ME BA SBALL No. f ecticut 88, NOT ME 79 No. iA"CETON 71, Pen hia 52 Pitt' 80, GEQ O WN 79 WOMEN'S PRO COLLEGE BASKETBALL BASKETBALL SAN ANTONIO 95, GEORGIA 79, Detroit 94 No. 12 Florida 62 CHICAGO 105. No. 3 OLD DOM. 92, Indiana 97 N.C. Wilmington 51 New York 91, No. 23 Nebraska 96, DENVER 77 MISSOURI 91 Oxb Ld iinniTtI Tracking 'M' teams The Michigan baseball and softball teams lead off with their season openers on Friday, both in warm-weather climates. The baseball team plays at Baylor, while the softball team plays in the Cartier Classic in San Diego. Wednesday February 18, 1998 lo 10 East Lansing blues I 4 Spart ans wini 1st- /acestyle EAST LANSING - The importance of th' game was clear. The fans knew when ijt was and who it involved. But as important as the players were, it was the ambiance and the surrounding elements whiXh made for good drama. For weeks, the game was circled in red ink. In this rivalry there is no middle ground and everyone in the state knows it. You grow up hating one school or the othet. Michigan-Michigan State is one of thosecontests that demands the red- ink treatment regardless. Michigan State and its fans were itch- ing f'or revenge. Michigan had won five in aiowt against the Spartans, who were thra W~ on Jan, 10 at Crisler Arena. Despim leading the Big Ten, last night's gamo was a Spartans season unto itself. At the Breslin Center, the too-young Spartans brought the game of a first-place team and Michigan played the beaten role as cheers rained form the rafters of the fren- MARK zied arena. SNYbER The feeling of Ma'A'W y electricity rever- WoVjo,. berating through- ______________out the Breslin Center last night would be foreign to any Michigan fan. In fact, the energy was so intense with greep-and-white porn pons that the sec- tions-thtemselves appeared to sway left to right. For any college town, there is little that excites students more than famous alumni. And last night, the only two jer- seys hanging from the Breslin rafters came t||'e. Inspirational speeches delivered by Greg Kelser and Magic Johnson conjured up memories of Michigan State's only national champi- onship team in 1979. While Magic and Special K ran their otfiffi§the Spartans ran the ball. Prior o the contest, all indicators pointed to Mihigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves as the determining factor. He wa this season's Magic and thus far, This was his championship game. Cheered on by a national-television audience and a sellout crowd of rowdy Spartan-lovers, Cleaves worked the flodr. And the fans responded. A fake her, a running 3-pointer there and Cleaves could do no wrong. While the certain Big Ten player of the Iyear was showing off for ESPN with fak passes and ball tricks, the man on the -eceiving end of his perfect passes denonstrated unusual resolve as well. With his broken right wrist trapped in a plaster cast and his left appendage sprained as well, Morris Peterson literal- ly rose to the occasion with two soaring Iley-oop jams. Pain be damned, he There was magic in the air when former Spartan and NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson stirred up the Breslin Center crowd before last night'sgame. With the 80-75 victory, Michigan State broke a five-game losing streak against ' the Wolverines. MARGARET MYERS/Daily. Gutsy M frally falsshort, 8 0-75 Reid's shot misses in final seconds S'4 By Dan Stillman Daily Sports Editor EAST LANSING - Murphy's Law had nothing on the Michigan basketball team last night. And in the end, the Wolverines could not overcome every- thing that had gone wrong for them. Despite the absence of an injured Maceo Baston, the early departure of' their other big man, Robert Traylor, who fouled out with 6:37 still remain-S Michigan St. 80 ing in the 6 Michigan 75 game, and a ___________ fast start by Michigan State in front of a rowdy green-and-white crowd inspired by pre- game pep talks from former Spartans Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Greg Kelser, the Wolverines did everything they could to put themselves in position for a miracle finish. No. 22 Michigan, after trailing by as much as 15 in the second half, trailed by three, 78-75, with 17.4 seconds left in the game. But a 3-point attempt by Michigan's Robbie Reid bounced off the rim with time running out and No. 14 Michigan State went on to an 80-75 win in front of 15,138 at Breslin Center. "We dug ourselves such a big hole in the first half," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "It made it very difficult to finish the comeback we made." The final shot was designed to go to sharpshooter Louis Bullock, Reid said. "We had a triple-pick designed for Lou to come up the middle, but I thought the time was running down and I thought I had the shot. So, I took it." Bullock led all scorers with 26, fol- lowed by a career-high 22 points from Jerod Ward. Traylor added 21 but only grabbed five boards. Overall, Michigan was outrebounded 41-25, leading to 25 second-chance points for the Spartans - compared to Michigan's seven. The game was truly a tale of two halves. The Spartans (12-2 Big Ten, 19- 5 overall) outshot, outrebounded and flat-out outplayed Michigan (8-5, 18-8) in the first half. While the Wolverines struggled to get the ball inside to Traylor - three of Traylor's eight shots were long-range jumpers - Bullock, a 91-percent free- throw shooter, somehow missed both of ms attempts trom the fine anct the 4 Spartans erupted behind point guard Mateen Cleaves' six points and, more importantly - six assists. Michigan State led by as many as 18 en route to a 44-29 halftime advantage. But Traylor almost singlehandedly got the Wolverines back into the game in the second half before fouling out. The Michigan center scored 12 consecutive points for the Wolverines early in the second half as Michigan used a 12-2 run to cut Michigan State's lead to five with 11:13 to go. Traylor would soon foul out, leaving Michigan with virtually no inside pres- ence. But Bullock kept the Wolverines close with 12 points in the final 4:55 of the game, including a high-arching, rain- bow 3-pointer from 24 feet that made the score 75-71 with 1:16 remaining and made Michigan State coach Tom Izzo laugh out loud. "I got to admit," Izzo said. "I think Bullock hit some shots that were unbe- lievable." It was a Michigan State 3-pointer. however, that proved to be the nail in the Wolverines' coffin. With 2:05 left in the game and Michigan trailing by two, Jason Klein highlighted a 17-point per- formance with a trey from the left cor- ner, giving the Spartans a 73-68 lead. Michigan fell behind early in the first half. With the game tied at five, Antonio Smith beat the Michigan defense down the floor and laid it in despite being fouled by Traylor. After Smith converted the three-point play, the Wolverines turned the ball over on their next posses- sion and Cleaves hit from beyond the arc to give the Spartans a 10-5 lead. A 3-pointer by Bullock from way out cut the Spartans' lead to 10-8. But the Spartans countered with a 12-2 run, extending their lead to 12. The frantic opening pace slowed down a bit as the Wolverines closed the gap again midway through the first half. A 3-pointer by Bullock and a basket by Traylor - only his second of the game - cut the Michigan deficit to eight. But the Spartans took advantage of a series of poor defensive plays underneath by the Wolverines to take a 31-17 lead. The Spartans maintained that advantage for the rest of the half and went to the lockerroom with a 44-29 halftime lead. MARGARET MYERS/Daily Michigan State's A.J. Granger gets a piece of Louis Bullock's jumper in the Spartans' 80-75 victory yesterday. Despite Bullock's 26 points and late-game heroics, the Wolverines fell in front of the harsh Breslin Center crowd. seemed to say, this is Michigan. And so the show went on. The Spartans' near-perfect first half made a Michigan comeback improba- ble, but that is just what occurred. As Michigan vaulted back into this seemingly lost cause, the raucous fans quieted down and Michigan heated up. With a young Spartan team such laps- es are expected and yet, these players were past the age factor, having played beyond their years until this point. So why should anything change? Breslin's finest began to re-light the fire under the slumping Spartans and did so in the only way they could -- by attacking the opponent. Earlier in the week, Michigan's play- ers referred to the Michigan State fans as "creative." The slurs came from all angles as Robbie Reid was told to "put a dress on" while backcourt mate Travis Conlan faced some local banter as an in-stater. Traylor ignored creative catcalls of "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and "Have you driven a Ford lately?" to drive heavy and hard to the basket. With dominant support from the fans abounding on every play, the Spartans knew they were being willed to victory. During the first-half surge that would ultimately prove too much for Michigan to overcome, the fans were intense in their cheers, much of which carried over onto the court. Brian Ellerbe sought a stop to the madness with several timeouts, but there would be no breaks in this game for Michigan. With a sellout crowd rein- forcing every putback with a piercing cheer, the Spartans bounded off the court and into each other's arms. The players were mobbed on the court fol- lowing the dramatic victory. An outsider might ask, "If this fol- lows a win over a fourth-place team, what happens when the Spartans clinch the Big Ten?" Nothing much. This was the red mark, and on their court, in front of their fans, the Spartans delivered as promised. - Mark Snvder can be reached via e-mail at nmsnvder a~umich.edu. GO TO CLASS. PICK UP THE DAILY. Go HOME. A'I CDT. S Senior, Sch 3 year schok ARMY ROTC SCHOLARSH BA NK Recruiting for a Management Development Program on February 24, 1998 *Gain Immediate Hands-on Training 'Learn a Full Spectrum of Business Functions -Take the Opportunity to Contribute to the High Standards of Flagstar's Management Staff For an appointment call The Placement Office at (313)764-1372 Schedule AU~re="EST iz oine i n GAPS A-2 Feb. 25 F INDIANA at Penn WISCONSIN 1p, m. State TBA 8 p.m. CBS Mar. 5 Mar 6 Mar. 7 at Big Tet at Big Ten at Big Ten Tournamenit Tournament Tournament TSA TBA TBA ESPN ESPN CBS While you're on spring break, the Daily will be in Chicago covering the Big Ten tournament. Read about it March 9. 4 teve Ihrke ool of Nursing arship recipient LIKE NORTH CAMPUS? YOU'LL . ir /' 7. 4 SALUTES OUR IP WINNERS.