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