4 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, February 14, 1994

BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK
By Tim Rardin
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
COLUMBUS - In Ohio State's only three Big Ten victories this season,
the Buckeyes have not only shot above 50 percent themselves, but have held
their opponents under 43 percent shooting as well.
That didn't happen yesterday at St. John Arena, and Michigan pulled out
the victory, 72-70.
Though Ohio State, which is second in the conference in field goal
percentage, poured in 53.2 percent of its shots for the game. The Wolverines
hit 29 of their 54 shots, good for 53.7 percent.
Incidentally, Michigan is now a perfect 10-0 when it shoots better than 50
percent as a team.
In addition, the Wolverines knocked down exactly half of their three-point
attempts, while the Buckeyes connected at less than 39 percent (.385).
In its previous three conference wins, Ohio State has shot at least 57 percent
from behind the arc, while holding it opposition below 39 percent.
HISTORY iUSTs: Jalen Rose, after yesterday's eight-assist performance,
moved past Dave Baxter (1975-78) into sixth place on Michigan's all-time
assist list.
Rose now has 348 assists, well shy of Gary Grant's career total of 731,
which the former All-American and current Los Angeles Clipper dished out
from 1985-88.
In addition, Rose hit two three-pointers against the Buckeyes, and now
needs just two more to reach 105. The 6-foot-8 junior would move past Sean
Higgins (1988-90) into second place all-time in three-point field goals made
with those treys.
LONG SHOT: When asked if 6-foot-9 Lawrence Funderburkes's last-sec-
ond, three-point attempt was the best case he could hope for, Michigan coach

OSU connects from the
outside but still loses
Steve Fisher just smiled.
"Yes, actually it is," Fisher said.
No doubt, considering Funderburke has attempted just five trifectas all
season, converting on just one of them.
The option Ohio State coach Randy Ayers was looking for was senior
guard Jamie Skelton, who leads the Buckeyes in three-pointers made and
attempted this year.
No mercy: Ohio State fans, as expected, rode Wolverines Jimmy King and
Ray Jackson all game about their recent run-in with the law.
Students yelled, "Molson" and "Beer, here" throughout the contest, refer-
ring to the two players' involvement in a Jan. 12 theft of several cases of
Molson Ice from an Ann Arbor convenience store.
One student, holding up a sign which read, "Crime Does Play," was carted
out of the arena by a police officer.
CLOSE SERIES: With Michigan's narrow victory over Ohio State, the
Wolverines have now won the last five meetings between the two clubs.
However, those five games have been decided by an average of 7.25 points,
beginning with a 75-71 overtime victory during the 1992 NCAA tournament.
Michigan won last year in Columbus, 66-64, and pulled out an overtime
game earlier this season against the Buckeyes, 86-75.
RETURN FROM INJURY: Injured players from both Michigan and Ohio State
suited up for Sunday's game.
Wolverine guard Bobby Crawford was available for action for the first time
since fracturing his right hand in practice Jan. 26. Crawford did not play in the
game.
The Buckeyes welcomed back center Nate Wilbourne, who underwent
surgery on his left elbow almost a month ago. Wilbourne played nine minutes
in the game with a huge wrap around his elbow.

AP PMOTO
Northwestern broke a nine-game losing streak with its win over Illinois
Saturday. The Wildcats are now 1-9 in Big Ten play after the triumph..
I ndiana, PurI due keep
pace with Wolverines

RARDIN
Continued from page 1
than within five.
The Wolverines answered every
run Ohio State had to offer, including
the first time the Buckeyes cut the
lead to four.
No sooner had Funderburke laid
in a Doug Etzler pass than Michigan
scored six unanswered points, includ-
ing a Dugan Fife triple and two free
throws.
With under six minutes to play,
Michigan lead comfortably, 68-58.
Or so it seemed.
BASKETBALL
Continued from page 1
peration chance. Simpson's effort
from the timeline hit nothing but air.
"We had a mental lapse missing
four free throws," Michigan coach
Steve Fisher said. "Juwan and Dugan
are two guys we would want on the
line, even though they missed."
Unlike the Buckeyes, the Wolver-
ines were successful in overcoming
their deficit. While Michigan was up
by as much as 11 on Ohio State in the
second half, Fisher's team fell behind
nine during the first half.
Led by Jalen Rose's 18 points and
eight assists, the Maize and Blue over-
came Ohio State's hot first half shoot-
ing. Down 31-23, the Wolverineswent
on a 22-5 run over an eight-plus minute
span of the first and second half, punc-
tuated by back-to-back trifectas from
Rose.
"My two threes were the differ-
ence in the ball game," Rose said.
As part of the onslaught,
Michigan'sslead reached 11, 50-39,
with five consecutive points by King,
including a pretty, reverse, left-handed
layup.
The Wolverines were forced to
comeback on the road, as they did
against Iowa and Purdue, becauseof
some sloppy play early in the game.
Michigan gave the ball away five
times in the opening eight minutes of
the contest.
Fife, who did not turn the ball over
once against Indiana last Tuesday,
committed three errors in that time
period. Buckeye guard Skelton swiped
the ball from Fife seconds after the
sophomore gained possession off the
opening tip.
The Buckeyes quickly jumped out
to the early lead as they hit four of
their first five shots, including con-
secutive threes from Derek Anderson
and Skelton, as the Wolverines
struggled to find the defensive inten-
sity which marked their win over the
Hoosiers.
"We played good early," Ohio
State coach Randy Ayers said. "We
gave it away going into halftime."
Michigan scrapped back into the
game with a 7-0 run on baskets from
Fife, King and Rose. The effort
brought the Wolverines within two
points at 23-21. However, they had
difficulty shutting down Funderburke
for much of that first half, as well as a
good part of the second.
The 6-foot-9 senior netted 13 of
his game-high 23 points in the open-
in 20 minite to hn Ain tate

The Buckeyes outscored the Wol-
verines 10-4 in the last four minutes,
thanks in part to four missed free
throws down the stretch by the Wol-
vernes.
Leading by a scant 72-70, both
Juwan Howard and Fife attempted
two free throws that could have iced
the game, but they could not convert.
"We can't let that happen if we're
going to win the big games," said
Fife, who missed his two with 4.5
seconds remaining.
What about the small games? Like
yesterday or upcoming games with
Penn State and Northwestern?
The reality is that Michigan should
not have had to hit key free throws in

this game to win. The Wolverines
should have been hitting free throws
to make the rout official.
"A lot of them (Buckeyes) have
experience but just haven't been in
many games like this before," Rose
said. "The key was staying close, be-
cause we feel like we have a good

chance to win in that situation.?'
True, but Michigan just shouldn't
have been in that situation in the first
place.
Their experience may have been
enough to squeeze out the victory, but1
by now, it ought to be enough to keep
them from having to squeeze at all.


JONATHAN LUIRE/Day
Michigan allowed Ohio State to shoot over 50 percent from the field.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
No. 12 Indiana 93, Iowa 91
Damon Bailey scored 33 points
Saturday, and a basket by Todd
Lindeman and a free throw by Sherron
Wilkerson in the closing seconds lifted
the Hoosiers over the visiting
Hawkeyes.
Indiana lost an eight-pointlead
midway through the second half and
fell behind 91-90 on a basket by
Kenyon Murray with tow minutes to
go.
Lindeman, a 7-foot sophomore
who missed the Hoosiers' loss to
Michigan Tuesday because of a
sprained ankle, put Indiana ahead with
33 seconds to go. The Hawkeyes
missed tow shots before James win-
ters fouled out with seven seconds
left. Wilkerson made one of two free
throws, and Iowa's Chris Kingsbury
missed a desperation shot off the rim
at the buzzer.
Bailey had 11 points in the first
half as Indiana erased an early 11-
point deficit and closed within 47-44
at halftime.
No. 10 Purdue 74, Michigan
State 70
Glenn Robinson scored 11 of his
23 points in the final nine minutes, 10
seconds at East Lansing as the Boiler-
makers overcame a large first-half
deficit.
The Spartans led by as many as 15
late in the first half, but couldn't hold

a row.
Northwestern 79, No. 24 Illinois
68
Ricky Byrdsong wasn't there Sat-
urday night and the Wildcats didn't
miss their coach one bit.
Kevin Rankin and Patrick Baldwin
scored 21 points each, and the emo-
tional Wildcats upset the Fighting
Illini, 79-68, to end a nine-game los-
ing streak.
Byrdsong took a leave of absence
last Monday, two days after his bi-
zarre behavior at Minnesota where he
wandered into the stands slapping
hands with fans and the 'Gopher mas-
cot while the game was in progress.
The school has refused to reveal why
Byrdsong asked for the leave.
The Wildcats, with assistant Paul
Swanson doing the coaching, jumped
to a 12-point halftime lead and then
withstood a second-half surge to break
the conference losing streak that had
followed a 9-0 non-conference start.
The victory marked the first time
in a decade Northwestern has won at
least 10 games in a season
No. 23 Minnesota, No. 21 Wis-
consin 78
Wisconsin coach Stu Jackson was
right. Minnesota wasn't 37 points
better than his Badgers. Saturday, the
Golden Gophers were only 31 points
better.
Voshon Lenard's 22 points led six
Gophers in double figures as Minne-
sota ronted thes horthanded BaRdrs

0

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