10 - Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Defensive swap saves WolverinesF rompa e9

MERRITT, from Page 9
later by burying a 3-pointer from
the top of the key with five seconds
left on the shot clock.
A couple of minutes later, Merritt
hit freshman Manny Harris on the
fastbreak for an easy bucket.
On the Wolverines' next posses-
sion, Merritt drove and hit a layup
as he fell to the floor. He did it again
on Michigan's next possession.
"He just sparks - pull-up three,
taking it to the basket, dishing
dimes," Michigan redshirt fresh-
man Anthony Wright said. "He was
out there ballin'. "
After a few minutes on the bench,
Merritt reentered the game for the
closing minutes of the first half. In
the final two minutes, he pushed
the ball upcourt to Harris open for
a 3-pointer and made a no-look pass
to set up an easy deuce for sopho-
more DeShawn Sims.
By halftime, Merritt had collect-
ed his career-best seven points and
already had three assists.
"I just said to him, like, 'Look
Dave, you've got to bring inten-
sity, the same you brought in the
first half because you're carrying
us right now,' " said junior Jevohn
Shepherd, who told Merritt before
the game to ignore his maize-pho-
bia.
But about five minutes after he
set a career high in assists on a per-
fect dropoff pass for a dunk by Sims,
Merritt hurt his knee. He hopped
around midcourt on one leg, and
sophomore Ekpe Udoh carried him
to the bench, where a trainer quick-
ly assessed him before leading him
off the court.
JONES
From page 9
"(Indiana) shot 24 free throws;
we fouled them 20 times," Borseth
said. "That's a lot. We're just let-
ting people get to the rim."
Earning these trips to the line
was exactly what the Hoosiers had
in mind. After shooting eight in
their last meeting with the Wolver-
ines, Indiana reverted to its usual
style and went to the hole. And 24
attempts were not even enough.
"Once we attack the basket,
great things happen," Indiana
coach Felisha Legette-Jack said.

Sophomore Ekpe Udoh handles the ball around two Ohio State defenders during the
second half of Michigan's 80-70 win over the Buckeyes Sunday.

Beilein said Merritt will get an
MRI.
CURBING KOUFOS: Ohio State
freshman forward/center Kosta
Koufos shredded Michigan early.
The 7-footer scored inside easily
in the first half while being guarded
mostly by Michigan's wing players.
He led the Buckeyes with 12 points
on 6-for-7 shooting in the frame.
In the second half, the Wolver-
ines double-teamed Koufos and
rotated quicker to help on him. But
most importantly, they treated him
more like a center than a forward.
Udoh, who blocked Koufos's lone
miss of the first half, covered him in
the second.
"We stuck Ekpe on him, and it
was over," Wright said.
Koufos went 3-of-12 in the sec-
ond half against Udoh, who had six
"I don't remember when the last
time was we shot 24 free throws in
a game. And I still think we can go
for 30."
THINK PINK: Assembly Hall saw
a season-high crowd of 2,545 for
WBCA's "Think Pink" campaign
for breast cancer awareness.
The crowd was mostly dressed
in pink, and the marketing depart-
ment threw out pink shirts after
every Hoosier basket.
The Wolverines also donned
pink warm-ups, shoelaces and
headbands with their maize jer-
seys.
Though the pink did not change
anything about the game or its

blocks and four steals.
NOTES: The Big Ten named Har-
ris its player of the week after lead-
ing Michigan to wins against Ohio
State and Iowa. The Detroit native's
21 points, five rebounds, three
assists and two steals per game and
57-percent 3-point shooting for the
week earned him his first weekly
accolade. ... Freshman point guard
Kelvin Grady's streak of minutes
without a turnover ended at 83
when Ohio State guard Jamar But-
ler picked Grady's pocket in the
first half. ... Michigan went 20-for-
24 from the free throw line, while
the Buckeyes were just 2-of-3 from
the charity stripe. The Wolverines
went 11-of-14 from the line when
Ohio State fouled down the stretch.
... The game was Michigan's first
sellout of the season.
preparation, the pink had a per-
sonal impact on both coaches.
"I have friends that have had
(cancer) and gone through it,"
Borseth said. "It's obviously a ter-
rible disease. Unless your family or
yourself are inflicted with it, you
don't really understand the magni-
tude of it. It's good that the WBCA
and women's sports support it
because it needs attention."
Indiana's coach was similarly
excited to see the pink attire.
"It's fantastic," Jack said. "To
see these young girls here with
their eyes wide open, you have the
possibility to inspire them just for
a moment."

his old club coach, Chris Chana-
vier, with weekly phone calls and
monthly visits home.
Chanavier competed for Iowa
when Michigan coach Kurt Golder
headed the program. And dur-
ing Heiter's semester at Western,
he received a call from Golder: A
spot mightbecome available on the
men's gymnastics team. In Nov.
2006, freshman Bruno Savard
was cut from the team. The move
wasn't popular with most of the
gymnasts, but the coaches felt it
was for the best.
And it opened the door for Heit-
er.
At Michigan, Heiter stepped
into a new world, training three
hours a day, six days a week with
some of the top gymnasts in the
country.
"Once I got here, it was basi-
cally a shock to my system," Heiter
said. "My body has never hurt so
much."
But his challenges weren't lim-
ited a grueling new workout regi-
men. His new teammates, though
welcoming, were still smarting
from the loss of Savard, who had
become a close friend to many of
them.
When the Wolverines found out
Heiter was coming to replace their
old teammate, they weren't exactly
overjoyed. Fans of the TV show
"Lost" on the team started call-
ing him "Ethan," the name of the
show's villain.
"We were like, 'Evan? Who is
thisEvankid?'"juniorRalphRosso
said. "So we called him Ethan for a
while, or at least we did behind his
back."
Rosso laughed. "And then when
we started to know him, we said it
to his face."
Heiter's well-developed sense
of humor and diligent work ethic
soon endeared him to even his
most resistant teammates. Today,
no gymnast can talk about Heiter
without grinning ear-to-ear.
"The only thing I knew was
that no one could have replaced
Bruno," junior Joe Catrambone
said of his mindset before Heiter
arrived. Now, the two are regular
dinner buddies at the Union, one of
Heiter's favorite hangouts.
His teasing and antics are leg-
endary. Earlier in the year, he had
the entire team in stitches with
his exaggerated song-and-dance
impression of Athens, Ga., native
Jamie Thompson.
"He can actually change charac-
ters pretty drastically," Rosso said.
"One moment he's serious, the next
moment he's from the South and

he's go
aboutp
Jamie.'
He's
spirit ii
Afte
find ar
enthus:
and wa
onship:
"Son
watch
" Bregr
and we
fun toI
me lau
anyone
NCA
team c
to eac
takes h
any aw
distanc
several
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Last
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cheer o
he drov
and fre
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Spe
we
W

t an accent and he's talking sports, where a blowout allows a
ossum stew, impersonating coach to empty the bench. No mat-
ter how big a lead Michigan gets,
found another kindred Golder cannot use any gymnasts
njuniorScott Bregman. other than the 12 in the starting
r all, it's not every day you lineup, makingitunlikelythateven
nother person with equal an alternate would see action.
iasm for gymnastics trivia But a situation that would send
itching old World Champi- most people into a funk hasn't
s tapes. dampened Heiter's cheerful per-
aetimes we'll be like, 'Let's sonality. Rather than throwing in
the 1983 event finals tape,' the towel, the walk-on gymnast
man said. "And I pull it out quickly distinguished himself as
watch it. He's just so much one of the hardest workers on the
hang out with. ... He makes team. His dedication matches that
gh until I cry more than of Michigan's stars, and Bregman
even calls him the "heart and soul"
A rules stipulate that the of the team.
an travel just 15 gymnasts "Every time I look over, he's
h competition. So Heiter taking another turn on vault or
is act on the road, driving to another turn on floor," Rosso said.
ay meet within reasonable "Sometimes the coaches need to
e and often bringing along tell him to stop, which is a good
of his non-traveling team- work ethic to have."
Heiter came onto the teamwith-
season he went to Colum- out a high-difficulty skill - now,
innesota and Penn State to he's put together a complete floor
n his teammates. This year, routine with two such elements
ve to Chicago with Bregman and can do a full twisting vault.
ashmen Ben Baldus-Strauss More than most, Heiter appre-
ciates being on a varsity team. For
him, it almost didn't happen.
"A lot of people say that being on
m sure I w as a sports teamis such a big privilege,
but I feel like it means a little bit
oing at light more to me," Heiter said. "I wasn't
i even doing the sport two years ago
.ed becauseit and now I'm among some of the
best people in the nation, the world
as all a blur." even, being an NCAA gymnast."

and Devan Cote, cracking them up
the whole waywith his sing-alongs
and zingers.
"He knows every song ever
and every piece of pop culture,"
Baldus-Strauss said. "It's smart
humor. He has so much knowl-
edge about everyday things, he just
stuns you."
For Heiter, it's just about being
the best teammate he can possibly
be.
"For the guys who aren't com-
peting, it's good to get together and
still have that camaraderie," Heit-
er said. "The trips are sometimes
time consuming, but in the end, if I
was out there on the floor, I'd want
all my teammates to be there."
Heiter's new world isn't all fun
and games, though. After six years
away from the sport, his develop-
ment is behind that of his team-
mates With 24 gymnasts fighting
for 12 competition spots, he hasn't
made it into the starting lineup,
and likely won't until next year.
He's the only non-redshirt who
hasn't been an alternate yet this
season.a
Gymnastics isn't like most team

eiter ran forward and
threw himself into the
pass as he had hun-
dreds of times. Like magic, he spun
into the double full and landed
with a tiny hop on the mat. His
teammates erupted in cheers.
"His facial expression was just
ridiculous, and he was so excited,"
Catrambone said.
Heiter doesn't remember much
but the euphoria.
"I was kind of in shock and
everyoneknewthatIhadstruggled
through getting an entire routine
together," Heiter said. "I'm sure I
was going at light speed because it
was all a blur. I remember landing
my first pass and landing my dis-
mount and I don't really remember
anything in between."
Bouncing in his chair, Bregman
could barely contain his delight as
Heiter completed one of his best
routines ever.
"That was the first time I'd ever
seen him land that first pass,"
Bregman said. "He showed that
he's a gamer and he can doit when
it counts. I was just really, really
excited for him, because he works
so hard in the gym every day. To
see that pay off when it counted
was real exciting."

I

4.



SANDALS
From page 9
and that's definitely an "if" with
Jeff Lerg in the opposite net,
there will still be work to do in
the season's last weekend.
Ferris State is a good team.

Not just that, the Bulldogs are a
dangerous adversary this time of
year.
Take a look at what they did to
Miami last weekend.
On Friday, they went goal for
goal and got the last laugh in a 6-5
win. The next night, Ferris State
played staunch defense, holding

I I

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the nation's top offense in check
en route to a 3-1 victory.
Ferris State is the real deal.
Chances are, when the Michigan
series rolls around, the Bulldogs
will be fighting for the fifth seed
and the right to host lowly West-
ern Michigan in the first round.
Michigan's advantage is that
the Friday game is Senior Night
at Yost, one last chance (well,
except for the home playoff
series?) for Porter to show off in
front of the home crowd.
 But the pageantry won't
guarantee a win. Two years ago,
the Wolverines lost on Senior
Night to - you guessed it - Fer-
ris State.
But this year's team has
already set itself apart from
past Michigan squads. It has
the chance to finish up what has
been a special season so far. But
the Wolverines can't expect the
regular season crown to come to
them - they have to go out and
get it.
In the final two weekends,
fans should sit back and enjoy an
exciting finish. The Wolverines
should do just the opposite.
-Sandals can be reached
at nsandals@umich.edu.
Follow your
favorite
Michigan
sports teams
over Spring
Break
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