6- The Michigan Daily - SPORTSTuesday - Tuesday, January 17, 1995
New attitude fuels Blue turnaround
Unselfishness, confidence put Michigan back in race for Big Ten title
.
By PAUL BARGER
Daily Basketball Writer
EVANSTON - One game can change a season.
Heading into last Wednesday's game with Iowa, the Michigan men's basket-
ball team was at a low. Six losses, after only 13 games. That is not what Michigan
fans have come to expect from their team.
The shooting had been horrendous and the intensity even worse. Onlookers
began to speculate that the Wolverines and their heralded recruiting class just
were not that good. The immediate fu-
ture seemed very unpromising.
O UR T And then Wednesday came and
changed everything.
ent Simply statedMichigan is a differ-
ent basketball team than it was a week
ago. Saturday's easy victory against
y._Northwestern proved that.
The team that could not shoot the
ball blazed away for 60.7 percent Saturday. The team that could not hold onto the
ball had a mere seven turnovers.
"We went from a team that couldn't throw the ball in the ocean if we were
standing right next to it, to a team that now thinks we're pretty good shooters,"
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "So often how you feel about yourself allows
you to be successful. We're hoping we can continue in that way. We've been
getting shots from the perimeter all year, we just haven't made them."
Northwestern is not a good basketball team by any extent of the imagination,
but that should not take away from Michigan's performance.
The Wolverines blew the Wildcats out relatively early, but they played hard
until the final whistle.
The outcome of the game was never really in doubt, but don't tell Michigan
that. The team scrapped, played defense and ran the floor like the score was tied.
There was no taunting or trash-talking, but the swagger and confidence the
team has lacked all season were back in force.
Northwestern may not be the most intimidating conference road game, but it
is a road victory nonetheless. After Michigan's performance against Penn State
last week, any win on the road is a welcome relief for Fisher.
What is truly surprising about this team is the unselfishness that is being
displayed. Freshman Jerod Ward came to the Wolverines as a top-rated high
school player that could fill it up. It is well-documented that things have not gone
that well for Ward, but Saturday night he was on the floor hustling on offense and
defense and helping his team in any way he could.
"During the Iowa game everybody stepped up," Ward said. "Asa unit we want
to build on what we learned from that game and against Penn State. We wanted
to turn this thing around and we're doing a pretty good job of it."
Sophomore Bobby Crawford has seen less and less time on the court because
of the play of freshman Travis Conlan. Crawford was inserted into the Michigan
lineup for the first time with 2:47 to play Saturday. He made the best of his few
moments, draining a 3-pointer with a hand in his face and playing his typical tough
brand of defense.
Unselfishness leads to success, especially on a team with as much talent as the
Wolverines have. Huge games, including tonight's at Illinois, will be the true test
of the heart and ability of this squad.
In a conference like the Big Ten, there are certain to be losses in the near future.
This team has to prove that it can bounce back from a tough loss and win two
nights later. There are no breaks on the schedule. In fact, after tonight's game in
Champaign, Michigan must prepare for Sunday's game against Michigan State
and Shawn Respert.If that weren't enough, the Wolverines will be in Bloomington
next Tuesday trying to break Indiana's impressive home winning streak.
If the Wolverines can sustain a confident attitude while maintaining their
unselfishness as a unit, they are alegitimate contender for the Big Ten title. If they
don't, there could be a lot more games like Penn State in the future.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Senior Jimmy King scored 16 points in the second half against Northwestern.
WILDCATS
Continued from page 1
the Wolverines in any other phase of
the game.
"I thought the fact that we
outrebounded this team had to be encour-
aging. We were a lot more disiplined with
what we were trying to do offensively.
The fact that they had more depth created
aproblem for us. We can't afford to wear
down and go to our bench."
Michigan used the game to con-
tinue the intense play that helped them
win last Wednesday's game against
Iowa.
"We just wanted to come in and
getagoodroad win,"King said. "Itwas
a good team performance.We have to
get road victories and defend our home
turf."
The recent stretch has allowed
Fisher to become a little more comfort-
able with his lineup. For the first time
all season the same starting lineup has
been used for four consecutive games.
We're getting a better feel for one
another," Jackson said. "We're defi-
nitely having fun now."
The Wolverines will have an even
better feel for themselves following the
next week. Road games at Illinois and
Indiana plus a home matchup with
Michigan State will determine
Michigan's fate in the Big Ten race.
Jackson sparks 'M'
against Northwestern,.
MICHIGAN (92)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A MA 0-T A F PIS
Jackson 33 9-16 7.8 2-4 3 1 25
Taylor 30 11-14 1-3 1-3 0 2 23
Ndiaye 18 2-3 0-2 1-4 1 4 4
Fife 16 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
King 28 7-10 2-2 0-2 6 2 16
Conlan 17 1-2 0-0 0-1 3 2 - 2
Mitchell 19 3.6 2-2 1-4 1 0 9
Baston 15 1-1 1-2 0-3 0 4 3
Ward 19 2-6 2-2 1-4 2 4 7
Crawford 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 00 3
Lengemann 1 0-1 0-0 00 0 0 0
Morton 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 200 3761 1519 6.27 1620 92
FG%: .607. FT%: .789. Threepoint goals: 3-9-
.333 (Crawford 1-1, Mitchell 1-2, Ward 1-2,
Conlan 0-1, Fife 0-1, King 0-2). Blocks: 3
(Baston, Mitchell, Ward). Turnovers: 7 (Jackson
2, King 2, Baston, Taylor, Ward). Steals: 7 (King
2, Baston, Conlan, Jackson, Taylor, Ward)
Technical Fouls: none.
NORTHWESTERN (70)
FG FT
RES
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A FPTS
Neloms 28 2-7 4-5 3-5 2 2 8
Chamberlin 26 2-4 2-2 1-3 2 4 6
Williams 33 7-10 4-5 2-2 0 1 18
Duerksen 22 3-7 2-3 0-2 5 3 9
Carlisle 35 3-10 2-3 2-7 4 0 9
Lee 22 4-10 0-0 1-2 0 1 10
Branch 11 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 2
Kreft 12 2-2 0-1 1-4 0 1 4
Purdy 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2
Dean 4 0-2 2-2 0-0 0 1 2
Rayford 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Totals 200 25.56 16-21. 13-32 1416 70
FG%: .459. FT%: .762. Three-point goals: 4-14,
.286 (Lee 2-5, Duerksen 1-2, Carlisle 1-4, Branch
0-1, Dean 0-2). Blocks: 1 (Carlisle). Turnovers: 14
(Carlisle 4, Duerksen 3, Neloms 3, Chamberlin 2,
Lee 2). Steals: 1 (Duerksen). Technical Fouls:
none.
By ANTOINE PITTS
Daily Basketball Writer
EVANSTON - The play is nor-
mally reserved for Jimmy King.
With a short shot clock the Wolver-
ines usually give the ball to King and
clear everybody else out. He then goes
one-on-one trying to create a scoring
chance before time runs out.
In the closing seconds of the first
half of Saturday's victory over North-
western, King sat on the bench so the
ball went to Michigan's other senior.
Ray Jackson got the ball, tapped his
head signifying a short clock and went
to work. He dashed by the Wildcat
defender, drove the lane and layed the
ball off the backboard to give Michi-
gan a five point lead at the half.
The basket capped a 20-point first-
half performance for Jackson. He shot
7-for- 11 and grabbed four rebounds in
the half.
"Ray Jackson's basket at the end of
the half allowed us to come in feeling a.
littlebetter about ourselves," Michigan
coach Steve Fisher said.
Jackson clearly was the offensive
sparkplug for the Wolverines in the first
half. He hit from everywhere on the
court, insideand outside. Jackson pulled
an assortment of moves out of his bag,
juking and knifing through defenders,
on his way to a career-high 25 points.
"I was just in a zone," Jackson said.
"Once you feel it you want to keep
getting the ball."
Jackson shot just five times in the
second half scoring fivepoints as North-
western adjusted its defense. It was
Jackson's first bucket of the second
half that turned out to be a milestone,
though.
His jumper from the left wing 42
seconds into the half put Jackson over
the 1,000-point mark in career scoring.
In doing so he became the fifth member*
of the 1990-91 Fab Five recruiting class
to top a grand. Jackson joined King,
Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, and Chris
Webber and moved into 32nd place on
the alltime Michigan scoring list.
"I didn't let the other four players
down," Jackson said. "I followed in
their footsteps,"
This season Jackson has been asked
to step up like never before. His statis-
tics show he has been equal to the task.
Jackson leads the Wolverines in
rebounds per game (5.5), assists per
game (2.9) and free throw percentage
(80). He is second in scoring with 15.5
points per game.
Jackson has also been a consistent
defender this season for the Wolver-
ines. Earlier in conference play he con-
tained Purdue's Cuonzo Martin and
did a stellar job Saturday against
Northwestern's Cedric Neloms.
"Ray Jackson guarded Neloms -
he's turned into a steady reliable de-
fender," Fisher said. "He takes a lot of
pride in that."
Jackson will have plenty of defen-
sive work in coming week beginning
with Illinois' Kiwane Garris and end-
ing this Sunday with Michigan State's
Shawn Respert.
MIchIgan...........37 55 - 92
Northwestern.....32 38 - 70
At: Welsh-Ryan Arena; A: 8,117
UAC is looking for motivated individuals
for its executive board for a variety of positions
DESCRIPTION
friendly
responsible
team-oriented
dynamic
professional in attitude
LAS'"'SEEM:
wandering on campus
RWARDE:
friends, fun, great satisfaction,
excellent business experience
Hf you fit this description, please turn yourself in
to the UAC office at 2105 Michigan Union to pick up
an application, or call 763-1107 for more information.
Applications are due Fri, January 20th at 4:30 pm
UAC, the University Activities Center,
s the largest student-run organization on
campus. We provide educational and
ocalprogramming for the student body.
AP PHOTO
Senior Ray Jackson dominated the first half of Michigan's game against
Northwestern. He scored his 1,000th career point early in the second half.
BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK'
Michigan shines on
both ends of floor
By PAUL BARGER
Daily Basketball Writer
EVANSTON - Statistically
speaking the Michigan men's basket-
ball team had its best game of the
season Saturday.
The team shot 60.7 percent from
the field, managed 16 assists, shot 78.9
percent from the free throw line and
committed only seven turnovers.
Michigan had a solid game on de-
fense tallying three blocks and seven
steals. Even more impressive was that
the team held Northwestern's biggest
offensive threat, Cedric Neloms, to
seven shots from the field.
ACTION JACKSON: Senior Ray Jack-
son became the fifth member of the
Fab Five to hit the 1,000 point plateau
Saturday. The 1991 Michigan recruit-
ing class, consisting ofJackson, Jimmy
King, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose
and Chris Webber, is only the second
group in NCAA history to accomplish
that feat.
The first class to have five members
reach 1,000 was the 1986 Pittsburgh
class that included Jason Matthews,
Brian Shorter, Bobby Martin, Sean
Miller and Darelle Porter.
Rose (1,788 points) leads the Fab
Five in career scoring and ranks sev-
enth on the all-time point list. He is
followed by Howard (11 th, 1,526),
King (18th, 1,327), Webber (1,218)
and Jackson (32nd, 1,004). Glen Rice
is Michigan's career leader in scoring
with 2,442 points.
STARTERS SET: Coach Steve Fisher
seems to have found a starting lineup.
For the fourth consecutive game Fisher
started Jackson, King, Makhtar
Ndiaye, Maurice Taylor and Dugan
Fife. The group also started against
Arizona State earlier in the season.
" _ _
However, Fife only saw only 16
minutes of playing time against North-
western compared to freshman Travis
Conlan's 17 minutes. Freshman Willie
Mitchell, Jerod Ward and Maceo
Baston all had significant court time.
SAN JOSE BOUND: Olivier Saint-
Jean has officially transferred to San
Jose State. He is required by NCAA
rules to sit out for a full season and will
be eligible to play in late December.
Saint-Jean had been troubled by a
knee injury during the off-season, but
still managed to ignite the Wolver-
ines against Tulane in tie Maui Invi-
tational. In the game, Saint-Jean scored
13 points in 13 minutes.
POLL PosrrmoN: Michigan is still no-
where to be found in either the USA
Today/CNN coaches' or AP polls. The
Wolverines did receive 15 votes in the
coaches' poll.
Michigan State is the top-rated Big
Ten team, ranking 12th in both polls.
Illinois ranks 20th in the AP poll and
22nd in the coaches' poll.
Iowa, whom Michigan knocked off
last Wednesday.is No.25 according to
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