BASKETBALL
The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 3, 1997 -Y58
Conlan rises to occasion
with Hughes on sidelines
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Writer
After the Michigan basketball team
*ated Iowa, 79-71, on Jan. 19,
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said that
"sometimes there's addition with sub-
traction."
He was referring to Iowa guard Andre
Woolridge's increased productivity since
the Hawkeyes lost their star, Jess Settles,
to injury indefinitely.
But Fisher's statement could have eas-
ily been a portent about one of his own
guards, Travis Conlan.
g)n Saturday in the highly-anticipated
c ference matchup against Michigan
State, Michigan guard Brandun Hughes
did not play for violating team rules.
And Michigan's usual thin seven-man
rotation got even thinner. .
That's when guard Travis Conlan, one
of Michigan's most underrated players,
stepped up and had arguably the best
game of his college career.
"Travis Conlan played about as good a
*1 game as he's played for us since he's
been at Michigan," Fisher said.
This season, Conlan has typically
been the point guard when Hughes is not
in the game. Prior to Saturday's game,
Conlan averaged four assists, tops on the
team, and just 5.2 points per game.
Without Hughes in the lineup
Saturday, the Wolverines needed to com-
pensate for Hughes' 9.5 points per game.
Conlan, as usual, played point for the
rre 39 minutes he was in the game, but
he was also told to create more of his own
shots off dribble penetration. He scored
12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
"I told Travis ... that he needed to give
conscious thought of penetrating off the
dribble, and not just penetrating to
always be looking to pass, but first pen-
etrating thinking score;' Fisher said.
Which he did in the early minutes of
the game. He worked inside for a layup,
missed, stole the ball back from a
Michigan State player and laid it in,
tying the game at six.
Halfway through the first half, with
the shot clock winding down, Conlan
pulled up for a 3-pointer at the top of the
key, giving the Wolverines a 21-13 lead.
A few possessions later, Conlan was
on the right side of the key. The Spartans
switched a man on defense, leaving him
open for a split second. Conlan took
advantage and drained another 3-pointer,
giving the Wolverines a 10-point lead,
26-16.
All in all, Conlan shot the lights out in
the first half, nailing 10 of his 12 total
points on 4-of-6 shooting, but it was his
point skills - nifty passes off dribble-
drive penetration - that set the tone for
the entire game.
Conlan had a blistering nine assists,
the second-highest of his career and the
most by any Wolverine this season.
"Travis played excellent today,"
Michigan guard Louis Bullock said. "He
really kept us in early. He did an excel-
lent job of knocking down some shots
and then once they keyed on him, I got
open for some shots."
His ball-handling skills set up basket
after basket for Bullock, who finished
with 22 points, especially on one of the
best executed plays of the day.
Conlan had the ball on the right side
of the key with 53 seconds remaining in
the first half. He signaled to Bullock,
who was standing above the foul line, to
run to the right side of the key.
As Bullock moved, Conlan moved
down the key and handed off to Bullock.
The movement created a screen for
Bullock, who found himself open at the
top of the key. He buried his fifth 3-
pointer of the half, giving the Wolverines
a 46-23 lead at halftime.
Bullock's final shot from downtown
before the half was his third in a row,
both assisted by Conlan.
"Travis did a great job as far as mak-
ing great passes, and he got a chance to
knock down some open shots,"
Michigan forward Robert Traylor said.
"So tonight was one of his better games"
At 3:29 of the first, Conlan flipped a
behind-the-back pass to a trailing Maceo
Baston who slammed the ball home. On
the Wolverines' next possession, Conlan
dished inside to Traylor for one of his
slams on the day.
"If you watch me play, you know I
usually don't take a shot for the first cou-
ple of minutes" Conlan said. "I try to get
everyone else involved .... As a point
guard, that's your role."
Ray Weathers was the only Spartan to show up offensively on Saturday, but even his efforts weren't enough to win the battle
of the guards with Michigan's Louis Bullock and Travis Conlan. Bullock torched Michigan State for 22 points.
Suspended Hughes sits out
game; Streets does double duty
By Will McCahili
Daily Sports Editor
As it turned out, the Wolverines didn't
really need , junior guard Brandun
Hughes during Michigan's 85-65 victory
over Michigan State on Saturday.
And it was just as well, because
Michigan coach Steve Fisher suspended
Hughes for Saturday's game for violat-
ing a practice rule.
Hughes said he
was benched because
of an incident in prac-
tice Thursday, but1
would not give
details.
"It was just one of
those things" he said.
"I was just being
competitive.'
"But it ended there. .
No one's angry. No hard feelings."
Fisher refused to elaborate on the inci-
dent, but said Hughes has learned his
lesson.
"I'm not going to go into details" he
said. "We made a decision that he
wouldn't play.
"You make decisions and move on,
and that's what we've done."
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH Lou: After
another successful outing from beyond
the 3-point arc, sophomore guard Louis
Bullock finds himself just four treys
from tying Glen Rice atop Michigan's
career 3-point list.
Bullock entered Saturday's game in
second place with 125 3-pointers, one
ahead of Jalen Rose and three ahead of
Jimmy King.
He attempted only five shots in the
first half, but all were threes, and he con-
nected on each one.
For the game, Bullock went 6-of-8
from 3-point-land, giving him 131 for
his career.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said
that Bullock was one of many daggers
the Wolverines put to use Saturday.
"Give Louis Bullock credit," Izzo
said. "He's shooting the ball so effective-
ly if he's open, and
we just did not ,
defend him well."
Fisher put an
even more descrip-
tive spin on
Bullock's perfor-
mance.
"Bullock got in
one of his shooting
frenzies, where you
knew he was going Streets
to make it every
time he tried to shoot it."
So far this season, Bullock has con-
nected on 61 of 127 3-pointers, giving
him an average of almost three treys
made per contest.
At that pace, he should break the
record next Saturday, when Penn State
visits Crisler Arena.
TAIGN' IT TO THE STREETS: After
being the subject of rumors for several
weeks, Michigan wide receiver Tai
Streets finally made his appearance.
On the basketball court.
After much negotiation and pleading
with football coach Lloyd Carr, and
much discussion between Carr and
Fisher, the sophomore was allowed to
suit up and hit the Crisler hardwood.
"I had to talk to coach Carr a lot, and
he finally gave in," Streets said. "As long
as I stay with my football, he said it was
all right."
Streets saw a minute of action
Saturday, picking up two rebounds, one
on either end of the floor, to Fisher's
delight.
"He's active," Fisher said.
"(Sophomore center Robert) Traylor
nicknamed him 'The Worm' because of
his ability to pursue the ball.
"Who knows, he might help us a little
bit."
Carr had only aesthetic concerns
about Streets' tilt with the hoopsters.
"He looks better in a football uniform,
I know that," Carr said.
"I look better?" Streets asked, when
told of Carr's response. "I think I do too
in a football uniform."
BETTER TO RECEIVE: Saturday was
Traylor's 20th birthday, and the victory
over Michigan State was the best gift
anyone could have given him, Fisher
said.
"Before we went out, I said 'The only
present I can give you is the greatest pre-
sent I can give you, and you can give it
to yourself,"' Fisher said.
Traylor went out and celebrated by
scoring 14 points, a handful on high-
spirited jams.
"One of the best presents I could
receive, right there," Traylor said.
MAKE WAR, NOT LOVE?: Following
the game, Fisher was asked by a slightly
tongue-tied reporter if junior forward
Maurice Taylor was displaying any signs
of "passivity."
"He's not a pacifist," Fisher replied.
Illinois pushes Hoosiers under .500;
Tate-less Buckeyes thump Badgers
C do. + :omrayw Yt- - --
SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Robiert Traylor celebrated his 20th birthday in style - a victory over Michigan State and 16 points along the way.
tPA TANS
Continued from Page 1B
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "I
thought our offense was somewhat created
by our defense. Maceo Baston started it as
far I was concerned with his rebounding
and Bullock got in one of his shooting
frenzies where you knew he was going to
make it every time he shot.
"Travis Conlan played about as good a
ame as he has for us since he's been at
Michigan. I could go on and on like that"
But he didn't have to. Conlan was asked
to step up after Michigan's third guard,
Brandun Hughes, was suspended for the
game by Fisher for an altercation in prac-
of offensive rebounds. No other Spartan
had more than two points at the half.
The Wolverines held Michigan State to
just 41 percent shooting in the half and the
Spartans only made one of their five free
throws. Michigan meanwhile, was a siz-
zling 62 percent from the field in the first,
and an even toastier 64 percent from 3-
point range.
Michigan cooled off a bit in the second,
getting outscored by Michigan State, 42-
39, while missing five of eight times from
the free-throw line. But the Wolverines
still shot 57 percent in the second half with
a 23-point halftime lead, it really didn't
matter.
"We were just outplayed in every aspect
of the game except maybe rebounding;"
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.
"That's probably the most talented
Michigan team I've seen in my years
here."
BLOOMINGTON (AP) - Kiwane Garris scored 28 points,
including seven free throws in the final minute, as Illinois sur-
vived a big Indiana comeback and beat the 17th-ranked
Hoosiers, 78-74, yesterday.
Indiana trailed 46-34 early in the second half but fought
back to take the lead. The Hoosiers led for the final time with
seven minutes to go, but Kevin Turner's 3-pointer put the Illini
in front for good at 66-65. Indiana then
fell behind by seven only to close within E i.
a point in the final minute.
Garris, who moved past Eddie Johnson CONFERENCE
into second place on the Illini scoring list Roundup
with 1,706, made two free throws to give
Illinois a 73-66 lead with 59 seconds remaining. Andrae
Patterson's hook and Neil Reed's 3-pointer pulled the Hoosiers
to 73-71 with 47 seconds to go, but Garris made one of two
from the line.
OHIO STATE 60, WISCONsIN 42
Damon Stringer scored 18 points and Ohio State held
Wisconsin to 11 first-half points on 10 percent shooting in
beating the Badgers 60-42 Saturday.
It was Ohio State's second straight victory since losing two
of its top players for the season with injuries. The Buckeyes,
without second-leading scorer Jermaine Tate and Sean Tucker,
shocked 17th-ranked Indiana, 73-67, Thursday night.
Jason Singleton added 10 points for the Buckeyes, 9-9 over-
all and 4-5 in the Big Ten. It had been almost three years since
Ohio State won back-to-back conference games.
PURDUE 67, PENN STATE 62
Brad Miller scored 17 points and Michael Robinson and
Bryan Cardinal added 14 each to lead Purdue to a 67-62 win
against Penn State on Saturday. Jarrett Stephens scored a
career-high 22 points in a losing effort for the Nittany Lions.
After Stephens hit a layup to open the second half, Purdue
scored seven of the next nine points to take a 42-39 lead. Penn
State answered with a 7-0 run of its own before Purdue even-
tually pulled ahead 49-48. The Boilermakers, who led by as
many as six, would not trail again.
MINNESOTA 75, NORTHWESTERN 56
John Thomas scored 17 points and No. 6 Minnesota used an
11-0 second-half run Saturday night to pull away to a 75-56
rout of Northwestern.
Minnesota needs one victory to tie the school record for the
best start set in 1972-73 and 1976-77. The Golden Gophers
trailed by two points at halftime, but the run and a later 11-2
spurt gave them a 57-42 lead with eight minutes left.
MICHIGAN STATE (65)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 4T A F PTS
Smith 31 6-6 0-2 4-10 0 4 12
Garavaglia 26 2-8 1-2 2-3 1 1 5
Thomas 15 1-2 1-1 1-2 0 1 3
Weathers 27 5-9 1-2 0-1 0 1 14
MICHIGAN (85)
FO FT REB
MIN MA M-A O-T A F PTS
Taylor 29 4-9 1-2 0-0 2 4 9
Ward 33 5-11 0-1 2-4 0 1 11
Traylor 25 6-10 4-8 3-8 0 1 16
R~I~L .21! 9-11044 n 1-r% n o
GOLDENBACH
the game around.
"We have a pretty good inside-outside
but they should start to look outside for
offense more often.