SportsTuesday - January 18, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 58
Quote of the weekend
"That is not up for discussion. It's a team issue."
- Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe in Sunday 's
postgame press conference, taking a school-
teacher's tone with the media on his decision not
to start shooting guard Jamal Crawford
Michigan
Illinois
Player of the game
Michigan center Josh Asselin
After a weak first half in which he didn"'t grab a
single rebound, Asselin pulled down 10 boards
(eight offensive) in the second half and overtime
periods, and dunked in the game-winning basket
with 49 seconds remaining in overtime Sunday.
91' (OT)
4ichigan owes victory to reversal in offensive boards
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan may be a run-and-gun team that plays for one
quick shot on offense, but lasting an entire half without one
offensive rebound isn't part of anybody's recipe for success.
The Wolverines created no second chances in the first
half against Illinois, getting outrebounded by the Illini 25-
14 in all.
"We were horrible on the boards in the first half"
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "I've never seen that
before, not even in Boys Club."
Illinois center Marcus Griffin pulled down four
rebounds, meanwhile blanking Michigan's big man, losh
Asselin.
But it was an Illinois guard who did most of the damage.
Junior Sergio McClain, who doesn't tower over anyone a 6-
foot-4, grabbed I 1 rebounds in the first half lone, thre of
them on the offensive end.
The reason: McClain is built like a truck i: m ,ur.
222-pound frame boxed out the Miehig a uards. non of
whom weigh more than 195 pounds. And when convenient,
the truck pushed aside the tall and slend'r Wo n in
his path to the hoop.
"Coach (Lon Kruger) told me I had to concente on
rebounding today," McClain said. "The Michigan uards
created rebounding opportunities on their o cnsive dr es
The Wolverines stuck to the blocks in t',e second half,
however, and rebounding proved the ultimate difference in
the game. Michigan outrebounded Illinois 29-20 in the sec-
ond half and overtime period eeking out a 95-91 victory.
Asselin's reversal of fortune stood out the most. The
junior pulled down an unprecedented eight offensive
rebounds after halftime, re-establishing hi:Qlf as the put-
back force that Michigan has missed for much of this sea-
son.
"Offensive rebounding was the main point of emphasis at
halftime," Asselin said. "Coach wasn't happy with our
offensive play."
The disparity in fouls helped Michigan's big men play
more physical in the second half, however. Asselin and
BIlanchard grabbed a combined 19 rebounds for the game,
because they were boxing out Illini who were in constant
danger of fouling out.
Illinois center Marcus Griffin fouled out of the contest
with five minutes remaining in regulation, and backup for-
ward Damir Krupalija took a seat with 4:16 left in overtime.
Three other Illinois forwards - Robert Archibald, Cleotis
Brown and Brian Cook - were on the verge of early exits
with four fouls each.
ALMOST PERFECT: Though their timing seemed ques-
tionable, the Wolverines' accuracy from the foul line was
almost perfect. Michigan converted 12 of 14 free throws in
the first half and 37 of 45 for the game - a Michigan
record for most converted foul shots in a game.
Forward LaVell Blanchard, Michigan's high scorer with
22 points, sank all 11 of his free throws. Point guard Kevin
Gaines also displayed his fluid touch, converting eight of
nine attempts.
But the Wolverines regained consciousness at the worst
possible time, as center Josh.Asselin missed two foul shots
in a row with 29 seconds remaining in regulation. With the
score knotted at 82, either shot might have made the differ-
ence in the see-saw battle.
BACK To No. 2: Gaines re-entered the game with a
minute and a half remaining in overtime, wearing No. 14 on
his back. He had bloodied his normal jersey 70 seconds
before when he received an unintentional knock across the
nose from Illinois forward Robert Archibald. But Gaines
will go back to his old ways.
"I'm going back to No. 2 when we get the blood off," the
point guard said.
Crawford 17.1 14
Blanchard 151 22
Gaines 12.9 18
Jones 9.9 10
REBOUNDING
Bianchard
Asselin
Gaines
Vignier
ASSISTS
Crawford
Gaines
Jones
STEALS
Gaines
Crawford
Jones
8.8
5.4
4.4
4.4
4.8
4.5
1.9
1.4
1.0
1.0
9
10
4
2
2
.3
0
1
0
TURNOVERS
Gaines 3.7
Crawford 3.1
Jones 2.6
6
>
4
FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Young
Anderson
Asselin
3-PoINT
Jones
Blanchard
Groninger
15-19,
10-15
47-82
PERCENTAGE
16-36
16-39
23-58
.789
.667
.573
.444
.410
'397
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
Robert Archibald (21) gave the Wolverines all they could handle in the post, scoring
12 points and grabbing eight rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end.
QUIZ TIME
Put your books away and take out a blank piece of paper - it's quiz
time. Keep your eyes to yourself.
Pick out the person who made the following statements regarding
*nday's Michigan-Illinois game. Here goes:
1. "We all know Mr. Bradford is a great player."
A. Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe
B. Michigan forward LaVell Blanchard
C. Illinois coach Lon Kruger
D. Mascot-basketball participant Mr. Peanut
2. "I don't think I've seen straight zeros in offensive rebounding ever
- even in Boys Club."
A. Ellerbe
B. Crisler fan favorite Chris Young
* C. Public address announcer Jimmy Barrett
D. Michael Jackson
3. "The fans are great at Michigan and everybody knows that"
A. Blanchard
B. Trainer Steve Stricker
C. Stylish injured forward Leland Anderson
D. Indiana coach Bob Knight
SAv-ol
1C igem n ie28f in poll
Crawford shoots down transfer rumor
FREE ThROW
Blanchard
Crawford.
Groninger-
PERCENTAGE
37-46 .804
29-37 .784
7-9 .778
CRAWFORD
Continued from Page 1B
in the Big Ten - and averages five
assists per game. The freshman also
plays the most minutes for the
Wolverines - averaging almost 36 pr
game.
Michigan heavily recruited Crawford,
even when he struggled with academic
eligibility. Crawford won a plea for a
fifth year of high-school eligibility,
earned his degree, and passed the acade-
mic requirements to come to Michigan.
He continued with a 2.8 his first semes-
ter at the University.
Crawford has said often this season
that he always followed Michigan bas-
ketball and was extremely impressed
that the Wolverines wanted him. He also
credits junior Brandon Smith and
Ellerbe in the recruiting process for con-
vincing him to come to Michigan.
The recent media coverage of the
Crawford situation has prompted the
university to take action.
Yesterday, the Michigan Athletic
Department placed tighter restrictions on
all media covering the basketball team.
The team canceled all future midweek
press conferences, and all interviews
must now be personally supervised by
Sports Information Director Tom
Wywrot or Ellerbe himself.
"We opened up to (the media) this
season and it's been abused," Ellerbe
said. "I don't want them misinterpreting
or ridiculing our guys in the paper. It just
hurts a 19-year-old kid"
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A OT A F PTS
Arhilbald 25 5-7 2-3 6-8 0 4 .12
Brown 22 2-6 3-3 1-4 1 4 8
Griffin 26 3-9 5-6 1-5 0 S 11
Bradfordl 42 8-22 7- 1-3 0 3 28
Mcan 33 613 3-3 618 5 4 S
Johnson 17 0-2 0-0 0.0 1 2 0
Harnngton 13 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Wiliam$ 15 1-5 00 0-3 00 3
Krupalia 24 4-7 1-2 1.3 0 5 10
Cook~ 8 1-2 4-0 0-0 0 42
Totals 225 31-75 21-26 1645 7 32 91
EG%: 413 FO/: 808 3-point FG: 8-23,.348 (Bradford 5-
13, Wiliams 1-2, Krupa ija 1-2, Brown 1-3, Johnson 0-2,
Harrington &1).Blos: 2 (Griffin Johnson) Steals: 8
(42hibaid 2. iiams 2, Bradford, Brown, Harnngton,
la). Turnovers: 21 {Wils 6, Brown 5,
d3, Giffin 3 McCain 3 Hamngton). Technical
Fouls: none:
MICHIGAN (95)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A O-T A F PT5S
Blartchard 38 5-13 11-11 0.9 0 4 22
Smith 38 2-5 3-4 1-5 5 _4,7
Asselin 27 6-12 1-4 8-10 1 3 13
Jones 30 3-7 3-4 1-5 0 5 10
Gaines 36 4=12 8-9 0-4 3 3 18
Crawford 28 5-14 2-3 0-2 2 1 1
Groninger 10 12 3-4 0-1'10 5
Young 7 0-0 4-4 1-10 14,
Vigier IT 0". 2-2 0.2 0 3 2
Totals 225 26-65 37-45 1243 12 24 95.
FG%: .400 FT%:.822 3-point FG: 6-21, 286 (Crawford
2-7, Gaines 2-5, Blanchard 1-4, Jones 1-4, Groninger 0-
1). Blocks: 7 (Smith 4, Asselin 2, Vignier), Steals; 9
(Blanchard 3, Smith 3, Crawford, Gaines, Vicnniei4.
Turnovers: 19 (Gaines 6, Jones 4, Sniith 3, lanchard 2,
Asselin, Crawford, Groninger, Vignier).
Technical Fouls. none.
I.38 44 9 -91
Michigan ..... ..34 48 13 -95
At: Cnsler Arena
Attendance: 11,367
The Michiigan men's basketball
team earned 68 votes in the latest
Associated Press poll.
The Wolver'nes are now just three
spots away from breaking into the top
25 for the first time this season.
"I don't really want to be ranked,"
Michigan guard Kevin Gaines said. "I
want to sneak up on some teams."
e North Carolina State received 158
s and rests at 26th. Temple gar-
nered 102 votes to place 27th.
Cincinnati remained on top and
four schools entered the latest poll,
released yesterday.
Cincinnati (16-1), which moved
back to the top of the poll last week
following a loss by Stanford,
received 61 first-place votes and
1,738 points from a nationwide panel
* writers and broadcasters. The
Bearcats defeated Tulane and Ohio
State last week.
No. 19 St. Johns, No. 20 Vanderbilt,
No. 22 Utah and No. 25 UCLA moved
into the poll. Vanderbilt is ranked for
the first time since 1994, while the
other three schools were in the poll
earlier this season.
Arizona (15-2), Stanford (14-I) and
Auburn (15-1) remained second
through fourth in the latest poll,
receiving four, one and three first-
place votes, respectively.
Riding a 13-game winning streak is
fifth-ranked Duke (13-2), which has
not lost since the initial weekend of
the season and moved up one spot in
the rankings. Syracuse (14-0), the
lone remaining unbeaten team in the
poll, also advanced one spot to sixth
and received the remaining first-place
vote.
Ilihnois, Temple, Louisiana State
and Louisville fell out of the rankings.
- From staff and wire reports
a reshm mal Crawford said
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
he is not considering a transfer, despite
Michlgan fnal ciches with s
Indiana gets back on
track with 86-61 win
ILLINI
Continued from Page 18
Asselin came up with a block, a
board and the dunk that put them up for
good. Credit that assist to plays-
through-pain Gaines and his new clean
jersey.
Appropriately, with 12 seconds left it
was now a game of free throws, and
Crawford, who missed two at Purdue
that could have put the game out of
reach and avoided double overtime, had
the same opportunity against Illinois.
Clank.
From the crowd? A collective
Urrrrgh !
F Crawford? No visible reaction.
ept t burhis next attempt. A sigh
fom press row ensued (where's the
oective viewpont) and a sigh from
the Michigan b 'nh - congratulations
to the Woiverines for their first CFT of
the season. Rumeal Robinson would be
ter Ilnois' star guard Corey
Bradford failed to tie the game on an
off-balance three, Gaines went to the
line and also hit one-of-two, putting the
game out of reach.
"That's the dfrence between win-
ig close gams and not;' Illinois coach
Lon Kruger said. "In overtime, every
possession is important, and we had a
couple that got away from us."
Free throws are the difference in
close games. But especially with
Crawford in the dog house and on the
bench most of the first half, freshman
LaVell Blanchard had to make sure the
game was close at all.
Blanchard took over the first half for
the Wolverines, and finished the game
with a team-high 22 points, three steals
and a perfect 1I free throws.
"I guess in overtime our confidence
is growing;' chuckled Blanchard. "Now
we've got to get some in regulation"
LOOMINGTON (AP) - A.J.
uyton found his shooting touch in the
second half Saturday, and that was fine
for Indiana.
Guyton, sixth on the Hoosiers' career
scoring list, hit just 2-of-7 shots in the
opening 20 minutes. In the second half,
the senior guard missed only one of seven
attempts and firished with 19 points in an
86-61 win over Minnesota.
Kirk Haston had 18 for Indiana. Joel
Wybilla had 22 points for Minnesota (2-
2 Big Ten, 1,3-4 overall) and Kevin
Burleson had I 1.
HIaston did most of his scoring with
sweeping hook shots over the 7-foot
Przybilla.
"We ran into one of the best teams in
the sluggish, 17th-ranked Buckeyes, and
Ohio State coasted for a 58-44 victory
over Northwestern on Saturday night.
Brian Brown had a perfect night, scor-
ing 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting. He also
was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Ken
Johnson added 12 for the Buckeyes (3-1,
11-3), who won for the seventh time in
eight games.
PURDUE 63, WISCONSIN 52: Brian
Cardinal's long-range shooting made sure
Purdue kept its Mackey Arena mastery of
Wisconsin intact. Cardinal matched his
career high with five 3-point baskets and
scored 26 points Saturday, as the
Boilermakers overcame an early deficit
and beat the Badgers 63-52.
It was Purdue's 26th straight home vic-
Texas Tech basketball coach James Dick
a report ready for the Big 12 by Monday, f own
ending to a game in which Texas A&M' ia shot was
counted, not counted and counted agfin to
a winning margin.
"On the replay, it clearly shows th bask w a
Dickey said Sunday after his team's 88-86 loss u y.
3. Stanford
4. Aubum (2)
5. Connecticut
6. Duke
7 Syracuse ()
8 Kasas
9. Indiana
10. Floida
14-1
13-2
12-1
13-1
11-2
11-2
11-0
12-2
12-1
12-2 -
Beat Ohio, 73-59
Beat Washington, 69-62'
Beat Oregon, 85-71
Beat Mississippi State, 51-45
Beat S . Johns, 82-77
Beat Florida State, 85-54,
Beat Notre Dame, 80-57
Beat Nebraska, 97-82
Beat Minnesota, 86-61
Idle :'
Team W L W
Michigan State 3 0 12
Indiana 3 1 13
Ohio State 3 1 11
Hichigan 2 1 11
Purdue 2 1 11
Minnesota 2 2 10
Penn State 2 2 10
Illinois 1 3 9
Wisconsin 1 3 9
l , 'I 3 7
L
4
2
3
3
5
4
5
6
7
R
a