" .................... 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.