The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 9A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 9A

Hagelin's play and Swedish heritage
make him a fan favorite at Yost Arena

By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Writer
Giant flags from Scandinavian
countries don't often have a natural
place at Michigan sporting events.
But a 120-square-foot Swedish
national flag has blended into the
game-day atmosphere perfectly at
Yost Ice Arena lately.
Maybe it's the blue and yellow
color scheme. Or maybe it's junior
forward Carl Hagelin. The Soder-
talje, Sweden native leads the Wol-
verines in goals and points this
season.
After struggling to register
points as an underclassman, Hage-
lin is just four points away from his
career-high season total with elev-
en games remaining on the sched-
ule. Despite his scoring touch, it's
the group Hagelin spearheads, the
penalty kill, tlat has generated
some of the loudest cheers this sea-
son.
Against Ferris State, while kill-
ing a two-minute five-on-three,
the Wolverines gave up just one

shot. Hagelin played a major part
in the kill as he picked up the puck
in the neutral zone, skated a giant
circle around the zone and fired it
away, killing off about 20 seconds
of penalty time by himself. By the
time the penalties were over, the
only people sitting down in Yost
Ice Arena were those on the bench.
Those kind of plays, along with the
goals, and, according to Hagelin,
his nationality, have put him in the
spotlight all season.
"(Fans) like PKplayers," Hagelin
said. "Killing off penalties is prob-
ably a huge part of it. And then the
fact that I'm not from here, that
helps a lot too. Something that's
different is usually something fun,
that's probably a big part of it."
But the support was growing
long before this season. In some
ways, it started before he even
stepped on the ice.
The Michigan hockey team had
to run the stairs of Michigan sta-
dium in the weeks leading up to
Hagelin's freshman year. There,
he displayed the extraordinary

work ethic that has built rapport
with fans and earned him the title
of alternate captain. He didn't just
beat everybody; he blew everybody
away, according to Michigan coach
Red Berenson.
"He has worked his bag off from
the first day I met him," Berenson
said. "Never being told, never being
pushed, never challenged. I haven't
seen a kid with a better work ethic
from scratch than Carl Hagelin."
The crowd noticed Hagelin
shortly after that, and the Swedish
flag started popping up last year. It
was notably smaller than the cur-
rent flag, and near the top rows of
the student section. It moved down
a couple rows this season, and was
accompanied by a Texas flag and
a Canadian flag when Hagelin
played on a line with Texan fresh-
man Chris Brown and Canadian
sophomore Louie Caporusso.
But after the line was broken up,
the flags disappeared completely.
That is until Engineeringsopho-
more Rob Eckert, after conferring
with his friends, decided to make

the behemoth that has become a
mainstay just to the right of the
opponents' bench - by hand.
"I asked my mom around Christ-
mas time when I saw her if I could
borrow her sewing machine," Eck-
ert said. "She was like 'What are
you making?' I (told) her I was
making a Swedish flag, a big one.
And my Mom made it for me for my
Christmas present."
The flag, which looks like it was
stolen directly from the United
Nationsbuilding, was unveiled two
weeks ago for Michigan's game
against Alaska.
"It's pretty hard not to recog-
nize the big flag," Hagelin said.
"It's obviously an honor, so keep it
coming."
While Eckert, who is not of
Swedish descent, has no current
plans to add to his giant flag col-
lection, he did mention there were
discussions of a Texas flagto honor
Brown. But one issue makes its
success questionable: The color
scheme is off.

SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Freshman Darius Morris has been a part of the Wolverines' solid defense in the past
few games. Michigan forced 18 tunovers agains Michigan State on Tuesdayt
6 9
Newfound 'D'
an advantage
f ig
for Mc ia 1

'M' looks for second-straight Big Ten win

Soph
took a
a sigh
Jennyl
on the
and c
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excitem
after th
And

By ZAK PYZIK gling to climb all season - they
Daily Sports Writer got their first conference win over
ateam other than last-place Iowa.
omore Carmen Reynolds Butbeyond thathill lies a moun-
deep breath and let out tain that Michigan will attempt to
of relief, while freshman ascend tomorrow when it travels
Ryan screamed "Enough" to Champaign to battle Illinois.
court The Fighting Illini (3-6, 11-8)
lapped are on a four-game losing streak,
nds in Michigan with their most recent loss com-
sent at Illnois ing against Penn State last Sun-
e win. day.
Matchup: day.
he ihen15 Junior guard Veronica Hicks

ByCHRIS MESZAROS
Daily Sports Editor
Coming into this season, the
Michigan basketball team rested
its laurels on its 3-point shooting.
As the 3-ball went, so did the Wol-
vermnes.'
So as the season begins to wind
down, it's clear
that Michigan NOTEBOOK
has been consis-
tent of late in just one area - its
defense.
While Michigan continues to
have shooting woes from behind
the are, its defense is becoming
more and more of a strength. Tues-
day night, Michigan held the Spar-
tans to just 57 points while forcing
18 turnovers, converting those
into 25 points. In last week's game
against Wisconsin, the Wolverines
held the Badgers to just 34 percent
shooting and Michigan's defense
helped them pull off the upset win
over then-No. 15 Connecticut.
While some of those turnovers
were simply a result of careless-
ness by the Spartans - passing the
ball out of bounds or lobbing cross-
court passes that sailed wide - the
Wolverines did get their hands in
the passing lanes and picked off
the ball several times.
"That was a big thing just being
solid on defense, not taking the
gamble," freshman guard Darius
Morris said. "But when you see the
opportunity to pressure up on your
guy or deflect the pass, that was
really stressed in practice and I
think we really did that today."
Junior Manny Harris had five
steals on the night, including one
that flew out of the hands of a Spar-
tan guard and into the backcourt,
where Harris easily picked it up
and laid it in for two points.
The Wolverines took a two-
point lead into halftime largely
because of their defense.
"Our defense is really getting
up to par," Morris said. "Big Ten
defense, we're rebounding we're
holding opponents to 20 points in
the half, which is really big strides
for us."
While the defense continued to
play hard and force turnovers in
the second half, it was clear that
Michigan State's athleticism down
low gave them a key advantage.
What was troubling for the
Wolverines was the ease with
which Michigan State was able to
get some of its baskets. While the
Spartans rarely had open looks
from outside, Michigan State for-
ward Raymar Morgan killed the
Wolverines down low, scoring a
game-high 20 points on 8-for-9
shooting including a seemingly
preventable layup in the final min-
utsthat pulled Michigan State
And while the defense made
many stops and forced turnovers,
it failed when it was needed most.
Spartan Kalin Lucas found an
opening in Michigan's 1-3-1 zone
and buried the game-winner.
"Our defense is our defense,"
Beilein said. "It's good sometimes
or sometimes we're just either
outmanned or they're stronger or
their guy just makes a shot and we
miss one. It's that simple."
MANNY BENCHED: After

Beilein announced that Harris rest of the Illinois 11-8 and the Wolverines will have
was to return to the court against Michigan their hands full against an Illinois
Michigan State, everyone expect- women's bas- When: Tonight squad that forces 18 turnovers per
ed him to be a contributor. What ketball team at 8 p.m. game. And turnovers can certain-
they didn't expect was that he walked out of Where: Assem- ly paralyze Michigan coach Kevin
would come off the bench in favor Crisler Arena, bly Hall Borseth's aggressive offense.
of redshirt junior Anthony Wright. sharing their Live Blog: Since Michyigan's offensive
Harris scored 56 points against sentiment michigandaily.com scheme is often disrupted by large
the Spartans, nine of which cam after a 70-56 and assertive defenses, second
in the second half, and picked off
-the Spartansfive times. win, over Indiana last Sunday chances and offeasive put-backs
"It wasn't further penalty, it with a huge burden lifted off their will be key components in captur-
wasn't anything," Beilein said of shoulders. ing the victory over the Illini.
Harris coming off the bench. "In The Wolverines (3-6 Big Ten, And that means Ryan will have
the Purdue game when we start- 11-8 overall) finally climbed the to give the Wolverines the spark
ed out strong, Wright went to the hill that they have been strug- they need under the net.
bench and then boom we went
down. But it was not a penalty. It
was just, 'All right, let's get him
coming off the bench and just go in
and be Manny in there.'"
THROWINGaELBOWS: In the With more playing tim
sophomore Laval Lucas-Perry
was elbowed by Lucas. The play me in practice because I felt like
was similar to the one that led to By AMY SCARANO coach finally trusts me," Jordan
Harris's flagrant foul and ejection Daily Sports Writer said after playing the Buckeyes. "I
last season against Purdue when am just happy to be playing. Even
the then-sophomore elbowed the Freshman Nya Jordan had though it sucks to lose, it's just a
Boilermaker's Chris Kramer in the spent most of her first season as blessing to play."
nose. Wolverine on the bench. But on Before the loss to Indiana
While Lucas wasn't called for a Jan. 14, that all changed. nearly two weeks ago, Jordan had
flagrant, Beilein agreed with the Michigan coach Kevin Bors- played an average of seven min-
call. He simply disagreed with how eth played the Detroit native 18 utes per game, on par with the
the situation played out last year. minutes in Bloomington against rest of the freshman class, with
"It was the exact same thing Indiana after playing her for just the exception of Jenny Ryan and
that happened last year to Manny four in the previous game. She Dayeesha Hollins, the only two
at Purdue," Beilein said. "They contributed six points, a career freshmen in the starting lineup.
should not be thrown out for that. record, and notched a 3-pointer Five minutes into the second
That's an offensive foul. That's the to put the Wolverines back into half of last week's 58-56 loss to
way the call should be made. When the game when they faced a nine- Ohio State, Jordan was hand-
you're making a basketball move point deficit. ed the ball and dribbled right
and the guy's face is right there it's In the following game, at home through the Buckeyes defense for
an offensive foul." against No. 5 Ohio State, Borseth a layup. The shot sent the crowd
Later in the game, on Michi- again trusted Jordan's playmak- into a frenzy, and it started the
gan State's final possession, Lucas ing ability. He played her for 20 Wolverines on an 11-4 run.
was kicked in the face when Har- minutes, another career record, in Jordan became a go-to girl
ris tried to force a turnover before a game that went narrowly to the after offensive rebounds, and she
Lucas hit the game winning shot. Buckeyes, 58-56. never failed to take the ball down
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo And last weekend, she played the court against the Buckeyes.
wanted to make sure his star was for 14 minutes at home against "Nya is getting more com-
still available and wouldn't have to Indiana. fortable, we are getting more
be taken out of the game. "It's a lot of inspiration for comfortable with Nya," Borseth
"It was scary with Kalin because said. "She just makes a lot of
I knew we couldn't win the game
without him," Michigan State
coach Tom Izzo said. S U D O ( U

:

Ryan leads the team with 129
rebounds, including 44 offensive
boards. Freshman guard Dayee-
sha Hollins is second on the team
with just 29. Ryan's second effort
gives Michigan the second chanc-
es it needs to stay in games with
top contenders.
"Rebounding-wise, it's impor-
tant," Borseth said. "It comes
along with our strategy. We just
move the ball, we cant rely too
much on new things."
In all but one of the Wolver-
ines' eight losses, they were out-
rebounded by their opponents.
And in all of those games Michi-
gan had fewer offensive rebounds
than its foes.
But to capitalize on those
rebounds, the Wolverines will be
forced to get into a rhythm early,
and they should continue to take
their perimeter shots even if their
shooting starts off slow.
"We needed to get stops," Hicks
said before the season. "We have
to come back, finish the play, and

take it right back. That's really a
big part of winning."
Michigan has to be flex-
ible enough that any missed shots
early in the matchup will not limit
the shots they take later in the
game. Because, as they've shown
all season, the Wolverines are a
second-half team.
Michigan is averaging37 points
a game in the second half this
season, but just 31 points in the
first. Illinois will have to compete
against a team that has proven,
time and time again, it has the
stamina to fight consistently for
an entire 40 minutes.
Tonight's game may be more
important than any other this sea-
son for the Wolverines, a win will
make them a possible contender in
the Big Ten, but a loss may haunt
them like their 68-48 loss tqWis-
consin on Jan.10, which triggered
a three-game losing streak.
For Michigan, Jenny Ryan said
it best.
Enough is enough.

e, Jordan proves herself

i

things happen she had a very posi-
tive productiontonight. She had a
couple assists and a steal, scored
four points, had four rebounds -
that's pretty positive."
Borseth put Jordan up to the
challenge again in last weekend's
victory over the Hoosiers when
she was the first sub he called in
off the bench just six minutes into
the game.
And while her game hasn't
been flawless - in last Sunday's
game she allowed two turnovers
and went up for a block that the
Hoosiers easily got around - but
for an athlete with only 70 min-
utes of total playing time, she has
been a much-needed spark off of
the bench.
"I just keep working hard
because I know coach doesn't
want to see us quit," Jordan said
after the 58-56 loss to the Buck-
eyes at home. "As long as I keep
working hard I think I am gaining

his trust."
Sophomore guard Courtney
Boylan has been Borseth's main
go-to player off the bench all year
and continues to provide energy
the team needs, playing an aver-
age of 15 minutes per game. But
the Wolverines (3-6 Big Ten, 11-8
overall) can benefit from another
dependable bench player - espe-
cially in games like last weekend's
against Indiana, for which three
starters were out for much of the
first half with multiple personal
fouls.
"She makes a lot of things
happen, it's just a matter of get-
ting more time and maturing
with age," Borseth said. "I knew
it when I recruited her that she
would be that kind of player. She
learns as she goes like the rest of
the young kids. She shows a great
effort. She's my kind of player.
She really sells the farm on every
play."

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