The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, November 13, 2008 -- 5A

Harris leads Blue to
spot inthe BigApple

Move to nickel boosts Harrison

Sophomore paces Wol-
verines with 26 points
in rout of
Northeastern
By ANDY REID
Daily Sports Editor
During the Michigan basketball
team's 76-56 win over Northeastern
last night, representatives from the
2K Sports Classic benefiting Coach-
es vs. Can-
cer were NORTHEASTERN 56
faced with MICHIGAN 76
one of the
easiest decisions ever.
TheyhadtopickanMVPfromthe
Ann Arbor Regional, to be awarded
immediately after the game. No one
in Crisler Arena was remotely sur-
prised when Michigan sophomore
Manny Harris was called to the
scorer's table to acceptthe award.
Following a career-high 30 points
against Michigan Tech on Wednes-
day in the tournament's first round,
Harris notched 26 last night. But
Harris's work didn't stop there. He
collected a game-high 10 rebounds
and was just two assists shy of a
triple-double.
" The first two games were Har-
ris's first opportunity to prove that
he's ready to take on a larger role
than last year, when he was mainly
a slashing scorer.
And he did everything last night.
He did what he does best, dicing
through the lane to make seem-
ingly impossible layups. He was
clutch from behind the arc, cash-
ing in on a huge 3-pointer midway
through the second half to solidify
Michigan's big lead. He was dead-
on from the charity strip, making
13-of-14, even while a rather bois-
terous Northeastern fan chanted
his real name, Corperryale, from
behind the basket.
But most importantly, he saw
the floor better, giving him ample
opportunities to find open team-
mates for easy buckets.
"I don't really have words for
this guy," senior Jevohn Shepherd
said. "Tonight he was just a well-
rounded player, assists, points and
rebounds. He just does it all, and
he's a great player."
The victory means the Wolver-
ines will travel to New York City to
play UCLA in the tournament's final
four next Thursday. Duke, which
will travel to Ann Arbor gn Dec. 6,
Southern Illinois are also going to
Madison Square Garden.
With tougher teams awaiting
them in New York, the Wolver-

By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Editor
After losing five straight games,
the Michigan football team clearly
needed a change of pace entering
last Saturday's game at Minne-
sota.
So senior defensive back Bran-
don Harrison made two significant
changes.
The first was a haircut.
Harrison, who last cut his hair
soon after the Capitol One Bowl on
New Year's Day, went to redshirt
junior defensive end and "team
barber" Andre Criswell. Criswell
took Harrison's hair down from
unwieldy mane to a close-cropped
cut.
"It was too much, man," Har-
rison said. "There was hair every-
where. It got pulled a lot of times."
The haircut was personal, but
for the team, Harrison's biggest
change lastweek was movingfrom
strong safety to nickel back for the
team's 4-2-5 base package against
the Golden Gophers.
Harrison's move to nickel back
meant that he spent the week

leading up to the game practicing
with the linebackers, a switch he
enjoyed.
"Linebacker's been so much
fun," Harrison said. "I've always
wanted to be a linebacker since I
was little, but I wasn't the tallest
guy."
On the field in Minneapolis, the
new defensive alignment was a
success. Harrison's performance
stood out in particular. Lined up
closer to the line of scrimmage
than he was as a safety, Harrison
had a significant role in stopping
the run and pressuring the quar-
terback.
Michigan's defense held Min-
nesota to 188 total yards - just 105
through the air - the fewest it has
allowed all season.
Harrison finished the game
with four tackles and recorded his
first career solo sack on a keythird-
and-goal play in the third quarter.
"That was the first time he
played a true nickel back in a
first-down situation on Satur-
day," Rodriguez said. "I think it
helped."
Harrison's success at nickel back

didn't come as a huge surprise to
him or his teammates. Prior to this
season, Harrison played mostly at
nickel back, which made his read-
justment to the position relatively
easy.
"I had to think like a lineback-
er - it's different," Harrison said.
"Like certain runs you've got to fit
in a certain gap. Instead of like a
safety you'll come down and you'll
just fit off the back."
Harrison expects to playa simi-
lar role against Northwestern on
Saturday. The Wildcats also run
a spread offense so the coaching
staff will likely go with it again
this week.
Harrison will play in his final
home game Saturday and then
return to his home state for his last
college game, the season-ending
matchup with No. 10 Ohio State.
Harrison knows these last 'two
games will be emotional.
° But if Michigan finishes the
season with an upset win over the
Buckeyes, Harrison has a promise
to keep. Criswell should be on call.
"If we win the O-State game, I'll
go bald, shave it off."

Balanced attack paces 'M' in blowout

SAID ALSALA H/Dail
Sophomore Manny Harris nearly completed a triple double, notching 26 points10
rebounds and eight assists.

ines (2-0) have a lot of work to do.
While Michigan's 1-3-1 defense
looked aggressive and opportu-
nistic against Michigan Tech on
Tuesday night, Northeastern's size
and talent effectively broke the
zone. When the defense crashed in
the paint, the Huskies kicked it out
for easy 3-point opportunities. If
Northeastern's best player, guard
Matt Janning, had fared better
than 0-for-5 from behind the arc
in the first half, it could have been
a different game.
But the most glaring statistic was
the Huskies' 20 offensive rebounds.
Freshman Stu Douglass said the
coaches got on the team at halftime
for a lack of aggression and boxing
out on defense. But the Huskies still
collected nine offensive boards after
the break, giving them plenty of sec-

ond chances.
Michigan coach John Beilein
isn't too worried about the rebound
war, even though the Wolverines
will be facing stiffer competition in
New York.
"I'll say this - rebounding is
very significant," Beilein said.
"But the final score is what we
care about more than anything, it
really is. I mean, they get offen-
sive rebounds, and we won by 20.
Right? We'll take that."
Michigan will take its first trip
to the Garden since it lost in the
National Invitational Tournament
title game in 2006. Shepherd is the
only player remaining from that
team. The other two seniors, C.J.
Lee and David Merritt, walked
onto the team the next season
(2006-2007).

By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Twenty minutes before the
Michigan volleyball team started
its match against Ohio State last
night, the Michigan student sec-
tion, The Zone, started yelling the
"Ohio...Sucks" chant at the Buck-
eye players.
"In every sport, Ohio State
and Michigan are big rivals, and
they knew this was the big rival-
ry week," Michigan coach Mark
Rosen said. "They were ready for
it."
Michigan (9-6 Big Ten, 21-6
overall) clearly fed off that emo-
tion. After a Buckeye service
error on the first play of the game,
the Wolverines stormed out
to a 10-5 lead in the first set
and never looked back, sweep-
ing the Buckeyes in three sets
(25-16, 25-14, 25-15).
"We executed our serves
from the very start," Rosen
said. "(Sophomore setter)
Lexi (Zimmerman) ran a great
offense. We were able to adjust
to whatthey were doing defen-
sively and then use that against
them."
Ohio State's game plan was
to shut down certain players
on the court.
But Zimmerman managed to
read how the Buckeye defense
stacked up against the Wolver-

ine hitters, Rosen said.
"Lexi does a really good job of
running a balanced offense, so
that way the blockers can't com-
mit on a certain hitter," freshman
right side hitter Alex Hunt said.
The Buckeyes (2-13, 11-16) had
no answer for the 19th-ranked
Wolverines' consistent offensive
attack. Michigan had six players
with at least six kills during the
match.
"They fed right into our game
plan tonight," Zimmerman said.
Michigan succeeded on more
than a third of its kill attempts
against the Buckeyes compared to
Ohio State's dismal..021 success
rate from the floor.
Junior outside hitter Juliana

Paz led the Wolverines' explosive
attack with 10 kills while sopho-
more middleblockerKarlee Bruck
had nine of her own.
The win put Michigan's home
record to 12-1 on the year.
When Michigan hosts Michi-
gan State this Friday in a rematch
game, the Wolverines will hope
to increase its winning streak to
four as it heads into the last few
weeks of conference.
Over 5,000 fans inside the
Breslin Center helped propel the
Spartans to give the Wolverines
their first loss of the season on
Sept. 27.
And when Michigan takes on
its in-state rival, the Zone and the
marching band will be ready.


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