edd nea keys 20-1 By Jim Rose Daily Sports Editor Ohio State freshman Michael Redd ng his head between his knees as he ighed aloud and tore the tape from his ankles. "Man, we shoulda' beat that team tonight," he said. He was talking about the Michigan team his Buckeyes had just lost to by eight points in Crisler Arena, but he did- n't really have to say anything - the look on his face said it all. It was the look of a beaten man on a beaten team, a look Redd has pretty *uch mastered this season. Ohio State is 0-10 in the Big Ten. Redd is in the unfortunate position of being the best player - check that, the only player - on a bad team. Night after night, opponents send two, even three men to shut him down, and night after night, Redd is called upon to buoy an otherwise inept offense. And he does. He averages more than 21 points per ame. And his team hasn't won since Dec. 22. "It gets frustrating, you know?" Redd said with one of those what-can-you-do half-smiles. He shrugged. "It's tough when the other team just wants to shut you down all night. But that's my job. I have to score." Redd scored last night - he had 22 The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 12, 1998 - 11A rly stymies Blue, run in second half points, right around his average. But in the game's final minutes, after Ohio State made a run and tied the game with four minutes remaining, the Wolverines put on the clamps. Travis Conlan, who has covered his share of scorers in the past four years, was in Redd's face with every step. And when Conlan wasn't there, someone else was. With Redd held at bay, Michigan outscored the Buckeyes 14-6 to close out the game. Redd got three of those points, and the rest of the Buckeyes could add only three more. "It's a lot more frustrating when you're close like that," Redd said. "They deserve credit. They did what they had to and they won the game. But we had out chances. We definitely could've won this game." Redd keyed a 20-4 Ohio State run in the second half with 10 points and 3 assists during a 10-minute stretch, sud- denly turning a game that moments ear- lier had the earmarks of a blowout into a very real chance for the Buckeyes to get their first conference victory. But after turning a 58-42 deficit into a game tied at 62 with 4:02 to play, the Buckeyes ran out of gas. Or, perhaps more important, Redd ran out of gas. "I think that Michael is struggling at times right now," Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said. "He has the burden of car- rying our offense, and that can wear on you. "Travis Conlan did a very good job against Michael. He made him work very, very hard for everything he got." The Wolverines were wary of Redd coming into last night's game. He's no secret, after all. He's the Big Ten's sec- ond-leading scorer, behind Evan Eschmeyer, and is the second-highest scorer in the nation among freshmen, behind only St. Louis' Larry Hughes (21.8 points per game). It was no secret that Conlan, who stuck with Redd in Columbus on Jan. 17, would draw the duty again last night. "Travis did a great job on Redd," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "He was all over the kid, and he still made some tough shots." That he did. But when all was said and done, Redd's Buckeyes still wound up on the short side of the scoring col- umn. Again. So for now, Redd remains the best player on a very bad team, and as close as the Buckeyes were to finally winning last night, the final result is what every- one remembers. And Redd knows it. "We fought hard," he said. "We're getting better. We get better every game. But we still have a lot of work to do. "We're not there yet." t r _ ' - n. + 1 ' 3 r. ";4 Michigan for- ward Jerod Ward throws down a two- handed slant during yeste- day's victory. WARREN ZiNN/Daily .Without Baston, 'M' might be hurting 4 , y ,. )".p - 'a Year 1997-98 1996-97 1995-96 1994-95 FG pct. 59.7 57.4 68.2 67.4 Ppg 13.9 10.4 11.7 7.7 Rpg 8.3 6.8 6.6 5.5 Blocks 31 34 41 30 Stis 21 28 17 22 FTpct. 67.1 67 67.8 54.7 By James Goldstein Daily Sports Writer Crisler Arena fans last witnessed Maceo Baston not soaring in for a dunk, not swatting an opposing player's shot into the seats, but on the free-throw line in the waning minutes of Michigan's game last week against Northwestern. Baston converted free throws following two ------ --- consecutive fallaway, turn- Basketball around jumpers - not dunks, not putbacks - to Commentary seal the Wolverines' seven- - --------- point comeback victory against the Wildcats. And then Baston, all by himself, kept the Wolverines in the game against Minnesota and scored a career-high 27 points including an impressive 13 of 14 from the charity stripe in ichigan's loss. What we didn't know until yesterday was that Baston broke his right foot after he came down awkwardly after going up for a jump shot in the last two minutes of the game. So now the Wolverines will have last two weeks without the long arms (wings may be the appropriate description) and long legs of the Michigan forward, who is third on the team in scoring (13.9 points per game), second in rebounds (8.3 rpg), tied for first in blocked shots (1.29 per game) and tops in free-throw attempts. Without Baston, who said he had "butterflies" on the bench, Michigan survived a 16-point comeback to beat Ohio State, 76-68. The game was tied at 65 with three minutes remaining. Remember, this Ohio State team is 0-10 in the Big Ten. Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe started Robbie Reid for Baston instead of Josh Asselin. Reid scored five points. Jerod Ward (14 points, nine rebounds) at times looked out of place at power forward. And the Buckeyes converged on Traylor in the paint without Baston's presence, but to Traylor's credit, he stayed patient and didn't force shots, managing to score 17 points. And guard Louis Bullock got good looks from beyond the arc, nail See BUCKEYES, Page 14A Send Free Cards & VitzaI Kisses to your Valentines. Enterthe cntest and win a tlp to Bahamas and tons of other prizes. rffe sd .a Entries aredue by Fbrary 21, 1998. SPORTSWE8 rNC. WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan power forward Maceo Baston (left) is injured with a fracture in his foot. One of the Wolverines that played in his absence yesterday was Brandon Smith.