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February 26, 1996 - Image 13

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The Michigan Daily, 1996-02-26

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"

....................

BASKETBALL

The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, February 26, 1996 - 5B

Jaston paces Michigan

M shootin
By Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer
Maceo Baston's 7-for-10 shooting
performance Saturday seems impres-
sive, especially compared to the 12-for-
50 effort by the rest of the Michigan
*n's basketball team. But such games
are nothing new for Baston.
The Wolverine center came into the
game shooting 67.5 percent from the
field. That's a slight improvement over
iAst season, when
Baston made 67.4
percent of his shots.
.:'+at's the good 1setU
'nes for Michigan.
The bad news is that Notebook
ody else has
Ie close to dupli-
;cating Baston'saccu-
racy..
Maurice Taylor's
3-for-21 shooting in the past two games
has dipped him down to the 50 percent
mark. Ryan DeKuiper is the only other
Michigan player making half his shots.
And DeKuiper has only taken four shots.
Robert Traylor was hitting 55.4 per-
tof his attempts before breaking his
arm last week. Traylor is out for the
season.
Willie Mitchell and Jerod Ward have
actually taken more shots than they have
points, a rare and dubious feat. Ward is
out for the year with a knee injury.
Freshman Louis Bullock, who has
been one of Michigan's most reliable
players from the moment he put on a
Wolverine uniform, has been mired in a
slump. Bullock has made just 12 of 48
*ts in the past five games.
MUDDLED PICTURE: It is still too early
to tell how many Big Ten teams will
earn NCAA Tournament bids. Purdue
(13-2 Big Ten, 23-4 overall) will al-
most certainly win the conference and
thus earn an automatic bid. Penn State
(10-4, 19-4) and Iowa (8-5, 19-6) are
also locks for the tourney.
After those three, it gets confusing.
Henson to
By Brent McIntosh
Daily Sports Editor
The Big Ten will be without one of
senior mentors when the 1996-97 seas
rolls around. Illinois coach Lou Hens
announced Saturday that he will retire f<
ving this season.
The 63-year-old Henson will remain
Illinois as a part-time assistant athletic c
rector.
Despite a season that hasn't lived up
expectations, the Illini hadjust defeated N
1,8 Iowa, 91-86, when Henson made t
announcement. His retirement ended sor
speculation about the program's futu
which could have turned potential recru
sewhere.
've been thinking about it, and when '
started losing, I wanted to go another yea

percentage
The 1-6 showing by the Big Ten in
last year's tournament isn't likely to
convince anyone that six bids are war-
ranted again this year. The conference
may only get to send three teams to
NCAAs. More likely, four or five Big
Ten squads will earn spots.
Indiana, which dropped to 15-11 (8-6
Big Ten) by losing to Purdue yesterday,
appears on its way out of the picture.
Michigan State (8-7, 14-13), Minne-
sota (7-7, 15-11) and Wisconsin (7-7, 15-
11) are probably already out of the pic-
ture. Illinois (6-8, 17-9) is sneaking back
into the picture, but the Illini will need at
least a 9-9 Big Ten mark to make it. Ohio
State and Northwestern are so far back,
they can't even see the picture.
All of this leaves Michigan (7-7, 17-
10) as the most likely team to earn the
Big Ten's fourth bid. The Wolverines
need at least two and possibly three
wins in their last four games to make it.
That is certainly a feasible task.
Michigan hosts Michigan State Tues-
day, then travels to Illinois and North-
western before hosting Wisconsin. The
Wolverines will likely be favorites in
all but the Illinois game.
GOPHERS' wOEs: Minnesotaj ust can't
figure out how to win in Crisler Arena.
The Golden Gophers have not won in
Ann Arbor since the 1981-82 season,
when they captured the Big Ten title.
. Prior to that, Minnesota had not won
at Michigan since 1962-63.
SCHEDULE NOTE: Michigan's game at
Illinois, which has been listed as "March
2 or 3" on schedules, finally has a date.
The game will be played March 3 at 2
p.m. It will be televised by CBS.
As of last week, CBS was not going to
televise it unless the Wolverines won at
Penn State last Thursday. When Michi-
gan lost, the game was tentatively sched-
uled for March 2, with Creative Sports
televising it. But CBS decided to televise
it despite the Nittany Lions' victory.
So ifyou're sitting home Saturday and
there's nothing good on TV, blame CBS.

Michigan's
free-throw
shooting now,
'an asset
By Paul Barger
Daily Sports Writer
During MoonJam '95, the Michigan men's basketball
team's version of Midnight Madness, Detroit television
sports reporter Van Earl Wright challenged Michigan
coach Steve Fisher to a free throw shooting contest.
Fisher embarrassed Van Earl, hitting every one of his
shots. This impressive display left a question in the minds
of most Wolverine fans: How come the coach is so goo
from the foul line while his team is so bad from the charity
stripe?
For most of the past five years, foul shooting has been
one of Michigan's greatest weaknesses. Games that should
have been blowouts became interesting contests because
of the Wolverines' ineptitude from the line.
That has changed this season.
Not since 1989, when Rumeal Robinson hit two rather
important free throws in Seattle, has a Michigan squad
relied so much on its ability to hit from the foul line.
"Something that was a huge liability has become an
asset for us," Fisher said. "We've got confident free throw
shooters."
Saturday against Minnesota, foul shooting was the key
to the Wolverines' much-needed victory. Fisher's squad
canned 23 foul shots on 27 attempts (85 percent). Consid-
ering that Michigan scored only 65 points, it is easy to see
the importance of those 23 shots.
Albert White, who has emerged as one of the Wolver
ines' top players since being moved to power forward, led
the charge, hitting 11 of 12 from the stripe. It was obvi-
ously the best free throw shooting effort of his young
career.
"I haven't shot that many free throws in a while - since
high school," White said. "We've been shooting a lo
better as a team. Now, when I step to the line. I clear my
mind."
Senior Dugan Fife, who is shooting over 86 percent, and
freshman Louis Bullock, who is just under 90 percent and
has missed a mere five free throws all season, have been
the catalysts in Michigan's emergence from the free throw
line. Both are ranked among the top foul shooters in the
nation.
Since beating Illinois at home Jan. 9, the Wolverines
have been deadly from the line. That night Michigan shot.
an impressive 75 percent, hitting 21 free throws. But that
was only a sign of things to come.
The next two games, against Michigan State and Penn
State, produced two of the Wolverines' finest perfor
mances from the line in team history.
In those contests, Michigan combined to hit 26 of 28
times, missing only once against each opponent.
"When we see someone being consistent, it just carries
over to the next person," Bullock said. "When you see
someone hit foul shots in a pressure situation, you're that
.much more confident that you can do it the next time.'"
The victory over Indiana Feb. 18 was sealed by clutch
free throw shooting down the stretch. Also, the Wolver-
ines went to the line 35 times that night, unheard of against
a Bobby Knight-coached team.
Saturday simply reaffirmed this positive trend for Michi-
gan. No individual player doubts a teammate's ability to
hit every time from the line, but rather expects it to
happen. This should give the Wolverines a huge advan-
tage in their run for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Albert White lunges for the ball during Michigan's 65-62 victory over Minnesota. White scored in 15
points for the Wolverines.

step down at
Henson said, adding that he thought staying
on would have hurt recruiting.
s "I did what was best for the university
n rather than what I wanted personally," he
i said.
- Henson's announcement shocked fans and
players alike; his team was not informed
t beforehand.
- "None of the players had any idea," guard
Richard Keene said. "He caught us by sur-
> prise."
Henson's replacement has not yet been
eselected, but a decision should be made within
e a couple of months. Henson said he favored
assistant Jimmy Collins, who joined him in
s 1983.
"Speaking ofcoaches in the league, there's
e been nobody who's been more willing to
' work and help to make the league better,"

t llinois after 21 seasons

Iowa coach Tom Davis said. "You look at all
the wins and all the years and wish him the
best."
Henson has been the coach at Illinois for 21
seasons, compilinga422-220 record, 213-161
in the Big Ten. This is his 34th season as head
coach, during which he has compiled a record
of 661-327. That win total places him seventh
among active NCAA Division I coaches.
Henson's Illinois teams are 17-25 against
Michigan, including a Final Four loss in 1989.
The Illini have not beaten the Wolverines
since 1991.
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said that
Henson and his wife are not simply coaching
acquaintances of the Fisher's; the two couples
are close friends.
"His breed is slowly becoming extinct -
guys who are in it for 35 years," Fisher said.

His breed is
slowly becoming
extinct"
- Steve Fisher
Michigan basketball coach on
Lou Henson
,
"That breed will disappear when the Knights,
the Dean Smiths are gone - those guys who
will dedicate themselves to the game."
Michigan beat Illinois, 83-68, Jan. 9. The
two teams meet again Sunday at 2 p.m.
- The Associated Press
contributed to this report.

Purdue coses in on
3rd consecutive tite

Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON -Chad Austin's
3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left gave
No.7 Purdue a 74-72 victory over arch-
rival Indiana yesterday as the Boiler-
makers overcame more than seven min-
utes without a field goal in the second
half.
Purdue (13-2 Big Ten, 25-4 over-
all) saw an I l-point lead evaporate
during its scoring drought before re-
*vering. The victory moved the Boil-
ermakers one step closer to becoming
the first team to win three consecutive
Big Ten titles outright in three de-
cades.
Purdue led, 52-41, when Porter Rob-
etts made a layup off a fast break with
17:18 left in the game. Todd Lindeman,
who scored a career-high 21 points for
Indiana, had seven as the Hoosiers ral-
lied to lead 60-55 with 9:59 left. Roy
tirston'sjumper with 9:44 remaining
t Purdue trailing, 60-57.
Indiana (8-6, 15-11) tied the game
for the last time at 64-64 on two free
throws by Charlie Miller and the Hoo-
siers, who had been undefeated in con-
ference play at home, led, 72-68, with
2:15 to go. They had the ball twice after
that before Austin's shot, but failed to
score.
OHIO STATE 82, NORTHWESTERN 69
* haun Stonerook scored 20 points
and Jermaine Tate 19 Saturday night as
Ohio State snapped a six-game losing
streak and climbed out of the Big Ten
basement with an 82-69 victory over
Northwestern.
Damon Stringer added 15 points and
eight .asists fnr the Rckeves (10-14

Stonerook, who had just one point in
Buckeyes' win over the Wildcats last
month, scored 16 in the first half Satur-
day as Ohio State took a 39-28 halftime
lead. Most of his points were the result
of an aggressive full-court trap; Ohio
State scored 17 first-half points on 13
Northwestern turnovers.
WiscONsIN 73, MICkIGAN STATE 52
Sean Daugherty scored 15 of his
game-high 19 points in the first half
Saturday to lead Wisconsin to a 73-52
Big Ten victory over Michigan State.
Freshman Jeremy Hall and Sam Okey
scored 14 and 12 points for the Badgers
(7-7, 15-11), who lost to last-place
Northwestern in Madison last Wednes-
day.
Michigan State (8-7, 14-13) saw its
NCAA Tournament hopes fade further
as it suffered its fourth loss in five
games. Ray Weathers and Quinton
Brooks each scored 14 points for the
Spartans, while Big Ten rebounding
leader Jamie Feick pulled down 11
boards.
The Spartans were dismal in the first
half, committing 12 turnovers that led
to 13 Wisconsin points, while shooting
only 36 percent from the field.
The Badgers, whose six first-half
turnovers led to only two Michigan
State points, never trailed after taking a
4-2 lead on Shawn Carlin's 3-point
basket.
Wisconsin's lead reached 31-16 af-
tera 17-5 run in which Daugherty scored
nine of his 15 first-half points. The
Badgers, who shot 48 percent in the
first half, led, 35-22, at halftime.
ILL INOIS 91 IOWA 86

MINNESOTA
Continued from Page 18
with solid defense and interior play.
The win pulls Michigan into a three-
way tie for sixth place in the conference
going into tomorrow's home contest
against Michigan State. A victory in
that game would go a long way toward
making the Wolverines NCAA Tour-
nament material.
"Right now I think we control out
destiny," Michigan forward Maurice
Taylor said. "If we want to go to the
tournament, we've got to win the rest of
our games."
That could be a difficult task. Be-
sides the Michigan State game and a
road contest at Northwestern, the Wol-
verines take on Illinois Sunday. The
Illini beat No. 18 Iowa Saturday. Michi-
gan finishes its season at home against
Wisconsin, a team that beat the Wol-
verines in their first Big Ten game this
season.
MINNESOTA(62)
F0 FT REB
MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PTs
Jacobson 22 3-9 01. 2-2 0 3 7
James 31 3-4 0-0 4-8 3 3 6
Thomas,J. 29 1-8 3-4 2-8 2 4 5
Harris 26 0-2 4-5 0-1 5 2 4
Jackson 33 8-16 1-2 3-8 0 3 18
Grim 23 1-5 0-0 0-3 1 3 3
Thomas,C. 22 6-7 0-1 02 2 3 13
Winter 11 3-4 0-0 2-4 0 3 6
Jones 3 0-2 0-0 1-1 0,0 0
Team 0-0 36
Totals 200 25.57 8-13 17.43 1324 62=
FG%: .439. FT%: .615. Three-point goals: 4-11,
.364(ThomasC. 1-1, Jackson 1-5, Grim 1-3,
Jacobson 1-2). Blocks: 0. Turnovers: 16
(Jackson 6, Jacobson 3, Thomas, J. 3, Thomas,
C. 2, Grim, James).Ateals: 3 (Grim, Jacobson,
Thomas,J.). Technical Fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (65)
FG FIREB
MIN M-A MA 0T A F PTS
Conlan 33 1-6 0-0 12 6 3 2
Taylor 31 2-12 3-4 3-8 0 4 7
Baston 22 7-10 6-7 6)9 0 3 20
Bullock 35 3-10 3-4 0-1 2 2 11
Fife 26 2-5 0-0 0-2 2 1 6
Mitchell 21 2-6 0-0 1-2 0 0 4
White 28 2-11 11-12 6-8 0 4 15
Morton 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0-0 0-3
Totals 200 19460 23.27 17-35 1017 65

MARK FIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan's Maceo Baston reacts negatively after picking up a foul during the second half of Saturday's game against
Minnesota at Crisler Arena. Baston led the Wolverines with 20 points.

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