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Ure£Idga Sai
Check out the Michigan hockey team at home this
weekend. The Wolverines square off against Ferris
State tomorrow night and host Lake Superior in the
regular season home finale on Saturday.
Thursday
February 26, 19989
isicky who?
Bullock wins
shooting duel
y Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - The game was supposed to be about
Louis Bullock and Pete Lisicky, two of the premier sharp-
shooters in the Big Ten.
Sweet Lou came through. Pistol Pete did not.
Lisicky may have the deadly nickname, but it was Bullock
who was lethal in Michigan's 77-61 victory last night, scoring
25 points.
When Bullock is at his best, he is nearly impossible to
fend, especially when coupled with a low-post player like
Robert Traylor. Able to sink the jumper from almost anywhere
on the court, he has turned into a deadly penetrator, as well.
Penn State learned this lesson all too well yesterday.
The junior guard was dominant in the first half, helping the
Wolverines claim a 19-point lead at the break. He was hitting
treys from everywhere. He was beating the Nittany Lions off
the dribble. He was even spotted selling souvenirs in the stands
when a Bryce Jordan employee got a little tired.
"I just worked really hard to get my shots today," Bullock
said. "The main thing is confidence."
The one time the Wolverines appeared to be in trouble, Sweet
ou came to the rescue. After a 9-0 Penn State run cut the
Michigan lead to seven late in the first half, Bullock hit a fade-
away jumper with guard Joe Crispin draped all over him. Just
two minutes later, Travis Conlan found him open on the right
baseline for a three. And presto, the Michigan lead was 16.
But the most important - and maybe the most improved -
aspect of Bullock's game may be his dribble penetration.
Earlier in the season, Bullock often appeared wild, turning.
over the ball while driving to the hole. Lately, though, he has
beaten his defenders with ease, making the easy layup and
?aking the tough shot look easy.
"I would like to think we could have done a better job"
defending Bullock, Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "It's
pick your poison (against Michigan) ... obviously we weren't
successful ."
Bullock hit 10 of 19 from the floor, including 5 of 9 from
beyond the arc. His 25 points were just three shy of his season
high. Last night was his fourth consecutive game with more
than 20 points.
Lisicky didn't fare quite as well.
The senior, playing his last home game for the Lions, may
ave overworked himself before the game. As part of the
See SHOOTOUT, Page 10A
Michigan stomps
Nittany Lions in
runaway victory
By Dan Stillman
Daily Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE - They say
teams live and die by the 3-pointer. If
that's the case, the Nittany Lions were
dead on arrival last night.
Penn State entered yesterday's game
shooting better than 43 percent from
behind the arc in each of its past three
games. But the Lions came out ice-
cold against the Wolverines and
stayed that way, hitting just six of their
26 3-point attempts in the game, as
Michigan rode Louis Bullock's 25
points to a 77-61 victory in front of
12,097 at Bryce Jordan Center.
No. 21 Michigan (10-5 Big Ten, 20-
8 overall) picked up right where it left
off after its 48-point thrashing of
Indiana on
Sunday. 4? Michigan 77
Michigan g'
shot 53.1 Penn State 61
percent
from the floor and outrebounded the
Lions (7-8, 14-11) 41-28.
"We wanted to make sure that our
guys came out just as focused as we
did on Sunday," Michigan coach Brian
Ellerbe said. "The rap has been
Michigan not being able to follow up
a really good outing."
With the victory, the Wolverines
clinched at least a fourth-place finish
in the Big Ten, which gives them a
first-round bye in the inaugural Big
Ten Tournament, to be held Mar. 5-8.
Michigan will close out its regular
season with a home contest against
Wisconsin on Saturday. The injured
Maceo Baston may see limited action
against the Badgers in what would be
the senior's final game at Crisler
Arena.
The highly anticipated matchup of
sharpshooters Bullock and Penn
State's Pete Lisicky turned out to be
no contest at all. Bullock made 10 of
19 from the floor and 5 of 9 from
behind the arc while Lisicky struggled
in his final game at Bryce Jordan,
scoring just five points on 2-for-10
shooting.
"As he goes, they go," Bullock said
of his counterpart. "Travis did an
excellent job defending him."
Robert Traylor and Jerod Ward also
finished in double figures, with
Traylor grabbing a game- and season-
high 1,7 rebounds. The next closest
was Penn State's Calvin Booth with
eight.
Booth led all Lions scorers with 18,
followed by Joe Crispin's 11.
Michigan jumped out to an early
lead and never looked back.
The Wolverines owned most of the
first half, sandwiching two devastat-
ing runs of their own around a Penn
State spurt. Taking advantage of poor
shot-selection by the .Lions, the
Wolverines jumped out to a 26-10
lead midway through the half.
"The first five or 10 minutes -
that's when you've got to make them
work on defense, pass it around a lit-
tie, get a good shot," Lisicky said.
"We didn't do that at all."
The Lions closed the gap with a 9-0
run, highlighted by two 3-pointers
from Crispin and three Wolverine
turnovers, that cut the Michigan lead
to seven with 5:33 to go in the half.
But the Wolverines countered with
a 14-2 run to close out the half and
take a 40-21 lead.
It was more of the same after the
break for the Wolverines, who led by
as many as 27 with 5:45 remaining in
the game.
AP PHOTO
Michigan center Robert Traylor kept Penn State's Calvin Booth at an arm's length for most of the game
last night. Traylor scored 16 points and had a season-high 17 boards.
Distance events key for Wolverines in
attempt to drown hometown Gophers
And in this corner..
Four Michigan swimmers will defend their own personal Big Ten titles this
weekend: Derya Buyukuncu in the 100 and 200 backstroke, Tom Malchow
in the 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle relay, Andy Potts in the 800 free
relay and John Reich in the 1,650 free.
Jacob R. Wheeler
ly Sports Writer
"There's always next year" is a phrase
that must be commonly uttered by the
Minnesota men's swimming team.
Every fall, one goal looms in the fore-
front of the Golden Gophers' minds. Beat
Michigan to win a Big Ten champi-
onship. Yet almost every spring, the
Gophers come away empty-handed,
forced to wait another year.
There are no other powerhouse pro-
ms in the Big Ten or even in the
idwest, for that matter. Michigan and
Minnesota stand all alone at the top of the
conference and resume their title-fight
every spring.
Today the battle resumes - this time
in Minneapolis, where a home advantage
could be enough to push the Gophers
over the hump.
"You have an advantage swimming in
your own pool," Michigan coach Jon
Urbanchek said. "You're more comfort-
able in your environment where you have
your own spectators cheering for you.
There's a little extra hype."
But will that hype be enough to change
the course of history? In II of the past 12
years, Michigan has won the conference
bout and gone on to finish among the
nation's elite at the NCAAs a month later.
In most of those years, the Gophers have
settled for second place and set their
sights on the next year.
"Michigan should be the favorite,"
Urbanchek said. "But what's on paper is
one thing. What you do in the water is
another. On a given day, anything can
happen. That's why we're here.
Otherwise we'd just send the times in and
get our medals."
The Gophers won the title in 1996,
when Urbanchek chose to focus on the
upcoming Olympic trials instead of the
Big Feln Championships. The Wolverines
were in taper mode and didn't swim as
well as they could have at the tourna-
ment. His gamble paid off, as four differ-
ent Wolverines medaled in Atlanta.
As a result, Minnesota came to Ann
Arbor and stole the prize. breaking
Urbancheks streak of 10 straight titles in
the process.
The Wolverines took back the title last
- the closest finish at the Big Ten
Championships in more than 10 years.
And Michigan didn't pull out the victory
until the final event of the tournament.
This weekend should be just as excit-
ing. Minnesota features a talented group
of freshmen that Urbanchek has never
seen before. One of those rookies,
Brazilian Alex Massura, holds the best
time of either team in three different
events. Massura, and the rest of
Minnesota's team, specializes in the
sprinting events - where the Wolverines
are vulnerable. Most dual-meet races that
Michigan didn't win during the season
were sprinting events.
But no one will compete with the
Wolverines in the long-distance events.
See SWIMMING, Page 10A
Buyukuncu
year, but without much room to
They beat the Gophers by just 17
spare.
points
Ihn
CHAMPIONSHIPS
What: Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
Where: Minneapolis
When: Today through Saturday
(preliminaries at noon, finals at 7 p.m.)
Notable: The Wolverines will swim for their 30{th Big Ten title
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