BASKETBALL
The Michigan Daily- SPORTSTuesday - January 20, 1998-- 5B
Quote of the Week
"There's just no way you can put a
generic mask on a guy like him,
that big.
- Mchian coach Brian Ellerbe
on w ' Robert Traylor played
Saturdays game unprotected after
breaking his nose.
Saturday's gamePlayer of the Week
at St.John Arena,Columbus: Louis Bullock
Against Ohio State, the guard put
on a one-man clinic on how to
Michigan 79, Ohio State 6 beat azone defense. Alongthe
:. r way, he scored 28 points, whie
-hitting 13 free throws.
Traylor,
Wolvernes put
noses back to grindstone
By Jm Rose
Daily Sports Editor
COLUMBUS--There certainly is no
rest for the weary in the Big Ten, much
less the injured or the banged-up, as
Michigan will find out tonight. The
Wolverines, after pounding Ohio State
on Saturday, get back
into action against
Minnesota tonight at
7:30 in Crisler Arena.
The Golden
Gophers (0-5 Big
Ten, 7-9 overall) are
off to a dreadful start
following last year's
Big Ten champi-
onship and Final Four
19
guard Eric Harris, the Gophers are thin,
after losing five players from last season.
Harris is known for his defense and
heady play, but the rest of the Gophers
are struggling to mesh in the early going.
But the Wolverines don't expect a
walkover tonight, especially after
Minnesota put a scare into the thirteenth-
ranked Hawkeyes over the weekend.
"We've got a little payback with
Minnesota," Travis Conlan said. "They
came to our place and cut down our nets
and won a Big Ten championship. We
remember that"
The Gophers' celebration of their Big
Ten championship-clinching victory at
Crisler - including the cutting of the
appearance, though they stayed close to
Iowa on Sunday afternoon before even-
tually losing, 82-69. In that game,
Minnesota led, 17-2, after seven minutes
of play, but were unable to hold the lead.
The Wolverines enter tonight's game
with Robert Traylor recovering from a
broken nose, and Josh Asselin and
Brandon Smith healing from minor
injuries sustained in a car accident last
week.
Minnesota senior Sam Jacobson, in
his first game back after a three-game
absence due to an ailing back, led his
team with 24 points against Iowa and
could pose serious matchup problems
for Michigan. The 6-foot-6 swingman
was the conference's fourth-best shooter
from 3-point range last season, but he is
perhaps better known for his flying
dunks -he has a 38-inch vertical leap,
according to the Minnesota media guide
- than anything else.
Despite Jacobson and senior point
nets - annoyed some
Michigan supporters.
Tonight marks the two
teams' first meeting since
that game.
"They beat us twice last
year in pretty close games,
and I think our kids remem-
ber that,' Michigan assistant
Brian Dutcher said.
Tonighl
game
Who: No. 1f
vs. Minneso
Where: Cris
When: 7:30
TV: ESPN
MASKED TRACTOR?: Just 25 seconds
after the opening tip of Saturday's victo-
ry over Ohio State, Robert Traylor suf-
fered a broken nose while trying to con-
trol a loose ball on the offensive end. The
big man went to his knees in pain, but
returned soon after, and played the rest
of the game with the nose unprotected.
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe was
asked if there was any consideration of
keeping Traylor out of the game after the
injury, and he replied, "Absolutely not.
He wanted to play, and what the big guy
wants, he gets."
But, coach, shouldn't he have worn a
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
chigan's Robert Traylor, broken nose and all, hounds the Buckeyes' Jason Singleton in the second half of Saturday's game
Ohio State. Traylor broke his nose just 25 seconds into the game, but went on to score 10 points in 21 minutes of action.
sullock stellar in shooting clinic
i James Goldstein Wolverines leading big, 73-52. But that left Bullock and fellow
ily Sports Writer Did Bullock know that he had just guards Robbie Reid and Travis
COLUMBUS - Michigan guard tied his career high? Conlan open. Bullock quickly got on
uis Bullock gets most of his points Oh yeah. track, knocking down consecutive
tside the lines. Either he is drain- "I knew how many points I had," treys in the first half. His 16 points
g 3-pointers from all angles and Bullock said. "I wanted to break my before the half, highlighted by four-
pths beyond the arc or he is calm- record, but that's really not important of-six shooting from the 3-point line,
gracing the nets at the free throw to me. It's nice to have it but I'm just led the Wolverines and contributed to
e. happy we got a Big Ten victory on the Michigan's early double-digit lead.
hether it's off the dribble, off a road." "When you play against the zone,
n or stationary at the charity In his last I I games, Bullock shot a you can't try to force everything all
ipe, his silky-smooth stroke rarely torrid 60 percent from the 3-point the time," Bullock said. "You have to
anges. line on 33-of-55 attempts. be patient and pick your spots, and I
Against Ohio State on Saturday, Bullock's perfect day from the free think we did a great job of that
clock was true to form, knocking throw line increased his Big Ten- today."
wn five 3-pointers and connecting leading free throw percentage to What made Bullock even harder to
i a perfect 13-of-13 from the free 91.9, which would rank him among contain was his ability to penetrate
row line. All of his 28 points came the nation's top five. into the paint and either take a short
om behind the arc or the free throw "I'm shocked I got to the line that pull-up jump shot or get fouled.
e. much," Bullock said. "I welcome any Bullock's teammates know that the
His scoring output equaled his opportunities shooting free throws." senior guard from Temple Hills, Md.,
r high, attained against The Buckeyes made it easier for is unstoppable when he is driving and
k homa State on March 18, 1997 Bullock to get good looks from hitting his 3-point shots.
id against Ball State on Nov. 26, beyond the arc. Ohio State coach Jim "He's a great player, and great
96. O'Brien employed a 2-3 defensive players do great things for their teams
Bullock got his 27th and 28th zone to try to contain Michigan's to win," Traylor said. "He did a lot of
ints at the free throw line with 2:49 inside game led by Robert Traylor things today that he just made sure
maining in the game and the and Maceo Baston. we would win the basketball game."
Spartans overcome Illini; Hoo
e Associated Press William Gladness and A.J. Guyton each added 21 the Golden
Mateen Cleaves scored a career-high 27 points, points for Indiana (4-2, 13-5). ference star
cluding 17 of the Spartans' first 19 in the second Purdue (3-2, 15-4) was led by Jaraan Cornell with WISCONS
If at East Lansing, as Michigan State went on to 27 points. Playing it
feat Illinois, 68-64 NO. 13 IOWA 82, MINNESOTA 69 in Madison
The Spartans (4-1, 11-4) have won seven of their last The Hawkeyes fell behind 17-2 after seven minutes half.
ght games and retained a share of the lead in the Big at Minnesota on Sunday, then shot 69 percent the rest The Bad
en with the victory over the Fighting Illini (3-2, 11-7). of the way. until a 15-0
INDIANA 94, No. 9 PURDUE 88 Ryan Bowen scored 19 points to 26 lead as t
Indiana freshman Luke Recker showed he knew of ' lead Iowa (4-1, 15-2), which has more than s
*ierce rivalry between the Hoosiers and Purdue. ROundup won nine of 10 and is off to its best Badgers
Recker scored a career high of 27 points and had 12 start since opening 18-0 in 1986- by his team
:bounds in the upset victory. 87, coach Tom Davis' first season. "I don't
"I've been pretty frustrated the last couple years Sam Jacobson led Minnesota (0-5, 7-9) with 24 sively in a
,hen Purdue won four straight and five out of the last points in his return after missing three games with a coaching a
ix," Recker said. "So we were determined to come in back injury. But neither the return of their leading made just o
ere and get a victory, especially on our home court." scorer nor the early 15-point lead were enough to keep shot 31.6 pc
E
E
r
l
t
r
mask, at the very least?
"There's no way you can fit a mask for
Robert that quickly," Ellerbe said.
"There's just no way you can put a
generic mask on a guy like him, that
big."
Michigan, for some reason, has had a
host of recent trouble with the smelling
organ: Maurice Taylor broke his nose
last year, Chris Webber and James
Voskuil both broke theirs at the same
time while playing for Michigan's Final
Four teams, and now Traylor joined the
club on Saturday.
DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?: There
were a couple of unusual sights during
Saturday's game, both of which took
place on the Wolverines'
t's offensive end of the floor.
Michigan fans are used
to seeing alley-oop passes
6 Michigan tossed to Maceo Baston
ta and Smith (Smith actually
er Arena had two thrown to him on
p.m. back-to-back plays against
the Buckeyes), and even
Asselin on occasion, but
this was a new one. Louis Bullock -
yes, Louis Bullock - tried to take a loft-
ed pass and slam it while floating
through the lane. He didn't complete the
dunk, but he hung on the rim for a while,
and certainly raised a few eyebrows with
his leap.
Then, later in the game, Conlan went
up on the offensive glass and tried to
stuff an offensive rebound in the middle
of the lane. He, like Bullock, missed, but
was just as gallant in the attempt.
What would we like to see next from
the versatile Wolverines? Asselin and
Baston tossing up 3-pointers.
ROSE
Continued from Page 1B
Wolverines. After tonight's game
against Minnesota, they play three of
the top teams in the league - Illinois,
Purdue and Iowa - in a critical week-
long stretch that will go a long way in
sorting out the race for the Big Ten
championship.
And while a collapse in the next
week would nullify Saturday's perfor-
mance, this group of Wolverines seems
more focused than in other years, cer-
tainly more selfless than in other years,
and, truth be told, just plain better than
in other years.
But the next few games are critical,
without a doubt. And if the Wolverines
revert to old form and stumble over
themselves for the next week or so, this
season could end up looking awfully
similar to other recent seasons. If, on
the other hand, the Wolverines continue
to play the way they are right now, this
season could end up looking a lot dif-
ferent than the disappointments of years
past.
With Robert Traylor playing with a
broken nose, Josh Asselin and Brandon
Smith still recovering from last week's
car accident and only minimal schedule
breaks from here on out, the Wolverines
don't have much room to slip up.
But what they do have going for
them is that they seem to be playing
their best ball of the year as they head
into the toughest part of their schedule.
Whether or not that heady, inspired play
will last is yet to be seen. If it doesn't,
the season could be the same type of
roller coaster ride that Michigan fans
have become oh-so used to; if it does,
we could be looking at a serious race for
the conference crown.
Which Michigan team will show up
over the course of the next week? The
good one that looks unbeatable? Or the
bad one that beats itself? Only time will
tell what happens with the Big Ten
championship, but one thing is certain:
it sure would be fun to watch the good
team make a run at it.
- Jim Rose can he reached via e-mail
atjwrose@umich.edu.
Michigan guard Robbie Reid secures a loose bail against Ohio State on Saturday.
Reid notched three assists against the Buckeyes and netted nine points for the
game.
siers win state battle
Gophers from matching their worst con-
t since 1970-71.
SIN 56, NORTHWESTERN 33
n the brand new $76.4 million Kohl Center
, Wis., Northwestern trailed 23-18 at the
gers (3-2 Big Ten, 10-7) led only 28-26
D second-half run. The Badgers built a 43-
the Wildcats (1-4, 7-7) went scoreless for
seven minutes.
coach Dick Bennett said he was impressed
's defensive play.
recall having a team try this hard defen-
long time, and I've had the privilege of
number of great defensive teams. The Cats
ne of their first 10 field goal attempts and
ercent in the half.
Big Ten Standings
Team Conf. Overall
Iowa 4-1 15-2
Michigan 41 14.4
Michigan State 4-1 11-4
Indiana 4-2 13-5
Purdue 3-2 15-4
Illinois 3-2 11-7
Wisconsin 3-2 10-7
Penn State 1-3 8-6
Northwestern 1-4 7-7
Ohio State 04 7.10
Minnesota 0-5 7-9
3UCKEYES
o tinued from Page 1B
ooting, Conlan and Robbie Reid
ich nailed three 3-pointers.
"For myself as a shooter, I love zones,
.cause I know there's some open spots
i there," Bullock said. "When a team
lays a zone like that, you have to watch
urselfand not rela"
Buckeyes' leading scorer, freshman
Michael Redd, who was second in the
conference with a 21.6 scoring average
and ranked first in the nation among
freshman scorers coming into the game.
Although Redd finished with a team-
high 20 points, it was on eight-of-25
shooting and he had just 10 when the
Wolverines opened up their largest lead
of the name 62-32. with 9:10 remaining.
MICHIGAN (794 -AM
MINMMA AMA 0-TA "
Baston 28 3.5 12 1-7 0 3 7
Ward 21 2-5 0-0 3-7 1 4 5
Traylor 21 5-11 0-0 5-7 2 3 10
Reid 33 3-8 0-0 0-7 3 1 9
Bullock 32 5.9 13-13 0-4 4 1 28
onlan 32 3-6 0-0 0-2 6 3 9
Smith 10 1-2 1-2 0-0 2 1 3
Asselin 7 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 2 0
Vignier 6 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 3 2
Oliver 6 2-3 0-0 0-1 0 1 4
Taylor 2 0.1 00 00 000
Scott 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Szyndlar 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 00 0
Totals 200 26-54 l5.IB11-38 18 23 79
Duke survives Clemson scare
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Second-
ranked Duke led by 24 points in the
second half but had to hang on in the
final seconds, edging Clemson, 81-
80. Saturday behind a season-high 23
81-78 lead with one minute left, but
Jamison, who finished with 12 points,
scored on a dunk 13 seconds later.
McLeod then missed with 19 sec-
onds left and after an exchange of
Arizona forced 15 turnovers in the
first half and got 10 of its 17 offensive
rebounds in taking a 52-27 halftime
lead. The Wildcats matched New
Mexico's defensive average of 62.9