d
Edmonson notches 34 points as
Purdue routs 'M' cagers, 88-69
0
By LARRY FREED
Purdue's Russell Cross controlled the
tip to guard Kevin Stallings, who
passed it to Keith Edmonson for an
easy 18-foot jumper.
The game was never in doubt after-
wards.
THE BOILERMAKERS, who entered
Crisler Arena yesterday riding a six-
game losing streak, easily manhandled
the Wolverines, 88-69, to extend
Michigan's woes along with its seven-
game skein.
"We've been on the road for 36 days,
and we've been stung quite often,"
Purdue coach Gene Keady explained.
"If you've got any pride, you're gonna
come back."
"We were hungry."
LUCKILY FOR Purdue the main
course was the hapless Wolverines out-
fit making a number of Boilermakers
salivate.
Keith Edmonson gorged himself in
the first half with 22 points, two less
than the entire Michigan team. Ed-
monson, who was held to just two points
against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thur-
sday, tallied a game-high 34.
"We concentrated on Cross a great
deal, and Edmonson got away from
us," Wolverine coach Bill Frieder
commented. "That will happen a lot
this year.".
ALTHOUGH the 6-10 Cross was shut
down in the opening stanza, he
managed to free himself for 10 points
and five rebounds. Forwards Greg
Eifer and Mike Scearce also ended in
double figures with 10 points. In all, 11
Boilermakes entered the scoring
parade, one player more than the entire
Michigan squad.
"The win was important for us in the
Big Ten," rejoiced Keady, "We wanted
to split on the road, which you have to
1-7, 1-8
do to finish in the upper division."
While Keady and his troops were
relieved with a split in the opening week
of the conference schedule, Frieder and
the Wolverines face the unenviable task
of traveling to Indiana and Minnesota
after failing to register a victory at
home.
HOWEVER, the game was not
without its bright spots for Frieder.
Freshman sharpshooter Leslie
Rockymore came off the bench in the
second half to hit his first seven shots,
leading him to a career-high 21-point
performance.
But Rockymore's heroics could bring
the Wolverines no closer than 13 points
in the second half, as Purdue upped its
record to 1-1 in the conference and 4-8
overall. Meanwhile, the Wolverines fell
to 0-2 in the conference and 1-9 overall,
while extending their losing skid to 10
games against Division I schools.
"ROCKYMORE had a great second
half," Frieder said. "But we need him
shooting like that in the first half when
the game's in contention.., we let it slip
away from us at the end of the half with
those turnovers."
Along with their high propensity to
commit turnovers this season, the
Wolverines' other achilles heel has
been their rebounding. Yesterday's
performance was no exception, as the
Boilers easily outrebounded the
Wolverines, 37-24. Scearce led the ef-
fort with 10 boards.
Ike Person, the other Wolverine
bright spot, grabbed eight rebounds
while scoring a career-high 14 points.
Other Wolverines in double digits were
Turner with (14) and Garner (13).
TURNER, WHO has been plagued by in-
consistent performances all winter, hit
on seven of 12 from the field while
- 1-9. .
dishing out a personal high of eight
assists.
Despite these individual highlights,
the Michigan defense, last in the Big
Ten in field-goals against average
proved no match for the potent Purdue
attack, which shot 60.3 percent from the
field. The 88-point Boilermaker outbur-
st and Edmonson's individual 34-point
performance were highs for the year
against the young Wolverine defense.
"Michigan's awfully young and they
don't have a center," Keady said.
"They collapsed around Russell, and
we had to shoot outside, which we did
successfully."
The defensive performance might
cause Frieder to change his tactics
early in the conferenc e season.
"We might have to go to a more con-
servative offense-we'll be changing
things a great deal," Frieder said.
If the Wolverines don't, they may end
up satisfying the hunger of another
team yearning to get on track-Bobby
Knight and his Indiana Hoosiers, who
Michigan tips off against Thursday
night.
0
4
4
Daily Photo by KIM HILL
MICHIGAN GUARD Leslie Rockymore (24) puts up a shot, only to watch
helplessly as Purdue center Russell Cross (40) rejects it.
full court
C.PRESS
Losing continues . .
rumor flies
By BOB WOJNOWSKI
IT STARTED with 9:51 left in the game and Michigan trailing by 20. Two
elderly men in Section 32 stood up, muttered some unintelligible remarks
and turned to leave. It was 5:15 p.m., meaning they had watched one hour
and 15 minutes of basketball; yet even that had been too much. Soon thereaf-
ter the exodus was in full swing.
The ramifications of what will probably be Michigan's worst basketball
season in history are just now beginning to be felt. And they are far more en-
compassing than most Wolverine partisans realize.
Midway through his customary post-game press conference, Bill Frieder
shocked the gathered scribes by cutting short his monologue and turning the
tables on the press.
?'Let me ask you a question," began Frieder. "I understand that Tim
Stoudt (a WJIM-TV Lansing sportscaster) said on his television show that
Eric Turner said that he wished he wouldn't have come to Michigan and that
he should have gone somewhere else. If Eric did not say that, and he didn't,
can we sue him?"
While a lawsuit is impractical simply because it would be nearly im-
possible to prove that Stoudt acted with malice and was purposely attem-
pting to discredit the Michigan program, the message was nevertheless
clear to Frieder.
"I'll tell you, and you can quote me on this, I think (Michigan State) star-
ted that rumor because of Robert Henderson." Henderson is a 6-8 center
from Lansing Eastern who is being heavily recruited by both Michigan and
Michigan State.
"I'm sure this is the kind of stuff we're going to be seeing this year and it
disappoints me-it really does," he said. "But I'm ready for it. So are my
players, and I think our recruits are, too.
"And again, this is hearsay from a Lansing lady I just talked to."
Hearsay or not, the implications are obvious. With Michigan basketball in
the state it currently is, the 'wolves who have long sought the ultimate
destruction of the program have gotten hungrier.
At stake is team morale, fan support, school pride and, most importantly,
some much-needed recruits. And one of those recruits, 6-8 Paul Jokisch of
Birmingham Brother Rice, who has already announced his intention to at-
tend Michigan, is unconvinced by the reports of Turner's alleged comments.
"He reallysaid that?" asked a surprised Jokisch, who was in attendance
at the game.
When informed that it was merely a rumor, he sounded relieved.
"I didn't think he said that. Eric likes it here at Michigan and he likes all
the guys on the team, and I think he's gonna stay."
When asked if he was having second thoughts about coming to Michigan in
light of the current state of affairs, Jokisch was quick to reply.
"No. I'm going to Michigan."
Turner talks
Which brings us to the culprit in this seemy situation, the alleged evil-
sayer himself, Mr. Turner.
"There's no truth to that at all, and I feel real bad because there's no way I
would ever say anything like that," Turner said. "I have no regrets what-
soever coming here because I know that people might not be able to see it
now, but I can see it and I know we're going to turn this thing around.
"And there's no way I'm gonna give up because we've been through an
awful lot together, and it's just beginning to form as a family. And I can see
it.
"And I'm gonna try to get together and tell the fellas because if they hear
something like that, what would they think? I'll probably get coach Frieder
together so he can talk to everybody and say, hey, there's no truth to that at
all.
"I don't even know where that came from, and .I feel really bad that
somebody would even say that."
But one possible reason for the rumor is not lost on the little freshman
from Flint Central.
"When you get down, I guess everybody's trying to throw darts at you, or
whatever. One way or another they want to find something there, but we can
hang together real good.
"I guess coach Frieder's gonna find out what's going on because it's all
brand new to me. When I walked out of the shower it was presented to me for
the first time."
But it won't be the last time. Such stories are what often make, and can
ultimately break, a 1-9 team.
PURDUE
Min]
Palombizio .......13
Scearce ..........27N
Cross.............. 30
Stallings .......... 30
Edmonson ......... 32
Elfert...........21
Hall .............. 16
Kitchel............7T
Benson.............5
Bullock............ 10
Clawson..........3
Lawson ........... 3
Peterson .......... 3
Team Rebounds
FG/A FT/A R
1/2 0/0 2
5/9 0/0 10
4/7 2/4 5
0/4 0/0 3
13/21 8/9 6
5/6 0/3 0
1/1 0/0 2
3/3 0/0 1
1/1 0/0 2
2/3 2/2 2
2/4 0/0 0
0/0 0/0 0
1/2 0/0 2
2
A
1
1
2
8
0
6
0
0
0
0
0
PF Pts
22
1 10
2 10
2 0
3 34
0 10
1 2
1 6
0 2
0 6
0 4
0 0
0 2
MICHIGAN
Min
Garner..........
Hopson ............
Person..........
Pelekoudas........
Turner.........
Carter...........
Rockymore ........
Rudy ..............
Hall.............
Brown..........
Team Rebounds
Totals...........
37
25
36
29
34
10
22
2
3
2
FG/A FT/A R
6/18 1/1 9
0/3 0/0 1
7/12 0/0 8
1/2 3/4 0
7/12 0/0 1
1/3 0/0 0
9/12 3/4 4
0/1 0/0 0
0/0 0/0 0
0/0 0/0 0
31/63 7/9 24
A
1
0
3
5
8
0
0
0
0
0
PF Pts
2 13
0 0
3 14
4 5
4 14
0 2
1 21
0 0
0 0
0 0
Daily Photo by KIM HILL
MICHIGAN CAPTAIN Thad Garner (45) lays the ball up toward the basket
in yesterday's loss to Purdue. Garner scored 13 points and snagged a team-
high nine rebounds.
17 14 64
Totals.............. 38/63 12/18 37 19 12 88
Hawke yes defeat Ilini
IOWA CITY (AP) - Iowa's Mark
Gannon scored 15 points, including a
short one-handed jump shot that stopped
a second-half Illinois surge, to give the
seventh-ranked Hawkeyes a 56-50 vic-
tory in regipnally-televised Big Ten
college basketball yesterday.
Iowa, 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the
league, took advantage of the Illini's
foul trouble and forged an 18-10 lead
with nine minutes, 17 seconds left in the
first half. The score was 28-20 at inter-
mission.
THE HAWKEYES stretched their
lead to 13 points before they went cold
with about 13 minutes to play.
Illinois'James Griffin scored on a
three-point play, Craig Tucker added a
basket and Derek Harper had two to
bring Illinois to within four points at
44-40 with 7:59 remaining.
That's when Gannon stepped in to
break up the Illinois run. Iowa used
four clutch free throws by Steve Carfino
to seal the victory.
Minnesota 64, Michigan
State 58
EAST LANSING (AP) - Trent
Tucker, a Minnesota senior who grew
up 50 miles from East Lansing in Fint,
returned to his hme state and scored 17
points while three teammates were in
double figures as the Gophers captured
a 64-58 Big Ten basketball victory over
Michigan State last night.,
The sixth-ranked Gophers took an
11-point lead early in the game and
never trailed enroute to their first con-
ference victory against one defeat.
Minnesota is 9-2 for the season.
Michigan State alos is 1-1 in the Big Ten
and 6-6 overall.
MINNESOTA vaulted to a 21-10 lead
with 7:13 to go in the first half and set-
tled for a 27-19 lead at intermission. the
Gophers increased their lead to 40-23
with 13 minutes remaining in the game
when Michigan State rallied.$
Ohio State 66,
Wisconsin 59
COLUMBUS (AP) - Ohio State, led by
Larry Huggins' 15 points, rolled to its
eighth consecutive college basketball
victory last night with a 66-59 Big Ten
decision over Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes remained tied for the
league lead with a 2-0 record and
pushed their overall mark to 11-3.
Wisconsin fell to 1-1 in the conference
and 4-6 for all games.
OHIO STATE won despite not scoring
a basket in the last 13 minutes.
However, the Buckeyes held off the
Badgers by hitting 15 free throws in
that span.
Clark Kellogg contributed 12 points
while Tony Campbell had 10 fdr Ohio
State, which led at halftime, 35-34.
John Bailey scored 13 to lead Wiscon-
sin before fouling out with 12 seconds to
play. Freshman Cory Blackwell wAs
the only other dcouble-figure scorer for
the young Badgers, with 12.
Northwester 75,
Indiana 61
EVANSTON (AP) - Jim Stack and
Bob Grady scored 15 points each as
Northwestern shook off 12 years of
frustration and a string of 20 straight
losses to Indiana by whipping the
defending Big Ten and NCAA cham-
pions 75-61 last night.
The loss was the fourth straight for
Indiana and second straight in con-
ference play and dropped the Hoosiers
to 6-5 for the season. Northwestern
boosted its Big Ten mark to 1-1 and is
now 5-6 for the season.
North Carolina sihps
past Virginia, 65-60
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP)- James Worthy hit a turn-around jumper that gave
North Carolina its first lead in the second half, with less than four minutes to play4
and the top-ranked Tar Heels clawed their way to a 65-60 basketball victory
yesterday over No. 2 Virginia.
Worthy's short jump shot from the left baseline put the Tar Heels ahead, 55-54,
with 3:47 to play and capped a comeback that saw undefeated North Carolina
erase a nine-point deficit. The teams traded advantages in the closing minutes un-
til two foul shots by Sam Perkins with 1:48 to play gave North Carolina the lead for
good, 59-58, and the Tar Heels held on for their 11th victory this season by going in-
to their famed four-corners offense.
Bradley 55, Wichita State 47
PEORIA, Ill. (AP)- Mitchell Anderson poured in a game-high 17 points and
Donald Reese spearheaded a tough defense yesterday as Bradley upset ninth-
ranked Wichita State, 55-47, in Missouri Valley Conference basketball.
With Reese as the anchor of a zone defense, Bradley held Wichita State scoreless
in the first four minutes and limited the Shockers to just seven field goals in 31 fir-
st-half attempts, taking a 26-16 lead at the intermission.
THE BRAVES reeled off six straight points to open the second half and took a
commanding 32-16 lead with 18:23 to play. Bradley then bagged several clutch free
throws down the stretch to safeguard its margin of victory.
Anderson added 14 rebounds to his game-high point total, while Reese chipped in
14 points for Bradley, 2-0 in MVC play and 8-6 overall.
Freshman Aubrey Sherrard chalked up 12 points to lead Wichita State, which
shot only 25 percent from the field for the contest. The Shockers fell to 1-1 in con-
farnnana v a il 11- Sn
SCORES
College Basketball
Purdue 88, MICHIGAN 69
Iowa 56, Illinois 50
Minnesota 64, Michigan State 58
St. John's, N.Y. 76, Providence 62
Massachusetts 57, Duquesne 55
Washington 47, Arizona State 46
Kent State 57, Ball State 55
Hofstra 75, Bucknell 62
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