BASKETBALL The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - February 24, 1997 -58 Minnesota clinches share of Big Ten title MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - John omas sank two free throws with 4.7 seconds left, lifting second-ranked Minnesota over No. 23 Illinois, 67-66, Saturday and giving the Gophers at least a share of the Big Ten championship. Thomas, a senior center who had been shooting only 59 percent from the line this season, was fouled by Chris Gandy and sank both shots for Minnesota (13-1 Big Ten, 24-2 overall), which trailed for uchof the game. llinois guard Kiwane Garris, who led all scorers with 23 points, tried to drive for a final shot but lost control of the ball "This is definitely the low point of my career:' - Michigan forward Maurice Taylor Downward longer for By Danielle Rumore Daily Sports Editor WEST LAFAYETTE - The Michigan men's basketball team broke new ground yesterday in its 67-58 loss at Purdue, but the Wolverines should not be so proud. The loss was the Wolverines' third straight - dropping them to 7-7 in the Big Ten - and marked the first time this season the Wolverines have lost CONFERENCE Roundup at the free-throw line as the game ended. Bobby Jackson scored 18 points for Minnesota, which can win the three in a row. After grabbing a 20-point lead against Indiana at home Feb. 16, they fell in an over- time heartbreaker. Four days later, they fell to Iowa in Iowa City. "If we walk out of here with our heads down, we know the sea- son's over" said Michigan for- ward Maurice Taylor, who fin- ished with 10 points. and six ' , ' E aa ~ .' k, ::, .', -z'.:a.t' spiral gets Wolverines come out, and we need to get a victory at home against the conference champions. Minnesota." RAISE THE FLOOR: The Wolverines must not like heights, because they have had trouble playing on raised floors. Purdue's Mackey Arena and Minnesota'$ Williams Arena are the only two arenas in the Big Ten with raised floors - and Michigan has lost on both this season and many times in the past. The Wolverines lost at Mackey last season, 69-64. They lost at Williams, 70-64, on Jan. I1. Th didn't visit Williams last season, but they lost ther 80-58. during the 1994-95 season. In fact. the Wolverines haven't won at Mackey since 1993-94 and at Williams since 1992-93. AssIST M : This season, Travis Conlan leads Michigan in assists per game and has been the only Wolverine to dish out an assist every game. Yesterday, Conlan's five assists-pushed him past Ray Jackson and into 10th place on Michigan's career assist list. Conlan, who now has 299, moved past Jackson with his fourth assist of the game. With 10:59 remaining in the second half, Conlan dumped the ball inside to sophomore center Robert Traylor for two of his 18 points. Traylor's layup cut the Boilermakers' lead to three45-42. RECORD-SETTING DAY: Despite the loss, some Wolverines had career days. Conlan finished with nine rebounds to lead Michigan. His previous career- and season-high was seven boards, set against both St. John's and Michigan State earlier this season. Traylor finished with 18 points, tying his career- high and surpassing his season-high by one. But he finished was just five boards - nine short of his career-high. ,g Ten title outright for the first time Wce 1982 by beating Michigan on Wednesday. Bryant Notree scored 12 points for Illinois (8-6, 18-8). IOWA 69, Otno STATE 56 Ryan Bowen scored 17 points and Andre Woolridge had 15 while Iowa's defense held host Ohio State's top two scorers to a combined four points in the Hawkeyes' 69-56 victory Saturday night. The victory marked the first time in 1 meetings, dating to 1915, that Iowa M beaten Ohio State (5-9, 10-13) seen straight times. Damon Stringer, Ohio State's leading 2sclrer at 15.2 points a game, went score- less while missing all seven of his shots from the field. Second-leading scorer Shaun Stonerook (12.1) totaled four points on 1-of-4 from the field. =P:The Hawkeyes (9-5, 18-8) pulled away 'with a 10-3 run in the second half that tched their lead to 54-38. Ohio State got as close as nine points in the final two minutes, but by that time many in a crowd of 12,323 had already left. INDANA 64, NORTHWESTERN 49 'Indiana coach Bob Knight wasn't' on the bench Saturday as he recorded his 699th victory. Knight, who started four freshmen and kept veterans Neil Reed and Charlie Miller on the bench with him, was eject- with 35.4 seconds remaining in the st half. Despite his absence, No. 24 Indiana (8-7,21-8) defeated Northwestern (2-13, 7-19), 64-49, as Richard Mandeville scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Knight was ejected after receiving two technicals. Referee Steve Wehner called the first technical in front of the Indiana bench while Knight was arguing that *rthwestem's Evan Eschmeyer was holding Haris Mujezinovic inside the key. MICHIGAN STATE 71, PENN STATE 57 Ray Weathers scored 16 points and Antonio Smith had a career-high 17 rebounds Saturday to lead host Michigan State to a 71-57 victory over Penn State. The win was only the second in nine games for the Spartans (6-8, 13-10). Penn State (2-13, 9-15) lost for the eighth time nine games. Pete Lisicky led the Nittany Lions with 13 points and Greg Stevenson added 11. Big Ten Standings. Team Conf. Overall Minnesota 13-1 24-2 Purdue 10-5 15-10 Iowa 9-5 18-8 WisconsIn 9-5 16-7 Ilinois 8-6 18-8 Indiana 8-7 21-8 Michigan 7-7 17-9 Nichigan State 6-8 13-10 Ohio State 5-9 10-13 Penn State 2-13 9-15 Northwestern 2-13 7-19 rebounds. "This is definitely the low point of my career." Until yesterday, the Wolverines' longest losing streak had been two games, when they had fallen to Pittsburgh, 85-78, and Ohio State, 73-71, over the holidays. Ironically, the last time the Wolverines lost three straight was when they fell to Indiana, Iowa and Purdue - in the same order - last season. The Wolverines have four games remaining, two at home and two on the road. Next up is No. 2 Minnesota, which comes to Crisler Arena on Wednesday. The Golden Gophers have already claimed a share of the Big Ten title and can win it outright by beating Michigan. "Obviously, Wednesday is a critical game for us," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "We need to I g:;. .--.i SARA STILLMAN/Daily Michigan guard Louis Bullock shoots over Purdue's Chad Austin yesterday. Bullock finished with 1.3 points on five-of 16 shooting. He also dished out five assists. exactla ST LAFAYETTE -7 see Michigan basketbal Fisher on the street, giv back. He needs it. Tell him he did a good thing ye probably the smartest coaching m Tell him that it was a solid coa this bunch of Wolverines, and itN gy against the Boilermakers, who under 6-foot-3. Tell Fisher that starting a three-guard offense was a good idea. Starting the usual Louis Bullock and Travis Conlan and replacing Jerod Ward with Brandun Hughes could have been great. It works well normally, and starting all three should have been even better. The Wolverines are quick, especially in transition, and F the trio of guards can really push the ball up the floor. And starting them against theE small starting lineup is a good me dump the ball inside. And then tell Fisher it's all righ out as planned. Not much has for ly. Then walk away, and have you le. After all, you just used the wo describe something the Wolverin the funny part. Ha, the Wolverine That's good for a chortle. "We needed to do something, wanted to make a change, get a i feel out there." So the Wolverines' new feel re outcome - another loss, dejecte broken promises. But what else i Three straight losses, and it's a tournament time. So what's the deal with this tea terday's game was ugly, and both be desired. But Purdue, a team wi on its 12-man roster, did what itn win, and Michigan did not. To get the victory, the Wolveri with smarts, and they certainly n taught to play that way. The story game was fouls, dumb fouls. The are inexcusable, the kind a teamr smarts just doesn't commit. S woefu play not laughing matter The next time you None of this is rocket science - fouls have been l coach Steve an issue all season. Everyone knows the Wolverines e him a pat on the have a seven-man rotation, and everyone knew it would get them in trouble sooner or later. esterday at Purdue, Everyone, that is, except the Wolverines - they hove all season. have been in denial the entire season. ching strategy for Yesterday, it began with Ward and filtered down. was a smart strate- He played a whopping two minutes in the first half start three players after picking up four fouls just I1 minutes into the game. How does that happen? Why does that happen? Coaching, or lack there- of. It needs to be drilled into players' heads that they need to play a little more cautiously when they are in foul trouble, particularly on a team as thin as Michigan. And you'd better believe the Wolverines need everyone to contribute, a tough thing to do sitting DANIELLE on the bench. RUMORE Ward was slapped with his third foul seven min- utes into the game, and Fisher put him back in the Hu Ire game just minutes later. But in the blink of an eye, -as tWard was back on the bench after picking up his fourth foul. Purdue forward Mike Robinson had a Boilermakers' wide-open basket in transition, and Ward slapped ove - it's easier to his arm. That should never happen. ht that it didn't turn Not when a player has three fouls. r Michigan recent- Compare: In the second half, the Boilermakers irself a little chuck- buried 15 of 17 free throws. The Wolverines made rd smart to four trips to the line over the same span, and all es did, and that's were unsuccessful. That's the game right there. -s playing smart. How do you get to the line? You get fouled, that's how, and the Wolverines did plenty of fouling in the Fisher said. "I second half. Ward fouled out, as did Hughes. ittle bit different And Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston each had four fouls at game's end. Traylor committed a cou- sulted in the same ple of cheap fouls, like pushing a Purdue player in d faces, and more the back while battling for position under the bas- s new? ket. Just not the thing to do when your team needs ilmost March - you. am? Granted, yes- teams left a lot to vith seven freshmen needed to do to nes need to play eeded to have been of yesterday's type of fouls that playing with "If we're as good individually as people some- times say we are, then you step up and make a play," Fisher said. "We're all in the boat together." Once again, Fisher was right on the money. For the Wolverines, the time has come to suck it up. The time has come to think, or to be taught how to think. And if they don't, they might want to start getting ready for the NIT. After all, New York starts to get nice in March. - Danielle Rumore can be reached over e-mail at diumore@umich.edu. SARA STILLMAN/Daily Michigan center Robert Traylor is double-teamed by Purdue's Gary McQuay (left) and Brad Miller. Traylor led the Wolverines with 18 points in 33 minutes of action. He also grabbed five boards. FOILERMAKERS Cotinued from Page 1B drew a foul on the Michigan center. The nail in Michigan's coffin came on its next trip down when junior forward Maceo Baston missed a dunk. Purdue replied with a pair of free throws from freshman guard Jaraan Cornell and then a dunk from Miller, giving the Boilermakers a five- point lead with just less than a minute to go. Purdue closed out the scoring with eight free throws while Michigan launched one desperation 3-pointer after another. With the victory, the Boilermakers claimed sole possession of ond place in the conference, behind only No. 2 Minnesota. Michigan now sits in seventh place, half a game behind Indiana and just one game ahead of Michigan State. "It wasn't too pretty to watch," Purdue coach Gene Keady said, "but we got the W" Purdue led for much of the first half, thanks to the outside shoting of Austin who hit for 15 noints including 3-of-5 from MICHIGAN (58) FG FT REB MIN MA M-A O-T A F PTS Hughes 28 4-12 0-0 0-2 2 5 10 Taylor 33 4-10 2-2 2-6 0 2 10 Traylor 33 8-10 2-4 4-5 1 4 18 Bullock 33 5-16 1-2 1-2 5 2 13 Conlan 34 1-7 0-0 6-9 5 1 2 Baston 27 0-3 2-6 5-8 0 5 2 Ward 7 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 53 Streets 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Oliver 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 200 23-61 7-1421-361325 58 F%: .377. FT%: .500. 3-point FG: 5-13, .385 (Hughes 2-3, Bullock 2-6, Ward 1-2, Conlan 0-2). Blocks: 5 (Traylor 3, Baston, Taylor). Steals: 9 (Baston 4, Bullock 2, Conlan 2, Hughes). Tumovers: 14 (Baston 3, Hughes 3, Conlan 2, Taylor 2, Traylor 2, Ward 2).Technical Fouls: none. PURDUE (67) FG FT REB Ward's premature exit hu A - By Alan Goldenbach Daily Sports Editor WEST LAFAYETTE - The stat line of the year: two minutes, four personal fouls. A conglomeration one might expect from foul-prone sophomore center Robert Traylor. The dubious digits followed junior forward Jerod Ward's name in the halftime box score of yesterday's 67-58 loss at Purdue. Those numbers would even get a wow from former NBA goons Scott Hastings and Greg Kite - players who made careers out of being professional butchers. With 8:59 left in the first half, Ward was pushed to the point where he couldn't afford to throw out of what was minimal contact on Ward's part. Immediately, the second-guessing began as to whether Ward should have even been in the game with three fouls. Ward, however, didn't fear playing with his foul situation. "We needed players at that time," he said. "I was- n't worrying about (com- mitting another foul)." Evidently, his team- mates were surprised to see the fourth foul called. too. irs niue The call ultimately served to swing the game's momentum to Purdue. At the time, the score was knotted at 23. But after Ward took-a seat on the bench with his fourth foul, Purdue went on a 10-4 run to give itself a comfortable lead. Ward eventually wound up fouling out with 9:55 left in the game. His final numbers: seven minutes, three. points, five fouls. Needless to say, he was given a heartfelt good-bye from the Purdue faithful. The play that began his forgettable afternoon, his first foul, resulted from a scrap for a loose ball under the Purdue basket. The rough sequence forced Purdue forward Brian Cardinal.