The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 13, 2004 - 5B
WHAT DID YOU SAY?
"One thing you can't get into is
changing what you are. That's
when teams get in trouble."
- Junior tri-captain Sherrod
Harrell on Michigan's role changes.
SATURDAY'S SCORE
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
:P fSouth Florida
62
71
Terrence Leather
(South Florida)
The forward spent 25 minutes on the
floor and scored 28 of the Bulls' 62
total points before fouling out with
2:06 left.
Chris Hunter
(Michigan)
Michigan's solid 23-29 performance
from the charity stripe was due large-
ly to the sophomore's 10-for-10 run.
Michigan
Unsung
cagers
filmigm
the gaps
By Josh Holman
Daily Sports Writer
South Florida served as the perfect
example of what Michigan does not want
to become in Saturday's 71-62 win at
Crisler Arena.
Terrence Leather scored 28 points for
the Bulls in limited play due to foul trou-
ble. His play was sensational, but - save
for 13 points from his teammate Brian
Swift - it was the only source of scor-
ing that South Florida could find on most
possessions.
Down at Michigan's side of the court,
it was anyone's guess which Wolverine
would be putting the ball in the basket.
When injuries arose that will keep
juniors Lester Abram, Graham Brown
and Daniel Horton on the bench for an
extended amount of time, the possibility
of sophomore Dion Harris - Michigan's
leading scorer - being the first, last and
only scoring option became very real.
But in Michigan's first two games as
a depleted unit, that danger has not been
reality.
"It's no surprise to us," junior Sher-
rod Harrell said. "We practice every
day, and we know what we have in this
locker room. We know what we can do
with these guys. Just because a few guys
go out doesn't mean that somebody can't
step in the spot and do the same thing."
Harrell is one of the players doing his
part to patch up the holes in the lineup.
He scored a career-high seven points and
added five rebounds in Saturday's vic-
tory.
Four Wolverines scored in double fig-
ures. Harris led the way with 22 points, a
positive sign following his 8 points on 3-
for-13 shooting in last week's 67-53 win
over High Point - Michigan's first game
without Abram, Brown and Horton.
But the biggest story revolved around
SATURDAYS GAME
Everyone needs to South Florida 62
shine in new roles
FG FT
MIN M-A M-A
25 11-15 6-7
REB
0-T
2-5
A F PTS
1 5 28
JASON COOPER/Daily
Junior Chris Hunter shouldered his share of the scoring load for the Wolverines. He
finished with 16 points and a 10-for-10 mark from the free throw line.
who scored besides Harris. Forward
Chris Hunter followed a career-high 22-
point night against High Point by drop-
ping 16 points on the Bulls. The junior
did most of his damage at the free throw
line, where he went 10-for-10.
Sophomore Brent Petway and fresh-
man Ron Coleman also chipped in 10
points each.
It was Coleman's second double-
digit effort in his young career.Despite
troubles early in the season, the wing has
proven to be a solid contributor when his
jump shot is on.
The performances of Michigan's role
players were exactly what the doctor
ordered in the absence of some of Mich-
igan's top scorers. After being thrust into
the spotlight, they seem to have passed
the initial tests so far.
"Do we need those players just to be
solid or do we need them to make con-
tributions?" Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker said. "We need them to make
contributions, and they're good enough
to do that for us."
The Wolverines are even getting other
contributions from players that don't
score.
Senior J.C. Mathis played eight min-
utes at forward and logged two rebounds
and an assist. Junior Ashtyn Bell saw
played 10 minutes, a career-high and
the first time he has ever played with the
game still in doubt. He filled in for junior
Dani Wohl, who played 30 minutes
against High Point but went down with
an elbow injury in practice on Thursday
and is out indefinitely.
With so many players getting a chance
to play, the experience could pay divi-
dends for the Wolverines down the road.
"All these guys are getting this expe-
rience on the court, and this helps our
team out," Coleman said. "Whenever we'
have to look to the bench to get our play-
ers to play hard, we'll have the chemistry
down pat."
BRIAN SCHICK
Schick Happens
ooking over the postgame notes
from Saturday's win over South
Florida, numerous players tal-
lied career-highs in various statistical
categories. But it wasn't your usual
suspects, such as Dion Harris and
Courtney Sims - it was Sherrod Har-
rell, Ashtyn Bell and Ron Coleman.
For better or for worse, this will be
a record-breaking season for the Wol-
verines.
I don't want to keep beating the
injury drum, but it's definitely going to
be the story of the season. Every player
on the Michigan basketball team has
seen his role on the team change, and
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker is
looking for everyone to take more
responsibility. Guys who figured to
be role players on the team now have
to step up, and the remaining starters
now have to carry the load.
Amaker has said on numerous occa-
sions that he is proud of his team's
depth. Well, we're getting a good look
at Michigan's bench, and chances are
we'll be seeing more of them as the
season progresses. I take that back - I
shouldn't even call them bench players
anymore, since they're going to be the
guys who will have to fill in for Daniel
Horton and Lester Abram.
I applaud Amaker for recruiting
players who want to stay for four years,
as opposed to the growing number of
players that support the "one-year-and-
done" mentality. While it's tough to
recruit quality players to ride the pine
for a few years, it seems that Michigan
will need to start looking for players
who won't be just role-players any-
more.
All that aside, the players don't seem
to think anything is different. Har-
rell doesn't feel any of his teammates'
roles have changed, stating that he
believes that players shouldn't change
their game, or that will have disastrous
results.
Well, I'm not sure if I agree, but, if
that's what it takes to keep winning,
I'll accept that. I think they're just try-
ing to downplay the injury bug without
admitting these players were "role-
players" before. And even starters like
Harris have a different role on this new
team.
Harris saw his responsibility change
last season as he moved off the bench
into the starting lineup. Now he's
moved from being a second or third
option behind Horton and Abram to
being the go-to guy on this squad.
He's also assumed the duties of point
guard, as well as being the floor leader
and motivator. That's asking a lot of
a sophomore who has started just 20
games at Michigan.
"For me to run the point, I have to
be active and have energy the entire
time, no matter how good or how bad
it's going," Harris said. "I just have
to stay active and keep everybody
energized, and that's what I tried to do
today."
Harris has slowly stepped into
the role of team leader pretty well.
He might have notched the quietest
22-point game in Michigan history
- despite shooting 6-for-17 from the
floor.
Coleman has also quietly moved
into a prominent position on the squad,
going from playing single-digit min-
utes in his first few games to playing
39 minutes on Saturday. Not much was
made of Coleman during the offsea-
son, and more focus was on the high
school players who didn't commit to
Michigan. But he has slowly improved
from the beginning of the season, and
it appears Amaker has rewarded him
with more playing time.
"I just went out there," Coleman
said. "Coach told me to go out there
and have fun and play hard and battle.
And that's just what I did. I was out
on the court for a long time, but I just
have to fight through it."
Bell might be the one who has seen
his situation on the team change the
most dramatically. From being a walk-
on and not making the team his fresh-
man year, he played a career-high 10
minutes against the Bulls, defending
their best guard, Brian Swift. Bell was
also bitten by the injury bug, suffering
a broken nose. He sported a Rip Ham-
ilton-style facemask over the weekend.
This was the first situation where he
saw meaningful minutes and had the
responsibility of attempting to slow
down a South Florida comeback late in
the second half.
Bell also mentioned that some teams
that suffer injuries the way Michigan
has could easily fold under the pressure
and start losing games they shouldn't.
Up until this point, Michigan has man-
aged to pull out wins against teams it
was supposed to beat when the season
started. The bigger tests loom on the
horizon with a road trip to UCLA over
winter break and the start of the Big
Ten season in January. The outcome of
these games will show if these players
can adjust to their new roles - wheth-
er they will acknowledge them or not.
Leather
Dennis
Jones
Bryant
Swift
Brigman
Prekevicius
Capko
Holmes
Diarra
TEAM
Totals
23 1-4 1-2 1-3 1 2 3
31 3-4 1-2 1-11 0 4 7
25 1-4 0-0 0-2 14 3 2
40 6-17 0-0 0-2 6 4 13
13 1-2 0-0 0-2 0 3 2
24 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 2
1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
20 2-6 0-0 0-1 1 0 5
9 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
3-3
200 26-568-117-29 14 23 62
FG%: .464 FT%: .727 3-point FG: 2-13,
.154 (Swift 1-8, Holmes 1-2, Dennis 0-
2, Prekevicius 0-1). Blocks: 3 (Jones 2,
Bryant) Steals: 5 (Leather 2, Jones 2,
Dennis). Turnovers: 14 (Prekevicius 3,
Holmes 3, Bryant 2, Swift 2, Leather 2,
Jones, Dennis). Technical fouls: None.
MICHIGAN 71
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Andrews 12 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 1 0
Hunter 29 3-1110-10 4-8 0 3 16
Sims 15 3-4 0-0 1-2 2 1 6
Harris 37 6-17 7-10 0-2 5 3 22
Coleman 39 4-8 2-2 3-7 1 0 10
Bell 10 0-0 0-2 0-0 1 1 0
Harrell 22 2-3 2-2 0-5 0 0 7
Petway 28 4-7 2-3 0-2 1 2 10
Mathis 8 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 0 0
TEAM 2-5
Totals 200 22-5223-2911-33131171
FG%: .423 FT%: .793 3-point FG: 4-15,
.267 (Harris 3-9, Harrell 1-2, Coleman
0-2, Hunter 0-1, Andrews 0-1). Blocks:
4 (Petway 2, Sims, Coleman). Steals:
6 (Harrell 2, Petway 2, Coleman, Har-
ris). Turnovers: 12 (Coleman 3, Petway
2, Andrews 2, Harris 2, Hunter, Harrell,
TEAM 1). Technical fouls: none.
South Florida......32 30 - 62
Michigan.......... 34 37 - 71
At: Crisler Arena
Attendance: 10,135
,M' STATS
Player
Harris
Horton
Sims
Hunter
Petway
Abram
Brown
Coleman
Andrews
Harrell
Wohl
Mathis
Bell
Ba
Min
37.2
33.1
23.1
17.4
23.6
28.7
21.0
18.4
18.4
12.9
12.0
7.7
5.5
1.0
A
3.2
4.3
0.3
0.4-
1.0
1.3
1.0
1.1
1.5
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.5
1.0
Reb
2.8
3.1
6.2
3.6
5.9
4.7
6.3
2.3
1.9
1.8
0.7
2.3
0.0
0.0
Pts
15.0
11.7
10.2
9.6
7.3
6.7
4.5
3.8
3.4
2.0
1.3
0.7
0.0
0.0
Injuries provide chance to grow
BIG TEN STANDINGS
By Megan Kolodgy
Daily Sports Writer
Junior Sherrod Harrell insists that his role hasn't
changed.
"One thing you can't get into is changing
what you are," Harrell said. "That's when
teams get in trouble. Just because we had a
few guys go out, guys still have to do what
they do."
This assertion might be true as far as
duties as tri-captain of the Michigan men's
basketball team is concerned. But Harrell's
0 " .
$0
presence on the court and on the stat sheet has become much
more prominent in the last few weeks.
"He's a very unselfish person and player," Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker said. "I think his contributions - you won't
see them so much in the stat sheet - but it's in how he plays
in practice and how he helps the guys along."
On Saturday, Harrell proved that he could make signifi-
cant contributions, with both subtle and explicit plays.
He scored a career-high seven points, easily surpassing
his previous high of four. His shooting was conservative but
also quite accurate, as he shot 2-for-3 from the field includ-
ing 1-for-2 from beyond the arc. Harrell also managed to
sink both of his free throws.
His play was both aggressive and plentiful, as he grabbed
five rebounds and remained on the floor for 22 minutes.
"He is our only healthy captain for us, and Sherrod is a
terrific leader," Amaker said. "He's a team-first player -
a person players respect. He's a tough guy. He's mentally
tough. He's going to fight through things, and he's willing to
do anything for his teammates."
While his teammates are relying more heavily on his lead-
ership, Harrell still looks to the other captains for guidance.
"I asked Lester (Abram) tonight while we were sitting on
the bench, 'Les, why can't we get open on the wings?' " Har-
rell said. "He told me what to do, I spread the word, and we
went out and did it. We still use them."
HIT THE WOHL?: Just when the Michigan faithful hoped
the injuries that have inflicted several key players would
cease, they received more bad news - junior Dani Wohl is
out indefinitely with an elbow injury.
The guard fell on his elbow at practice on Thursday, and
his status remains unknown. He will receive an MRI later
in the week.
"I was disappointed for a kid like Dani Wohl, who has
worked all his life to get to the point where he'd get the
chance to play in a game like this, and he gets hurt just
before we're supposed to play," Amaker said.
Wohl had seen very few minutes in his Michigan
career until Tuesday's game against High Point, when, in
the absence of junior starter Daniel Horton, Wohl got the
chance to play 30 minutes. He scored four points, snatched
two rebounds and committed four turnovers in his time on
the court.
The upside to Wohl's injury is that sophomore Ashtyn
Bell, another nonstarter, saw a significant spike in playing
time on Saturday. The junior notched one assist in 10 min-
utes on the court.
"It felt good," Bell said. "I've been waiting for this oppor-
tunity for a long time, so I wanted to take advantage of it. I
went out there and did the best I can."
His game may have been hampered by the protective,
plastic mask that he had to wear in order to prevent re-injur-
ing to his nose, which he broke in practice at the beginning
of the season.
"The one I was playing with was real bad," Bell said. "I
couldn't see anything. But I'm getting one on Monday fitted
to my face, so it should be better."
Team
Illinois
Iowa
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Michigan
Minnesota
Penn State
Indiana
Northwestern
Purdue
Bl Ten Overall
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
8
6
5
5
6
5
5
2
2
2
Brian Schick can be reached at
bschick@umich.edu.
THIS WEEKEND'S RESULTS:
MICHIGAN 71, South Florida 62
KENTUCKY 73, Indiana 58
Illinois 83, OREGON 66
PITTSBURGH 84, Penn State 71
MICHIGAN STATE 78, Stanford 53
MARQUETTE 63, Wisconsin 54
OHIO STATE 78, Portland State 54
MINNESOTA 77, Central Michigan 63
PURDUE 69, Colorado State 68
TUESDAY'S GAMES
BOSTON UNIV. AT MICHIGAN 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
Chicago St. at Minnesota 7 p.m.
Wisc.-Milw. at Wisconsin 8 p.m.
DePaul at Northwestern 8 p.m.
THURSDAY'S GAME
Ohio State at Texas Tech 9 p.m.
0
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
4
4
5
JASON COOy/ iy
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker called on sophomore Ashtyn Bell on Saturday in
place of junior Dani Wohl, another Wolverine who has succumbed to injury.
SATURDAY'S GAMES
Delaware St. at Michigan St.
MICHIGAN AT UCLA
Seton Hall at Northwestern
West. Carolina at Iowa
Evansville at Purdue
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
8:05 p.m.
TBA
AP TOP 25
Week 4 (Dec. 6 - Dec. 12)
Team:
1. Illinois
2. Kansas
3. Georgia Tech
4. Syracuse
5. Oklahoma State
6. Wake Forest
7. Connecticut
8. North Carolina
9. Duke
10. Kentucky
11. Pittsburgh
12. North Carolina State
13. Louisville
14. Texas
15. Arizona
16. Washington
Record:
9-0
6-0
6-0
8-1
7-0
6-1
4-1
6-1
6-1
6-1
7-0
7-0
5-1
6-1
6-2
7-1
Last game:
Beat Oregon, 90-73
Beat Louisiana Lafayette, 96-51
Beat Air Force, 64-42
Beat Binghamton, 86-56
Beat UAB, 86-73
Beat Richmond. 90-73
Lost to Massachusetts, 61-59
Lost to Loyola Chicago, 82-43
Beat Kentucky, 91-78
Beat Beat Indiana, 73-58
Beat Penn State, 84-71
Beat Liberty, 94-60
Beat Florida, 74-70
Beat North Texas, 86-57
Beat Utah, 67-62
Beat Loyola Marymount, 100-93
BULLS
Continued from page 11B
guys and we continue to execute, then we will be all right,"
Hunter said.
Up 34-32 at halftime, Michigan exchanged buckets with
South Florida until just under 14 minutes remained in the sec-
ond half, when Leather picked up his fourth foul.
With the senior on the bench, the Wolverines went on a 10-
3 run. Leather returned with 8:38 remaining and scored five
quick points to cut Michigan's lead to 57-53 - the closest the
Bulls would get in the game.
"When (Leather) is not in there, it's a weapon offensively
that we don't have," South Florida coach Robert McCullum
said. "It makes it easier to defend us when he's not in the
game."
Even with Leather off the court in the waning minutes, the
Bulls would not give in, as they ate away at Michigan's narrow
lead. But a pair of free throws from Hunter and Harris iced the
game for the Wolverines.
"We need to do a better job of closing out the game,"
Amaker said. "(Things like) handling the basketball, running
late-game offense - that stuff. We need to manage the clock
better and need to play the game situation better. And (with-
out) a player like a Daniel Horton - who's been in (difficult)
situations a lot - hopefully those things will be easier."
Despite leading the Wolverines with 22 points, Harris
- who has become the de-facto offensive leader for Michi-
gan with Horton, Lester Abram and Graham Brown sidelined
- admitted he could have done a better job handling the close
game.
"Tfhnt a- a te nnint nrd T haa t+ rnntn,-it n;it ;+.
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Indiana at Missouri 2 p.m.
Morehead St. at Ohio State 4 p.m.
KEY STAT
5
The number of fouls committed by
South Florida's Terrence Leather.
The senior fouled out with 2:06
remaining in the game.
UP NEXT:
BOSTON UNIV.
Last season the Terriers (5-2) shocked the Wol-
verines 61-60 in Ann Arbor. This year, seniors
Rashad Bell and Chaz Carr are each averag-
I
- ~ ~5~j
I