BASKETBALL
The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 10, 1997- 58
Mask not enough to make
Mo think about his schnozz
By Will McCahill
DailySports Editor
On'Saturday, Maurice Taylor was unstop-
*ble:
But this time, it was not opposing defens-
es tying to stop the junior forward.
It was the heckling of his own teammates,
the concern of his
coaching staff and
the tardiness of the
UPS delivery man. yan
After breaking his aid 11fo1
nose.., in Thursday's
58-53 loss at Michael N
isconsin, Taylor
as fitted for a spe-
cial: plastic mask to Michigan forwa
protect his tender mask he wore
proboscis.
Although the mask
is clear, it neverthe-
less- brought comparisons between Taylor
and. various masked movie villains known
for cvearing hockey goalie-type facegear.
"(Senior guard) Ryan DeKuiper said I
ok dike Michael Myers (of Halloween),"
aylor said. "And then (trainer Steve
Stri'cker) got on me and said all I needed
was a chainsaw.
"'hen he was talking about painting it all
different kinds of colors, looking like a
goalie mask. He told me to put the wings on
it, like the football helmets."
Because of delivery problems, Taylor
almost missed out on all the friendly teas-
ing. The mask arrived a mere 45 minutes
before the scheduled tip-off with Penn
'k
vi
State.
Taylor said the scene in the lockerroom
was almost frantic as he, Stricker and coach
Steve Fisher waited for the accessory to
arrive.
"We couldn't find it," he said. "We were
searching for the UPS guy.
"Fish was in an
uproar," Taylor
'efiper said of his nor-
mally reserved
red like coach.
Indeed, Fisher
said he was
beginning to
- Maurice Taylor doubt if the
d on the protective Nittany Lions
to protect a broken would get a look
nose. at Taylor's
n schnozz-protec-
tor.
"They told me the mask would be here,"
he said, "then it got delayed and delayed,
and we all got a little worried that 'Will it
get here for this game?"'
Fisher said there would have been no
stopping Taylor from playing, masked or
un-masked.
"I would have played him had he said he
wanted to play," Fisher said. "He was in no
danger if he played."
Taylor, too, said he was willing to put his
beak on the line for the team.
"I was going to play regardless," he said.
"I had a headache before the game, but I
told (Stricker) not to tell Fish, because I
knew I could play through it."
The appearance of a masked man on the
Crisler Arena floor was reminiscent of
Chris Webber's turn behind the facegear
during the 1992-93 season after his nose
was broken in practice.
In fact, Michigan assistant coach Brian
Dutcher made Taylor a tape of Webber's
first game after the injury, an 80-73 victory
over Minnesota in which Webber set a
career-high for blocked shots.
"I watched (the tape) before the game,"
Taylor said. "It kinda hyped me up a little
bit."
Taylor came off the bench to score 14
points in the 81-64 drubbing of the Lions,
despite taking an elbow in the nose from
Penn State center Calvin Booth shortly after
entering the game.
"I thought I was cursed or something," he
said of taking the blow. "But then I realized
I could take a hit on it, and it made me feel
better as the game went on."
Taylor reported few problems with the
mask after the game.
"There was a couple rebounds I could
have had (without the mask)," he said.
"Looking straight up was kind of hard
because I would look into the edges of the
mask, and I couldn't see anything."
Still, the mask - which Taylor said he
expects to wear through the remainder of
the Big Ten season - isn't exactly some-
thing he plans to wear around the house.
"As soon as I got to the bench I was out
I
of it," he said.
"I didn't want to spendI
thing."
time in it or any-
Looking somewhat like Hannibal Lechter in his fashionable mask, Michigan forward Maurice Taylor dri-
ves by Penn State's Jarett Stephens for two of his 14 points. He also pulled down five rebounds.
Dunks no longer elusive for
Hughes; Lisicky goes cold
By Alan Goldenbach
Daily Sports Editor
Remember the time you saw your
friend dunk a basketball for the first time
in high school? Even though he was 6-
foot-5, you probably never thought he
could get up that high.
So, when the relatively diminutive
Brandun Hughes stole the ball with less
than three minutes left in Saturday's game
and coasted toward the Penn State basket
for an emphatic one-handed jam, imagine
what went through the minds of the fans
at Crisler Arena.
Shock. Arm pinching. Memories of
Spud Webb.
"I knew I was going to dunk it as soon
as I got the ball," said Hughes, who is
generously listed at an even six feet. "I've
been waiting three-quarters of the year to
do that"
So you'd think that while Hughes wait-
ed so long for this moment, he would've
had a plan for some special dunk - per-
haps a 360-degree spin or a reverse.
"I just wanted to get the ball in,' he
said. "For my next one, I'll think a little
more about it."
However, it didn't come as a shock to
Hughes' teammates.
"We knew he had hops, because he
(dunks) in practice all the time," Ron
Oliver said. "But the fans didn't know, so
they were probably surprised."
Not only were the fans surprised by
Hughes, but Oliver himself gave the fans
a little something to drop their jaws about.
About two minutes later, the equally
diminutive Oliver played a foot taller than
he is and swatted a David Macklin shot
out of the air for his first blocked shot of
the season.
The crowd let out just as many
"Damns!" and "Ooohs!" with Oliver's
Bill Russell impression as they did with
Hughes' Michael Jordan.
But Oliver had to confess something
about the play.
"(Macklin) was only like 5-9," he said.
"So I had plenty of time to get over to
him."
What did someone more accustomed
to shot-blocking have to say about the
play?
"(Oliver) got that one out of my book,"
said 6-foot-8 center Robert Traylor.
A SICK LIsIcKY: Penn State sharp-
shooter Pete Lisicky, notorious for his
outrageously long shooting range, was
kept under wraps by Michigan's defense
in the second half.
After Lisicky's solid 4-for-5 perfor-
mance from the floor for 11 points in the
E first half, Michigan
coach Steve Fisher
stuck Hughes on
Lisicky for much of
the second half,
despite giving up four
inches to the Lions'
leading scorer.
Lisicky managed
only two points after
halftime, both coming from the free-
throw line. Otherwise, the gunner was fir-
ing blanks, missing all six of his field-
goal attempts, including four from behind
the arc.
"Brandun did a great job on him in the
second half,"Travis Conlan said. "He just
kept on denying him the ball the whole
way."
JUST CHILLIN' FOR NOW: Michigan
now has its longest layoff of the season -
eight days. But Fisher's plans don't
include giving his team a chance to sit
back and relax.
"We're going to take care of Michigan
and prepare a handful of things that we're
either not doing well or that we do for our
team.," he said.
"More so than getting ready for the
next team, we're going to get Michigan
ready."
The Wolverines next suit up Jan. 16,
when Indiana comes to Crisler Arena. The
Hoosiers are looking to sweep the season
series from Michigan for the first time
since 1993.
BAKE UP THOSE TURNOVERS: Th(
name of the game each time Michigar
and Penn State get together seems to be
turnovers.
Unfortunately for Michigan's 300.
pound Traylor and the Lions' 265-pounc
Phil Williams, these turnovers aren't the
ones with apples or cherries in them.
Saturday, Penn State coughed the roci
up 23 times to Michigan's 17. When th
teams met 12 days ago at the Bryc
Jordan Center, Michigan had 17 as well
while Penn State gave it up 22 times.
In last year's two meetings, the team,
combined for 37 and 35 turnovers
respectively, with the loser throwing i
away 21 times each game.
WOLVERINES IN CLEVELAND: A num
ber of former Michigan players were or
hand for the NBA's All-Star Weekend thi
past couple of days.
Terry Mills and Glen Rice, teammate:
on the 1989 national championship team
participated in the 3-point shootou1
Saturday night. Rice and former Fab Five
Chris Webber played in the All-Star gam
yesterday.
"I talked to Mills, and he said the)
would tie and keep it a tie and not have1
shoot-off," Fisher said "One guy woul
take the award for a week, and then thi
other guy would take it. But I don't know
if Glen would go for that"
They didn't have to worry about that
Rice finished third behind winner Stev
Kerr.
Webber, the Eastern Conference'
backup center, made his All-Stai
debut without much of a bang, scor
ing just two points and pulling dowl
four boards in 14 minutes of play
Rice scored 26 points and was name
MVP in his third All-Star game.
"It's a great honor for all of them to b
a part of it and also for Michigan to hav
three guys participating in the weekend.
says a lot for the kids who have comr
through here:'
MRK FRIEDMAIN/ Dily
Maceo Baston gave basketball fans a brief preview of Saturday night's NBA dunk contest. Los Angeles rookie Kobe Bryant
was the official winner of the contest, but Baston's tomahawk slam may have put him in the running.
PENN STATE (64)
FO FT REB
MIN M-A M-A O.T A F PTS
Carlton 24 4-9 2-3 1-2 1 4 11
Stephens 34 5-9 0-2 2-5 0 2 12
Booth 22 4-5 2-2 0-3 1 4 10
Lisicky 32 4-11 2-2 1-1 1 0 13
Bailey 34 2-5 , 0-1 0-3 5 3 4
Macklin 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Williams 23 5-7 2-2 4-7 2 3 12
Stevenson 13 0-1 00 1-1 1 1 02
Metzger 7 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Jackson 2 0-0 0-1 0-1 0 1 0
Pettigrew 2 0.0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0
Fritz 1 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 200 24.4912-1511-281119 64
FG%: .490. FT%:.800. 3-point FG: 4-12,
.333 (Lisicky 3-7, Carlton 1-4). Blocks: 3
(Stephens 2, Williams 1). Steals: 5 (Bailey
2, Booth, Jackson, Stephens). Turnovers:
23 (Stephens 5, Carlton 4, Williams 4,
Booth 3, Bailey 2, Lisicky 2, Metzger,
Stevenson).Technlcal Fouls: none.
PENN STATE
Continued from Page 11B
Stephens down low. The four each
scored in double-figures and com-
bined for 45 points, 70.3 percent of the
Lions' total offensive output.
"We did not do a good job defend-
ing dribble penetration," Fisher said.
"They got the ball to the basket. In the
first half, we didn't do a good enough
job of dropping, sinking and taking
away the pass out of the dribble.
Second half, we were better at it."
The first half resulted in four lead
changes and six ties, courtesy of
close shooting from both sides.
The Wolverines shot an even 56
percent from the floor and 60 per-
cent from 3-point range, while the
Lions shot 60.9 percent from the
field and 57.1 percent from down-
town.
The Wolverines seized control of
from the foul line that fell through
and was fouled with three seconds
remaining. He buried the foul shot,
giving the Wolverines a 38-34 lead at
the half.
The closest the Lions ever got in
the second half was within four in the
first three minutes and again after
Booth converted a three-point play
with 12:39
remaining.
Booth split a
Taylor-Traylor
double-team and
was fouled on the
* play.
He hit the foul
shot, bringing the
Lions to within
four, 51-47.
Ward The Wolverines
closed out the
game in the second, outscoring the
Lions 43-30, on 55.6 percent shoot-
Illini hold Woolridge to 12 in. 66-51
victory; Knight takes bleacher seat
CHAMPAIGN (AP) - Kiwane
Garris scored 21 points, including five
3-pointers, as Illinois beat No. 25 Iowa
,66-51.
Garris also had 10 assists for the
Illini. Chris Gandy added 14 points and
10 rebounds as Illinois outrebounded
Iowa, 45-29.
Illinois (7-4 Big Ten, 17-6 overall)
held Andre Woolridge, the Big Ten's
leading scorer, to 12 points. Guy
Rucker, Iowa's 6-9 center, made most
of Iowa's inside shots and led the team
with 16 points.
The Hawkeyes dropped to 7-3 in the
Big Ten and 16-6 overall.
Sixty-two fouls were called and 87*
A.J. Guyton scored a career-high 24
points as the Hoosiers (5-6, 18-7)
avenged a loss at Ohio State (4-7, 9-11)
nine days earlier.
"It's a win. That's what we got out of
it," Knight said. "We had lost three
games in a row. ... You've got to get
something out of it."
PURDUE 77, MICHIGAN STATE 62
Chad Austin scored 27 points and
e Brad Miller added
18 points and 10
rebounds -.for
CONFERENCE Purdue at East
Roundup Lansing.
The Boilermak-
ers (8-3, 13-8) have won six of their
dnct PV~ncrnmP nn fidthemves1~p
two Big Ten teams with the worst scoa
ing average, and Northwestern (1-1
6-16) and Wisconsin (6-5, 12-7) live
up to their reputations.
The combined 100 points was lowei
by two teams in the league this seasoi
Ty Calderwood scored five of hi
team-high 12 points during a key 14-
run in the first half and Wisconsin hel
Northwestern to just seven baskets i
the second half en route to victory.
"We knew it would be extremely di:
ficult to pull away from Northwestern
said Bennett. "But I'm extremel
pleased with what occurred tonight."
MICHIGAN
(81)
FG FT REB
MIN MA M-AOT A F PTS
Baston 29 2-3 2-3 0-1 0 0 6
Ward 29 5-9 7-7 3-7 1 3 19
TraylIor 24 7-12 1-2 2-7 1 3 15
j ~ "u
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