ap A"kim JD* MEN'S BASKETBALL (6) DUKE 84, (8) Clemson 77 (9) S. CAROLINA 78, Arkansas 65 (11) CINCINATTI 97, Houston 64 Purdue 89, (24) INDIANA 87 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (2) OLD DOMINION 88, East Carolina 43 N.C. CHARLOTTE 69, (6) Alabama 67 OT (24) Tulane 77, NICHOLS STATE 57 PRO BASKETBALL NEW YORK 95, Phoenix 94 Miami 111. PHILADELPHIA 83 UTAH 113, San Antonio 105 CHICAGO 134, Denver 123 Dallas at LA CUPPERS, inc. Minnesota at SACRAMENTO, Inc. PRO HOCKEY Calgary 5, BUFFALO 5 PITTSBURGH 4, Florida 2 Ottowa 6, WASHINGTON 1 Wednesday February 19, 1997 9 -'M' hoops still seeing red By Will MCahill Daily Sports Editor Two days after the fact, Sunday's over- time loss to Indiana is still weighing heavily on the minds of the Michigan basketball team. The Wolverines led by 18 at the half and by as many as 20 in the second half, ut when the final buzzer sounded, they were somehow on the short end of the 84-81 final score. For sophomore center Robert Traylor, who fouled out late in the second half, the defeat couldn't have been more bitter. "It's the toughest loss I've faced in my two years here" he said. "We were up 18;"he said. "There's no way we shouldn't have won that game.' Traylor said the atmosphere in the Sckerroom after the game was one of stunned silence. "Just being on the bench the last six or seven minutes of the game, I'm sitting there and I'm like, 'I just don't believe this is happening,"'he said. "We were up 18, and the game was that close going down to the end. After the game in the lockerroom, it was quiet, nobody saying anything - I'm pretty sure everybody felt the same feeling I Junior forward Maceo Baston said he felt almost numb as he watched the lead evaporate. "We were up 20, and they would hit a 3-pointer, and we would go down and get a foul against us, and they would get another 3-pointer, and we wouldn't score - the threes catch you back up in a hurry," he said. "It happened so fast - you look up (at the scoreboard) and you're down, or it's tied up, and you're like, 'Man, what hap- pened to our lead?"' Coach Steve Fisher said he used the day off Monday to meet individually with each player and rehash the previous day's debacle. "I told them the one thing they had to know is that if they didn't feel down, they should," Fisher said. "And if they felt bad, they would have to get way in line behind me, because nobody felt worse about it than I did. "We had a game that we had won that we gave away," he said. "That was our game to win." The fact that his team allowed the Hoosiers - led by freshman guard A.J. Guyton - to come from six points behind in the final 1 1/2 minutes partic- ularly irked Fisher. "A six-point lead with 1:12 to go, you cannot lose that game, and we did," he said. "That's inexcusable for all of us, unacceptable, yet it happened" On Indiana's final possession, the Hoosiers inbounded the ball to freshman center Jason Collier, who attracted more than his share of Michigan defenders before kicking the ball out to Guyton, waiting patiently - and alone - just beyond the arc. Fisher said the Wolverines have a sim- ilar play in their offensive arsenal, and the key to its success is drawing enough attention away from the inbounder for him to get an open look at the basket. On Sunday, it was just that sort of play that allowed Guyton to nail the 3-pointer that put the game into overtime. "When the ball went into the post to Collier, there was enough of a turn of the head, just to see where the ball was going, that allowed Guyton to go from standing next to you to being out above the 3-point line" Fisher said. And that turn of the head was just enough for Indiana to turn what had looked like a Michigan win into a night- mare. "Their last basket can't happen," Fisher said. "You can't allow a score to occur like that. You can't let a guy get six feet off of you, (because) when you glance away, he's now 12 feet off of you" Indeed, he said the defeat was among the most devastating of his career. "This is one of the biggest (losses) we've had since I've been the head coach," he said. "To lose that game, the way we did, at home ...:' If there are any positives to be gleaned from the shambles, Baston said they are the lessons the Wolverines can draw. "You don't learn when you're at your high. You learn when you're at your low," he said. "We're learning right now. We can't afford to lose big leads like that." 4.i MARK FRIEDMAN/Daly Maceo Baston and the Wolverines are still grasping for answers after blowing a 20-point lead against Indiana on Sunday./D, Baston scored a team-high 24 points before fouling out In overtime. He was the second of three Wolverines - sophomore center Robert Traylor and junior guard Travis Conian were the others - to make an early exit. " BOTTERILL CONQUERS PSYCHOLOGY OF THE GAME Mind over matter jumpstarts Wolverine after slow beginning: By Dan Stillman Daily Sports Writer Watch out. Or Jason Botterill might just psych you out. 2 < For the past four years, the Michigan forward has been beating his opponents with talent and size. At 6- foot-4, 217 pounds, the senior assistant captain is usually the biggest guy on the ice. But the Canadian-born Botterill possesses another weapon, one that's not so evident from the outside - psychology. Botterill's father, Cal, is a famous and highly- respected sports psychologist in Canada. So it's no sur- prise that Botterill has men- tioned the Wolverines' team psychologist, Hugh Bray, in post-game press conferences this season. Botterill says that the psychological side of hock- ey is a big influence on him. "When you get to this level, and espe- cially even the next level, there's not that much difference in talent level," he said. "You need to find that edge to keep your spot on a team, or to excel at a different level, and I think that's where the mental aspect comes in." A player's psyche often plays an inte- gral part in the success or failure of a team, especially one like Michigan, which must cope with the high expecta- tions that follow a championship season. "I think Hugh Bray has helped our team out a lot," Botterill said."For exam- ple, there's so much pressure on our team. If you don't talk about that in the open it can become a problem." For Botterill, the pressure was an issue during the first half of the season. At the midway point, Botterill was sixth on the team in points and tied for second with 12 goals - pretty decent numbers. But Botterill, who led the Wolverines in goals last season, wasn't satisfied with the way he or his early-season linemates were playing. "I think Brendan (Morrison), myself and Billy Muckalt put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we really wanted to do really well right off the bat," he said. "I think we almost were pressing a little too hard to get the goals. We were forgetting about the little things." Botterill, a 1994 first-round draft pick of the Dallas Stars, very nearly did not come back to Michigan for his senior season. He admits that some of the early- season pressure may have stemmed from his ultimate decision to stay with the Wolverines instead of going pro. "After we won the national title, I thought I was going to be gone for sure," he said. "That was my goal when I came into Michigan. When I finally achieved that, I thought maybe I was going to move on to different things" But after talking it over with his team- mates, Michigan coach Red Berenson and others over the summer, Botterill had a change of heart.. The other seniors "all made a commit- ment to come back here and finish the job that we all started (three) years ago. I wanted to be a part of that," he said. Early in the season, however, Botterill was not as much a part of the Wolverines' success as he had hoped to be. "You want to prove to other people that you did make the right decision,' Botterill said. "I sat down with Coach and talked about it, and began to realize that I didn't really need to prove (any- thing) to anyone out there. If in my mind it was a good decision, that's all that counted?' As Botterill came to terms with his decision, it was reflected in his on-ice production. Botterill is still sixth on the team with 40 points. But he is now tied for the team lead in goals with 24, and has 12 goals and eight assists in the past 14 games. Most important, Botterill is much more satisfied with his play. And with Muckalt on his way back from a shoul- der injury, Botterill, Morrison and Muckalt are linemates once again. "We've had a bit of time away from each other now," Botterill said. "I think we realized that in order to have success in this game we have to have a lot of fun out there." Botterill has also learned a little bit about success from watching his fath~er's clients. Cal has worked with several NHL teams and some of the best players in the world. "I've watched a Jeremy Roenick or a Wayne Gretzky through my dad," Botterill said. "How they prepare fo, a game and how they deal with adversity." Botterill may be far away from reach- ing the status of The Great One, but there's no telling how far talent, size, and a good state of mind can take him. U " Lecture Notes *Course Packets R esume Services *Copy Bindery *Fox Services THS MOT OL 0 COPIES 8.5x11, 20# white, one-sided, self-serve Expires 2/28/97. Grade A Notes at Ulrich's Bookstore 549 E. University - Second Floor - CALL 741-9669 WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan forward Jason Botterill is known for using his size to overpower his opponents as he does here against Michigan State's Brian Crane. Botterlil has followed the lead of his sports-psychologist father to regain scoring touch in the second half of the Wolverines' season. Botterill is wtied for the team lead in goals with 24. r U U V ml