8A - Thursday, January 15, 2009 MITERA: The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 6 0, sPennrl-half ctr s sslPc Captain returns O' "lue LkL4L1 k) to ice for first time doom Blue at Illinois ki 0 since Oct. injury From page 5A Friday when he returned to the ice - exactly two months after he had his ACL surgery and one month before doctors expected. He said he was so excited about getting back on the ice that he could hardly sleep last Thursday night. Mitera is currently limited to skating about 20 minutes three times a week. In his three skating sessions since last week, he has worked on building endurance, skating backwards and pivoting. "I have a long way to go with the skating, the stamina," he said. "There's nothing you can simulate off the ice to keep your body in that kind of shape. "But it's definitely a mental booster to get back on the ice, to see the past two months of surgery and work actually starting to come together where you're able to skate again." Mitera thinks it will take three to four weeks for him to get his legs and lungs in shape, and at that time, he will evaluate where he stands with coaches, trainers and his family. With Kampfer's return, the Wolverines now have a great deal of depth at defense, with seven blueliners battling for six spots on the bench. For Berenson, deciding whether to put Mitera back into the lineup will undoubtedly be a tough deci- sion. "It might go a long way for the team, seeing me back on the ice," Mitera said. "But I don't know if that would be the right thing to do at the time, to try to come back too early and to take that position away from another defenseman who could be dressing and playing at 100 percent." A NEW CAPTAIN, A NEW COACH Soon after the injury, alternate captain Summers began wearing the 'C' and Mitera began roaming the bleachers during games. Summers acted as the on-ice captain, leading pregame stretches and being a vocal leader. "The team needs some tangible leader day-to-day to be out there," Mitera said. "Chris has done a great job doingthat." And off the ice, Summers has respected Mitera's captaincy and advice. Mitera attends team meet- ings and is often found in the locker room before and during games. Thanks to his view from the stands, he can analyze play like an assistant coach. "I usually come in between every period if I see something that needs to be said," he said. "If everything's going smoothly, I like to let them take care of themselves in the locker room. But if it looks like guys are getting frustrated out there or things aren't going well or we're down a little bit, I'll go in there and get them re-focused." THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE There's a reason why Mitera stayed for his senior season when so many expected him to go pro: He wanted be a Wolverine for four years. And most of all right now, he wants to end his collegiate career in maize and blue. - "Personally, I think I should be able to play (by the end of the sea- son)," Mitera said. "I need to make sure everything heals properly. I don't want to take any risks at this point, but that's my goal, to get back for one more game at Yost." ByJASON KOHLER Daily Sports Writer CHAMPAIGN - The Michigan men's basketball team went to the locker room nursing a one-point lead over Illinois. But it knew from experience that the game MICHIGAN 51 was far ILLINOIS 66 from over. When the two teams squared off on Jan. 4 in Ann Arbor, the Wolver- ines overcame a one-point halftime deficit to defeat the Fighting Illini 74-64. Lastnight,thetableswereturned when Illinois dominated Michigan down the stretch in a 66-51 win. "Almost an exact game as up there, but reversed," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. The difference between the games was one man: Illinois center Mike Tisdale. At halftime, Illini guard Demetri McCamey told Tisdale he had bet- ter be ready to shoot the ball in the paint. The big man responded by scor- ing the Illini's first nine points of the second half. The 7-foot-1 Tis- dale dominated a small Michigan lineup, which featured 6-foot-8 junior forward DeShawn Sims and 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Manny Harris as its tallest players on the floor for most of the night. "He's hard for us (to handle)," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "We're playing small. We're not very big in the center and he's tough to stop." Tisdale was held in check in the opening half but exploded for 18 of his game-high 24 points after the break. The big man even made a 3-pointer - his first attempt of the season - with less than five min- utes remainingthat killed any hope of a Wolverine comeback. Beilein 4 CLIF REEDER/Daily 0 Sophomore Manny Harris was 7-of-13 for 20 points in Michigan's loss last night. said Tisdale "pulled a Pittsnogle" by nailing the deep ball, comparing the center to the sharp-shooting former West Virginia star Kevin Pittsnogle. While the Illini shot an effective 52.4 percent from the field in the second half, Michigan couldn'tbuy abasket. Despite havingthe confer- ence's second-best scoring offense, the Wolverines shot a season-low 32.2 field-goal percentage on the night and were held to a season-low 51 points. Michigan (3-2 Big Ten, 13-4 overall) has often relied on 3-point- ers this season as a primary source of scoring, but that wasn't the case last night. The Wolverines shot a poor 26.9 percent from behind the arc. Illinois defended Michigan high on the perimeter, which made it difficult for the Wolverines to run their offense. And when Michigan did get open looks late in the game, it failed to convert. "We just weren't able to knock down the shots we're usually ablecto knock down," Harris said. "Games like that are going to happen, but you just got to fight through and do the things that are going to make us win the game." In the first half, the Wolverines were a different team. Michigan and Illinois (3-1, 13-4) traded blows the opening 20 minutes, resulting in 11 lead changes. The Wolverines scored by spreading the ball around early and four players tied for a team-leading five points at the half, but Harris was the only player to reach double figures. He finished with 20 points. Michigan held close for the first 10 minutes of the second half but fell behind for good after a five- minute scoreless stretch midway through the stanza. "They played harder than us for the whole 40 minutes and that's how they got the win," Harris said. And after completing their home-and-home series, the Illini and Wolverines have both proven that aone-point lead on the road is never safe. 6 40 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Event Monday, January 19, 2009 I 1 6 2:30 P.M. The Jackie Robinson Story The Jackie Robinson Story is a 1950 biographical film starring baseball legend Jackie Robinson as himself. Robinson became the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era in 1947. Anthony Pratkanis Professor of Psychology Univeristy of California, Santa Cruz "Mr. Branch Rickey, Mr. Jackie Robinson, and the Tntergration of Baseball: Nine Principles of Successful Affirmative Action." 6 A