Sensing desperation or merely the need for change, Michigan coach John Beilein switched up his rotations and plans in the second half.

His team had trailed the University of Detroit at halftime and looked suspect on defense. Again.

So he went with a group of older players, led by senior forward DeShawn Sims and junior guard Manny Harris, and ended up with an inspired defensive effort and the most complete half of basketball the Wolverines have played this season.

“Defensive intensity,” sophomore guard Zack Novak said, explaining the second-half turnaround in Michigan’s 75-64 win. “We brought it and it showed.”

Beilein did it by shortening Michigan’s bench and starting sophomore Stu Douglass in the second half instead of freshman Darius Morris.

While the Wolverines only forced two turnovers after halftime, they did make Detroit take shots late in the shot clock, perhaps none more critical than Xavier Keeling's heave from the 3-point line with one second left on the shot clock after Michigan backed him on to the baseline.

“The whole story of the game is our second-half defense,” Beilein said. ”The second-half defense was where it needs to be, it had great conviction as Jerry Dunn said before the game. We were on a mission and got it done. We were talking about defense but we had to amp it up as far as effort area on defense.”

Friend of Heisman
He heard the news from teammate Eso Akunne, and when it happened, Laval Lucas-Perry had an immense sense of pride.

When Alabama running back Mark Ingram, a Flint native, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night Lucas-Perry could say he now knows a Heisman winner.

“I tried to call him up but he probably had so many people calling him so he didn’t answer my call,” Lucas-Perry said. “But he represented Flint. It’s just a great moment for him.”

Lucas-Perry and Ingram attended school together in Grand Blanc and also used to play against each other in the city. When he was asked whether or not Ingram was a good basketball player, he laughed.

“He’s a good football player,” Lucas-Perry said. “A hell of a football player. He showed it this year. He was unstoppable.”

Bye, Bye Locks
If you didn’t recognize one of Michigan’s players Sunday, that’s OK. Freshman Matt Vogrich merely chopped off all of his hair.

The Lake Forest, Ill. native played his fewest minutes of the season - 1 - but also had the most drastic change. Gone was the mop on top of his head, replaced by a buzz cut.

It’s not the first time he’s done this, though, and in the past it has yielded good results.

“I did it in high school,” Vogrich said. “Our team lost three games in a row and I did it in high school and we were ranked fourth in the state after that, won 20 games in a row.

“My team’s playing bad, not bad but we’re not meshing together and I just, just wanted to get rid of it. I like it short, too, don’t really care about my hair too much.”

So he went to teammate Zack Novak and asked him to hack at it despite Novak’s prior haircutting experience involved football and Mohawks in Chesterton, Ind.

The new ‘do left Beilein happy and brought Michigan’s mop-top group down to two: Novak and freshman Blake McLimans.

“I loved his haircut,” Beilein said. “It was very good.”

This and that
As the game ended and the result no longer in doubt, Michigan’s student section started chanting “Beat The Jayhawks” in reference to Saturday’s game against No. 1 Kansas. … Michigan, thanks to Sims and Harris, had their best three-point shooting half in a while, making 5 of 11 three-pointers in the second half. Sims hit three of those. … Beilein didn’t rule out the option of playing Detroit again in the future as he tries to play some local schools. …

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.