Wolverines prove to be too much for Eagles' upset hopes
December 13th, 2008
Midway through the first half against Eastern Michigan, the Michigan men’s basketball team was missing two of its biggest cogs this season.
The most glaring absence was Michigan coach John Beilein, who was resting at home with a case of acute peripheral vertigo, brought on by a bad inner ear infection.
The second Wolverine missing was sophomore Manny Harris. For the first time this season, sophomore guard Manny Harris found himself in foul trouble, sitting the last 12 minutes of the first half because of two quick calls. But Michigan still managed to top the Eagles 91-60 at Crisler Arena.
With the Wolverines’ leading scoring riding the bench and the Eastern Michigan defense keying on junior DeShawn Sims in the first half, somebody — or somebodies — needed to step up.
Enter seniors C.J. Lee and Jevohn Shepherd and sophomore Kelvin Grady. The trio combined for 30 of Michigan’s 44 first-half points.
Lee and Grady made their presence felt from behind the arc. Of the Wolverines’ eight 3-pointers in the first half, five of them came Grady and Lee in a five-and-a-half minute span midway through the period. The duo combined to shoot 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from downtown.
Shepherd, a senior who seems to finally be finding his role after three years of unfulfilled potential, looked unstoppable inside, easily finding lanes to the hoop for quick dunks and layups.
After being down for most of the half, the spark that Lee, Grady and Shepherd provided helped Michigan build a 10-point halftime lead.
But the Wolverines were just getting started. Harris stormed back after the break, knocking down shot after shot on his way to 20 second-half points. The Detroit native, who did some playful trash talking with Eastern Michigan guard and Detroit native Solomon Farris, scored 10 points in the first five minutes of the frame.
The 31-point win marks the last game the Wolverines had to play without Arizona transfer Laval Lucas-Perry. Lucas-Perry hopes to play next Saturday against Oakland at the Palace of Auburn Hills. It is still unknown if Beilein will join the team for that game.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:07:34 -0500