2B - March 25, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaiiy.com

2B - March 25, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

No spark from
offense in losses
Leathernecks take Michigan offense faced simi-
lar struggles. The Wolverines
two of three from (10-il) didn't score a run in
the first eight innings of the
Michigan in Albion game, falling 2-1. The game
likely would've had a different
ByMAX COHEN result if two Michigan run-
Daily Sports Writer ners in scoring position weren't
thrown out from the outfield.
ADRIAN, Mich.- On Friday Most notably, sophomore
afternoon, with his face practi- designated hitter Dominic
cally touching the umpire's and Jamette was called out at
his helmet lying on the ground home in the fourth inning after
after being flung in disgust, Zott singled to center, despite
Michigan baseball coach Erik seemingly sneaking his foot in
Bakich heard two words that between the catcher's legs to
were all too familiar to the Wol- tag the base. The Wolverines
verine batters in their two loss- couldn't make up for the lost
es this weekend: "You're out." run as a ninth-inning rally fell
Bakich's ejection in the short after junior outfielder
fourth inning of Friday's game Michael O'Neill grounded out
foreshadowed what turned out with a runner on third base to
to be a trying weekend for the end the game.
Wolverines in a three-game Michigan got its only win of
series the weekend in the first game
against W. ILLINOIS 5 of Saturday's doubleheader, a
Western MICHIGAN 3 seven-inning contest.
Illinois. Freshman left-hander Evan
The W. ILLNOIS 1 Hill rebounded from a rough
series was MICHIGAN 6 outing last weekend by going
moved to ~ILNI the distance and allowing only
Adrian, ICHIGANO S one hit, two walks and two bat-
Mich., ters hit by pitch.
because The offense capitalized on its
of poor field conditions in Ann opportunities in the game, par-
Arbor, and it seemed as though laying a four-run fourth inning
the Michigan hitters might into the 6-1 victory.
have left their bats at home in Junior catcher Cole Martin
their two losses to the Leather- executed a sacrifice squeeze
necks, mustering just four runs bunt in the inning, which
in those games while being sti- allowed two runners to score
fled by Western Illinois' pitch- after Zott ran home when the
ing. pitcher threw the ball to first.
"Thatwill never be an excuse "That's something we work
for us," Bakich said. "It doesn't on in practice," Zott said. "Most
matter where (we play), we'll of the pitchers are just looking
play in the parking lot." to get the guy out on first. You
The hysterics in Friday's see him throw to first, we try to
game erupted despite Michi- take home."
gan's early 3-1 lead, as Bakich The Wolverines' offensive
argued a close call at first base struggles were once again mag-
after freshman shortstop Tra- nified by the absence of senior
vis Maezes grounded into a outfielder Patrick Biondi in the
double play. starting lineup, who was out
The Wolverines had built with a sprained thumb.
their early lead by scoring three Biondi made two cameos dur-
runs in the second inning, high- ing the series on the basepaths
lighted by an RBI double down as a pinch runner with the team
the rightfield line by sophomore desperate to score runs.
outfielder Zach Zott and junior In Biondi's absence, Zott was
designated hitter Brett Winger one of the only Michigan players
executing the most exciting to step up offensively, recording
play in baseball, a steal of home. seven hits in the series. Before
If Bakich argued with the the series, Zott had been hitting
umpire as a motivational tactic, .148 on the season.
it provided little spark, as the "It's 'good to focus on what
team managed just one hit in you're doing and then just bring
the rest of the game en route to dugout energy and support your
a 5-3 loss after Western Illinois teammates when they're up to
(6-14) took the lead in the sev- bat," Zott said.
enth inning. While the weekend could've
"It was an emotional gone differently with Biondi in
moment, it was an emotional the lineup, the Wolverines need
play," Bakich said. "I don't plan to be able to respond better to
on getting ejected anymore." injuries if they want to put their
In the second half of Sat- early-season struggles behind
urday's doubleheader, the them.
S e YUa
Q o am2 pus f d a n e -

0

ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Freshman guard Spike Albrecht, who typically plays sparingly, was used often against Virginia Commonwealth Saturday because of his ball-handling skills.
Albrecht, Burke dismantle
VCU's 'Havoc' in transit ion

0

Twelve turnovers,
but many came
away from Rams'
vaunted press
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Editor
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -
Seven minutes into the second
half, after easily breaking Vir-
ginia Commonwealth's infamous
'Havoc' defense with quick pass-
es, freshman point guard Spike
Albrecht found himself pushing
the ball up the court in transi-
tion.
Albrecht hit freshman for-
ward Glenn Robinson III with
a final, crisp bounce pass and
Robinson finished the fast break
with a dunk - an illustration of
how the Michigan men's basket-
ball broke VCU's defense on Sat-
urday and ran away with a 78-53
Win.
Coming into the game, though,
the Michigan men's basketball
team wasn't sure how easily it
would handle the Havoc. The
Wolverines had seen something
SWEET 16
From Page 1B
in months - something severa
players pointed out after the game
as well. That only intensified as its
lead grew larger, and was capped
by five of Michigan's seniors, typi-
cally reserves, playing the game's
final minute.
"This was a lot of fun," Robin
sonsaid."(It) was alongtime since
we had this much fun together...
We played great as a team, and i
we play like that every night, we'l
have something special."
After opening with severa
slows starts throughout the past
two months, the Wolverines
opened with an intensity on both
ends that's been missing in many
of its previous big games. After
the Rams jumped out to a 2-0
lead, Michigan responded with
the next six points.
McGary's active play on the
defensive end and on the glass

similar against Arkansas ear-
lier in the season, but nothing as
refined as the Rams' press.
VCU ranks first in the coun-
try in turnovers forced per game
(11.8) while the Wolverines are
top in the nation in protecting
the ball, averaging just 9.2 turn-
overs per game. After watch-
ing VCU easily rattle Akron on
Thursday, Michigan knew it had
to beat the press early.
"If we could beat the press, we
knew we'd have a leg up because
we're a great transition team,"
said redshirt sophomore Jon
Horford. "Once they take the
layups away, we have kick-outs.
You can't contain it early, it ends
up being a weakness early."
All Michigan had to do to get
around the Rams' pressure was
outrun them. Ideally, sophomore
point guard Trey Burke brought
the ball up the court - he would
simply outrun his defender - but
if VCU would trap Burke, a quick
pass to junior guard Tim Hard-
away Jr. or freshman guard Nik
Stauskas would allow the Wol-
verines to set up their half-court
offense.
So to begin the game, the Wol-
sparked the Wolverines through-
out the opening 20 minutes. The
freshman, starting his second
consecutive game in place o
I struggling redshirt junior Jordan
e Morgan, registered six first-half
points, nine boards and an assist,
I which came on a cross-court out
- let pass that Robinson easily fin
ished in transition.
Michigan built its 38-23 half
- time lead on the heels of two runs
e a 7-0 streak midway through the
half, and a 13-4 run to close the
f half, highlighted by a monster
I alley-oop from Burke to Robin-
son.
. Burke led all first-half scorer:
t with 11 points, while Robinson
chipped in with 10. The Wolver-
ines, who repeatedly got easy
looks, shot 48.4 percent, while
r holding VCU to 30.3-percen
shooting and a 1-of-8 mark from
three in the opening stanza.
Michigan will advance to Dal-
las, where it'll play Kansas in
Cowboy Stadium on Friday.

verines started running. Burke
and Robinson had multiple tran-I
sition layups, and HardawayI
handled most of the early-games
press breaks, as VCU face-guard-s
ed and double-teamed Burke ini
the backcourt.f
While Burke is by far the bestJ
ball-handler the team has, nei- I
ther Hardaway, Stauskas nor-
Albrecht looked uncomfortabler
taking on the Havoc, relievingt
Burke from sole ball-handlingI
duties.S
"If you're not confident, they
smell blood," Albrecht said. "If I
you look shaky, they'll come afterr
you."
Added Horford: "The guardst
did a great job of being patient.I
(VCU's) guards were trying to
speed our guards up, and our 1
guards stayed calm."I
Though Michigan had 12 turn-I
overs - Burke had a season-highi
seven giveaways - many of those
occurred after the press. TheI
Wolverine big men had a couple 1
of miscues in the paint and Burkec
dribbled the ball off his foot outc
of bounds for a turnover, butt
against the press, Michigan onlyI
coughed up the ball seven times.f
MCGARY
From Page 1B
f
a bit too much," Alexander said.
F "Then he got back, recali-
brated with his discipline."
Still, for one man to step into
the spotlight, one man has to
bow back down to the bench.
Michigan's scout team, the
five seniors who only see the
e floor in massive blowouts, saw
e more time on the court than
r Morgan did. On Thursday, in
Michigan's win over South
Dakota State in the second
s round, Morgan played only one
minute.
After the game, McGary
y stood surrounded by cameras
e and recorders, while Mor-
t gan stood in the locker room,
undisturbed. For three years, it
has been Morgan's post.
He's been Michigan's big
man, for better or worse.
Now, it's McGary's position

But Burke faltered against the
Havoc a bit in the second half.
The sophomore had three con-
secutive turnovers to start the
second stanza and the Wolver-
ines and was exhausted from the
fast-paced play of both teams.
Albrecht played the majority of
his minutes in the second half
- he played a career-high 15
minutes on Saturday - and the
transition between Burke and
Albrecht running the point was
seamless.
Albrecht said the coaches told
him that he would have to be
ready to have an increased role
against VCU, and Albrecht said
both him and the coaches were
prepared to break the press.
"That was the one outlier we
knew we had in here against the
press," said Michigan coach John
Beilein. "With the one day's rest,
with the attention, I mean, those
guards are really good at turning
people over, and just stealing the
ball from you. So we knew Trey
could not handle that the whole
day.... That was huge for Spike to
be able to come in and just give
him some rest. He did a wonder-
ful job."

for the rest of this Tournament.
That much was clear.
"It's a big change to make,
and it's a big sacrifice on the
part of many with Jordan and
Jon," said Michigan assistant
coach Lavall Jordan. "ButI
really do think our guys are
selfless guys. It's all about the
team, whatever the coaches
decide."
On Saturday, and likely for
the rest of March, they decided
on Hercules.
"Sometimes we joke about
them guys being in the Justice
League," Alexander said. "If
Trey Burke is Batman and Tim
is Robin, I tell you what, Mitch
McGary might be Hercules.
"That type of presence is
something that's been needed
in our program and something
we probably haven't seen since
the 94s."

a

I

-Cook can be reached
at evcook@umich.edu

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