The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 25, 1999- 5B Quote of the weekend "At some point, our basketball team has to make plays with the game on the line." - Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe, on his team's inability to come back from large deficits on the road Purdue 81 Player of the game Guard Louis B ock Bullock struggled from the field, hitting just 33 percent of his shots, but he did get to the char- ity stripe 14 times and ended the game with 25 points - giving him more than 2,000 on his career 'gg Michigan 71 ,Cunningham cuts hair, clips Blue in first start By Josh Kleinbaum Daily Sports Editor WEST LAFAYETTE - The buzz had already started Friday night, a full day before Purdue's basketball team hosted Michigan. 'Watch out for Carson Cunningham, No. 43, a Purdue fan said in the East Side 10, a West Lafayette movie theater. "He's starting his first game tomorrow, f when you go back to Ann Arbor, you're going to be writing about this guy." : Cunningham is a great guard, the fan said. He is ambidextrous, meaning he can shoot, pass and dribble with both hands, a terrific tool to fool defenders. He's fun to watch, making exciting shots and passes. And, best of all, he has a hairdo that stands four inches from his ad. he 'do didn't exist - Cunningham shaved his head just before the game. But for at least a game, the rest was all true. Cunningham dazzled the crowd of !4, 321 with his off-balance shots and strange passes en route to two standing ovations and a team-best 24 points in Purdue's 81-71 victory over Michigan 9k ,Vlichigan guard Louis Bullock, scored 25 points against Purdue, and also became i the only current Big Ten player to score more than 2,000 points in his career. DANA UNNANE/Daily Mi.higan BLOOMINGTON (AP) - Michigan State, the preseason favorite for the Big Ten championship, is living up to expectations. The IIth-ranked Spartans beat No. 18 Indiana 73-59 yesterday for their t win at Assembly Hall since 1990 d only their ninth in 44 trips to $loomington. "That was as good as we could play on the road. We just started doing a lot f things, shots started going in for us' Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after his team held Indiana scoreless for more than eight minutes in the second half. Mateen Cleaves had 16 points and 13 ists to lead the Spartans. Indiana, ich shot 63 percent in the first half, trailed 38-34 at the break. The Hoosiers managed to cut the deficit to one early in the second half, but faded as the $partans scored 11 consecutive points during a 14-1 run. The Spartans (5-1 Big Ten, 16-4 overall) led 47-45 before Indiana's Kirk Haston scored a layup with 16 minutes to play. Michigan State then scored 11 consecutive points, capped by a Cleaves # ointer. Indiana (3-4, 16-6) didn't get another field goal until 7:41 remained. BOILERS~ Continued from Page 18 Michigan guard Louis Bullock said. "It's tough getting over that final bump. Five points seems that much gher when you've come back rom 19 down." But why does Michigan consistent- ly fall behind on the road in the first place? "We play hard, but we don't really start to concentrate until we're dnonBlock esid- "If we could on Saturday. Cunningham did not come out of the blue - actually, he came from the Pac- 10. Two years ago, as a freshman at Oregon State, Cunningham started 26 games at point guard, averaging 14.9 points and 4.8 assists per game. In fact, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe knew all about Cunningham - this summer, Cunningham played for Ellerbe on the Big Ten European tour. "He's a kid who deserves it," Ellerbe said of Cunningham. "He's a basketball junkie. He likes to dribble his basketball around with him wherever he goes." But it wasn't Cunningham's dribbling that killed Ellerbe and his Wolverines, it was his shooting. The six-foot short guard, starting to give Purdue a three-guard lineup, hit 50- percent from the field, including several impressive off-balance shots. He also converted on 11 of 13 free throws. With just over five minutes left in the first half, Cunningham made his first eye-popping shot. Driving down the left side of the lane, he found himself unable to get around a Michigan defender. So, rather than dish the ball off, his feet quickly left the ground. Falling back- ward, Cunningham switched the ball to his left hand - his supposedly weak one - and banked the two-foot fade- away layup off the glass and into the net. Early in the second half, Cunningham again had the ball in the key. Instead of driving to the basket, he just pulled up, four feet in front of the basket, and, falling to his left, put the ball up with his right hand. Swish. "Carson gives us penetration power" Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "He finally gave us the penetration without turning the ball over, and he took pres- sure off" of Purdue's other guards. But Cunningham's most important basket was not off of penetration. With just over three minutes left in the game and the Boilermakers up by six, Cunningham had the ball with the shot clock running down. If Michigan got the ball back before a Purdue score, the Wolverines could cut the lead to four and be right in the game. Instead, Cunningham came off a screen on the right side of the basket and hit a 3-point shot with just three seconds left on the shot clock to put Purdue up nine and the game out of reach. DANA UNNANE/Daily After a pregame haircut, Purdue sophomore guard Carson Cunningham torched Michigan for 24 points in his first start as a Boilermaker. Bullock tops 2,000-point milestone in 'M' defeat Michigan stats leaders," SCORING PLAYER VS. PURDUE SEASON Bullock 25 218 Reid 16 13.2 Smith 15 8.7 Asselin 4 80 Vignier 3 6.2 REBOUNDING Vignier 13 7.9 Asselin 6 5.4 Bullock 3 4.4 FELD GOAL PERCENTAGE Asselin 1.00 .530 Vignier .250 .509 Young .250 .500 FREE THROW PERCENTAGE Bullock .750 .873 Jones.500 805 . Reid .667 .788 ASSISTS Reid 2 3.2 Bullock 1 2.4 Smith 2 2.0 STEALS Smith 2 1.5 Reid 2 1.3 Bullock 1 1.2 'Rn' COINFERENCE Standings and Results Conference Oieral Team tW;L 11 ihigan State S5 1 16 4.x Wisconsin 6 .2 18 3r Ohio State 5 2 15. 5 Iowa 43 134 Minnesota. 3 3 12 4s - Purdue 3 3 15 5- Indiana 3 4 16 6 Northwestem 3 3 ; 11 5 Michigan 3 4 9 1 Penn State. 2 5 10 7 IlinoisQ .0 7. 8 11. Saturday's games: Penn State 65, illinois 61 Norhwestem 76, TexasPan Am.47 Wisconsin 72, Iowa 52 Ohio State 89, Minnesota 60 Yesterday's game. Michigan State 73, Indiana 59 Top 25 weekend results 1. connecticut(17-0) beatSeon Hal62-47. 2. Duke (19-1) beat No.8 St. Johns 92-88 i. 3. Stanford (172) beat Washington 67-60. 4. Mayland (18-2) beat Ce 8son .81-790 5. Canridt (181) eat Sit Louis 5544 « 6. Auburn18-1) beat Alabama 73-58. 7. Kentucky (174) beat MiSsiSSippi State 76-49. 8. St John's (14) lost to No. 2 Duke 92-48 O, 9."Arizorna (13-) ost to Oregon State 60-59. 10. Not Carolina (17-4) breat Wake forest 5240.>> '11 Michton St 16.4) beat No 18 Indian 73-59. 12. New Mexico (164) lost to Texas-El Paso 67-49. 13. UCLA (14-4) beat No.24 Louisville 82-70. 14. Iowa (13-4)ost to No. 15 WIsconsin 72-52. 15. Wisconsin (183) beat No.14 towa 72-52. 16. Pwdue 015-5) beat Mkhlgan 81-71. 17 Minnesota (12-4) lost to Ohio State 89-60. 18. Indiana (16-6) vs. No.11 Mich. State 73-59. 19. Kansas (13-5) lost to Missori 7-63.. 2. Syracuse (45) breat South Coina 84-37 21. Texas Christian (15-4) lost to UNLV 95-88, G. 22. Ailansas 14-5) beat Providence 118-79. 23. Oklahoma State (13-5)lost to Texas 73-70. 24. Louisvile (1-)l ost to No. 13 UCLA 82-70. 25. Aami (12-4) beat Boston Coege 7547. By Pranay Reddy Daily Sports Editor WEST LAFAYETTE - Michigan guard Louis Bullock didn't just pace the Wolverines with 25 points in their 81-71 loss to Purdue on Saturday. With his effort, Bullock became the only current Big Ten player with at least 2,000 points. In addition, Bullock became the fifth player in Michigan history and ---------------- 23rd player in Big Ten histo- Basketball ry to score at least 2,000 points in a career. Bullock, Notebook who now has 2,017 points, ----------------- is currently 21st on the Big Ten list. The 6-foot- 3 senior joins Michigan basketball greats Glen Rice, Mike McGee, Gary Grant and Cazzie Russell on the list. But Bullock, ever the humble one, failed to appreciate his record in light of Michigan's loss to the Boilermakers. "I didn't even know (about the record) until right before the game," Bullock said. "Any time you have a chance to accomplish something that will put you in the record books, you want State frustrates Indiana - to do it in a win." If Bullock continues to average 21.8 points per game, he should end up ninth on the Big Ten list with 2,213 points - well below the Big Ten's all-time scoring leader, former Indiana guard Calbert Cheaney (2,613 points). FREE THROW FOLLIES: For the third straight contest, the Wolverines were outshot at the charity stripe. In Saturday's game, the Boilermakers converted 21 of 27 attempts, to Michigan's 18 of 22 shots. Despite the discrepancy, this was still a dras- tic improvement from last Wednesday's debacle against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers con- nected on a Big Ten record-tying 25 consecu- tive free throws en route to a 34 of 39 perfor- mance. Meanwhile, the Wolverines made it to the line only 14 times during the game, hitting 10 shots. Even in victory over Ohio State a week earli- er, the Wolverines went to the line 10 times fewer than the rival Buckeyes. But in this instance, Michigan's opponent failed to make the most of its opportunity, with the Buckeyes hitting 15 of 32 shots to Michigan's 17 of 22. OmO STATE 89, No.17 MINNESOTA 60 Ohio State got its revenge. In the Buckeyes' dreadful 1997-98 season, the lowest point might have come at Minnesota. Ohio State (5-2, 15-5 overall) didn't forget, and its revenge came Saturday with a surprisingly easy 89-60 victory over the 17th-ranked Golden Gophers. "They killed us last year;" forward Jason Singleton said of 76-53 loss at Williams Arena. "We owed them." The memory burned into the Buckeyes' minds was Minnesota (3-3, 12-4) senior Sam Jacobson pumping up 3-pointers near the finish, trying to extend his string of 20-point games in a contest long since decided. "They rubbed it in our noses," said Scoonie Penn, who matched his Ohio State best with 24 points. No. 15 WISCONSIN 72, No. 14 IOWA 52 Jon Bryant provided another spark off the bench, scoring 22 points Saturday to help lead No. 15 Wisconsit) to a 72-52 victory over No. 14 Iowa. Sean Mason finished with 18 points and Ty Calderwood had 15 for the Badgers (6-2, 18-3), who won their sixth straight game and beat Iowa for the first time in six outings at Carver- went on runs of six points or greater. Twice, Michigan had droughts of over 3 minutes from the field. Offensively, the Wolverines shot just 30 percent from the field on the half, including 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. Their here-today, gone- tomorrow frontcourt decided not to show for this one, despite a distinct size advantage. Both center Pete Vignier and power forward Josh Asselin had at least three inches on any Purdue regular, but the two com- hined for iust seven noints. Hawkeye Arena. Wisconsin is off to its best conference start since 1961. J.R. Koch scored 10 points for the Hawkeyes (4-3, 13-4). PENN STATE 65, ILLINOIs 61 Sophomore guard Joe Crispin scored a career-high 30 points Saturday, including the final four points, in lead- ing Penn State to a 65-61 win over Illinois. Crispin hit a short bank shot with 35 second left to put the Nittany Lions (2- 5, 10-7) up 63-61. He added two free throws with 2 second left. Penn State led the entire second half until the final 5 minutes. There were eight lead changes the rest of the way. Illinois (0-7, 8-11) had taken a 61-59 lead with 1:40 to go on a steal and dunk by Sergio McClain. NORTHWESTERN 76, TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN 47 Evan Eschmeyer scored 18 points Saturday night as Northwestern rolled to a 76-47 victory over Texas-Pan American. Northwestern (3-3, 11-5) held the nation's leading scorer, sophomore Brian Merriweather, to 14 points. He entered the game averaging 25 points. He made just 5-of-23 field goal attempts. MICHIGAN (714111 - MIN MA M*A6T AIFP11 Asselin 27 2.2 0-0 3.6 1 5 4 Smith 34 4-9 7-8 510 2 3 15 Vignier 27 1-4 1-2 6-13 1 4 Reid 34 512 46 0-4 2 5 16 Bullock 39 618 12-14 2-3 1 4 2 Jones 17 2-8 1-2 3.3 0 3 6 Oliver 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 Young 20 1-4 0-0 1.3 0 3 2 Totals 200 21-58 25-322046 7 28 7 FG%: .429. FT%: .781. 3-polnt FG: 4-20, .200. (Reid 2-7, Bullock 1-6, Jones 1-5, Smith 0-2). Blocks: 4 (Asselin 2, Smith. Young). Steals: 6 (Smith 2, Reid 2, Bullock, Oliver). Turnoves: 16 (Smith 5, Reid 3, Young 3, Vignier 2, Bullock 2, Jones). Technical Fouls: none. Purdue (81) FQ FTRE Cardinal HINM -A MA TAFP Cardnal 21 1-5 9-10 2-5 1 5 11 Gr. McQuay 32 5.8 3.6 0.4 1 1 1 Eldridge 33 2-6 4.6 0.1 4 1 Cornell 34 7-11 2-2 0-0 0 4 2C Cunningham 31. 6-12 11-13 0.1 1 3 2 Ga. McQuay 12 1-2 0-0 1-6 0 1 2 Kerkhof 1 0-0 0.0 0-0 0 1 0 Lewis 1 0.1 0-00-001 Mayfield 9 0.0 0-0 00 12 0 Stephens 12 0.2 2-2 2-4 1 3 2 Robinson 122 0-1 1-2 0-1 3 1 Allison 2 0-0 0-0 2-3 0 1 0 Totals 200 22.48 32-41 7-27 12 2491 FG%:.458. FT%: 780. 3-point FG: 5-17 294 (Cornell 4-8, Cunningham 1-2. Eldridge 0-4, Cardinal 0-2, Robinson 0.1). Blocks: 2 (Cardinal, Robinson) Steals: 8 (Cardinal 3, Gr. McQuay. 2, Eldridge, Ga. McQuay, Allison). Tur ove9 (Cunningham 4, Cornell 2, Cardinal, Gr. McQuay, Robinson). Technia Fouls: none. Michigan........... 26 45-71 Purdue.............40 41-81 At: Mackey Arena Attendance: 14.123 L5 6 5 1 11 L3 8 20 24 2 0 0 0 2 1 Michigan State's Morris Peterson drives by Indiana's Luke Recker In the Spartans 73-59 victory In Assembly Hall yesterday. 'M'needs urgency REDDY Continued from Page 1B refreshing change. Here stood one of the most successful coaches in the Big Ten, snapping at the media like his job was in jeopardy. And then there was the fan-favorite guard, who looked like he just went 0-for-11 with another eight turnovers. It was invigorating to see such urgency from a team that's 15-5. In fact, it really makes you wonder if the Wolverines can replicate the same energv in the coming week. Michigan faces 1 .!L . t 4 7 . ANUOI *i b C l r~mnn uu