BASKETBALL The Michigan Daily -SPORTSMonday - February 2, 1998 - 5B Yesterday's game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City: Michigan 80, Iowa 66 Player of the Week Louis Bullock The junior guard nailed five of eight 3-jinterso n his way to a 2rpintafternoon. !onan breaks back into starting Ineup James Goldstein In Saturday's practice after the 89-82 loss to But Ellerbe saw the move in a different way, ly Sports Writer Purdue, Ellerbe told Conlan that he would start trying to kill two birds with one stone. [OWA CITY - For the first time this season, in yesterday's game. "We felt we need some more offense coming two Michigan co-captains - Robert Traylor Michigan won yesterday, 80-66. off the bench and we felt we needed some more d Travis Conlan - together approached the "It seemed like old times,' Conlan said. "It chemistry starting the game," Ellerbe said. "I d-court circle for the opening jump ball. was the same guys. It felt comfortable, it wasn't think we got both of those." Traylor has been there all year, starting all 21 as if there was anything to be nervous about. I'm Ellerbe added that he knows it's a tough thing tes of the season. But Conlan, who broke his glad to be in the starting lineup and hopefully for Reid to swallow and that the junior handled jt this past November after diving for a loose we can build on this victory." the decision really well. has started the games standing - with his Conlan played 34 minutes, contributing six "It's a tough thing for Robbie to come out and unmates, in front of the Michigan bench - points and five assists. know he's not going to start," Ellerbe said "That tead hanging back behind Michigan's Maceo Reid went I-of-7 from the field, including 1- shows a lot about him." ston, waiting for the tip to head his way. of-5 from behind the arc, totaling five points in Conlan thought that one thing that helped his Junior guard Robbie Reid, averaging 7.9 24 minutes of action. For Reid, it was a different teammates yesterday was the fact that he was ints and shooting 41.9 percent from behind feeling coming off the bench. bringing up the ball for the most part against the arc before yesterday's game, has been in that "It was different in terms of getting loose and Iowa full-court pressure. sition on the floor after starting the first 20 just my approach to the game," Reid said. "It's an added comfort level," Conlan said. rnes of the season. The junior transfer said that it's something he "To know that there's an outlet man to throw to But things changed yesterday at Carver- should get used to in the next few weeks. He or if there's always somebody getting open, and h;keye Arena, as Brian Ellerbe decided to do said that he "imagines (that Conlan starting) I'm that man. And I don't mind doing it. I love ittle tinkering with the starting lineup. Ellerbe would stay this way. It's a role I'm going to have to do it and if we keep getting victories like this ose Conlan in favor of Reid. to get adjusted to?' all the time, I'll do it every game." Right: Brian Ellerbe did some tinkering yester- day, inserting Travis Conlan into the starting lineup in Robbie Reid's place. Left: Robert Traylor had 15 points and six rebounds against the Hawkeyes. WARREN ZINN/Daily At last, Wolverines get one for the road in victory over Hawkeyes By James Goldstein and Dan Stillman Daily Sports Writers IOWA CITY - Finally, the Michigan basketball team won a big game - on the road. After falling to Indiana on Jan. 6 and then falling apart against Illinois last weekend, it looked like the Wolverines might never win an important road ----------------- game, continuing an historic trend that Basketball puts the Wolverines' overall road record at 492-516. Notebook Last season, the Wolverines finished ----------------- 8-6 away from home, but 3-6 in Big Ten road games. Michigan now sports a 4-3 (3-2 Big Ten) road record this sea- son. The Wolverines have attributed part of the blame to hostile, intense road crowds. But they may have turned the corner with yesterday's victory over Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena - thanks to a little thing called poise. "I don't know how many times we wrote it on the board, or how big we wrote it or how many colors we wrote it in," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "But poise was the main thing we stressed this week, not just keeping cool, but staying concentrated.' The Wolverines' focus on poise shined through most in one statistical category that has plagued them throughout the sea- son - turnovers. For a change, the Wolverines had more assists than turnovers against the Hawkeyes - 20-15. CORRECTIVE MEASURES: In the wake of lackluster perfor- mances from beyond the arc in their previous three games, the Wolverines finally broke out - and Louis Bullock just plain blew up - against the Hawkeyes yesterday. The Wolverines shot .474 for the game from 3-point land and .667 for the game. Jerod Ward started the onslaught with the first points of the game when he nailed a three from the corner. Although Ward ended up with 18 points on 8-of-14 shoot- ing, it was Bullock who really put on a show. After missing his first three attempts from the perimeter, Bullock ended up netting five treys on eight attempts. After making 12-of-24 from 3-point range at Ohio State on Jan. 17, Michigan made just 14-of-56 (.250) in its last three games before yesterday, going 4-of-18 against both Minnesota and Illinois and 6-of-20 against Purdue. DOWN AND OUT?: Iowa's J.R. Koch suffered a sprained ankle against the Wolverines. The junior forward went down midway through the first half in front of the Michigan basket just after a Wolverines bucket. Koch, writhing in pain, curled up and grabbed his left leg before team officials carried him into the lockerroom. Iowa coach Tom Davis said after the game that Koch's sta- tus would be evaluated before tomorrow's game at Wisconsin, but that it is not too serious, and that he almost suited up to play in the second half. REPRIEVE: After playing teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 in four of their past seven games - Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue and Iowa - the Wolverines now visit the bottom end of the Big Ten. Michigan's next three opponents - Northwestern, Minnesota and Ohio State - are not ranked and have a com- bined 3-21 Big Ten record. HAWKEYES Continued from Page 1B "I can't tell you how proud we are of our basketball team right now, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "To come into a very difficult place and play as well as * did in so many different areas. Our guys were very resilient and fought through the Iowa runs." Up double digits for most of the sec- ond half, Michigan was able to survive a Hawkeye run that wittled the Wolverines' lead to eight, 68-60, with 4:09 left in the game. But Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston made two free throws apiece to increase the lead to 12. Iowa closed to within eight again, 74-66, on a Ryan owen putback with 1:55 left, but Louis filock's short turnaround jumper in the lane sealed the deal for Michigan with 1:29 to go. The statistical area Ellerbe was most pleased with probably was the assists-to- turnovers ratio. For a team plagued by turnovers the past few weeks, Michigan had success finding the open man and remained poised. The Wolverines had just 16 ICHIGAN (8O MIN MA MA A F PT Baston 32 4-9 56 4-12 1 4 13 Ward 27 814 0-0 4-7 1 2 18 Traylor 34 6-11 3-4 1-6 2 2 15 Bullock 34 7-11 2-2 1-3 3 3 21 Conlan 35 2-4 1-2 1-3 5 2 6 Reid 24 1-7 2-2 02 6 2 5 Asselin 14 1-1 00 1-4 2 4 2 2 Totals 200 2987 1,3.1.6 12.40 20 19 90 FG:.. FT .83 Uohf FG 9 .-19,.474 {Bullock 5- turnovers and amassed 20 assists. Even though Iowa's aggressive full-court defense made Michigan appear a little shaky toward the end of the game, the Wolverines didn't fall to the pressure. Four Wolverines scored in double dig- its, led by junior guard Louis Bullock, who had 21 points on 7-of-Il shooting and drained 5 of 8 shots from behind the 3-point line. Forward Jerod Ward had his most impressive performance in weeks, dropping 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting and he added seven rebounds and two steals. "It was a great victory for us," Ward said. "It was important for both teams. Both teams came out and fought hard. Today was a good game for myself and good game for our team." Robert Traylor added 15 points and six rebounds, and Maceo Baston finished with a double-double, 13 points and 12 boards. "This just shows that there is such a Cleaves saves Sp this time in Evanston good balance in the league;' Iowa coach Tom Davis said. "There is not much dif- ference between teams with one or two losses." Ellerbe made a few changes after the Purdue game, both in the starting lineup and defensive schemes, that seemed to be just as important as the players' stat line. Ellerbe started senior co-captain Travis Conlan for the first time this season, replacing Robbie Reid in the starting lineup. Big Ten Standings Team Conf. Overall Michigan state 84 154 Purdue 7-2 194 Illinois 7-2 15-7 Mchigan 6-3 16 Indiana 6-3 15-6 Iowa 4-4 15-6 Penn State 3-5 10-8 Wisconsin 3.6 1011 Minnesota 2-7 9-11 Northwestern 1-7 ' 8-10 Ohio State 0-7 7-13 Ths weakwid (Home team in CAPS) Mkihgan 0, IOWA 66 INDIANA 95, Minnesota 82 Illinois 77, PENN ST. 71 Michigan St. 72, NtWESTERN 66 PURDUE 82, Wisconsin 59 STILLMAN Continued from Page 1B "We needed (the win) for a lot of rea- sons,' Jerod Ward said. "Our backs were pretty much against the wall." But one victory does not make up for everything. By no means did the Wolverines get all they were looking for in the most important stretch of their sea- son thus far. But what the Wolverines lost - somewhere between poor shooting performances against Minnesota and Illinois and a choke down the stretch in Thursday's loss to Purdue - they may have found in the confines of Carver- Hawkeye Arena yesterday. One reason the Wolverines are strug- gling to find themselves as of late is that they're looking in the wrong places. All season, the Wolverines have talked about meeting and surpassing their opponents' emotions every game. There's no doubt intensity is important in college basket- ball, but it can only take a team so far. And the Wolverines may have reached the point of diminishing returns. For this team to continue what was beginning to look like a potential storybook season, the Wolverines - all the Wolverines - must start believing in both their emo- tions and their physical abilities. Robert Traylor seems to have both down pat. Even before the season started, the co-captain deemed Michigan a Final Four team. But you wonder if the rest of the Wolverines feel the same way. They .ati~vna:-. x- o n4nfupn norer season 6-2, including an invigorating 24- point blowout of UNLV and a magical victory over No. I Duke, the Wolverines' confidence mushroomed. But expectations also grew, and sud- denly Michigan was not the same team it had been just weeks before. The Wolverines seemed to tense up, hesitate more and lack the energy they created earlier in the season. Can you remember the last time the Wolverines were consis- tently aggressive, or displayed the kind of suffocating defense that put them over the top against Duke? It has been a while. But yesterday, the Wolverines got back, just a little bit, to what had been working so well before. Conlan showed glimpses of taking control of Michigan's attack again, Ward set the tone for the Wolverines with 18 points, Bullock exploded for 21 and the Michigan defense shut down the Hawkeyes when they had to. Now, they just have to build on it. The rest of the Wolverines need to follow Traylor's lead. Any 300-pound player who rumbles down the floor and dribbles behind his back twice - as he did against Purdue - clearly believes in himself, his abili- ties and his team. Maybe the Wolverines need to learn from those that came before them and imitate a bit of the free-wheel- ing confidence displayed by the Fab Five. Seasons are made up of turning points. The Wolverines' first two were positive - the victory over Duke and then the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic. This most recent stretch of oame which looked TeAssociated Press Big Ten leader Michigan State got more trouble than it expected from Northwestern. And if not for Mateen Cleaves, the 22nd-ranked Spartans could have left Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston with a stunning loss. Cleaves scored 32 of his 34 points after halftime, including nine in over- time, as Michigan State won its sixth consecutive game, beating Northwestern, 72-66, on Saturday night. In other games Saturday, Illinois beat Penn State, 77-7I1giving the Roundup --which also included nine assists and six steals ---- was a big deal. "That's my job. That's my role. If something's not going right, I have to step up,' said Cleaves, who went 6-of- 10 from 3-point range. "I'm not doing anything extra?' Evan Eschmeyer had 30 points and 14 rebounds for Northwestern (1-7, 8- 10), which has lost 21 of its last 22 games to Michigan State. " don't think we caved," O'Neill said. "I thought we had the game won." But Cleaves lofted a driving bank shot over the 6-foot-Il Eschmeyer with 9.5 seconds left in regulation to make it 55-55.