The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, February 16,2011 - 7A Coming off of poor offensive game,'M' hosts reeling Hoosiers Bennett slowly becoming mainstay on'M' blue line By EVERETT COOK Daily Sports Writer Michigan coach Kevin Borseth was visibly upset after the Michi- gan women's basketball team lost to No. 11 Michi- gan State last Indiana at Sunday. Michigan He was frus- trated by a Spar- Matchup: tan defense that Indiana 9-16; wouldn't let the Michigan Wolverines get into any sort of When: rhythm, hold- Wednesday ing his team 7 P.M. to one of their Where: worst offensive Crisler Arena performances of the season en route to a 65-59 loss. "I just thought our offense was awful," Borseth said. "I thought our defense did a pretty decent job under the circumstances, though." Luckily for Borseth and Michi- gan, the Wolverines host the worst defensive teams in the conference on Wednesday in Indiana. The Hoosiers allow almost 68 points per game, which is worst in the Big Ten, and Indiana is near the bot- tom in almost every major defen- sive category. Indiana has not wonsince early January, losing 10 out of its last 11 games. That one victory, though, came against last-place Illinois. Still, Borseth doesn't want to over- look anyone after a loss to base- ment-dwelling Minnesota two weeks ago. "You're going to have to come out every game and play, it's avery tough conference," Borseth said after a game against Ohio State on Jan. 27. "I don't think anybody is that much better than anybody else, or that there is that big of a separator that you can't come in one night and not show up with your best effort." By MARK BURNS ing his freshman year, Bennett Daily Sports Editor saw himself on the 20-man ros- ter, playing a majority of the Uncle Curt got the ball rolling time with junior Greg Pateryn. for freshman Mac Bennett, but Twenty games into his fresh- it's clearly been the Narragan- man year, Bennett has scored sett, R.I. native who's earned one goal and tallied six assists himself a steady seat within the through 20 games. Michigan defensive corps. While the box score can cer- Curt Bennett - a former tainly tell a lot about a play- teammate of Michigan hockey er, Powers has seen Bennett coach Red Berenson on the St. improving with other areas of Louis Blues in the early 1970s his game, specifically with more - emailed the Michigan coach- poise and overall on-ice aware- ing staff about his nephew a few ness. years ago. At that time, Mac had "Really, the bottom line right been playing in Rhode Island at now with these young kids The Hotchkiss School, and Curt is you're starting to see that thought the Wolverines might increase in confidence," Powers consider his nephew as a soon- said. "That's what happening to-be prospect. with Mac ... Now, you're seeing According to Berenson, assis- a kid who's lugging the puck, tant coach Billy Powers eventu- using his speed and he's danger- ally saw Mac play a few times ous now, getting involved with and made a couple phone calls the play." to the defensive recruit, with with some moredconfiaence' Bennett deciding on Michigan and almost a full season under in early 2008. his belt, Bennett added that "I didn't know what to he's more comfortable playing expect," Berenson said of Ben- toward his strengths. nett's potential. "I think it was For most of the season, he's hard on the young defenseman competed with sophomore ... The freshmen (don't) get a defenseman Lee Moffie and chance to play every night, so freshman Kevin Clare for the that might have slowed their last two defensive positions on development a little bit. But in any given night. Powers said the meantime, they realize how that type of situation - in which important their performance is a player dresses for maybe one to whether they're in the lineup game on weekends - can "mess or not." with your mind a little bit." Through the last five games But as of late, Bennett's been and eight of the past 10 dur- a regular in the lineup. After Tuesday's practice, Bennett said the coaching staff re-evaluates everyone's positioning on the team and where they fit into the lineup following every weekend series. And since he's not within the top-four Wolverine defense- man, Bennett's playing status is determined on a week-to-week basis. "So, for at least a guy like me, I'm not safe," Bennett said. "I have to make sure that every game I'm in, I play well. Or else I could be sitting the next game or the next weekend." As Powers said, since Bennett has a lot of raw offensive talent and skating ability, working on the defensive side of the puck is a part of the game that he needs to continue to work on - a con- stant theme for most incoming freshmen defensemen. "For the most part, ydefense. is the toughest position to step into," Powers said. "You can hide a little bit as a forward ... I think he's done a really good job of growing his game at Michi- gan and building his hockey resume as far as being a two- way defenseman and not just being askater." NOTES: Sophomore forward Chris Brown didn't practice Monday and Tuesday due to illness ... Michigan is currently tied for second in the CCHA with Miami (Ohio). Both teams have 49 points. Michigan coach Kevin Borseth knows every Big Ten team is dangerous. Michigan is currently in fourth place in the Big Ten, just three games out of first. It is right in the thick of the conference, though, because there are three teams within agame of fourth place. Even though Indiana doesn't have a great record, they still fea- ture some talent., The Hoosiers are led by a trio of seniors who average more than 10 points per game, none more impressive than Jori Davis. The 5-foot-9 guard averages 19 points in close to 35 minutes per game, and also leads the team with almost six rebounds per game. She is the heart and soul of this Indi- ana team, and slowing her down will be key for the Wolverines. The other two main senior con- tributors are forward Hope Elam and guard Whitney Lindsay, who each average close to 10 points per game. The issue for Indiana is not its top-level players but its lack of depth. The Hoosiers don't have a bench player who averages even five points a game, even though they have 11 players who average more than 10 minutes a game. Michigan should be able to exploit Indiana's lack of a bench by run- ning its high-energy defense that forces alot of turnovers and tires opponents. Indiana also isn't a very good defensive rebounding team, which will be a huge benefit to the Wol- verines offense. Indiana is last in the BigTen in rebounding defense, which will give the Michigan alot of second-chance opportunities. This in turn will help to spread things out offensively and get its offense into a rhythm, something the Wolverines struggled mightily with against the Spartans. Michigan's struggles this year have usually been defensive, but against Michigan State, it was the other wayaround. Playing Indiana could be the Wolverines chance to right the offensive ship, as they should be able to take advantage of the Hoosiers lack of defense. "What we maybe give up on the defensive end we try to create on the offensive end, because you have got to guard us too," Borseth said before the season. "No matter how much we stop them, we have to score too." Madwed and Ortiz prove consistent By ANDREW BAUSCHELT Daily Sports Writer In most sports, consistency is better than flash. Once in a blue moon, a flashy performance is good in the short- run, but over the course of a grueling season, the consistent performances from athletes are more beneficial to the team. And, in the case of the No. 13 Michi- gan men's swimming and diving team, the Wolverines definitely have those consistent performers. They admit they have no super- stars, yet the team has seemingly dominated its competition in individual events swum regularly by just two swimmers - junior Dan Madwed and sophomore Miguel Ortiz. Madwed, who impressed with his 200-yard freestyle and butter- fly finishes at the Big Ten Cham- pionships last year, has found more success in the 200 fly and in the shorter 100-yard butterfly, too. In two instances, Madwed swept both fly events and went undefeated in dual-meet competi- tion in the 200 fly. "This year, the (200) fly is defi- nitely my favorite race," Madwed said after Monday's practice. "It's kind of like getting back to my roots. I always was better at 200 fly growing up, so doing well in it really just feels right." As much as these performanc- es can just be seen as consistent point-earners for the Wolverines, they also serve as invaluable con- fidence boosters too, especially in Madwed's eyes. "Growing up, I used to just go out as hard as I could and would really feel (the pain) coming home," Madwed said. "Now, I've learned I really don't necessarily have to do that, but instead focus on my stroke and my abilities. Knowing that and seeing itshow up in the meets has definitely given me a ton of confidence headinginto Big Tens." For Ortiz, the50- and 100-yard freestyle have been his bread and butter throughout the Big Ten campaign. The sophomore has garnered a top-three finish in either the 50- or 100-freestyle events since Big Ten competition began in January and has sprin- kled in impressive finishes in the 100-yard backstroke too. "(Ortiz) has really been own- ing the 50- and 100-free events," senior captain Chris Douville said. "He's also stepped up as a backstroker, too, so it's really impressive to see where he's come from since last year." Combined with the whole team's recent hot streak, Ortiz has worn out the podium plat- form with his recent perfor- mances. Since Michigan's conference-opening loss to Indi- ana, Ortiz has been the firstto the wall in the two freestyle events during Big Ten competition and has made a couple podium visits for the 100-yard backstroke as well. If the individual performances weren't enough to spark a team, both Madwed and Ortiz provide great boosts for the relay teams. Both tankers swam a leg in the 200-yard freestyle relay at Michi- gan State, which resulted in a new pool-record. It was the second pool record of the day for Ortiz, as he swam a leg in the 200-yard medley relay, which also bore a new pool record. For Michigan coach Mike Bot- tomthough, the impressive show- ings by Madwed and Ortiz are just precursors to the leadership shown outside the pool. "(Madwed) leads this team and Miguel is our head sprinter - a guy who has come from pretty much nowhere in the program and developed," Bottom said. "He just projects confidence to the other guys. I feel good about having them, definitely, but I feel even better seeing what they do for the team." In the eyes of Douville, the exciting part has only begun for the squad. "It's been really exciting because we've never really had many 50 or 100 freestylers or 100 butterfly (swimmers), so to have the depth to compete in those events is great," Douville said. "You know, it'll be interesting to see what happens and how people go against these guys come next week (at Big Tens)." For these two Wolverines next week, consistencyiskey. But,then again, aonce in a blue moon effort wouldn't hurt either. The Board or Student Publications seeks New Members The University of Michigan Board for Student Publications is recruiting new members for three year terms beginning in April. The Board is responsible for three publications: The Michigan Daily, the Michiganensian yearbook, and the Gargoyle. Because the Board is committed to realizing diversity's benefits for itself and for the publications it oversees, the Board is particularly interested in recruiting members of the University community (faculty, staff and students) or the general public who are members of underrepresented groups and who have experience and expertise in journalism, law, finance or fund raising. All interested persons are encouraged to apply. For more information and application forms, please contact Mark Bealafeld, Student Publications General Manager at (734) 418-4115 extension 1246 or mbealafe@umich.edu. The deadline for applications is Monday, February 14th.