Page 10-Sunday, January 15, 1978-The Michigan Daily
FIRST CONFERENCE LOSS:
EIllini bump cagers 65-61
By DAVE RENBARGERR
Special to The Daily !
CHAMPAIGN-The Michigan Wol-
verines yesterday returned to the site
where they clinched last year's Big Ten
basketball championship-Illinois'
Assembly Hall-but there was no
celebrating after the game this time
around.
After fighting an uphill battle against
the Illini all afternoon, the Wolverines
finally succumbed to the combined
deadly free-throw shooting of Illinois'
guard Rob Judson as well as their own
inability to hit from the line and absor-
bed a 6541 defeat.
It was Michigan's first loss of the Big
Ten season after three victories, and
dropped the Wolverines out of a first
place conference tie.
JUDSON, WHO played in nearby
Adrian for two years as a prep, was
flawless in five attempts from the line
over the final 1:26 of the game, in-
cluding one on a controversial technical
foul. Those points enabled the Illini to
stave off a late rally by Michigan and
up Illinois' record to 2-2 in the conferen-
ce and 8-5 overall. The Wolverines
dropped to 8-4 on the season.
Down the stretch the two teams
executed one crucial play after another
to k(eep the 8,795 upset-minded fans on
their toes. The first big play came with
3:49 left and the Illini on top, 57-55.
Illinois center Rich Adams missed a
lay-up but followed with a tip-in.
Michigan's Joel Thompson, who had
dominated the boards in the second half
drew his fifth personal foul on the play.
Adams completed the three point play
to put Michigan down by five.
The Wolverines narrowed the margin
to one with a pair of" nifty lay-ups by
Tom Staton.
THEN, WITH 1:26 remaining, Judson
hit his first two charity tosses in a one-
and-one situation.
Following came the play that
ultimately decided the contest. With
just over a minute to go and Michigan
down 62-59, guard David Baxter
penetrated the lane and tossed up a shot
from underneath the basket as he and
Judson collided. The ball fell off the rim
as both guards fell to the floor.
Everyone was waiting for a whistle but
none was heard.
Baxter had a quick word with an of-
ficial and was hit with a technical foul.
Judson calmly sank the shot to give the
Illini a 63-59 lead with 1:05 left.
Coach Johnny Orr called the play the
turning point of the game, while admit-
ting that he was looking for a foul on
Judson.
"IT WAS A very critical call on Bax-
ter. It's very hard to contain yourself
when you get knocked to the floor under
those circumstances," said Orr in
defense of his co-captain.
"Because he (the official) makes a
mistake he calls it on my kid," Orr con-
tinued. "If he'd called the foul (on Jud-
son), we still could have won the
game."~
But Orr didn't fail to place the real
blame for the loss exactly where it
belonged. "We just couldn't make a
free throw," he said of his team's
abysmal 3 for 12 performance at the
-....
line.
The Illini canned 11 or their 12 free
throw attempts.
OFFENSIVELY, Michigan's fresh-
man scoring whiz Mike McGee topped
everyone with 22 points, going 10 for 16
from the field. McGee had his troubles
hanging on to the ball, picking up seven
turnovers, mostly on traveling
violations.
Forward Alan Hardy backed McGee
with 10 points, and Baxter handed out 10
assists -
Freshman Mark Smith paced the
balanced attack with 16 points, most of
them from insie over McGee. Guard
Audie Matthews added 11. Ten of the°
Illini saw action and nine scored. "We
just have to be prepared for whoever is
in there," said Hardy. "But it can hurt
you if you aren't thinking. I think it hurt
us a little bit today."
FROM THE opening tipoff, both
teams had trouble finding the hoop.
After missing its first five shots,
Michigan hit on its sixth to grab a 12-2
lead.
Over the next 12 minutes, the Illini
outscored the Wolverines 27-10 and took
a 3-26 halftime lead.
Throughout the second half,
Michigan stuck just within striking
distance, but the Illini never
relinquished their lead: With 7:14
remaining the Wolverines tied it up at
57, but that was as close as they could
come.
MICHIGAN
FG/A FT/A1
R
McGee
Hardy
Thompson
Staton
Baxter
Bodnar, Mty.
Bergen
Heuerman
Team
Totals
Sc
MICHIGAN
Illinois
10/16
5/15
4/11
4/6
4/13
1/2
1/5
0/0
2/4
0/3
1/2
1/2
0/2
0/1
0/0
0/0
5
8
'11
1
2
1
5
4
9
A
1
2
0
3
10
0
0
0
T
22
10
9
8
8
2
2
0
Bresnahan,
Cobb
Smith
Matthews
Judson
Adams
Gray
Johnson
Gerhardt
Jones
Team
Totals
ILLINOIS
FG/A FT/A R A T
,3/5 0/0 8 5 ,5
3/9 2/2 4 1 8
7/12 2/3 8 2 16
5/13 1/1 5 2 11
1/6, 5/5 2 1 7
1/5 1/1 8 1 3
3/6 0/0 1 1 6
1/3 0/0 1 1 2
0/0 0/0 1 0 0
3/4 0/0 0 0 6
4
27/63 11/12 42 14 65
27/68 3/12 42 16 61
AP Photo
MICHIGAN GUARD DAVE BAXTER drives against Illini forward Mark Smith
(42) in yesterday's 65-61 Wolverine loss. Baxter scored eight points for the
game.
ore by Periods
26
33
35 61
32 i 65
DROP FIFTH STRAIGHT, 5=3
Gophers keep Blue
icers in hole
full court
EhIwPRESS
Leadership, free throws .
0 0
By ERROL SHIFMAN
Special to The Daily
MINNEAPOLIS - Lost: one Maize
and Blue explosive offense in the vicini-
ty of Hoover and State approx. Decem-
ber 3rd. And information should be di-
rected to the Michigan hockey team.
Without their offense the Wolverines
dropped their fifth league game in a
row, 5-3, in a frustrating contest with
the Minnesota Gophers. In the last
seven games, Michigan has averaged
only three goals per game.
WE HAVE ALL felt the frustration of
trying to open a new bottle for a long
period of time and then watching a
friend come by and open it with one
twist.
Each time Michigan buzzed around
the Gopher net to no avail, the Gophers
would either gain a breakaway or come
down ice and take a good clean shot.
For example, Minnesota scored on
two of its first three shots. Michigan
had carried the play until Gopher cen-
ter Steve Christoff fired a shot from the
blue line and put the light on behind
Blue goalie Rick Palmer.
Two and one-half minutes later at
7:04, Gopher Phil Verchota took a pret-
ty behind the back pass from Christoff
and slid it past Palmer. Minnesota led
2-0 and that was all for the Michigan
goalie.
PALMER PULLED himself out a
minute later and gave way'to Frank
Zimmerman.
Michigan appeared to have found its
scoring punch when Gopher Dave Ter-
williger was penalized for flipping the
puck into the crowd after play had
stopped.
Dan Lerg scored a goal, the
Wolverines first power-play tally in
their last 23 attempts, at 9:37. '
Twenty-two seconds later John Olver
knotted the score from Gordie Ham-
pson and Mark Miller. Michigan was .
back but nothing had changed. That
was to be the Wolverines only serious
challenge.
THE BLUE defense lapsed in the last
six minutes of the first period. Min-
nesota put the light on twice more as
Wolverine defensemen stood around
helpless. Minnesota's 4-2 lead would
hold up.
The fine goaltending of Zimmerman
kept the game from turning into a rout
and his performance gained him star-
ting honors for this afternoon's re-
match.
"Zimmerman played very well,"
signed coach Dan Farrell, "but when
you give two goals on the first three
shots, you're digging out of a hole."
Michigan had a chance to climb out of
the hole and cut the Gopher lead which
had been upped to 4-2 midway through
the second period. The puck sat in an
open Minnesota crease for what
seemed like a year. Left winger Mark
Miller stood only a foot away but could
not contend with a Minnesota defender
. . and other problems
By ERNIE DUNBAR
Special to The Daily
CHAMPAIGN
Throughout this early portion of the Big Ten basketball schedule, Michi-
gan had been plagued with a number of inconsistencies resulting in the team
sporting a 3-1 conference mark and an overall record of 8-4.
First is the fact that in no two consecutive games have the Wolverines
had the same player as their high scorer. This seems to have left the team
looking for the leader they possessed in Rickey Green or Phil Hubbard
during last year's championship season. But if Michigan can continue to find
that one player who has a sparkling game time after time, then this season
might prove to be respectable. If they cannot it could spell trouble.
In yesterday's 65-61 loss to Illinois it was freshman Mike McGee once
again leading the team in scoring. This time he netted 22 points.
At the beginning of the season it was co-captain Dave Baxter who was
pacing the scoring attack. Center Joel Thompson has cashed in for high
scoring honors four times, and forward Alan Hardy has been top point man
twice.
"In a way that's kind of good," said Hardy, who canned 10 points against
Illinois. "It's like your father, when you are in trouble you go to someone you
can rely on. But it doesn't have to be just scoring,"' Hardy continued. "It can
be either a steal or an assist."
A problem which surfaced in the Illinois game which Michigan coach
Johnny Orr and his players had failed to elaborate on previously, is the job
being done by the officials. In battling the Illini, Michigan was hurt by a
technical foul on Baxter with Illinois ahead 62-59 and only 1:05 remaining in
the game.
Baxter had driven the baseline and was dumped as he went up for the
shot. But no foul was called on an Illinois player. As the Illini's Rob Judson
grabbed the rebound, Baxter cussed at the official and drew the technical.
"That was the play of the game," said a furious Baxter. "If I'd have hit
that(shot we would have been down by one. But as it turned out, I get called
for the technical and we're down by four.
"I just exploded," Baxter said of his remark to the officials. "I'm just
sick of all the inconsistent calls. It's been happening all year long and its
been happening ever since I've been playing at the University of Michigan."
Orr echoed his co-captain's comments with his own attack on the of-
ficials. "That was a critical call on Baxter," Orr said. "Its very hard to con-
tain yourself when you get knocked to the floor. But because he (the official)
makes a mistake he calls it on my kid (Baxter).
"Do you think he'd (the official) call a technical foul on Baxter like that
in Ann Arbor?" Orr asked reporters in the post game press conference. "If
he did he'd sure have a hard time getting out of our tunnel. That's what
makes it tough to win on the road."
But according to Illinois coach Lou Henson, the officiating was just dan-
dy. "I don't know about that one, I was on the other end of the floor," Henson
said in reference to the Baxter call. "It was good officiating. They might
have missed one, but they missed them both ways. I don't think we got any
breaks on the officiating. The crew did a good job," Henson said with a
straight face.
Add to this then problems the Wolverines have had with fpee throws.
Against Iowa, Michigan went the entire first half without attempting a free
throw and then scored 14 points in the second half from charity tosses. In
Champaign, the free throws were a contributing factor to the loss. "We
couldn't make the free throws," said Orr whose team went 3-12 from the line.
"If we'd have made them we would have been OK."
It's impossible to sit here in the early part of the Big Ten season and
make an accurate prediction whether any of these inconsistencies will be
one of the downfalls of this year's Michigan basketball team. But if they con-
tinue it sure can't help any.
BIG TEN ROUNDUP:
Hoosiers fade i*n Badger blaze
and his blind pokes were in vain. That
was the turning point in the game.
THE LAST TWO periods saw some
good chances for both sides but were
mainly up and down hockey.
Both defenses tightened up and the
goal work of Gopher Paul Janaszak and
Zimmerman was really the only excite-
ment left.
Gopher defenseman Jim Boo notched
the only goal of the second stanza at
13:32. Boo let a slapshot go from the
blue line which sailed high into the right
corner of the net behind a partially
screened Zimmerman.
Michigan forward Miller rounded out
the scoring in the third period. Continu-
ing his fine play, Miller skated in all
alone on Janaszak after picking the
puck up at his own blue line and flipped
it in.
FARRELL CITED the line of Ham-
pson, Olver and Miller as a bright spot
in a dismal day but was at a loss for a
solution to the problem.
When asked about possible line
changes for the rematch, Farrell joked,
"We'll just put all the names in a hat
and pick out three at a time."
Minnesota coach Herb Brooks was
elated with his team's victory but says
they will have to play better this after-
noon to sweep the series.;
The Gophers played without regular
defenseman Bob Bergloff and captain
Rob Larson but had no real problem
handling the Wolverines' feeble
offense.
Cold feet
FIRST PERIOD
scoring: . MN--Christoff(llarre) 4:27; 2.MN-
Verchota (Christoff, Boo) 7:04; 3. MI - Lerg
(Maurer, Thayer) 8:35; 4. MI - Olver (Miller, Ham-
pson) 9:59; 5. MN - Harrer (Christoff. Verchota)
14:24; 6.MN--Strobel 18:53.
Penalties: MN-Terwilliger (delay of game) 8:35.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 7. MN - Boo (Joe Baker, Harrer) 13:32.
Penalties: MI - Turner (elbowing) 6:32; MN -
Verchota (elbowing) 6:51; MN - Verchota (cross-
checking) 10:35; MI - Turner (cross-checking)
14:00; MN-Laterneau (holding) 16:59.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 8. MI - Miller 13:04.
Penalties: MI - Todd (slashing) 4:48; MN - Bill
Baker (slashing) 4:48; MI-Todd (tripping) 11:04.
SAVES
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Arnold
Gaines, scoring a career high of 25
points, sparked Wisconsin to a 78-65
victory over 18th-ranked Indiana in
Big Ten basketball yesterday.
The score was tied 12 times in the
first half of the regionally televised
contest, including 37-37 at the inter-
mission.
Wisconsin surged to an early sec-
ond half advantage, but the Hoosiers
fought back and grabbed a 55-54 lead.
Wayne Radford, who scored 10 of his
MSU rolls ontenstandings-MSU rollson
II - I I w
Michigan State
MICHIGAN
Purdue
Illinois
Minnesota
Ohio State
Iowa
Wisconsin
Indiana
Northwestern
W
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
0
L
0
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
4
GB
1
1
2
2.
2
2
3
3
4
For more Sports
see Page 9
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Greg
Kelser whipped in 23 points and Jay
Vincent added 19, including the
clinching basket with 10 seconds left,
to give 12th-ranked Michigan State a
67-63 victory over Northwestern yes-
terday in a regionally televised
game.
The victory left the Spartans in at
least a tie for first place with a 4-0
record in the conference and 12-1
overall, while Northwestern slipped
to 0-4 and 4-9.
Michigan State mounted a 30-13
lead in the first half before the
Wildcats, led by Mike Campbell (23
points) and Tony Allen, (22 points)
made a comeback and closed to
within one point with just over a
minute left to play. But two clutch
baskets by State's Vincent in the final
60 seconds iced the Spartan's surpris-
ingly narrow victory.
Frosh phenom Earvin Johnson of
State was held to only nine points in
the gamb.
14 points in the second half, was
largely responsible for Indiana's
second half showing. Indiana's Mike
Woodson, who carried an 18.7 aver-
age into the game, led the Hoosiers
with 18 points.
It was Wisconsin's first triumph
over Indiana in Madison since a 94-87
double overtime decision March 2,
1971.
Saturday's results
Illinois 65, MICHIGAN 61
Iowa 66, Purdue 60
Minnesota 72, Ohio State 47
Wisconsin 78, Indiana 65
Michigan State 67, Northwestern 63
Next Thursday's games
Wisconsin at MICHIGAN
Illinois at Minnesota
Purdue at Michigan State
Iowa at Northwestern
Ohio State at Indiana
1 2
Palmer (MI)............. ....I X
Zimmerman (MI)............ 12
Janaszak (MN)..............7 12
Score by Periods
1 2
MICHIGAN................. 2 0
Minnesota................... 4 1
3
X
9
T
28
28
3
l
0
SPOR TS OF THE DAILY:
North Carolina singed by hot Blue Devils
By The Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. - Mike Gminksi scored a game
high of 29 points as Duke upset No. 2-ranked North
Carolina 92-84 yesterday in an Atlantic Coast Con-
ference basketball game.
The game was a wild see-saw affair with North
Carolina leading at halftime 47-46.
IN THE SECOND HALF, Duke broke the game
open, outscoring the Tar Heels 12-4 within four
minutes. North Carolina came back to within seven
points, 71-64, with 10:41 remaining.
'North Carolina is now 12-2 and Duke is 12-3. Both'r
are 3-1 in the conference.
*. * *
while JAck Givens added 17. Guard Jordy Holtberg
and forward Durand Macklin each had 16 for LSU.
* * *
Irish bullish
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Dave Batton and Bruce
Flowers each scored a pair of baskets to trigger a
13-0 spurt midway in the second half and Notre
Dame held on for a 79-78 victory over St. Bonaven-
ture yesterday.
Batton, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, finished with 24
points as the taller Irish dominated the foul-plagued
Bonnies inside.
BEHIND THE SCORING of 6-6 senior Greg San-
MEMPHIS STATE trailed 33-29 at halftime and
50-45 with nine minutes left. But the Tigers out-
scored Cincinnati 9-2 in the next three minutes for a
54-52 lead with six minutes remaining and never
trailed again.
Isbell, a 6-foot-8 sophomore center, also was the
game's leading rebounder with 10. Bearcats center
Pat Cummings led Cincinnati with 18 points and
nine rebounds.
Wings upend Sabers ..
DETRQIT-The Detroit Red Wings won a hockey
game in Detroit last night, and though they weren't
nlaving the Montrea lCanndians. their R-2 uwn or