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February 16, 2009 - Image 9

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The Michigan Daily, 2009-02-16

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The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I February16, 2009

MICHIGAN70
NORTHWESTERN67 (OT)

p

MANNY WILD
Harris explodes for 26 points,
leads 'M' to second road win

PAUL BEATY/AP
(TOP RIGHT) Sophomore Manny Harris contributed 25 points in the second half in Michigan's 70-67
win. (ABOVE) Junior DeShawn Sims fouled out with eight points in 26 minutes on the court.

By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - Michigan sophomore Manny Harris couldn't
remember the last time he was in "the zone."
But during the Michigan men's basketball team's 70-67 over-
time victory yesterday at Northwestern, he found it.
"Today, I was able to get in the zone," said Harris, who scored
25 points in the second half and overtime. "And that was a good
thing."
Yesterday's game at Welsh-Ryan Arena was the first of four
road trips the Wolverines (6-7 Big Ten, 16-10 overall) will make in
their final six games. Entering the game, Michigan had just one
road win, a 72-66 victory over Indiana on Jan. 7.
Michigan needed to top the Wildcats.
And ultimately, the outcome was all in Harris's hands.
"I said, 'Fresh, we're going down with you,' " fifth-year senior
C.J. Lee said of Harris, whose nickname is "Manny Fresh."
"'You're our guy, and you know it. Just do what you do."'
Harris scored just one point in the first half, sitting the final

11 minutes of the frame after picking up his second foul. Harris
said that early in the season, the two early fouls would have been
frustrating. But yesterday, he stayed positive.
He came out looking possessed in the second half, scoring the
Wolverines' first nine points of the stanza and 12 of their final 17.
"Your confidence is so high, and your swagger's up so high,"
Harris said of being in the zone. "You feel like you're going to
make every shot."
A loss would have flipped the two squads in the Big Ten stand-
ings, dropping the Wolverines to ninth and putting Northwest-
ern (4-8,13-10) in eighth.
The win moves Michigan just one game behind the logjam for
fifth between Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin. The Wol-
verines play the Golden Gophers twice and the Badgers once in
their final five games.
But Harris's effort almost went for naught.
The Wolverines blew a five-point lead in the final one minute
and 44 seconds of regulation, highlighted by an off-balanced
3-pointer by Northwestern's Kevin Coble.
See WILDCATS, Page 3B

Turnovers nearly unravel Michigan in Evanston

By JASON KOHLER
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - The sound of The
Victors echoed out of the visitors
locker room in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
After five straight road losses, the
Wolverines finally had something
to cheer about yesterday after they
knocked off Northwestern 70-67.
All season, Michigan coach John
Beilein has stressed the necessity of
staying poised on the road.
But in the final minutes of the

second half, the Wolverines' poise
seemed to dissolve as the lanky
Wildcat defenders applied theirtrap
zone defense.
In the last minute and 23 seconds,
Michigan's guards turned the ball
over three times to let a three-point
lead wash away.
The most costly of the turnovers
came as fifth-year senior C.J. Lee
attempted to split two defenders
and had the ball slapped out of his
hands. The steal set up Northwest-
ern forward Kevin Coble's acrobatic

3-pointer that forced overtime.
As the Wolverines tried to score
a game-winning basket, Lee com-
mitted another turnover, giving the
Wildcats a chance to win in regula-
tion.
Heading into the deciding peri-
od, Beilein gathered his players and
reminded them to stay collected.
"You really got to make eye con-
tact with your players at that time
and say, 'We're in this together.
You're going to make this thing hap-
pen, but you're going to have to will

it to happen. They're not going to go
away. They want this as bad as you
do. You just got to work your hard-
est,' " Beilein said.
In the final minutes of overtime,
it looked like Michigan might blow
its lead again.
Freshman guard Stu Douglass
turned the ball over with a four-
point lead and then junior forward
DeShawn Sims fouled out, hitting
Coble while he attempted a 3-point
shot.
Coble hit all three freebies and'

Michigan's lead dwindled to one.
But the Wolverines showed their
poise in one crucial area that ended
up being the difference maker -
free throws.
Lee and forward sophomore for-
ward Manny Harris both stepped
to the charity stripe in the closing
moments and knocked down key
free throws.
"I'm kind of calm on the free-
throw end," Harris said. "I thinkI'm
going to make a lot of shots, but my
wrist was kind of bothering me the

last couple games, and I was missing
a couple free throws that I should
make. Iwas just telling myself,'Your
wrist don't hurt. It don't hurt.You're
going to make every free throw.' "
Harris hit 9-of-10free throws and
Michigan scored 21 points from the
line in a game that was tightly offici-
ated with many touch fouls.
Although the Wolverines' poise
wasn't as solid as Beilein would have
liked, he knows how difficult it can
be to win on the road in the Big Ten.
See ROAD WIN, Page 3B

Depth a good sign down the stretch
n the Michigan hockey team's d
press conference follow-
ing Saturday's 4-2 win over
Nebraska-Omaha, sophomore for-
ward Louie Caporusso sat on the "
right of the table and senior goalie
Billy Sauer on
the left.
Caporusso,
who is second
in the country
-. with 22 goals,
posted three
assists in the
victory. Sauer,
who set single-
season pro- MICHAEL
gram records EISENSTEIN
for goals-
against aver-
age and save percentage last year, <
stopped 28 of 30 shots Saturday. N
But it was the freshman for-
ward sitting between them - a e
one-time walk-on - who scored'
the final two goals in the Wolver-
ines' comeback win, including an
empty netter, in the final five min-
utes of the game.
Meet Luke Glendening, the
team's fourth-line right-winger.
Glendening's first goal gave
Michigan its first lead of the game ANNA BAKEMAN/Daily
with 4:28 remaining. And his Freshman Luke Glendening tallied two goals in Saturday's third period to secure Michigan's sweep of the Mavericks.
second lamp-lighter of the game,
his fifth of the year, put the Mav- coach Red Berenson said. "It's Junior Brian Lebler, who had Overall, nine different Wolver-
ericks away with 35 seconds left nice to see a kid like that - a kid just three total goals last season, ines scored in Michigan's season-
on the clock. The win guaranteed that nobody knew much about has scored in three consecutive high 12-goal weekend.
the Wolverines a first-round bye coming in. And here he is, playing games. "It's just nice to know that you
in the CCHA Tournament and regular every night, and he's mak- And sophomore forward Ben got a bunch of guys on the team
home-ice advantage in the quar- ing a difference on our team." Winnett, who was a healthy that, when it's crunch time, any-
terfinals. Sure, they might have been scratch against both Notre Dame body can pick it up," Lebler said.
"(Glendening) got out there on "right-place, right-time" goals. and Michigan State a few weeks And that depth is particularly
Louie's line on a change, and that But Glendening's performance ago, scored a shorthanded goal reassuring for the Wolverines as
was a huge goal for us," Michigan was just the tip of the iceberg. Friday to extend Michigan's lead. See EISENSTEIN, Page 4B

Blue goes winless at
ITA Indoor Nationals

By MARK BURNS
Daily Sports Writer
Three matches against top-20
opponents.
Three losses.
One miserable weekend - or
was it?
The No. 18 Michigan men's
tennis team competed in the ITA
National Team Indoor Champion-
ship this weekend in Chicago with
high hopes of performing well
against the country's top competi-
tion.
After three days of intense,
hard-fought matches, Michigan
coach Bruce Berque and the Wol-
verines (5-4) had zero wins to
show for their effort.
"This weekend was an opportu-
nity to compete in some matches
that were not originally on our
schedule," Berque said. "I knew
there was the possibility of coming
away with no wins, but I thought
we could at least win one match."
After falling to No. 2 Texas on
Friday (4-0) and No. 7 Florida on
Saturday -(4-1), the Wolverines
looked to gain some positive expe-
riences from the weekend.
Michigan began play yesterday
against No. 16 Florida State, hop-
ing to win its first doubles point on
the weekend. But the Wolverines'
drought continued with a loss.
"Our doubles did not provide us
with the start we wanted all week-
end," Berque said.
Michigan regrouped after the
doubles disappointment, need-
ing to win four of the six singles

matches to come away with the
win.
With the singles score knot-
ted at two matches apiece, junior
George Navas won his match in
three sets (3-6, 6-1, 6-1). The win
set the stage for sophomore Jason
Jung to clinch the match with a
win.
But Jung fell to 30th-ranked
Jean-Yves Aubone, giving the
Seminoles the 4-3 match victory.
The Wolverines' third loss in
three days was not necessarily a
setback, according to Berque. But
Michigan's inability to come away
with the doubles point in all three
matches proved to be the biggest
disappointment on the weekend.
The bounces weren't going the
right way for the Wolverines yes-
terday, and Berque felt the players
allowed their emotions to affect
their performance, something
Michigan can't afford to let hap-
pen if it plans to grab a second
straight Sweet 16 berth in the
NCAA Tournament.
"It wasn't a lack of focus," Ber-
que said, "But it was a feeling sor-
ry-for-yourselves mentality that
hurt us."
Berque hopes his team can be
more resilient and competitive
next weekend as Michigan hosts
Harvard at the Varsity Tennis
Center.
"The level of our abilities hasn't
changed," Berque said. "We need
to remember we played against
some great competition. Ifwe start
to practice better and continue to
stay confident, we'll be fine."

if sASECON AWA
* Catchers proves herself as legitimate a; Minnesota banked a 3-pointer in the wan-
offensive threat in the Michigan softball ing moments to squeak past the struggling
a' team's impressive weekend. Page 3B. Michigan women's basketball team. Page 2B.

i

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