Utie £irm a
COLLEGE
BASKETBALL
(6) Kentucky 90,
GEORGIA 79
MIAMI (FLA.) 76,
(8) Connecticut 67
(25) Rhode Isl. 83,
ST. JOSEPH'S 68
PRO
BASKETBALL
Phoenix 81,
INDIANA 80
CLEVELAND 100,
Houston 70
L.A. Lakers 100,
VANCOUVER 87
CHICAGO 90,
Boston 79
DALLAS 108,
Denver 90
UTAH 98,
Philadelphia 95 (OT)
SEATTLE 102,
Charlotte 81
SACRAMENTO 84,
L.A. Clippers 67
PRO
HOCKEY
DETROIT 2,
Phoenix 0
WASHINGTON 5,
Toronto 3
Pittsburgh 4,
N.Y. ISLANDERS 2
N.Y. RANGERS 4,
Carolina 2
Wednesday
January 7, 1998
'Summer incident leads to assault charge against hockey senior Fox
By Fred fink and
Sharat Ra ju
Daily Sports Writers
Michigan senior defenseman Chris Fox was
charged yesterday with "assault with intent to do
geat bodily harm" stemming from an incident
that occrred on June 15, 1997.
According to Jim Halushka, the deputy prose-
tor in charge of warrants and investigations in
Oakland County, Fox slashed a man named
Robert Thomas across the face with a hockey
stick. The incident, punishable by up to 10 years in
prison, occurred during the championship game of
a pick-up hockey league at the Detroit Skating
Club in Bloomfield Township.
"Fox, completely unprovoked - according to
night is
the master,
and he did
it yet again
y Mark Snyder
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - Brian Ellerbe is
new to the Big Ten, so he deserves a
break. But as for the rest of the
Wolverines, they forgot the biggest fac-
tor in a Michigan-Indiana basketball
game: the other team has Bobby Knight.
Maybe last night's 80-62 Michigan
defeat can be chalked up to Ellerbe's
aivete, but that hardly seems fair. After
all, he did coach three seasons at Loyola
(Md.) facing hated rival Towson.
Seriously though, any disdain the
Michigan coach feels for his players is
justified.
the officials - brutally attacked (Thomas) and
caused severe damage,"
Halushka said. "He knocked
out four teeth. Thomas has
had two root canals and is
going to have surgery again."
Fox declined to comment
on the situation until a later
date. The defenseman has not
been suspended by the team
or the University.
Senior associate athletic
director Keith Molin said that
players charged with a felony are not automatical-
ly suspended and that such a decision is left to the
team's coach.
"We're treating this situation as a personal mat-
ter," Molin said.
Athletic director Tom Goss will make a state-
ment today concerning the incident. Michigan
hockey coach Red Berenson was unavailable for
comment, and assistant coach Mel Pearson
declined to comment on the situation.
Although the alleged assault occurred six
months ago, the prosecutors only recently identi-
fied Fox as the suspect. Following the slashing,
referee Rick Perry asked Fox's coach to identify
the player involved or accept a forfeit. After the
coach declined, the team skated off the ice and for-
feited the championship game.
"The official said it was the most brutal attack
he'd ever seen in 30 years of coaching," Halushka
said.
For the past six months, Bloomfield Police
Department Detective Scott McCanham and
investigators have been trying to identify a
suspect. According to WXYZ News, the
investigators discovered that the suspect was a
member of the Michigan hockey team.
Thomas went to the University's Department
of Public Safety, which presented a list of the
members of the team. Thomas then identified
Fox as the culprit.
The television station also reported that Fox's
attack was in retaliation for being checked, even
though the league has a no-checking policy. Fox
retaliated but apparently hit the wrong person.
This report differs from Halushka's version,
which claims Fox acted in a "cowardly fashion."
Fox "is five inches taller and apparently picked
on the smallest individual on the ice," Halushka
said. "He swung baseball-style at Thomas with his
stick."
The deputy prosecutor did say, however, that
Fox also received 15 stitches after the incident.
The championship game was Fox's first of the
season, according to Halushka, although he was
listed on the roster.
Fox, the only senior Michigan defenseman, has
seen a lot of playing time for the Wolverines. As
the most experienced defenseman, Fox has been in
a leadership position throughout the season.
He is expected to turn himself in at the 48th
District Court in Bloomfield Township today.
A Knight-mare:
M' falls, 80-62
.. . . . . .
The Hoosiers,
notorious work-
horses (possibly
because they fear
the wrath of the
General), spent
the entire game
hustling after the
loose balls that the
Wolverines decid-
ed not to chase.
By Dan Stillman
Daily Sports Writer -
BLOOMINGTON - For once,
maybe they didn't have to play the game.
In fact, maybe the Wolverines shouldn't
have even bothered to make the trip here
in the first place. History was on the side
of the Hoosiers last night, and the
Wolverines could do nothing to stop it.
Since Assembly Hall opened in 1971,
Michigan is
4-21 here.
Indiana 80 A n d
M Michigan 62 although one
of those vic-
tories (Jan.
24, 1995) ended Indiana's 56-home
game winning streak, last night's contest
was a different story.
Despite Michigan's No. 18 ranking
and recent surge, Indiana (1-2 Big Ten,
10-5 overall) outplayed the Wolverines
(2-1, 12-4) for much of the game,
including the entire second half, abrupt-
ly ending Michigan's six-game winning
streak with an 82-60 whipping.
"I didn't think we met (their intensi-
ty)," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said.
"Obviously we didn't surpass that,
which we were doing (during the win-
ning streak)."
In the second half, the Hoosiers outre-
bounded the Wolverines, 26-13, and out-
shot them by almost 24 percent, 57.1 to
33.3. Those numbers were in sharp con-
trast to the ones the Wolverines posted
over their previous six games, in which
they held opponents to 34.4 percent
shooting and outrebounded opponents
by an average margin of 19.3 boards.
"That's a demoralizing play," Ellerbe
said. "When you can play defense for 35
or 40 seconds, and then give up the
offensive rebound."
The Hoosiers scored 22 second-
chance points compared to the
Wolverines' 15. While Michigan's statis-
tics a team were unimpressive, it was
also a night to forget for most of the
Wolverines, individually.
Forwards Maceo Baston and Jerod
Ward combined to go 5 for 22 from the
While you were away_
floor, while guards Louis Bullock and
Robbie Reid could only manage a 6-4or-
19 showing together. Even though center
Robert Traylor poured in 25 points,
many of those came from easy baskets
when the game's outcome was no longer
in doubt.
It was an Indiana rally early in the sec-
ond half that put the game out of reach
for the Wolverines.
Michigan had pulled to within two
points by the end of the first half, after
trailing by as much as 12 midway
through the half. But after a Traylor
layup tied the game at 44 three minutes
into the second half, the Hoosiers pulled
away.
Following the basket by Traylor,
Indiana sharpshooter A.J. Guyton nailed
a 3-pointer to put the Hoosiers ahead,
47-44. After freshman Luke Reeker
stuffed Bullock's jumpshot attempt on
the other end, Andrae Patterson made a
trey of his own to extend the lead to
seven.
Bullock then missed another jumper,
before he was fouled by Recker. But,
representative of the Wolverines' night,
Bullock could not redeem himself as the
94.5 percent free-throw shooter missed
both attempts. The Wolverines and
Hoosiers then traded traveling calls,
before William Gladness scored four of
the Hoosiers' next six points to push the
lead to 57-46.
Even though Patterson soon left the
game after picking up his fourth foul
five minutes into the second half, any
chance the Wolverines had to get back
into the game were dashed when
Indiana's Charlie Miller decided to take
over. Miller scored 12 points in the final
seven minutes of the game, including a
3-pointer with four minutes remaining,
giving the Hoosiers a game-high 20-
point lead.
"I thought we relaxed ourselves,'
Miller said. "It seemed like they were
kind of tiring out, so we pushed the ball;'
Patterson led the Hoosiers with 19
points, while Gladness scored 14 to go
along with a game-high 12 rebounds.
...
With 14 minutes left in the second half,
an Indiana shot fell short, and nary a
Wolverine was close. So Indiana's
William Gladness grabbed the dead
duck for the Hoosiers and laid it in -
ith one second left on the shot clock.
With 10 minutes left it happened
again, as potential All-America
Gladness rebounded an errant Indiana.
attempt and drove to the basket for two.
Not a vital possession, yet emblematic of
Michigan's failure to box out, or hustle,
or even have any calls go its way.
Knight, whose intimidation chased
center Jason Collier from here three
weeks ago, spoke of Gladness and the
rest of the team filling the void left by
e 7-foot Collier.
"Maybe our answer is that we have no
center," Knight said after the game.
"Maybe we can move people around and
make cutting our post player."
Michigan, on the other hand, did have
one of the best centers in the country -
Robert Traylor - and his 25 points and
10 rebounds did little to soften the tough
loss. Knight, who has seen more than his
hare of Big Ten basketball since 1972,
.as full of praise for the 6-foot-9 center.
"Traylor is one of the most unique
centers I've seen,' Knight said. "He
takes away a lot more than he gives."
6 The two potential NBA forwards -
Traylor and Maceo Baston - stood
across Michigan's front line and neither
was able to dominate the smaller
Hoosiers. In the second half the
SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Robert Traylor scored 25 points last night, but the Wolverines fell to an inspired Indiana team, 80-62. The Hoosiers avoided
slipping to 0-3 In the Big Ten with the victory - the last time that happened was in Bobby Knight's first year as the Hoosiers'
head coach.
Wolverines were outrebounded, 26-13.
"We exploited their big men" Indiana
forward Charlie Miller explained. "We
tried to beat them down the floor.
"We executed our game plan to a 'T'."
But that was to be expected, wasn't it?
Knight isn't the first coach to attack
Michigan's center of attention, but in this
situation, Traylor couldn't count on his
teammates.
Over the course of Michigan's six-
game winning streak - snapped last
night by the Hoosiers - the long-range
shots fell like rain, tickling the twine
with regularity. After having 51-percent
of their 3-pointers fall during the win-
ning streak, just 26-percent of the
Wolverines' treys found the net last
night.
So the theory is out there, dare Louis
Bullock and Robbie Reid to hit their
shots and take a chance. This time, the
plan worked and Michigan fell apart like
a house of cards. But who's to say it
won't happen again - especially against
the Hoosiers?
History reiterates this point. In both
games against Indiana last season - as
well as last night - the Wolverines were
either in the lead or close behind at the
half. Momentum was theirs, and in all
three instances, the Hoosiers owned the
second half.
The only thing that has remained con-
sistent in this rivalry is Knight, and he
was true to form. Regardless of down or
distance ... er, time or score, Knight
continues to motivate his players.
And they calm down when he
demands a halt to celebration. They
revere him and that may be the reason
his teams win the big games more often
than not.
In his postgame comments, Ellerbe
spoke of Indiana's "inspired" basketball
and how the Hoosiers outhustled his
Wolverines.
When questioned about Ellerbe's
view, Knight responded in typical fash-
ion, paying homage to the few in Indiana
who command more respect than him.
"Ministers get inspired," Knight said.
"I don't know if we got inspired. We
played well."
The Indiana flag waved by a cheer-
leader spoke volumes about the week
Michigan sports fans have endured. "Go
Big Red," it shouted, "Go Big Red." Tom
Osborne and Knight must have a "No
Blue" hotline.
Last year, what seemed to be a promising men's basketball season slipped
into the beginning of what proved to be a disastrous collapse over winter
break, as Michigan lost to Memphis and Pittsburgh in the Rainbow Classic,
then fell to Ohio State as well. This year, however, the Wolverines won all six
of their contests while school was in recess before last night - including
the three-game Puerto Rico Holiday Classic-- prompting some to wonder
whether the players would be better off just not going to class at all.
Opponent $core Michigan's leading scorer
Tennessee-Chattanooga 87T53 Robbie Reid, 20
Murray State 76-53 Maceo Baston, 17
American University (P.R.) 93-49 Baston, Ward, Bullock, 16
Syracuse 93-61 Louis Bullock, 24
Wisconsin 76-63 Louis Bullock, 22
Penn State 92-75 Robert Traylor, 27
Despite losing GLI, 'M' leads conference
By Fred Link
Daily Sports Writer
At the beginning of the season, Michigan cap-
tain Matt Herr warned that the Wolverines could
lose 10 games in the first half of the season.
Fortunately, Herr's concerns haven't become
reality.
After winning five of six games and all four
CCHA contests since classes ended, the
Wolverines are 17-4-1 (11-2-1 in the CCHA) and
find themselves alone in first place in the CCHA.
With the five victories, Michigan goaltender
spent much of the second on the power play.
The Wolverines capitalized on their opportuni-
ties, getting power-play goals from Muckalt and
Herr to put the game away.
"The Buckeyes took themselves out of the game
with the penalties," Michigan coach Red Berenson
said.
Friday night's contest against the Buckeyes was-
n't as easy. The Wolverines got a late goal from
Sean Ritchlin and an empty net goal from Matt
Herr to earn a hard-fought 4-2 victory.
After a scoreless first period, the Wolverines
a healthy scratch in the previous three contests.
"I was so excited to play today, I was like a lit-
tle kid out there," Ritchlin said. "I absolutely had
a great time - it helps to score the game-winning
goal, too."
The Wolverines suffered their only loss over the
break in the Great Lakes Invitational after domi-
nating it the past nine years. The Wolverines failed
in their attempt to win an unprecedented 10th
straight GLI title, losing in the championship
game, 5-3, to Michigan State.
Michigan jumped out to an early 1-0 lead 25