Thursday, January 20, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 15A Quote of the game "They're the most talented team we've played -- and we've played Ohio State." - Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill, whose team dropped to 0-4 in the Big Ten and 4-12 overall. The Wildcats now must battle conference leader Michigan State in back-to-back games. Ellerbe gives time to hard-working reserves 3j Michigan 93 Player of the game Michigan guard Jamal Crawford Aftter the media suggested rumors of his potential transfer; the freshman responded with a 20-point outburst. Northwestern 70 LEADER Continued from Page :LA final time, with 2:14 left in the con- Wtest and Michigan comfortably ahead by 27 points, the kid was just having a good time. Michigan guards Darius Taylor, Ramal Hunter and Herb Gibson picked up some rare playing time during those last 174 seconds, and the more familiar Wolverines gig- gled and cheered from the bench. "It was nice to see the guys we call the 'Soul Patrol' get some minutes," *Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "That 2:14 went quick though. I would have liked to see one of them score." At ease with his teammates on the bench, Crawford peeked out from behind a sweat-drenched towel, laughing with -not at - teammate Gavin Groninger as the latter picked up an awkward foul with the clock winding down on the Wolverines' 12th victory of the season, already equal to last season's total. FAMILIAR FACES: Best known for his pose on a football field of dreams in Pasadena as he clutched roses, Charles Woodson returned to Ann Arbor yesterday, and made a cameo appearance at Crisler Arena with four minutes remaining in the first half. Woodson, who won the Heisman Trophy during Michigan's magical national championship run in 1997, appeared in the Bank One 'Dash-for- Cash' shooting competition along with ex-teammate Marcus Ray, dur- ing an official's timeout. Woodson made a quick layup, but Ray couldn't find his touch, misfir- ing on all but one of his shots. The former strong safety finally scored at the buzzer, before play resumed in the first half. Winners of the promotional 'Dash-for-Cash' receive $100 from Bank One. It is not clear whether or not the football players actually stood to win any money. 'M' drums Wildcats; Iowa next WILDCATS Continued from Page IA half. And for the first 20 minutes it worked, as the Wildcats earned 27 of their 42 points from beyond the arc. Most of the shots were uncontested, the result of breaking Michigan's full-court press and rushing the ball up the floor in odd-man situations. "We had a very difficult time defen- sively in the first half," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "They screened very well and they have three guys that can shoot." But in the second half, when Michigan started getting hands in the faces of the Northwestern shooters, order was restored. It may not have looked like two rebuilding programs out there yester- day night. That's because only one is struggling. FG FT REB MN N -A tvA O-T A F PTS Jones 31 4-5 24 2-7 2 1 10 Blanchard 25 64$ 00 0-3 2 3 14 Assein 20 2.4 0.2 3-6 0 3 4 Crawford 27 6-14 5-6 1-3 5 1 20 Gans 31 4-5 0-0) 0-4 5 3 10 Taylor 2 0-0 0-0 0-0000 Hunter 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gibson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Groninger 17 3-4 0-0 1-1 0 1 8 Smith~ 21 M4 3-3 2-3 1 1 15 Young 13 2-2 4-6 3-60 2 8 Vignier 9 2-2 0.0 1-2 2 0 4 Totals 200 34.53 14-2113-35 17 1S 93 FG%: .6421FT1 ,.667 3-point FG: 11-17, .647 (awf23-7, Groninger 2-2s Banfiard 2-2, Gaines 2- 2. Smitth 2.3, Jones 0.1. Blocks: 4 (Smith 2, Crawford, Assehn)> Steals: 8B(Crawford 3, Jones 2, Asselin, Groninger, Smith). Turnovers: 20 (Blanichard 5, Asselin 3, Crawford 3,Gaines 3, Groninger 3, Jones, Smith, Vignier). Techicat Fouls: none. Northwetern..... ....42 28-70 .............49 44 -93 At Ortter Arena Attendance: 10,150 LOUIS BR~OWN/Daily Leon Jones, Jamal Crawford and the Michigan defense clamped down in the sec- ond half last night, allowing the Wildcats only 28 points. Minnesota steamed by Cornell, Purdue MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Purdue's Jaraan Cornell scored a season-high 25 points and Brian Cardinal added 18 as the Boilermakers defeated Minnesota 74-69 yesterday night to win their third straight game. Cornell hit 8-of-13 shots, includ- ing three 3-pointers, to become Purdue's career 3-point shot leader. Cardinal and Minnesota's Joel Przybilla were named co-winners of the Big Ten's player of the week honor on Monday, and both had big games again on Wednesday. Cardinal had 15 of his points in the first half as Purdue (3-1 Big Ten, 12-5 overall) took a 39-29 lead at halftime and never trailed in the second half. Przybilla notched his fifth straight double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds but it wasn't enough for the Gophers (2-3, 10-5), who lost their second straight. Przybilla made just one of I I foul shots and the Gophers, who rank last in the Big Ten in free-throw shooting, made only seven of 22. Dusty Rychart scored 19 points to lead Minnesota. Back-to-back 3-point shots by Cardinal and Cornell sparked a 12-2 run by Purdue as the Boilermakers took an Il-point lead at 39-28, their largest lead of the first half.. Rychart scored eight quick points during a 17-6 run as Minnesota got as close as two points at 48-46 with 12:26 to play. The Boilermakers then scored 12 of the next 16 points - five by Cornell - to build their lead back into double figures at 60-50 with 7:15 to play. Cornell's three 3-point shots gave him 215 for his career and moved him past Chad Austin (1995-98) as the school's all-time leader. Purdue held Przybilla to just three points in the first half, using forward Mike Robinson on one side of him and center Greg McQuay on the other. PENN STATE 76, WIscONSIN 61: Joe Crispin scored a career-high 31 points to lead Penn State to a 76-61 victory over Wisconsin yesterday night. Jarrett Stephens added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Penn State (3-2, 11-5) while Jon Crispin and Titus Ivory each added 12 points. Mark Vershaw had 14 points for Wisconsin (1-4, 9-8) and Jon Bryant added 12. The Nittany Lions won their third in a row and scored more points then any other team against the Badgers this year. Wisconsin, which leads the Big Ten in scoring defense (opponents average just 56 points) gave up its first lost to Penn State in four tries. In the first half Wisconsin scored the first two points, but Penn State went on an 18-3 run and never looked back, leading 35-22 at the half. Penn State, up 10 points with 15:38 to go in the game, had a 17-3 run to put the game out of reach. Joe Crispin increased his consecu- tive free throw streak to 26 after going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Crispin's 31 points - including 5-for-8 from 3-point range -- marked the highest point total by a Penn State player since Pete Lisicky had 30 against Penn in 1996. This Saturday, the Nittany Lions wil travel to Champaign to battle Illinois. - From staff and wire reports Michigan State Indiana Ohio State Michigan Purdue Penn State Minnesota Illinois Wisconsin Iowa Northwestem 3 4 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 1. 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 12 14 11 11 12 11 10 9 9 7 4 4 2 3 3 5 5 5 6 8 9 12 MICHIGAN 93, Northwestern 70 Purdue 74, MINNESOTA 69 PENN STATE 76, Wisconsin 61 Michigan State at Ohio State, 7 p.m. Northwesmat Midigan State, 12-07 p.m. Indiana at Purdue, 2 pm. Ohio State at St. John's, 4 p.m. Penn State at Illinois, 7 p.m. Michigan at Iowa, 7 p.m. Minnesota at Wisconsin, 7 p.m. I It also made the last party at Phi Gamma -[-.- - - - - a "