EAST LANSING — Six minutes into Saturday’s loss at
Michigan State, Michigan center Courtney Sims had taken the
Spartans’ star forward, Paul Davis, completely out of his
game.

Sims had blocked one of Davis’ shots, forced two more
misses and scored two buckets of his own .

That would be the high water mark for Michigan’s big men
in their matchup against Davis, however.

While Michigan coach Tommy Amaker continued to rotate Sims,
Graham Brown and Chris Hunter at the center spot, Davis clocked 28
minutes, finishing with 22 points and seven rebounds. The Michigan
frontcourt, meanwhile, combined for nine points and 10 fouls.

“He was able to get to the (free- throw) line,” said
Sims of Davis, who finished 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.
“I know a couple of the calls on me were questionable. He
wasn’t able to get a shot over me, and they were calling
fouls. That was really frustrating right there.”

Foul trouble was a theme throughout the game for the Wolverines,
and Davis’ ability to avoid that problem was a key to his
success.

Davis picked up his first foul with 15:58 to go in the first
half, but didn’t land another one for 13 minutes and finished
the contest with just three fouls.

Adding to the Wolverines’ trouble inside was the
contribution of Michigan State forward Jason Andreas. The senior
soared past his season averages of two points and two rebounds per
game, notching seven points and five boards against the
Wolverines.

“Michigan State’s been known for being physical,
especially the inside players,” Andreas said. “We just
wanted to go out and prove that we do have toughness, and we showed
it today.”

Michigan forward J.C. Mathis was able to turn in a solid game in
21 minutes against the Spartans.

With Sims, Brown and Hunter all struggling, Mathis’
minutes increased, and he chipped in six points and eight
rebounds.

Nothin’ but bench: One Michigan forward that Amaker
did not turn to in the attempt to neutralize Davis was freshman
Brent Petway.

The 6-foot-9 high-riser stayed on the sidelines for the entire
game, as Amaker shortened his rotation to eight players.

Petway has seen his minutes drop drastically since playing 10
minutes in Michigan’s loss to Boston University on Dec. 30.
In the Wolverines’ first three Big Ten games — against
Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State — Petway has seen
the court for a total of nine minutes.

“Those things can happen, it’s not
frustrating,” Petway said. “I’m a smaller big
man, so the matchups probably have a lot to do with it.”

Harrell Hurting: While Amaker opted not to use Petway,
guard Sherrod Harrell was not even an option.

The sophomore suffered a high- ankle sprain in practice last
week and was on crutches for Saturday’s game. Harrell was
expected to return to practice yesterday.

Notes: Michigan assistant coach Charles Ramsey was not
present for Saturday’s game. Ramsey was stranded while on a
recruiting visit and unable to make it to East Lansing. …
Taking in Saturday’s game as part of the sellout crowd of
14,759 were Detroit Lions wide receiver Charles Rogers, a former
Spartan, and Lions’ head coach Steve Mariucci, a close friend
of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. ... Michigan State’s
victory moved its home Big Ten record to 40-2 since 1998-99.