The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, January 30, 1995 - 5
RED STORM
Continued from page 1
half. Scott ended the stanza stealing
the ball from Jackson and taking it
the length of the floor for an uncon-
tested dunk.
"I just went out and played hard,"
Scott said. "It was time for me to
up and time for us to get a win.
We needed to get this monkey of our
back."
Coming into the game the Wol-
verines knew that they would have
to contend with freshmen sensation
Felipe Lopez, who came in averag-
ing 19.3 points per game. Michigan
controlled him, limiting Lopez to
just 11 points but they couldn't con-
Scott.
Today we saw the skill he has,"
said Lopez, who pulled down nine
rebounds. "I feel really happy for
him."
For Michigan, Jackson led the
way with a career high 27 points.
Maceo Baston had his second-
straight productive game with 15
points and six rebounds.
"I just go out there and bust my
t," Baston said.
The Wolverines didn't get their
normal production in other areas on
the court, though. Maurice Taylor
struggled after getting into early foul
trouble and finished with nine points
and King made just 6 of his 18 shots.
"I think that excuse that we
haven't jelled yet has worn out,"
Taylor said. "We have jelled. We're
jg not consistent."
The loss doesn't effect
Michigan's standing in Big Ten play,
which resumes Wednesday against
Wisconsin, but it leaves the Wolver-
Blue's battle with St.
ines at 11 wins
play.
with ten games to
ST. JOHN'S (82)
FO FfTREB
WN M-A M-A O-T A F PTS
Scott 35 10-14 6-6 2-5 0 1 28
Minlend 33 3-6 5.6 3-8 2 3 11
Hamilton 24 4.7 5.6 2-5 1 0 13
Lopez 34 5-16 0-0 3-9 1 3 11
Turner 25 2-4 0-0 0-1 4 2 4
McLeod 14 2-4 2-2 0-3 0 3 6
Brown 12 0-4 00 1-4 22 0
Barrett 14 3.9 0.0 1-2 0 0 7
Bayne 9 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 2
Team 0-0 4-5
Totals 200 30466 1&20 17-43 1015 82
F%:.455. FT%: .900. Three-point goals: 4-14,
.286 (Scott 2-4, Barrett 1-2, Lopez 1-6). Blocks: 2
(Hamilton, McLeod). Turnovers: 16 (Scott 4,
Minlend 4, Brown 2, Lopez 2, Barrett, Hamilton,
McLeod, Turner). Steals: 5 (Scott 2, Barrett, Brown,
McLeod). Technical Fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (77)
FO FT REB
MIN M-A 1-A O-T A F PTS
Jackson 38 11-17 5-5 3£ 1 1 27
Taylor 24 4-11 1-2 1-3 1 4 9
Ndiaye 21 35 0-0 3.8 2 2 6
King 35 6-18 1-1 0.2 6 1 13
Fife 30 0-0 0-0 1-5 4 3 0
Baston 25 6-10 3-7 4.6 0 5 15
Mitchell 13 3.6 0-0 1-2 1 1 7
Conlan 13 0-1 0-2 0-1 0 0 0
Crawford 1 0-0 00 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0.1
Totals 200 3348 10.17 1334 1517 77
FG%:.485. FT%:.588. Three-poInt goals: 1-11,
.091 (Mitchell). Blocks: 7 (Baston 3, Jackson,
Taylor, Ndiaye, Mitchell).Turnovers: 16 (Fife 3,Taylor
3, King 2, Jackson 2, Ndiaye 2, Baston, Conlan,
Mitchell, Team 1). Steals: 9 (Fife 3, King 2, Baston,
Conlan, Jackson, Taylor) Technical Fouls:none.
St. John's...........47 35 - 82
Michigan 40 37 - 77
At:: Crisler Arena; A: 13,562.
By Paul Barger
Daily Basketball Writer
When the 1994-95 Michigan men's
basketball schedule was released, many
people focused on Jan. 29.
That was the day Michigan and its
No.1-ranked group of freshman would
take on St. John's, led by super new-
comer Felipe Lopez. All signs pointed
to an exciting matchup between the
future stars of the NCAA.
The excitement never materialized.
The freshman played well for both
teams, but it was not the performance
that CBS and its national audience were
looking for.
Lopez scored only 11 points while
missing 11 of 16 shots. He was 1 of 6
from 3-point range. Lopez's afternoon
was not spectacular, but he was still a
factor in the Red Storni's victory.
"Felipe struggled, but he got nine
rebounds," St. John's coach Brian
Mahoney said. "He was doing it in
other ways."
Lopez is coming off of a Big East
conference game Wednesday that was
hyped as a freshman battle as well. In
that contest, he was outplayed by
Georgetown freshman Alan Iverson,
who is looking more and more like the
top newcomer in the nation.
Zendon Hamilton, St. John's other
highly-rated freshman, was a presence
atcenterthroughout the game. He scored
13 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and con-
sistently caused Michigan players to
alter their shots in the lane.
The young Wolverines provided the
fans with moments of excitement, but
they never really got started yesterday.
Maceo Baston, following his outstand-
ing performance against Indiana, scored
15 points and tallied six rebounds. The
center got the unenthused crowd into
the game with three blocks and avariety
of dunks.
"I don't pay much attention to com-
paring freshman," Baston said. "It
wasn't on my mind. I just go out there
and do my job."
Forward Maurice Taylor got into
early foul trouble and played a limited
role during the game. He scored 9 points
in 24 minutes of action, but missed
many easy opportunities for buckets.
Willie Mitchell, who was only in the
game for 13 minutes, scored 7 points,
including Michigan's only 3-pointeron
the afternoon.
"It's just a game like any other
game," freshman Travis Conlan said.
"Coach didn't talk about (the freshmen
matchup) but it was in the back of our
heads. All we wanted was a victory and
we didn't accomplish that."
The Wolverines' top-rated recruit,
Jerod Ward, is out indefinitely with a
torn Meniscus in his knee.
Ward and Lopez were considered
by most to be the top two players in the
country coming out of high school.
DOUGLAS KANTER/Dally
Michigan's Makhtar Ndlaye fights for a rebound during yesterday's loss to
St. John's. Ndlaye led the Wolverines in rebounding with eight boards on
the afternoon.
TARGET
Continued from page 1
Big Ten game and we just took it
too lightly."
In reality, it had to be a tough
,e for the Wolverines to get up
fo .
During the past two weeks they
had won big games on the road at
Illinois and at Indiana, and lost a
tough, emotional game to
Michigan State at home - all of
which had implications on the
conference race.
After all of that, in such a short
a'ount of time, what would the
deal be about an 8-7 St. John's
team that had posted wins over
powerhouses Bowling Green and
coppin State.
It wasn't just the players,
though. Michigan coach Steve
Fisher wasn't nearly as vocal as he
was in Indiana where, for most of
the night, his face was as red as
Bob Knight's sweater.
And if the Wolverines were
hoping to get any help from their
fans, as they did in their double-
overtime victory over Iowa, they
were let down.
There were nearly 500 empty
seats, most in the student section,
reinforcing the fact that many did
not consider the Red Storm to be a
formidable opponent.
Without the game, Michigan
would have had eight days off
between contest. Fisher said that
St. John's was scheduled because
last season, after the Wolverines
had more than a week off, they
came back and played "awful."
What he got, with the game,
was an awful loss that dropped
Michigan's non-conference record
to .500.
Quite frankly, Michigan could
have used the rest, and what Fisher
has to hope for now is that it won't
take momentum away from a Big
Ten season that his team was
rolling through.
The Wolverines had fixed many
of the problems that had plagued
them in the first two months of the
season. They were finally making
the open shots and out-rebounded
Indiana 44-27.
Against St. John's, Michigan
repeatedly missed easy put backs
and were dominated on the glass.
Furthermore, the intense
defense that the Wolverines had
been playing for entire games was
sporadic at best.
Michigan is lucky to the extent
that all the loss did was make a
bad non-conference record worse.
The 6-6 record won't look good to
the the NCAA Tournament
selection comitee, but continued
success in the Big Ten will make
that a moot point.
The Wolverines have to make
sure that they don't continue the
bad habits that re-surfaced against
the Red Storm when they face
Wisconsin on Wednesday.
If they are able to put the loss
behind them it will simply be a
meaningless defeat in a pointless
game. If not, though, it could
result in something Michigan
hasn't seen in a while - the
National Invitaional Tournament.
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily
Michigan's Maceo Baston fails to the floor after grabbing a rebound against St. John's yesterday.
BASKEiBALLNOTEBOOK
By Paul Barger
Daily Basketball Writer
Michigan's loss to St. John's yesterday marks the first time since 1981-
82 that the Wolverines have dropped 6 nonconference games. During the
1981-82 season, the Wolverines lost 8 nonconference games and finished
8-19 overall.
Two of Michigan's losses this season have come at home, putting the
team's NCAA tournament hopes in doubt.
"It was a big game," freshman Travis Conlan said. "We needed that win
for the tournament. Our nonconference record is 6-6 and (the NCAA
tournament) is not looking too good."
The Wolverines still have 12 games remaining on the schedule.
GREAT SCOTT: St. John's James Scott had a career high 28 points
Sunday. His previous high was 26, which he reached twice in his career.
Scott was 10 of 14 from the field and hit two of four 3-point attempts.
THIRD TIME NOT A CHARM: Yesterday's game marked the third time
Michigan and St. John's have ever met. The Red Storm have never lost to
the Wolverines.
Michigan's first two losses to the Red Storm occurred in the Holiday
Festival at Madison Square Garden in 1965 and 1972.
"$ Our non-conference record is 6-6
and the (NCAA tournament) is not
looking too good."
- Travis Conlan
'M' gets blown awayby
Scott and the Red Storm
The Wolverines have ended the home winning streaks of Tennessee-
Chattanooga (27), Illinois (13) and Indiana (50).
HOME NOT SO SWEET HOME: Michigan's home record this year is 4-3. Last.
year the Wolverines lost two home games the entire season.
Fan support has been lacking as well. All the tickets are sold, but the
seats in the student section have not been filled once this entire season; not
even for last week's Michigan State game.
A . -. A