BLUE SQUEAKS BY HOOSIERS, 60-59:
The MichiganDaily-Sunday, February 11, 1979-Page 9
Bodnar's bomb nips Indiana at buzzer
y3' "A VE KEN BARGER
Johnny Orr knew it was in all along.
Alan Hardy knew it when the ball began
its long descent toward the basket. But,
for Marty Bodnar, seeing is believing.
Bodnar was the guy who ended up
with the ball in his hands with Michigan
trailing Indiana by one point and one
'second left in the game, so he put up a
made-to-order, 25-foot set shot. And,
when the ball swished cleanly through
the hoop, it did a lot more than confirm
Orr's and Hardy's suspicions.
Itlifted the Wolverines to a dramatic
60-5 tr'iumph over the Hoosers,
squaring the season series between the
two rivals. It also ignited a jubilant
celebration of Wolverine players and
supporters who hoisted Bodnar over
their shoulders and carried him off the
court. And finally, it made the sweet-
shooting soph from Barberton, O. an
eleventh-hour hero for the second time
in two weeks.
"YOU JUST can't go out there and
worry, 'If you get a last-second shot,
what are you gonna do,' " said Bodnar,
Michigan's third guard despite his
team-leading field goal percentage.
"You've just gotta go out there and
react and hope it falls."
And fall it did, just like his last second
layup fell two weeks back at Illinois.
The Wolverine victory avenged last
week's 68-62 loss at Indiana, and left
them at 6-6 in the Big Ten, tied for fifth
place with these same Hoosiers.
The stage was set for Bodnar 58
seconds earlier, when Indiana's Butch
Carter knocked in a similar outside shot
to give the Hoosiers a tenuous 59-58 lead
in the see-saw game.
In the final minute the Wolverines,
missing both Phil Hubbard and Mike
McGee on fouls, held onto the ball,
looking for only an unmissable shot.
Orr called two time outs in the interim,
the second with 11 ticks left on the
clock.
In the huddle Orr outlined a play
designed to get the ball to forward Har-
dy on the low post, hoping to get a high
percentage shot or a foul.
BODNAR THEN inbounded the ball
to Keith Smith, Michigan's best
ballhandler. Smith then dritbled around
the perimeter near the right corner,
looking for Hardy. Indiana's defense
was there, however, and Smith rever-
sed his dribble and ran into heavy
pressure from the Hoosiers.
Bodnar managed to wriggle free
from the man-to-man defense, and
Smith got the ball to him just to the
right of the key. From there, Bodnar
wasted no time and made no mistakes.
The buzzer sounded just as the shot
dropped through.
"I saw the whole bucket," said Bod-
nar of the play. "The defensive man
was around on Keith and he came
around and got me. Right when I got it I
just shot it and put a lot of arch on it. I
knew it was in when it went-when it
fell through."
Hardy saw the shot differently. "You
never know -for sure until the ball
reaches a certain peak," he said.
"From where I was standing, I got a
good view of it. I saw it coming down
and I said, 'We got it.'
APPARENTLY, THE view from the
bench was even better. "I knew it was
in. Man, that was dead center," said an
i
elated Orr. "That kid's a great
shooter."
Nobody would have guessed that the
game was to be decided by -a buzzer
AFTER GOING nearly three minutes
without scoring, Hubbard took things
into his own hands, notching 12 of
Michigan's next 16 points on a variety
of inside and outside maneuvers.
Hubbard's final bucket for the after-
noon was a driving layup with 9:23 left,
and it gave Michigan a 50-49 lead. The
Wolverines then blew three golden op-
portunities to extend the margin to
three on two missed layups and a
travelling violation.
And when Hubbard fouled out of the
game with 3:55 left and Indiana's Mike
Woodson popped in his twelfth and final
basket 30 seconds later to give Indiana
a 57-54 edge, Michigan looked like it
was cooked.
But Bodnar responded by coaxing in
a shot from the corner, and the defense
held, allowing Tommy Staton to weave
his way through heavy Hoosier traffic
and hit a go-ahead layup at 2:32.
McGEE, WHOSE quickness allowed
him to pick up four big steals, fouled
out at 1:49, and Carter's clutch basket
put Indiana back in control until Bod-
nar's bucket insured the Hoosiers' a
long flight home.
"We just hung in there and battled."
said assistant coach Bill Frieder."They
went one ahead and we came back and
went one ahead, and that's what you've
gotta do."
As a team, Michigan shot 60 percent
from the field-by far its best mark of
the season; and the first time since the
Big Ten opener that the Wolverines
have made more shots than they've
missed. A wide assortment of travels,
double dribbles and butterfingers ad-
ded up to 20 turnovers, partially
nullifying the shooting marksmanship.
Hubbard led the team with 18 points,
while McGee added 14 and Bodnar 10.
Woodson topped everyone with 29.
Marty Bodnar
shot as halftime approached. The
Hoosiers used their formidable height
advantage to collect one easy basket af-
ter another from the lane, enroute to a
28-16 lead with 6:54 left in the half.
But the Wolverines combined a
stingy, opportunistic defense with their
reviving fast break offense to reduce
Indiana's lead to 37-34 at the inter-
mission. Mike McGee triggered the 16-7
outburst, hitting four driving layups
and adding two free throws.
full court
VPRESS
Bodnar a winner...
.. . he also talks
By GARY KICINSKI,
B OBBY KNIGHT wasn't talking, per usual. Phil Hubbard once again
raised his Cone of Silence. Marty Bodnar, thank God, was talking, but I
couldn't hear a word he was saying.
A throng of reporters hovered over the Crisler security guards near the
entrance to the Michigan locker room, struggling to dam up their impatien-
ce. Finally, Johnny Orr appeared in the tunnel and nodded to the guards,
who had to do some alert maneuvering to avoid the onrushing ink-stained
wretches.
By the time I made my way to Bodnar's locker, the reporters were three
deep in a semi-circle around the last-second hero, who by this time was
already telling his story. Music from John Garris' tape deck seemed to be
reaching previously unattained decibels, and try as I might, I couldn't make
heads or tails out of what "Bods" was saying.
Abandoning my attempts at lip-reading, I finally squeezed a microphone
over one shoulder and between another armpit, pointing it in Bodnar's
general direction, and hoped for the best.
Thank you, Panasonic.
"I had to get it off quick 'cuz I knew there wasn't much time left," Bodnar
said, exuding quiet composure. "I just got it and went through my natural
motion and-put a lot of arch on it and was just lucky it went in.
"You can't go out there and worry. If you get a last-second shot, what on
earth are you gonna do?" he continued"You just gotta go out there and react
and just hope it falls."
It was the fourth Big Ten victory at the buzzer for the Cardiac Kids, and
it was Bodnar's second personal triumph. Two weeks ago the 6-3 sophomore
picked up Tom Staton's steal and outraced the horn on a layup to beat
Illinois, 56-54.
"This one was different because the one at Illinois, with ten seconds to
go, we had no idea we were gonna pull it out. The one at Illinois was just like
a complete surprise. This one, we called time out and we all knew we had a
chance to win.
Hubbard silence
"The one at Illinois was a layup, and you're expected to make a layup -
whereas this one was a 25-footer, and you're not always expected to make
those. I'm just very happy and very fortunate."
After milking Bodnar for all he was worth, the masses began breaking
up to various portions of the locker room.
Speaking to us today, Phil?
Response: A quick shake of the head. Didn't need the Panasonic for that.
Ph il, you see, has been doing Helen Keller imitations ever since (repor-
tedly) he read something in a Michigan student newspaper (t'he Daily, I
presume) that he didn't like. This bit of news didn't come directly from Hub-
bard - rather, it was extracted from a Free Press article which ran last
Saturday. The story indicated that Hubbard intended to refuse all interviews
for the duration of the season.
No luck with Knight
Too bad, too. Hubbard has displayed game-to-game improvement,
beginning with the Spartan contest. Yesterday he performed admirably,
tallying 18 points on a 9 for 13 performance. The pun-makers would say he's
letting hi playing do his talking.
Meanwhile, Bobby Knight wasn't even letting his typewriter do his
talking. Knight refuses to be interviewed by anyone other than Indiana Spor-
ts information people, who then type up the quotes and distribute them to the
sardonic scribes. But yesterday. the Hoosiers exited Crisler Arena so fast
you'd have thought somebody hadshouted "Fire!"
I happened to be on hand Friday afternoon when Bobby Knight marched
his Hoosiers into Crisler Arena for a quick practice. While Knight was
renewing acquaintances in the Michigan coaches' room, his team was out
warming up on the floor. My partner in crime, Dave Renbarger, sauntered
up to guard Randy Wittman and posed the question, "Just what makes a guy
want to play for Bobby Knight anyway?"
Wittman managed a quick response before an assistant coach corralled
him; explaining that all interviews must be OK'ed by General Knight. When
Knight emerged moments later, looking more like a deer hunter in his red
Buzzermania
INDIANA
Min. FG/AFT/A R
Woodson....... 40 12/19 5/5 10
Tolbert........40 5/10 2/6 6
Turner ........ 27 3/5 0/0 1
Wittman....... 40 2/5 0/0 1
Carter.........38 4/11 0/0 1
Eells.......... 15 0/0 0/0 4
Team Rebounds 3
Totals........... 26/50 7/11 27
Fouled Out-Hubbard, McGee
Halftime-Indiana 37, MICHIGAN 34
Att.-13,609
A
0
0
0
3
0
i
PF
1
2
3
1
1
1
Pts.
29 McGee.......
12 Hardy........
6 Hubbard ......
4 Staton.......
8 Smith ........
0 Bodnar, Marty
Heuerman.....
59 Lozier.......
Johnson....b.
Team Rebounds
Totals .......
MICHIGAN
Min. FG/AFT/A
R A PF Pts.
34
33
32
37
16
26
15
3
4
6/12 2/2 4 2 5
2/6
9/13
4/6
2/2
5/7
1/2
0/0
0/0
0/0
0/1
0/1
0/0
0/0
0/0
0/0
0/0
4
4
2
0
2
1
0
0
2
3
1
0
4
0
0
0
1
s
0
0
0
2
0
14
4
18
8
4
10
2
0
0
Daily Photo by LISA UDELSON
MICHIGAN CENTER Phil Hubbard tries to wrest the ball away from Indiana
pivotman Ray Tolbert, while the Hoosiers' Landon Turner (32) looks on. Hubbard
scored a team-high 18 points and ripped off four rebounds before fouling out late
in the game. The Wolverines evened their season record at 6-6 by nipping Indiana
at the buzzer, 60-59.
4 9
29/48 ,2/4 22 11 14 60
BIG TEN ROUNDUP
MSU rolls over Bucks,
By The Associated Press
COLUMBUS - Earvin "Magic"
Johnson's 26 spoints and deft passing
triggered 10th-ranked Michigan State
to a 73-55 victory over No. 13 Ohio State
last night and dropped the Buckeyes in-
to a three-way tie for the Big Ten Con-
ference basketball lead.
The Spartans, the defending league
champions, moved to within one game
of leading Ohio State, Purdue and Iowa
with their fifth straight triumph. The
Spartans are 8-4 and 16-5 overall.
Michigan State blew into a 25-8 lead in
the first 111 minutes, and Ohio State
never threatened thereafter, falling to
9-3 in the Big Ten and 14-7 overall.
Johnson sank 12 of 15 free throws,
most of them down the stretch, to keep
Ohio State at a safe distance. Jay Vin-
cent added 22 while Greg Kelser had 11
for the Spartans.
Michigan State's smooth 1-3-1 zone
defense held Herb Williams, the
.1
Buckeyes' outstanding 6-foot-10 center,
scoreless in the first half. Williams
wound up with 10 points, and teammate
Kelvin Ransey 13. Carter Scott had 15
for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes, losing their third
game in their last four Big Ten starts,
shot a frigid 25 per cent in falling behind
40-23 by halftime.
The Spartans, whipping the Buckeyes
for the 13th straight time, never permit-
ted Ohio State to move closer than 13
points in the second half. When the
Buckeyes closed to within 55-40 with
more than 11 minutes left, Michigan
State Coach Jud Heathcote ordered the
Spartans into a ball-control offense.
Iowa 79, Wisconsin 65
IOWA CITY - Freshman forward
Kevin Boyle and junior guard Ronnie
Lester led a second-half flurry to break
open a tight game as 15th-ranked Iowa
rolled to a 79-65 victory over Wisconsin
in a regionally televised Big Ten con-
test yesterday.
Boyle scored 12 of his team-high 19
points in the final 20 minutes as Iowa,
16-5, remained in the thick of the Big
Ten race by raising its conference
record to 9-3.
Wisconsin dropped its eighth straight
game in falling to 2-10 in the conference
and 8-13 overall. The Badgers' Wesley
Matthews topped all scorers with 24
points.
* * *
Purdue 76, N'western 64
WEST LAFAYETTE - Joe Barry
73-55_
Carroll scored 27 points yesterday as
Purdue held off a strong rally to beat
Northwestern 76-64 in Big Ten college,;;
basketball action.
The Boilermakers, in a tight race
with Ohio State and Iowa for the con-
ference championship, led by 14 points
early in the game before the last-place
Wildcats closed the gap to two points;on
the long-range shooting of Jerry
Marifke and Mike Campbell late in the
second half.
Guard Jerry Sichting was the only
other Purdue player in double figures,
hitting 19 points. Marifke topped Nor-
thwestern with 16,Gibson added 14 and
Campbell chipped in 12.
Michigan relay 'team,
breaks world record
By STAN BRADBURY
Special to The Daily
EAST LANSING - Michigan
tracksters Ken Gardner, Charles
Crouther, Andrew Bruce, and Tim
Thomas linked up last night in East
Lansing to set a new world record in the
sprint medley relay. The time of 3:22.0
run during the 56th annual Spartan
Relays smashed the old record of 3:23.6
set by Jeff McLoed, Jim Grace, Doug
Hennigar, and Andy Johnson of the
Wolverines three years ago in the same
meet.
TrackCoach Jack Harvey said of the
world record, "We were shooting for it.
I didn't know how good we could do but
we were going to try and see."
A STRONG final half-mile leg by
Thomas pulled the Wolverines from 15
feet behind to a 1.6 second victory over
Michigan State. "Tim's been running so
well," said Harvey. "We didn't plan on
being behind, but maybe that helped
us."
Though the sprint medley relay is not
an NCAA championship event,
Michigan did qualify in one more event.
Greg Thomas, Ted Dobson, Mark
Toelman, and Bill Weidenbach sur-
passed the qualifying time in the
distance medley relay while finishing
third behind Tennessee and Bowling
Green.
"I was really happy with our distance
medley and two mile relay team,
especially with the good performances
HARVEY ADDED that he was ex-
tremely pleased with the improvement
shown by the team, and especially that
of football tailback and 300-meter man
ButcheWoolfolk.Improving rapidly sin
ce the season's beginning, Woolfolk
finished a close third in the 300 behind
MSU's Ricky Flower and Tennessee's
Anthony Blair.
"The improvement shown pleases me
the most," said Harvey. "The overall
development of the team is coming
really well. We have three weeks until
the big meet (the Big Ten and NCAA's .
If we're not set by then, we'll be in
trouble."
Other Michigan performers who slid
well at the meet were miler Steve
Elliott, 60-yard lash man Ron Steele,
high hurdlers Don Wheeler, .Gary
Hicks, Arnette Chisholm, and Shelby
Johnson, who captured first in the shut-
tle hurdle relay.
SCORES
Big Ten Basketball
MICHIGAN 60, Indiana59
Iowa 79, Wisconsin 65
Purdue 76, Northwestern 64
Michigan State 73, Ohio State 55
Illinois 59, Minnesota 57
Scores
Wake Forest 60, N. Carolina St. 56
Cincinnati 87, Memphis St. 79
Syracuse 74; St. Bonaventure 69
Detroit 135. CCNY 77
,
5y ,. .
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