 2-3 1-1 2 4 2

Richie 1 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Cleland 10 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2

Kann 18 1-4 2-4 3-6 1 1 4

Zusack 1 0-0 0-2 0-0 0 0 1

Totals 200 28-65 14-21 15-32 15 30 78

FG%: .431 FT%: .667 3-point FG: 8-22, .364 (Berry 3-5, Reynolds 2-5, Cavette 2-2, Slater 1-3, Powell 0-3, Cleland 0-2, Richie 0-1, Zusack 0-1). Blocks: 1 (Slater). Steals: 11 (Berry 3, Cavette 2, Cleland 2, Reynolds 2, Kann, Powell). Turnovers: 19(Reynolds 6, Powell 3, Bro 3, Berry 3, Cavette, Carter, Cleland). Technical fouls: none.

Western Michigan........31 47 - 78

Michigan.........................47 45 - 92

At: Crisler Arena

Attendance: 9,102