The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 11, 1999 - 7B
Quote of the weekend , , Player of the game
"HeodmeI u t g tM Michigan forward Josh Asselin
-Michigan Stateo Mateen Cleaves n advicefrom M ichigan State Asselin had a career game, scoring a career-
Magic Johnson, referring to the alcohol-related high 17 points, grabbing four rebounds and
violation he and Hutson received while Michigan 67 blocking a shot. He was aggressive in the
celebrating a victory over Michigan last season post, an aspect that the Wolverines have
___________________________________lacked all season.
Jig game for big men
keeps Ellerbe optimistic
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Amid the rubble of
Michigan's 81-67 loss to Michigan State on
Saturday even the most pessimistic of fans can
'nd a gleaming nugget of hope.
Michigan's frontcourt put together its best game
of the season, even though it wasn't enough to
overcome the Spartans or the Spartan, 24-point
effort offered up by the Michigan guards.
"I saw some things that encouraged me,"
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said.
This was the second game in a row in which
Michigan's forwards and centers played more than
bit parts. So despite the sour result, this is the kind
of game that the Wolverines have been waiting for.
Forward Josh Asselin's 17 points were a career-
est performance, topping his record of 16 from
Tuesday night's defeat of Indiana. Freshman for-
ward Chris Young tied his career best with seven
points.
Center Peter Vignier and forward Brandon
Smith came within two and four points of their
career marks, as well.
"That gives us the opportunity to see that we can
score points and rebound and do some things
against a top-15 team'" Ellerbe said.
But for the Wolverines to be "in the thick of
things" the way Ellerbe thinks they can be,
Michigan will have to provide a combined effort.
Games in which only the guards, or only the front-
court plays well will most likely wind up as loss-
es.
Exhibit A for that would be the play of guards
Louis Bullock and Robbie Reid. The pair - usu-
ally good for 34.1 points a game - provided just
22 on Saturday. And at the half, only Bullock had
scored, making one of his six first-half shots.
"They didn't play very well, and that's going to
happen," Ellerbe said. "They're human. They did-
n't play very well in the first half or the second
half"
But the confidence of such usually sharp shoot-
ers as Bullock and Reid is hard to shake. And
Michigan's green frontcourt is getting more and
more seasoning, both in practice and in games.
"We've been doing a lot of individual break-
downs and working on different post moves,"
Young said. "I feel that my confidence is building
every game."
" f' C() / -
Cleaves helps quie
season-high 25-poi
AP PHOTO
Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves broke out of his recent shooting
slump, pouring in 25 points to help the Spartans past rival Michigan.
Wisconsin bucks Purdi
State sits alone atop co
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - This time, he
saved his antics until the game was
well in hand. Michigan State point
guard Mateen Cleaves, whose first-
half dagger-in-the-heart routine
almost blew up in his face last sea-
son, played Saturday's game without
any outburst more than an occasion-
al, "Who, me? Naw!" after being
whistled for one of the referees'
many touch-foul calls.
In fact, Cleaves' season-high 25
points had been nearly silent ones
until he was fouled hard by Michigan
guard Louis Bullock late in the sec-
ond half. Cleaves' first hint of either
splash or dash was the head-swivel-
ing, arm flailing dance he performed
in front of his bench after watching
his shot go in from his vantage point
flat on the floor.
For his trouble, he was assessed a
technical foul, after he converted his
ie; Ohio
nerence
under 10 minutes to play, but
Northwestern countered with a 3-pointer
from Tavaras Hardy.
Illinois closed the gap to 49-41 with
six minutes to play before Eschmeyer
scored and was fouled. With 3:07 left,
Northwestern led 54-41 after free throws
by Eschmeyer and Julian Bonner and
57-41 before a Bradford 3-pointer.
MINNESOTA 75, PENN STATE 60:
Quincy Lewis scored 24 points and Joel
Przybilla added a career-high 17, leading
No. 16 Minnesota to a 75-60 victory
over Penn State (1-3, 9-5) on Saturday
night.
Lewis, the Big Ten's leading scorer
with a 22-point average, was 9-for-14
from the floor as Minnesota (1-1, 10-2)
rebounded from an unexpected three-
point loss to unranked Northwestern on
Wednesday night.
Lewis has been in double figures in 17
straight games and has 20 or more points
in 10 of those games.
Przybilla, the Gophers' highly-recruit-
ed 7-foot-1 freshman, added 13
rebounds and six blocked shots to hold
his own against Calvin Booth, the con-
ference's top rebounder.
three point play. But the o
points he scored to help his S
sink Michigan on Saturda;
whispers in comparison with
the sophomore's actions thi
Stats lines against Michigan
big-name opponents like Du
Connecticut seemed to
Cleaves' incompetence fro
rooftops. 3-for-14 against D
for-15 against Connecticut.
But the statistical roar of C
7-for-10 shooting will help
out the discord of dismal past
mances.
"I think this was one ofn
all-around games since I'v
here," Cleaves said to a small
reporters deep within the
Center.
It came not too long after s
his worst, but this might be th
Cleaves needed to shed the I
ized straitjacket of hype that I
.rounded him since the Sparta
Michigan stats leaders
SCORING
PAYR V.MSUtSEASON
Bullock 15 21.1':
Reid 7 12.2
Smith 10 84
Asselin 17 7.7
Vignier 9 6.5
REBOUNDING
Vignier S 7.9
Asselin 4 5.2
Bullock 2 45
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Asselin .667 .531
Young 1.000 .529
Vignier .600 .520
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
Bullock .800 .881
Jones 1.000 .824
Reid 1.000 .308
ASSISTS
Peter Vignier (left) Reid 1 3.1
and Josh Asselln Bullock 2 2.4
gave the Smith 3 2.0
Wolverines the
post presence STEALS
they needed to Smith 2 1.6
stay competitive Reid 3 1.2
against Michigan Bullock 1 1.1
! * State.
AP PHOTO
t critics with CONFERENCE
Standings and Results
n t o u tin g - C o neOr d
Iowa 3 0 12 1
Ohio State 2 0 13 3
Northwestern 2 1 9 3
ther 22 ranked in the top five in both presea- Wscestn 2 2 14 3
partans son polls. . Michigan 2 2 8 9
y were For the Wolverines, the leader of Minat 2 1 1 10 2
most of their arch-rivals couldn't have bro- Purdue 1 1 13 3
s year. ken through at a worse time. They Michigan State 1 1 12 4
State's have to face him again, Feb. 18 at Indiana 1 3 14 5
tke and Crisler. Penn State 1 3 9 5
shout "Mateen was really good today, he
m the got some good looks and knocked Fray's games:
uke. 2- them down," Michigan coach Brian none
Ellerbe said. "He was a factor."
leaves' If the 25 points Cleaves scored
drown when all was said and done weren't Satrday's games:
perfor- enough, his eight assists might have Michigan State 81, Michigan 67
been just as deadly. All told, Cleaves Northwestern 59, Illinois 46
my best was directly responsible for at least Ohio Stae 73, Indiana 56
e been 41 Michigan State points - more Minnesota 75 Penn State 60
knot of than half of the Spartans' total offen- Sunday's game
Breslin sive output.Snsiae
His demeanor may be toned down. Wisconsin 61, Purdue 56
ome of His celebration tonight might not
e game make the papers the way it did after
pressur- last season's victory. But as far as his
has sur- production is concerned, he's as loud
ns were as ever. Top 25 weekend results
1. Cneticttta130) bet WetVirgiia 8045..
2 Det(S-t betVrgna,11-69
3 Cncsatti 50bet Sssdns Misssippi 54-SL
4. Sanod (13-21 beat No. 25 Caforni 71-62.
.Maryland tS-2) beat North Canslina St.94-48
z 6lentscyt43 beat Vandebilt 7357.
Z. UCAt(1-3) bet Oregon 6563.
.Arizna (11-1) beat Washington 88-86.
9. Purdue (13-2)lst N. 24 Wsonsin, 61-56
10.St.JJohn'st13-3) beat Seson Hall 86-75.
11. North Carolina (14-3) did not play.
12. Michigan State (12-4) beat Michigan 81-67.
1.Ibina 14-) st to OhioState 73-56.
14 Auburn ti1-0) beat LS) 73-70.
15. New Mexic t4-2) beat Hawaii82-59.
16.Minnesota (10-2) beatenstate 75-60.
17.lowa(12-1) did ot play.
1.Kansas 1-3)tbeatlowsState 74-60.
19. Arkansas (11-4)lost to Mississippi 76-65.
20.Syracuset11-3d noplay.
21 Clessn (24tlst ts Wke arest 646.
22.Texas Chistia t12-2)did notplay.
23.Oklaboma State (t1-3 bestylor 76-63.
24.Wscsnsin beat No. 9 Pudue,61-56
25.Caliria no-3)iost to No.4 Stanford 71-62.
' h ( . MICHIGAN (67j -
Mk gMIN MA N*A 041 A F M1
Asselin 27 6-9 56 0. 0 4 17
mth 35 4.6 1-12-2 3 5 10
Vignier 35 3.5 042-5t0 3
Reid 33 2-8 2-2 02 1 4 7
Bullock 34 3-14 810 02 2 3 1S
yJones 21 03 2-2 0-0 0 2 2
Tylo 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 000
Oliser 15 GO0-0 0-0 0 050
Young 18 3-3 11 2-3 0 2 7
Totals 200 2148 22-263U-21 8 2367
FGe: .438. F%: .84, -3-point FG: 312, .250.
Smth 1-1, ReiO 1-4,tullock 1-6.#ones 01,).
oP PHOTO Blocks.3 (s Viner 2.Asselin). Ses: 12 (Reid 3,
APPOO Jones 3, Smith 2,Vignier 2, Bullock, Young).
nference play by downing Indiana 73-56 in Turnovers: 21 (SmithS, ,Vgnr 0.,Jones0, Reid 3.
diana dropped to 1-3 in the conference. Bullock 2. Asselin, Ytung). Tecbnical Fouls: 0.
MICHIGAN STATE (81)
. . MIN "A *A &T A F M
7e MagicalPadvice 30
Kelle 12 15 0-0 0.3 2 1 2
Lou. In the first half, he struggled to get open tell 17 1-2 2-2 5 0 0 0
looks past State's Morris Peterson. At the inter- Granger 2 1 000 00
mission, he had just one basket on six shots and Totas 200 28.s4 26 7 3
FG%:.519. FT%:.885. 3ptF:21-6
was 0-for-1 from the charity stripe, uncharacter- (Cavesei-2, Granger 1Klein a5, Petetson 0.1,
istically missing the front end of a one-and-one. ranger 2, S teas (ees K 2
Center Pete Vignier continues to improve. His Hus4, eOth Granmger). Trneis: 22(Hutson 2,
nine points, five rebounds, two blocks and two Bell 2, Davis). Technical Fouls:1(cleaves).
steals were impressive, one of the better games Michigan.27 40-67
of his career. Michigan State...............38 43-81
But he is tentative when handling the ball, At: Breslin center
particularly when receiving -passes. Twice early Attendance: 14,659
in the game, a Robbie Reid pass into the post
bounced off of Vignier's hands and out of
bounds.
Despite the loss, many positives can be taken
out of Saturday's game. The frontcourt had one Coming up
of its best games to date. If the backcourt and this week...
frontcourt can come together, this Michigan bas-
ketball team could be a force in she conference.
But first they've got to take M agic's advice:. S t at e s.
loosen up, be themselves and have fun on the Ohio State vs. ichigan
court. Crisler Arena, 1207 p nrm
When a legend speaks - even if he's not TV: ESPN regional
speaking to you - you should listen. Radio: WJR 760 AM
- Josh Kleinbaum can be reached
via e-mail at apocalypse@umich.edu.
MADISON (AP) - Sean Mason to start th
scored 25 points to lead No. 24 Indiana n
Wisconsin to a 61-56 win over No. 9 stayed pert
Purdue yesterday, the Badgers' second tory Satur
victory over a Top 25 team in less than a It was
ek. victory on
'. Mason scored 13 of the Badgers' last Bob Knit
19 points, including two free throws that never bef
gave them a 57-50 lead. more than
The Boilermakers (1-1 Big Ten, 13-3 The B
overall) rallied with a basket by Mike overall) it
Robinson and a 3-pointer by Jaraan home, Val
Cornell to pull within 57-55 with one 8-22 over
minute remaining. times to t
Charlie Wills then hit a jumper from Big Ten at
ie corner to put Wisconsin up 59-55. NORTH
er Cornell hit one of two free throws, Evan Esc
Ty Calderwood put the game away with 16 points
two free throws. Illinois 59
Wisconsin (2-2, 14-3) got I1 points Illini fr
each from Calderwood and Mark scorers wi
Vershaw. Last Wednesday, the Badgers The Wi
beat No. 12 Michigan State 66-51 to (0-3, 8-7)
break a two-game Big Ten losing streak. outreboun
Brian Cardinal scored 13 points to Northw(
lead Purdue. Greg McQuay added 12 lead midw
and Jaraan Cornell I1 points. finished t
OHIO STATE 73, INDIANA 56: Jon shooting j
nderson scored six points in a 9-0 run Illinois
SPARTANS
Continued from Page 1B
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.
"Hopefully, they can force tough shots so we
can get rebounds and get going. We try to let
our defense dictate our offense.:
Michigan State's defense was so tenacious
at it succeeded in dictating Michigan's
offense as well.
With Bullock and Reid non-factors - the
duo combined for just two points in the first
half - Michigan's offense was forced to rely
on its inexperienced frontcourt.
And the big men answered the call
admirably.
In the absence of any backcourt scoring, for-
ward Josh Asselin established himself as an
offensive weapon, scoring a career-high 17
4 oints and breaking the mark of 16 he set ear-
er in the week against Indiana.
Forward Brandon Smith added 10 points and
center Peter Vignier scored nine.
"That's encouraging," Michigan coach Brian
Ellerbe said of the frontcourt's play. "We see
that we can score points and rebound against a
top-15 team.
"That gives us an opportunity to have offen-
sive balance on a consistent basis, which is
what we're looking for.:
e second half and 13th-ranked
ever recovered as Ohio State
fect at home with a 73-56 vic-
day night.
the most lopsided Ohio State
ver the Hoosiers during coach
ght's 28 seasons. Knight had
ore lost to his alma mater by
nine points.
uckeyes (3-0 Big Ten, 13-3
improved to 9-0 in their new
ue City Arena. Ohio State was
all last season - losing three
he Hoosiers - and 0-8 in the
t St. John Arena.
WESTERN 59, ILLINOIS 46:
hmeyer had 17 rebounds and
to lead Northwestern over
946 Saturday.
eshman Cory Bradford led all
ith 22 points on 8-18 shooting.
ldcats (2-1, 9-3) held the Illini
) to 28 percent shooting and
ded them 42-33.
estern jumped out to a 25-7
way through the first half and
he half up 33-18, with Illinois
ust 7-of-31 from the floor.
cut the lead to 10 with just
Ohio State stayed perfect in cot
Columbus on Saturday night. In
Smith was Michigan's most consistent scor-
ing threat in the first half, scoring all 10 of his
points before being handcuffed by foul trouble
for most of the second half.
During one two-minute stretch, Smith scored
seven straight Michigan points, ending with a
3-pointer from the left side with 4:01 remain-
ing that cut the Michigan State lead to 26-25
and prompted Izzo to call a timeout.
And just like Michigan's win over Indiana -
in which Michigan scored seven quick points
in the final minute of the half - the tone for
the game would be set during the crucial
moments leading up to halftime.
After the two teams traded buckets out of the
timeout, Michigan State exploded for a 10-0
run in the last three minutes of the half.
The stretch was capped by a pair of Andre
Hutson free throws with 2.8 seconds to play
that gave the Spartans a 38-27 lead - one they
would never relinquish.
Michigan would get no closer than six points
the rest of the way.
"That was crucial," Ellerbe said of Michigan
State's run. "We're not an explosive offensive
team, so we don't want those runs affect us. We
let that happen.
"I say 'we' because we let that happen, and
that's the hard thing for me to swallow,"
Ellerbe said.
Blue could use son
KLEIN BAUM
Continued from Page 18
Cleaves' attitude, from the aggressive style of
play to the aggressive style of celebration, was
contagious. The rest of the Spartans were having
fun. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was having
from. From his seat in a luxury box, Earvin
seemed to be having a pretty good time, too.
The only people who weren't having fun were
the Wolverines, particularly their all-senior
backcourt of Bullock and Robbie Reid.
After an early air ball from long range -
Reid fell for a Breslin faithful prank and rushed
the shot as the fans counted down to zero with
five seconds left on the shot clock - Reid was
timid offensively, often not even looking for the
shot.
He appeared to be affected by a loud Spartan
crowd that was riding him relentlessly. Reid,
who averages more than I1 shots and seven 3-
point attempts per game, took just eight and
four respectively, on Saturday. He finished with
just seven points, more than five below his aver-
age.
Bullock was anything but the usual Sweet
I