The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - March 9, 1992 - Page 5 BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK Bailey jinx continues in third Indiana loss by John Niyo Daily Basketball Writer Damon Bailey has had his ups and downs this season in conference play. Yesterday's game provided further evi- dence of that fact. The Hoosier floor leader played only 12 minutes - four in the second half - against the Wolverines and did not score. He attempted only two shots and finished with three rebounds and one assist. In the first Michigan-Indiana contest, Bailey played a big role in the victory with 22 points, five rebounds and five as- sists. Not surprisingly, Michigan's Jalen Rose - who only scored five points on 2- for-11 shooting in Bloomington - was pleased with results of the rematch. "It was funny to me because I was guarding him," Rose said with a smile af- ter the game. "I was just determined to show them that it's not an everyday thing. 'Don't get used to it."' Rose was glad to get the second chance. "I wanted to help spark the team to- day," Rose said. "I didn't play very well the first game." For Bailey, the woeful afternoon is an- other addition to one of the more mysteri- ous statistics in college basketball. In each of Indiana's three Big Ten losses - at Michigan State, at Minnesota and now aly at Michigan - Bailey has. failed to score. KNIGHT WATCH: It's hard to know when to believe Indiana coach Bob Knight. Well known for his short temper and bit- ing sarcasm, he is literally feared in postgame press conferences. Yesterday, the sarcasm was in evidence again. "I thought the game was really well played and well officiated," Knight said after the game. And in response to the laughter in the room after that comment, he responded. "No, I really did. But I know you guys won't print that. But if I thought it was poorly officiated, you guys would make headlines out of it. What do you know about officiating? It was a goddamn well- officiated game." But Knight spent a considerable amount of time verbally accosting the of- ficials yesterday, especially in the first half. So was he serious? Only The General knows for sure. NO MERCY: One thing Knight did know for sure was how the Michigan stu- dents felt. When he walked onto the court before the game - stopping to chat with Steve Fisher - Knight was greeted with a chorus of "Go home, Bobby." And two signs stood out in the crowd as well. One read "Caution: Flying Chairs," referring to the infamous chair Knight threw in a fit of rage several years ago. The other altered a Knight statement that made headlines a few years back, when he quoted as saying "that rape victims should "sit back and enjoy it," instead of risking further harm. That sign read: "Bobby, if defeat is inevitable, just sit back and enjoy it." CEREMONIES: At halftime, Mich- igan honored some of its most successful athletes this year. David Ritter, a starting safety on the football team, was pre- sented with the Honda Scholar Athlete- of-the-Year Award. He was followed by the women's swimming and diving team, which re- ceived its trophy for winning Big Ten Championship. Then Desmond Howard and his Heisman Trophy took center stage and that brought a standing ovation from the crowd. Howard was interviewed by Jim Nantz and Billy Packer for CBS as the halftime drew to a close. TO BE ANNOUNCED: This week- end's Michigan-Illinois gametime will be announced by the Big Ten conference of- fice today. No previously mentioned times are ac- curate. A CBS programming decision is the reason for the uncertainty. The net- work has kept the starting time and date up in the air, waiting to decide between the Michigan game and Indiana at Purdue for its national telecast. Indiana coach Bob Knight yells instructions at his players during yesterday's game. Victory pushes' Wolverines should head into by Albert Lin year. The Wolverine Daily Basketball Writer. to be a sure thing for The Wolverines won a basketball game yesterday, and in the process may have done a lot more. The 68- 60 victory over the second-ranked Indiana Hoosiers likely assures Michigan a spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. "It was a very big win," frosh Jalen Rose said. "We wanted to be on an upswing going into the tour- nament, and we're on it." The Wolverines' loss last Tuesday to Ohio State dropped the team to fifth place in the conference. Many observers felt at that point that Michigan was on the tourna- ment bubble. While it is likely that the Big Ten will have five - maybe six - representatives at the big dance, the loss, coupled with the Wolverines' remaining schedule, meant the team would have a tough road ahead. "We felt we had been getting bet- ter, we just hadn't gotten into the win column," captain Freddie Hunter said. "We knew we were capable of this, and the win proves it." Had the Wolverines lost yester- day, they would have faced the prospect of a possible three-game losing streak toward the end of the all season, but a s which would have1 17-10, began to bring Yesterday's vic those thoughts. "I was'always con get in. This boosts o lot going into th frosh Chris Webbers The Wolverines fight the overconfi ,I know we cc any team in t country, and that in frontt anybody.' - C Michig come after conque team in the nation. two tough upcomin Purdue Wednesda Saturday vs. Illino could lose. The Boilermaker 65-60, in the Wolve home-opener in Jan M' over bubble a tourney with momentum 9 have appeared Illini upset Michigan State Saturday r the tournament behind Deon Thomas' 26 points. treak like that, But yesterday, none of that was left the team at on the players' minds. They know g out doubters. they are out of the conference title tory erased all race, but this victory was a sweet one nevertheless. nfident we would "We may have spoiled (Indiana's) ur confidence a chances of possibly winning the Big e tournament," Ten title outright," said Rose, of said. dropping Indiana into a first-place tie s now have to with Ohio State at 13-3. "But we dence that may don't mind playing the role of spoiler." an beat "This is a very good confidence the builder for us," frosh Juwan Howard said. "We had been winning here, I'll Say losing there, and we just gotta get of consistent, have everyone believe in each other." hris Webber The team's goal this last week of rhe regular season is to remove the ran forwvard'inconsistent' tag off its play, while it awaits Sunday's announcement of the tournament pairings. ring the No. 2 "I know we can beat any team in They still have the country, and I'll say that in front ig games - at of anybody," Webber said. "Whether ay and home we do or not is up to us." is - that they Added coach Steve Fisher: "We've got a young team that has s won at Crisler, started scratching the potential that rines conference they feel they have, but we still have uary, while the a long way to go." NiYo Continued from page 5 particular - have said that they knew they were capa- ble of such a feat. Before and after the close loss to No. 1 Duke in December, Michigan's players said they expected to win. The other big games have been no different. Meanwhile, the fans and media have sat and waited, maybe a little too impatiently, for it to happen. Yesterday, it did. And it happened in rather amazing fashion. Michigan simply outworked, outhustled and outplayed a team that supposedly never lets that happen. "We knew we had to take it to them, and put the pressure on them," Freddie Hunter said. "We knew we couldn't just sit back on defense." They didn't. The consensus among the players in the lockerroom after the game was that they had played their best defensive game of the year. Indiana shot below 40 percent from the field in both halves, and the Hoosier's leading scorer, All-America candidate Calbert Cheaney, was hounded all day and held to just 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting. A far cry, for Cheaney, from his 29-point outing Wednesday at Iowa, and certainly not a typical day overall for a Bobby Knight-coached team. All courtesy of an intense Michigan effort. "When we play hard and when we play good defense we're a tough team to beat," Webber said. And when asked about Cheaney's rough day, Webber was quick to give individual credit where it was due.A "If Ray (Jackson) didn't play the kind of defense that he did on Calbert Cheaney, we wouldn't have won to- day. But Jackson was quick to pay his teammates respect, noting that the defense yesterday was a complete team effort. "He's a great player," Jackson said. "I just concen- trated on trying to force him baseline, to my help de- fense." That help defense broke down in previous games, as did the Wolverines composure. Last Tuesday, Michigan watched a five-point lead evaporate as it committed three straight turnovers that led directly to a 77-66 loss. The players pointed to that painful memory as a big rea- son why they were able to hold on to this victory. "At Ohio State, we just gave that game away," said Webber, shaking his head. "We learned more from that game than any other this year. People asked if we learned from the Duke loss. More so than Duke, we learned from our mistakes at Ohio State, and we re- membered that on the bench." King agreed, comparing the late minutes at Ohio State, with yesterday's finish. "We kept reminding ourselves, 'Let's not do what we did at Ohio State,"' King said. "We knew we had to be strong with the ball." And Howard, along with the rest of the team, echoed those sentiments. "This time I feel we outsmarted our opponents," Howard said. "We learned a lot from Ohio State. "People criticized us and said that we played 35 min- utes of good basketball. And you can't argue with that. Today, we proved that we could play 40 minutes." They proved that and more. The last time the Wolverines had a chance to showcase their ability in a Sunday CBS national game, they looked awful. A 13- point first half against Ohio State that day couldn't be overshadowed by second-half rally that got them close. Against Indiana, though, that TV audience was un- doubtedly left with a different opinion of the Michigan basketball team. People can no longer look at this Wolverine squad with five first-year starters and talk only about how good they will be someday. Now, they have to start talk- ing about how good they already are. That is what the players have been trying to say =all along. Finally, they got their message across. INDIANA Continued from page 1 A James Voskuil three pointer with 3:08 left broke Indiana's back. Michigan was riding high, and the Hoosiers could not find the basket. Until a Greg Graham three at the fi- nal buzzer, Indiana had made only one field goal in the last seven min- utes. "We put the pressure on them defensively," Howard said. "In a way I'm surprised (Indiana was. missing), because they do hit those" clutch shots." Jimmy King had a big game for Michigan, scoring 18 points, includ- ing 10 in the first seven minutes when the Wolverines jumped out to a 20-6 lead. "I thought he was sensational in the first half," Fisher said, "He got us going." "Michigan played extremely well at the start of the ballgame," Knight said. "They really played as well early as I've seen anybody play this year." INDIANA (60) Fa FT Rob. 1M. U-A M-A O-T A F Pte. Cheaney 32 313 4-6 0.2 2 3 10 Henderson 33 9-17 1.5 4.10. 0 4 19 Anderson 35 3-13 6-9 2-5 4 4 12 Graham 19 4-5 0-1 1-1 1 3 9 Bailey 12 0-2 0-0 1-3 1 0 0 Meeks 26 2-4 0-0 1-1 3 1 5 Reynolds 31 0-4 0-0 2-6 2 5 0 Nover 12 1-3 3-4 0-0 0 0 5 Totals 200 2261 .14-25 15-35 13 20 60 2sFG%- .361. FT%- .560. Three-pont goals: I2-5, .400 (Meeks 1-1, Graham 1-2, Cheaney 0-1, Bailey 01). Team rebounds: 3. Blocks: 2 2, Bailey, Meeks). Steals: 7 (Meeks 2, Reynolds 2, Cheaney, Henderson, Anderson). Technical fouls: none. MICHIGAN (68) FG FT Rob. Min. M-A M-A O-T A F Pts. Webber 32 4-10 2-2 6-18 2 3 11 Jackson 16 1-2 0-2 0-3 1 4 2 Michigan's Chris Webber dunks home two of his 11 points in yesterdays 68-60 victory over Indiana. Arizona crushes Stanford, 89-83 No. 4 Arizona 89, Stanford 83 The Wildcats (24-4, 13-3) won their final home game and remained in the Pac-10 race. Arizona led by 14 in the second half only to see the Cardinal (16-10, 8-8) pull even. Matt Othick broke the final tie with a 3- pointer with 1:53 to play. No. 5 Ohio St. 93, Northwestern 78 The Buckeyes (21-5, 13-3) de- feated the Wildcats (818, 1-15) and set themselves up for the first-place tie in the Big Ten behind Jim Jackson's 26 points. lead the Wildcats (23-6, 12-4 SEC). Allan Houston and Carlus Groves each had 23 points for the visiting Volunteers (17-13, 8-8), who were within 71-70 with seven minutes to play. No. 12 Oklahoma St. 77, Kansas St. 69 The visiting Cowboys (24-6, 8-6) set a school record with 11 3-point- ers, five each by Sean Sutton anj Corey Williams. Kansas State (15- 12, 5-9) needs a good showing in the Big Eight tournament to make the NCAA field. their first season in the new Great Midwest with the road win behind Nick Van Exel's 24 points. Memphis State (18-9, 5-5) will probably need at least two tournament wins to make the NCAA field. No. 15 DePaul 66, Notre Dame 65 Notre Dame coach John McLeod was assessed a technical foul with the score tied and two seconds to play. Stephen Howard.of the Blue Demons (20-7) made one of two free throws for a career-high 31 points and the home win. Michigan forward Chris Webber shoots over Indiana's Alan Henderson yesterday at Crisler Arena in the WnIvArines' 6R-60 victorv.