The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Saturday, April 30, 2016 — 7A

One night and one

more time

A

RLINGTON, Texas — One
night, and one more time

Thanks for the memories

Maybe

the Fall Out
Boy hit was
just a part of
the Kansas
pep band’s
routine
playlist, but maybe — with the
Jayhawks leading 63-52 during
a timeout at the 9:59 mark of the
second half — it was an early
tip of the cap, an ode to the end
of the 2012-13 Michigan men’s
basketball team. And why not?
Kansas was dominating all
facets of the game and well on its
way to the Elite Eight.

So thanks for the memories,

cheerleader Alexandria DeLuca.
You’re a senior, so it appeared to
be your final game cheerleading
for Michigan, and you knew the
tears were on their way.

Thank you, LSA junior Zachary

Salander. As a mellophone player
in Michigan’s pep band, we’ve
heard you during each and every
home game, though we wouldn’t
recognize you if we passed you on
the street.

And thank you, Josh

Bartelstein and Matt Vogrich.
The pair of senior guards battled
day in and day out in practice and
provided invaluable leadership
but played sparingly this season.
Both of your basketball careers
looked to be over, and in nine
minutes and 59 seconds, your real-
world lives were set to begin.

But most importantly, thank

you, Trey Burke. You were the
catalyst behind an improbable Big
Ten Championship last season,
and as college basketball’s best
player this year, you put the
Michigan basketball program
back into a spotlight that hasn’t
shined on Ann Arbor since the
Fab Five days.

But as the song goes:
One night, and one more time
Thanks for the memories
Even though they weren’t so

great

For much of Friday night, as

the Wolverines couldn’t keep up
with the Jayhawks, it was time
to reflect on the memories of a
season full of ups and downs,
and of course, Burke’s illustrious
two-year career. Before he bolts
to the NBA, he was supposed to
lead the Wolverines deeper than
just the Sweet Sixteen, but by the
9:59 mark, Burke was shooting
just 4-for-12, good for just eight
points after being held scoreless
in the first half. His time in
a maize-and-blue jersey was
fleeting as each second ticked
away on the massive Cowboy
Stadium jumbotron.

Kansas continued to pour it on,

eventually stretching its lead to 14
with 6:50 to play. Meanwhile, not
even lottery-pick money could buy
Burke a shot in the game’s first 38
minutes. The sophomore missed
12 shots on Friday.

But then something changed.

Staring down an eight-point
deficit with 1:22 left to play
and stuck on 10 points, Burke
channeled his inner Jordan —
yeah, that Jordan.

“I grew up watching Michael

Jordan,” Burke said in the locker
room nearly an hour later. “I’ve
seen him make so many shots,
and I’m not comparing myself to
him, but — ”

He paused to collect himself,

before referencing his favorite
MJ quote.

I’ve missed more than 9,000

shots in my career. I’ve lost almost
300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve
been trusted to take the winning
shot and missed. I’ve failed over
and over and over again in my life.
And that is why I succeed.

“I think that described me

tonight,” Burke said calmly.

At the 1:15 mark, he nailed a

3-pointer: five-point game.

With 14 seconds left, a layup:

three-point game.

And with six ticks left, after

Elijah Johnson missed the front
end of a one-and-one, Burke
pulled up from around seven feet
behind the 3-point line: tie game.

“The moment it left my hand, I

knew it was good,” Burke said.

So from Bartelstein, who was so

confident that Burke’s shot would
go in that he jumped out of his seat
while the ball was at the peak of its
arc, thank you, Trey Burke.

“That’s not how it was

supposed to end. I’m not even sure
what happened,” Bartelstein said.

His phone was ringing, and

Zack Novak was on the other
line. It was past 3 a.m. in Zwolle,
Netherlands, where Novak had
stayed up to watch the game, but
Bartelstein didn’t take the call,
joking that he wouldn’t be sleeping
much on Thursday night, either.

“I don’t recommend normal

people taking that shot,” he
continued. “It was an iconic shot
from an iconic player.”

And thank you, too, from

Vogrich, the veteran whose
minutes have decreased in each
of the past three seasons.

“I just want to sit here

forever,” he said aloud, but to
no one in particular, from his
seat in the locker room. A few
minutes later, as he was still
reveling in the moment, his dad
texted him an underwhelming
message that called Burke
and teammate Mitch McGary
“good.”

“We’ve got the best player in

the country on our team,” Vogrich
said. “I never thought it was over.
But that’s the greatest game I’ve
ever seen. Unbelievable. That was
nuts, man.”

And Trey, Salander would like

to thank you, too, for giving him
the “perfect angle” to the end of
the “craziest game I’ve ever been
a part of.”

“I was right under the basket,

and he shot it and I was like, ‘It’s
going, it’s going, this is going in,
this shot is going in the bucket!’
And then it went in,” Salander
said. “It was just absolutely
insane.

“I jumped and screamed and

like, I — I just went crazy.”

Salander and the rest of his

bandmates had to regain their
composure to play ‘The Victors’
just seconds after the shot, when
Kansas took a timeout, and then
for the ensuing overtime session.
After a brief celebration when
the overtime clock read zero, and
Michigan had escaped with an
87-85 win, he calmly walked off
the floor.

But the moment he stepped

into the tunnel, hidden from the
public’s view, he jumped and let
out a feverish scream.

“Oh my gosh, it was just total

excitement,” he said. “It was
hard to contain myself.”

And then there was DeLuca.

The tears that, as Michigan
trailed throughout the game, she
expected still did stream down
her face.

“There were actually two

moments that I cried,” she said,
noting both the immediate
aftermath of Burke’s game-tying
3-pointer and Kansas’ buzzer-
beating miss in overtime.

“It was overwhelming,”

DeLuca said. “You don’t want
it to be over, so I was really just
hoping that we could pull it off,
that it just wasn’t over yet.”

It wasn’t over on Friday night,

and come Saturday morning, when
Bartelstein, Vogrich, Salander and
DeLuca could’ve been boarding
planes back to Michigan, they’ll
instead still be in Dallas.

So the journeys of these

four, out-of-the spotlight
upperclassmen will continue
until at least Sunday afternoon,
where for at least one night,
and one more time, we’ll say to
you, Trey Burke, thanks for the
memories.

For Michigan, a mesmerizing death
I

f it was a death, it was a
mesmerizing death. It
was an end fitting for a

game that
somehow
made
everyone
believe again.

Brady

Hoke went for it. He didn’t have
to, and he even had a chance
to change his mind. Michigan
lined up for a two-point
conversion to win the game.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer
called a timeout. Hoke polled
his seniors in the huddle. They
all said to go for it.

It was a mesmerizing,

brilliant death, but that
doesn’t ease the pain, not for
Devin Gardner, who was so
despondent after the 42-41 loss
to Ohio State, with his helmet
pulled low over his face, that
he needed Kevin Koger to
escort him as he meandered in
a daze off the field, and then
sobbed so loudly it echoed down
Michigan’s tunnel. His pain was
raw and endearing and real.

It didn’t ease the pain

for Hoke, whose eyes were
as red as the thousands of
Buckeye fans in the Big House.
They had come expecting a
rout, snatching tickets from
Michigan fans who had long ago
abandoned hope.

It didn’t ease the pain for

Taylor Lewan, the fifth-year
senior offensive tackle, who
nearly choked up during his

press conference.

“I love every single one of these

guys,” said Lewan, whose last
play at Michigan Stadium was
the most wrenching. His voiced
wavered. He turned to Jake Ryan
and tapped Ryan’s arm with his
fist. “He’s my best friend.”

Hoke went for it, because “we

wanted to go win the football
game,” he said, and good for
him. The walls have been
closing in during this nightmare
of a month. The team has
underperformed — regressed
even — and some have called
for Hoke’s job, or the job of his
offensive
coordinator
or that of
his offensive
line coach.
Michigan
Athletic
Director Dave
Brandon had
to issue a
statement of
support for Hoke on Wednesday.
The star recruit chose the other
team and another said he might
reconsider Michigan. Why? He’s
worried about Hoke’s job. But
Hoke went for it.

It was a rub route, the same

one they practiced this week.
Gardner in the shotgun, with
Devin Funchess, Jeremy Gallon
and Drew Dileo stacked to his
right. Funchess ran a post,
Gallon an out. It was supposed
to create space for Dileo, the
little, sure-handed receiver who

always seems to be forgotten
until the biggest moments. Dileo
would surely make the catch,
because he always does.

But Tyvis Powell jumped the

route. Dileo never had a chance.

“I threw an interception to

lose the game,” said Gardner,
who put his chin on his fist in
his press conference. He hardly
spoke above a mumble. “There’s
not really much else I can say.”

After the pass, Gardner

crumpled to the ground, spent.
He stayed there, his arms and
legs extended out. That’s what
you’ll remember, because that’s

the image
that will last.
This one hurts
just like the
loss last year,
maybe even
more. A win
wouldn’t have
cured the
offensive line
or erased any

losses. But it would’ve helped a
lot. It would’ve erased some of
the sting from a disappointing
season. It would’ve put to rest
any coaching rumors. So, yes,
you’ll remember Gardner on
the ground, because that’s what
matters, but don’t forget the
rest. Don’t forget how it made
you believe, and Hoke too. It
was a painful end, but Michigan
lived it well.

Maybe you allowed yourself

to think this will be a game after
all, after the screen to Gallon

on the first drive. The fight,
Hoke running out to separate
his players, the punches and the
double middle fingers made it
personal.

Hoke went for it because he

wanted it as bad as his players.
He wanted it as bad as Gardner,
who threw a touchdown pass
to Dileo down 14 in the fourth
quarter. Afterward, Gardner
tried to run off the field, limping
so badly he nearly fell over on
the sideline. Taylor Lewan came
off limping after that play too,
and bloody again. Most of these
players are playing through
injury because they don’t care
how many losses they have. They
just want to beat Ohio State.

By the time Carlos Hyde

fumbled, and the clock showed
plenty of time, and Gardner
was fighting with everything he
had left and the breaks started
turning Michigan’s way, a ripple
went through the stadium.

Then Jake Butt scored and

then Funchess, and then the
timeout and it seemed like
destiny.

It was a hell of a death, but it

was a hell of a game too, right up
until the end. For the best three
hours of the year, 7-4 Michigan
was on top of the world.

So Hoke went for it. It was

ballsy, and it was risky, and it
didn’t work out. But that’s what
you do when what you want is
right there to take.

You go for it. You go for it

every damn time.

Hutchins becomes winningest coach

By ORION SANG

Daily Sports Writer

As
Michigan
coach
Carol

Hutchins embraced her players
one by one after the second-
ranked Wolverines’ 8-0 win
over Indiana Saturday, senior
outfielders
Olivia
Richvalsky

and Mary Sbonek crept up from
behind carrying a large Gatorade
jug.

Hutchins noticed the duo at the

last second and unsuccessfully
tried to escape the impromptu
shower.

Nonetheless, she appreciated

her players’ celebration of her
new status as the all-time NCAA
wins leader. Hutchins collected
career win No. 1,458 on Saturday
and added No. 1,459 on Sunday
in a three-game sweep of the
Hoosiers.

“One of my favorite things to

do is to be with my team, and we
were all in it together,” Hutchins
said. “I told them, ‘This is not

about me; this is about us.’ I think
my team continues to represent
every woman who’s ever played
before them. That’s an important
tradition to uphold, and it’s an
important duty, one that comes
with wearing the Block M.”

Now,
Hutchins
can
add

winningest softball coach in
NCAA history to a list of life
accomplishments that reach far
beyond the softball field.

Hutchins,
as
a
student,

successfully
pursued
legal

action against the Michigan
State administration over equal
treatment of female athletes,
and hosts the Michigan Softball
Academy, an annual event that
both increases awareness about
breast cancer and raises funds
for the American Cancer Society.

“She’s more than just a softball

coach,”
Montemarano
said.

“She’s touched so many people’s
lives, she’s affected my life in
such a positive way and she’s
there for you no matter what.

She’s worked so hard — not just
in softball — for women’s rights,
to affect people’s lives. It’s a
blessing to play for her and to
learn from her every single day.”

Hutchins
was
quick
to

attribute her record to the efforts
of those around her.

“It’s an achievement by the

University of Michigan softball

program,” she said. “It’s not
a personal achievement. It’s a
reflection of every person who
has ever been involved with
Michigan
softball,
including

our support staff. Everybody’s
committed to the same thing.
We’re very proud, and I thought
our kids were very excited to be a
part of that.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL
FOOTBALL

SOFTBALL

KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily

Carol Hutchins broke the NCAA wins record in April with her 1,458th victory.

Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium velicti
comnit dunt, tota que consequo is essunture
dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne plab ipsae

excero te volorep tation re videndunt

omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites et laboriame
lantiossunt hil ius arumqui dentibus, qui
aliat pa qui simolessit, nes escilit harum

que volorit eicia con plis everum fugitatur
si quiae esto blaturem labo. Itatas mos venis
arumnihilla ntentotatem aut etum hil il mod
quam es est as endaesc ipiendis escium
lation cupta doluptam ab ipsapicit aut optiis

Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium
velicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is
essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne

plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re
videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites
et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui
dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes

escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis
everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo.
Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem
aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc
ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab

Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium
velicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is
essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne

plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re

videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites
et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui

dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes

escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis
everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo.
Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem
aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc
ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab

Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium velicti
comnit dunt, tota que consequo is essunture
dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne plab ipsae

excero te volorep tation re videndunt

omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites et
laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui
dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes

escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis
everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo.
Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem
aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc
ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab

SPORTS

over the

YEARS

APRIL 8: The Michigan basketball team lost
to Louisville in the national championship
after a season in which the Wolverines

started 16-0.

NOVEMBER 30: The Michigan football
team lost to Ohio State in the final game of

the regular season when Devin Gardner’s
pass on a two-point attempt was intercepted.
It would’ve given the Wolverines a one-point
lead with 32 seconds left.

JANUARY 1: The football team finishes its
season 10-3 after a win against Florida in the
Citrus Bowl.

MARCH 19: The Michigan hockey
team beats Minnesota to win the Big
Ten Tournament and clinch a berth in the

NCAA Tournament – its first since 2012-13.
The Wolverines beat Notre Dame in the first
round before falling to North Dakota. On
April 3, coach Red Berenson announces he
will return for the 2016-17 season.

2013
2014
2015
2016

OCTOBER 31: Athletic director Dave
Brandon resigns over backlash from the
Shane Morris incident.

DECEMBER 2: Brady Hoke is fired.

DECEMBER 30: Jim Harbaugh is
introduced as the new head football coach of
the Wolverines.

JUNE 3: The Michigan softball team finishes
as national runner-up after losing to Florida
in Game 3 of the Women’s College World

Series.

SEPTEMBER 3: Michigan loses to Utah
in the first game of the Jim Harbaugh era.

OCTOBER 17: The Wolverines lose to
Michigan State after the Spartans return a
blocked punt for a touchdown on the final
play of the game.

You go for it
every damn

time.

DANIEL
WASSERMAN

On Men’s
Basketball

ZACH
HELFAND

On Football