The Michigan Daily i :gandaily.com I December14, 2009 k MEN'S BASKETBALL Sims provides second-half boost i n win COMPANY , 4 y Y H ' V' ni fir i :. l l Blue's NCAA Rosen and Co. journey halted earn national Th has b coac] It tion ballt Regi( Haw Th fourt Wolv vice with four- "V game repo team the c going said. our h kidsI ment Bu repli follo' drop the I son. By MARK BURNS playoff run in history. Daily Sports Writer "We definitely didn't bring our 'A' game tonight," junior ie serve-and-pass battle setter Lexi Zimmerman said. een a point of emphasis for Zimmerman was named to the h Mark Rosen all season. Stanford Regional All-Tourna- needed to be the founda- ment team along with sopho- of his Michigan volley- more left side hitter Alex Hunt. team's play in its Stanford Zimmerman added that the onal Final match against team's effort was a non-issue aii on Saturday. against the 12th-seeded Rain- se previous night against bow Wahine, and that every h-seeded Stanford, the Wolverine knew the stakes of 'erines recorded eight ser- the match. But the execution aces and handled the ball just wasn't there, and it cost the ease en route to a shocking team dearly in Palo Alto, Calif. set upset victory. The 13th-seeded Wolver- Vhen we started to do the ines (27-10) never really gained plan and the scouting momentum throughout the rt for Stanford, I think our match, a testament to Hawaii's - one through 15 and all of fast-paced offense, which pre- oaches - felt like we were vented Michigan from setting g to win the match," Rosen upa consistent block. "But we didn't play out of Hawaii (32-2) registered five head. ... I was proud of our service aces to the Wolverines' for going into that environ- zero. Michigan tallied six ser- , coming out and then being vice errors, as well. essful." "Even at the highest level, the it the Wolverines couldn't serving and passing is where the cate that performance the game is often going to be won wing night, as the team or lost," Rosen said. "(Hawaii) ped a three-set match in won the serve-and-pass battle Elite Eight to end the sea- tonight." It was Michigan's longest See ELITE EIGHT,.Page 3B respect in1'09 Led by two stars, Wolverines come back after trailing 36-33 at halftime By CHRIS MESZAROS Daily Sports Writer John Beilein may have finally found a way to motivate his team during halftime. Yesterday, he certainly motivated senior for- ward DeShawn Sims. "He brought out the 'F chart," Sims said. "It's this chart Coach Beilein's got. If you don't do something you get an 'F,' and that equals sprints in the next practice. That was a little moti- vation." When Sims realized he wasn't contributing enough, with two F's on Beilein's chart at half- time, he immediately picked up his game. Sims scored a total of 23 points to power Michigan past Detroit 75-64 yesterday, while teammate Manny Harris also contributed a game-high 27 points. I Sims got his game together in the second half when he made 3-of-3 from downtown and scored 15 points. The senior made 10 of 12 shots and added 12 rebounds Together, Sims and Harris have accounted for over 53 per- cent of the Wolverines' offensive output this season. But it wasn't until the second half that Sims and Harris started to gel. "Once he picked it up, the whole team feeds off him," Har- ris said of Sims' performance. "Of course, they also feed off me, but when you got two guys doing it, its just a whole differ- ent story." In the first half, the Titans easily tossed the ball inside to one of their forwards, who either overpowered the Michigan defender or got a second-chance opportunity off of an offensive rebound. Detroit picked up 26 of its 36 first-half points in the paint, which helped it garner a 36-St halftime lead. What was alarming was the ease with which Detroit scored points. The Titans shot more than 55 percent in the first half and nearly 70 percent in the paint. But in the second half, the Wolverines held Detroit to just 34.5 percent shooting and forced 11 missed shots within eight feet. Michigan's swarm- ing man-to-man defense finally made a difference, and the Wol- verines didn't let Detroit get sec- ond chances, outrebounding the Titans 23-10 in the second half. "The whole story of the game was our second-half defense," Beilein said. "It was where it needs to be. It had great convic- tion as (assistant coach) Jerry Dunn said before the game. We were on a mission and we got it done, because we had been talk- ing about defense but we needed to amp it up." It wasn't until about the 12-minute mark of the second half that the Wolverines finally pulled away. The effort was charged by Harris, who led the Wolverines during a 10-2 run with four points, including a dunk that energized the lacklus- ter crowd and sealed the win for the Wolverines. During the first half, it seemed like Harris was the only one who showed up to play, leading the team with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Once again, the supporting cast didn't show up. Sims and sophomore Laval Lucas-Perry saw glimpses of offensive production, but nei- ther one played consistently enough to offer a reliable option outside of Harris. The second half was probably Michigan's best effort so far this season, but the team has a tall order in their next game at No. 1 Kansas. "Winning and playing is always confidence and momen- tum," Sims said. "We're going into Kansas to face a great Kan- sas team. We're going in with the mindset ofjust playing confident and with some swagger, and we had a little swagger today." t all started Aug. 28, 2009. The Michigan volleyball team hit the road for its first match of the season, against then-No. 3 Nebraska, a perennial powerhouse and three-time NCAA Tournament MARK Champion. AK It's safe to say BURNS most thought the Cornhuskers On volleyball would beat the Wolverines. After the first set went Michigan's way, some spectators probably called it a fluke. After two, it was a trend. Three in a row, well, that was just domination., David swept Goliath, soto speak - on his home court. That was only the beginning for Michigan. The team won 11 of its next 12 matches before starting Big Ten play, eventually finishing tied for fourth in the conference. The Wolverines won 27 matches this season - their best since 1981. They went to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history before los- ing to No. 3 Hawaii in three sets. "This season, back in May, this team set high goals for them- selves and they've achieved those things," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. "A lot of teams out there say, 'We want to do this, we want to do that.' But are they willing to put the work in and the effort in to get there? And this team did that." The Wolverines did it in style, establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the nation. After this weekend, college volleyball dynasty Penn State has won 108 of its 113 sets this year. Of those five losses, two came at the hands of Michigan. The Wolverines were up on the Lady Lions 2-1 back on Oct. 16 before losing in a five-set thriller. See RESPECT, Page 3B Wrestling on one leg, Sheena motivates young Wolverines ICE HOCKEY -Michigan's offensive luck runs out in second game against Irish By LUKE PASCH For the Daily Gabe Sheena has never been shy about his leg condition - the back wall of his dorm room features a plaque that reads "One-Legged Wonder Blvd." When Sheena, now a fresh- man on the Michigan wrestling team, was eight years old, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a common form of bone cancer. He underwent a Van Ness rotation- plasty, a surgical procedure that rid his body of the tumor but forced doctors to amputate much of his left leg. During the operation, doctors removed the knee and surrounding tissue, then reattached the remain- ing part of the limb. With the use of a prosthetic, Sheena's foot now acts as his knee joint when he walks. The procedure would severely hamper Sheena's athletic abilities. Or so the doctors thought. In the summer before his fresh- man year at Brother Rice High School in Birmingham, Sheena attended Michigan's wrestling summer camp, where he first met Michigan coach Joe McFarland and began wrestling without his prosthetic leg. "He's a neat kid and an inspira- tion to everyone," McFarland said. "The kid has an awful lot of cour- age." He also has a rather blunt sense of humor. When Sheena hears students' complaining about homework or By TIM ROHAN On offense, the Wolverines (5-7- Daily Sports Writer 0-0 CCHA, 9-9-0 overall) created similar opportunities in the first SOUTH BEND - In Friday period in both games. Yesterday, night's first two periods at Yost they missed opportunities on Ice Arena, the Michigan hockey rushes and missed shots in front of team controlled the puck and out- the net to start the game. But most shot No. 18 Notre Dame en route of Michigan's shots came from the to a 4-1 victory. outside after Notre Dame scored Yester- its first goal and then tacked on a day was NOTRE DAME 1 second. the same MICHIGAN 4 On Friday, Hagelin scored on story, a rebound that came off of a set except play from a faceoff. Senior for- for the MICHIGAN 0 ward Brian Lebler also scored on result. NOTRE DAME 2 a rebound, and freshman defense- . Even man Lee Moffie scored during a though second-period power play. the Wolverines took 38 shots, they Junior forward Louie Capo- were shut out 2-0 at Notre Dame's russo finished the scoring with a Joyce Center. and missed count- wrist shot about 10 feet inside the less opportunities in the first blue line that also snuck in the top period. of the net. A rejuvenated Irish team At Yost, the puck was bouncing snatched the lead with a shot that the Wolverines' way. hit junior goalie Bryan Hogan's "I just watched (Alexander) glove and went into the net. Ovechkin YouTube clips," Capo- "Games like this in the begin- russo said jokingly of the goal. "I ning, scoring (issues) were prob- just tried to do that. Obviously, it ably because we didn't play well didn't look like him, but I just fig- enough," junior forward Carl ured, 'You gotta shoot the puck.' " Hagelin said. "Today was more Yesterday, that swagger and fire like, unlucky. I haven't said that was missing. we've been unlucky before. But "We've played the first half of today we definitely had enough the season coming from behind," grade-A chances, to win the Caporusso said. "That's not fun. game." ... You want to get the momentum Michigan coach Red Berenson and make (your opponent) have to called Friday's victory lucky. The perform." puck didn't go the Wolverines' The Wolverines couldn't regain way yesterday - all of the luck the lead Sunday. Michigan is 8-2 belonged to the Irish. when it scores the game's first goal, but 1-7 when the opponent lights the lamp first. Michigan played with a sense of urgency, crashed the net, and made plays happen throughout Friday's game. Notre Dame (5-5- 4-2, 8-8-4) played without four of its defensemen, including talented junior Ian Cole. Cole's absence forced the Irish to play sophomore forward Billy Maday (the Irish's points leader), Ryan Guentzel and Riley Sheahan on defense. But the Irish defense was good enough that Michigan still couldn't muster a goal yesterday. The Wolverines didn't help themselves by taking 18 penalty minutes in the shutout loss, and the nation's No. 1 penalty kill unit enteringthis weekend gave up two power play goals on the weekend. It was another inconsistent weekend for Michigan, which entered yesterday's game with a chance to earn its second sweep of the season. The Wolverines are now off until Dec. 29, when they play in the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena. "(This weekend) leaves us somewhere in the middle," Beren- son said. "We're not on a roll. We're not bad. We're a pretty good team. We've got to find ways to win games like this. When you come in here and play like that and keep them on their heels, you have to find a way to win this game. "I still think our best hockey is ahead of us." ARIEL BOND/Daly Freshman Gabe Sheena underwent a Van Ness rotationplasty at age eight. exams, he's never afraid to chime in with a card that few can play. "A least you have two legs," he says. From his summer camp expe- rience, Sheena was well aware of what it would take to become a Big Ten wrestler. He worked on his upper body strength throughout high school (Sheena can bench 285 pounds now - roughly twice his body weight) See SHEENA, Page 3B I INTRA SQUAD CLASH WINNING WAYS N It may have just been Maize against Blue, 1 After last year's 10-20 season, women's but the Michigan men's gymnastics team basketball has learned how to win again. Its proved a lot in its first competition. Page 3B. -game at Xavier will be a big test. Page 2B. I I