MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL (1) Duke 76, GEORGIA TECH 53 (8) Kentucky 83, AUBURN 58 (10) PURDUE 87, Minnesota 83 (13) MISSISSIPPI 81, (14) Arkansas 65 BOSTON COLLEGE 72, (19) West Virginia 64 ST. BONAVENTURE 72, (20) Massachusetts 70 Iowa 75. NORTHWESTERN 55 Ohio State 61, WISCONSIN 56 WOMEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL (5) Texas Tech 87, (22) Nebraska 62 NBA BASKETBALL Charlotte 98. DETROIT 88 BOSTON 111, Sacramento 94 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 ,. __. __ J MMMMMMOMMMOMMINR P !%- V%-#. 1