12-Friday, January 9, 1981-The Michigan Daily Freshmen spur. prolific scorer and passer. The smooth 6-10 cen- By SCOTT M. LEWIS ter from Chicago has carried a 20 points-per- Second in a three-part series game average throughout the season, hitting an If you're like most Big Ten basketball astounding 71.4 percent of his field goal attem- followers who didn't believe Purdue could com- pts. pete in the conference without star center Joe Barry Carroll this season, start believing now. Contrary to pre-season notions, the Boiler- makers are still a fine ballclub, one which may make an assault on the Big Ten leaders. Other teams which, if everything goes right and if a few breaks fall their way, might find themselves sitting at the top of the conference include Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota, the Wolverines' opponent Saturday night. COACH BILL Frieder of Michigan wasn't sur- prised by Purdue's strong showing Monday night, although he certainly didn't figure his team would allow the Boilermakers to shoot over 75 percent from the field as they posted an 81-74 win. "They have four players (guards. Brian Walker and Keith Edmonson and forwards Drake Morris and/Mike Scearce) returning from a team which made the NCAA Final Four last year, and they've added Russell Cross," noted Frieder after Monday's defeat. Purdue's fast start (8-2 overall) can be at- tributed largely to the emergence of Cross as a Even more impressive than the scoring figures, however, is the, manner in which Cross conducts himself on the court-unflappable, level-headed and with great court awareness. He's also not a moody individual, as was his predecessor in the pivot, Carroll. NEW COACH GENE Keady, a master recruiter who in April became the third Purdue coach in the last four years, foresaw a reboun- ding problem which hasn't yet surfaced, although it may tomorrow night when Ohio State invades Mackey Arena. Keady has installed a new system designed to spring players open under the basket. "We've worked very hard on it," he said early in the season. The hard work paid off during Purdue's Big Ten Opener as many Boilermaker baskets were of the lay-up variety. THE NEW COACH has his team ready for the Big Ten season, a fact which was painfully evident to Michigan Monday night. Both Purdue defeats this season came on the road and were administered by excellent teams, Tennessee (ranked 13th by AP) and Tulsa, which has lost only one of its first ten games. People who in November were writing off Purdue as a legitimate candidate for a post-tournament ber- th may want to re-evaluate their predictions. One team for which success WAS predicted is Big Ten Illinois (8-1 entering last night's game at North- western, 34-3 in non-conference games since 1978). For the past three years the Illini, coached by affable Lou Henson, have been stockpiling a wealth of talent, but each season they fall con- siderably short of pre-season expectations. After finishing 1980 with a 8-10 Big Ten record, Henson went out and landed two top guards Derek Harper and Craig Tucker. The former, one may recall, is the youngster from Florida who was wooed by Frieder and Johnny Orr and nearly came to Michigan. Harper was expected to step in and direct the Illinois offense from the point guard spot, where the departed Reno Gray played erratically last season. The Illini (ranked 12th by AP) are strongest at forward, where seniors 6-8 Eddie Johnson and 6-7 Mark Smith form what may be the nation's best combination of forwards. Johnson, who in all likelihood will be a first or second-round NBA pick in June, is averaging close to 20 points and 11 rebounds per game, while Smith is scoring at a 15.6 clip. Junior James Griffin and senior Derek Holcomb share the pivot position. How far the Illini go this season depends primarily on the performance of the backcourt, namely Harper, Tucker and junior Perry Range. Johnson and Smith both had excellent 1979-80 seasons, but the team still finished tied for sixth in the conference. "Last year our guards didn't have the ability to go out and pressure the opposition," said Smith. "This year we do. Not too many teams will be able to pressure our guards out of the game." sleepers JOHNSON CONCURS. "Our guards, ob- viously, are really improved, as is Griffin," he said. "We needed a player to initiate the great play, make the great pass. Now we've got one in Harper." Minnesota coach Jim Dutcher figured he had a, good chance of bringing Harper to Minneapolis. The Gopher coach has had success recruiting in Florida, his roster featuring three players from that state, including guard Darryl Mitchell, the team captain who attended the same high school as Harper in West Palm Beach. Mitchell knew differently. "Derek and I are pretty close at home," he said. "I knew that he would want to play against me, rather than with me. He's a very competitive person." UNLIKE ILLINOIS, which desperately needed help at guard, Minnesota's backcourt is sound with Mark Hall and Mitchell. So, for that matter, is its entire team, which is ranked 19th and 14th by AP and UPI, respectively. Dutcher's group, (8-1, not including last night's game against Wisconsin) has already defeated North Carolina and defending national champion Louisville, its only loss coming at home last month to Marquet- te. 4 r , I, A . freshman sensation Despite the absence of seniors, the Gopher lineup is well-seasoned, talented, and extremely , big. "They're a tall team, the tallest in all of basketball," said Frieder. "I think they're one of the top five or six teams in'the country." TOMORROW: Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Michigan State. r: ' ,: College Basketball Indiana 55, Michigan State 43 Illinois 88, Northwestern 64 Ohio State 38, Iowa 56 Minnesota 76, Wisconsin 60 ORES South Alabama 92. UNC-Charlotte 61 NHL. Boston 7, Detroit 4 NBA Indiana 116. New York 115, OT ,.I . 1.Iv Dancce Theore S tudio 711 N. University Ann Arbor " new classes beginning January 12, 1981 nformation: 995-4242 1-5 weekdays for: ment ctn - . Ple -- - --- -1 0 Ii ' e M cS' , .}