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SportsMonday - February 7, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - 58
Quote of the weekend
"We're going to have to learn to play without
him."
- Michigan point guard Kevin Gaines, when
asked how the Wolverines will weather their brutal
Big Ten schedule without headband-toting shoot-
ing guard; and leading scorer; Jamal Crawford
sOhio tte
5 7Michigan
88
67
Player of the game
Ohio State guard Michael Redd
Redd played what coach Jim O'Brien called a
"breakout game," scoring 25 points on 3-of-8
three-point shooting. Redd scored 20 points in
the first half alone, as Michigan guards weren't
able to get a hand in his face.
iloops loses fourth straight in rout
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Editor
Unlike last Tuesday against Michigan State,
point guard Kevin Gaines didn't wear his
exiled teammate Jamal Crawford's patented
headband when he took the court yesterday
against Ohio State.
It was a sure sign that the Wolverines (3-5
fOTen, 12-7 overall) are trying to adjust to
life without Crawford - Michigan's leading
scorer and long-armed defensive specialist -
who will miss at least four more games
because of an NCAA infraction.
"We're going to have to learn to play without
him,' Gaines said. "It doesn't change our offen-
sive scheme, we just have one less scorer."
But the adjustment has been anything but
smooth, resulting in two blowout losses last
k, at the hands of the Spartans and
FWkeyes - the best teams in the confer-
ence.
Ohio State (7-1 Big Ten, 16-3 overall) dom-
inated Michigan for the entire game yesterday,
en route to an 88-67 victory - the Buckeyes'
seventh consecutive victory.
The Wolverines have now lost four consecu-
tive games, failing the toughest portion of their
conference schedule. The last three debacles
- at Indiana on Jan. 25, against Michigan
State last Tuesday and yesterday against Ohio
State - were all decided by 20 points or more.
In its history spanning almost a century, this
is the first time that Michigan has ever lost by
such a large margin in three straight games.
"We just played two very good basketball
teams," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said,
searching for an answer to his team's recent
woes.
With the loss the Wolverines fell into a tie
for seventh place in the Big Ten, and with
Crawford, their go-to guy, on the bench, the
forest might get darker before it gets lighter.
Michigan tried appealing to past magic
against Ohio State, but emerged as a team of
realists who know their NCAA Tournament
hopes dwindle more and more with each land-
slide loss.
Center Josh Asselin, who scored 22 points
and grabbed 10 rebounds in Michigan's upstart
victory against the Buckeyes last season, didn't
have the golden touch this time around.
Asselin grabbed the opening tipoff yesterday
and scored the game's first basket, but he was
stuffed by Ohio State center Ken Johnson on
the next possession.
The next time down the court Asselin caught
a pass in the post and immediately traveled,
prompting Ellerbe to replace him with forward
Chris Young less than four minutes into the
game.
"It's always difficult to go through a slump
like this," Asselin said, visibly frustrated with
his performance. "I rushed a couple shots
early, but our offense wasn't necessarily
designed around me."
Michigan briefly reclaimed the lead, 12-11,
at 13:20 in the first half on a LaVell Blanchard
jumpshot. But from that point on Ohio State
dominated the game, churning out a 9-0 run
that left the Wolverines, and all of their off-
court problems, in the dust.
Michigan's depleted backcourt had trouble
sticking a hand in the face of sharpshooter
Michael Redd and slowing down lightning-
quick ball handler Scoonie Penn. Redd scored
25 points and nailed three 3-pointers, and
Penn dished out five assists to go with 13
points.
"We've been waiting for a breakout perfor-
mance from Michael and Scoonie, Ohio State
coach Jim O'Brien said about the backcourt
which powered the Buckeyes all the way to the
Final Four last season. "This was one of our
best efforts offensively."
But Ohio State's guards weren't the only
ones who dominated the Wolverines. Buckeye
forward George Reese, a surprise starter in
yesterday's game, banged around his 6-foot-7
frame in the post, scoring 25 points.
FG FT REB
MIN MA M-AO-T A F PTS
FRedd 30 9-16 4-4 1-5 2 4 25'
Oc~t 8 0-0 , 0-i 1 1 0
Johnson 32 4-7 1-2 3-S 1 4 9
Penn 31 5-10' 2-2'0.6. 5 2 13
Brown 26 2-6 2-2 '1-4 4 1 7
Darby 20 3-5' 0"(0 0-0' 1 3 6
Robinson 11 0-1 1-2 2-4 1: i 1
smimh 2 0-0 0-0. 0-0 000
Steele 2 0-0 0-0 0-0'0 0'0
Reese 30 9-13 7-8 2-4 2 3 25
Dudley 8 1-2 0-2 -.1 0 0.21
Totals 200 33-62 17-22 9-32 17 19 88
FG%- .532 FT.773 3-point Ri 5-16.313 (Redd 3-8,
Brown t-1, Penn 1-5, Darby 0-2). Blocks- 6 (Johnson 5,
Reese) Steals 6 (Lieser 2, Vanderleyden 2, Olson,
Bell) Turnovers.,8 (Reese 3, OcocolgrJohnsonPenn,
Brown, Robinson)..
Technical Fos none.
MICHIGAN (67)
-FG FTRUB
MIN MA M-A O-T A F PTS
Blanchard 35 8-16 34 1-9 1 1 21
Smith 18 2-7 0-0 24 0 3 5
Asselin 22 6-13 3-4 6-7 1 -3 .15
Gaines 34,, 2-7,, 2-5 1-1 6 4 6
Groninger 19 2-7 7 00 0-i 0 0 .5
Jones 24 °2-4 2-3 04) 0 2 7.
Taylor S 0-1 00)1-10 1.0
Hunter 7- 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 0- 0
Young 21'. 1-3 .3-4 2-6. 0 1 5,
Anderson 9 041. 1-2 0-0) 0 1 1
Vignier 6 0-2 2-2 1-5 0 0 2
To r 200 23-63 16-2418-41 8 16 67
FG%. 365 FT%:.667 3-ait FG: 5-18_ 278
(Blanchard 2-S, Jones 1-2, Smith 1-3~Groniner 1-4,
Gaines 0-3, Hunter 0-1). Blocks: 3 (Blanchar 2,
Assetin) Steals: 3 (Asselin, Groninger, Anderson).
Turnovers: 16 (Anderson 3, Smith 3, Gaines 3,
Banchard 2, Asselin 2, Jones 2, Young). Technial
Fouls: 'none.
Ohio State.........47 41 -- 88
Michigan-............32 35 -67
At: isler Arena
- Attendance: 13,562
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
Though Michigan center Josh Asselin scored 15 points, he
couldn't generate last year's magic against the Buckeyes.
%4' must win without Crawford
ConferenceOveral
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan's off-court woes couldn't
have come at a worse time during the
Big Ten season; the murderers' row of
a schedule, which lasts 16 games and
scrates the players from the pre-
tenders.
Since shooting guard Jamal Crawford
removed his Nike headband and donned
Timberland boots and his favorite
brown sweater, two of the best back-
courts in the country have visited Crisler
Arena, and come away unscathed.
. Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe could
probably pick out three-fifths of the All-
Big Ten team based only on who he's
s drive past his men in block 'M's
a week; namely Michigan State's
Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell, and
Ohio State's Scoonie Penn and Michael
Redd.
Soon NBA fans will be paying top
dollar to watch Penn and Cleaves drive
to the hoop and create nonchalant, no-
look passes.
But for all the beautiful plays that two
of the nation's best point guards have
coed for Crisler fans, Ellerbe can't be
too thrilled with Michigan's four-game
losing streak which the aforementioned
guards caused last Tuesday and yester-
day.
Whether it was Cleaves assisting Bell
for two of the latter's 20 points - the
difference in Michigan's loss to the
Spartans - or Penn spotting Redd for a
wide open three, the Big Ten's best
guards killed the Wolverines last week.
And an 0-2 performance at home
against the conference's two best teams
proved, for the time being, that
Michigan can't play with the best - at
least not when Crawford wears his
Timberland boots on game days.
In all likelihood, the Wolverines will
have to finish with a .500 record in the
Big Ten to qualify for the NCAA
Tournament. At 3-5, Michigan will have
to win five out of the last eight games
for the right to play in March. But the
Wolverines won't have Crawford for
another four games.
Consequently: if they can't win with-
out Jamal, their season will end in a
matter of weeks.
Team
1. Cincinnati
2. Stanford
3. Duke
4. Syracuse
5. Ohio State '
6. Tennessee
7. Connecticut
8. Michigan State
9. Arizona
10. Auburn
11. Indiana
12. Florida
13. Oklahoma State
14. Kentucky
15. Kansas
16. Texas
17. Tulsa
18. Oklahoma
19. Utah
20. Iowa State
21. Temple
22. LSU
23. Oregon
24. Vanderbilt
25. Maryland
Rec.
22-1
19-1
18-2
19-0
15-3
18-3
16-5
17-5
19-4
19-3
17-3
17-4
18-2
17-5
17-5
15-6
22-2
18-3
17-4
19-3
16-4
17-4
16-4
14-4
15-6
This weekend's results
Beat Ala.-Birmingham, 93-80
Beat South. Califomia, 67-57
Beat Virginia, 106-86
Beat Providence, 74-58
Beat Michigan, 88-67
Beat Mississippi, 88-81
Lost to Michigan State, 85-66
Beat Connecticut, 85-66
Beat Oregon State, 90-73
Beat Arkansas, 73-55
Beat Northwestern, 89-67
Beat Georgia, 85-66
Beat Texas A&M, 87-55
Beat South Carolina, 76-63
Beat Texas Tech, 87-62
Beat Massachusetts, 68-57
Beat Texas Christian, 103-70
Beat Baylor, 68-59
Lost to UNLV, 72-66
Idle
Beat Rhode Island, 74-40
Beat Alabama, 93-60
Beat Arizona State, 86-73
Beat Boston College, 76-58
Beat North Carolina St, 78-73
.Team _
Ohio State
Michigan State
Indiana
Purdue
Illinois
Penn State
Wisconsin
Michigan
Iowa
Minnesota.
Northwestern
W
7
7
T
6
5
4
4
3
3
3
0
1
1
2
3
4
b
6
S
6
7
9
W L
16 3
17 .5
17 3.
15 7
13 7
12 8
12 10
12 7.
10 11
11 .9
4 17
Saturday's results:
Purdue 83, IOWA 58
Wisconsin 66, MINNESOTA 64
Indiana 89, NORTHWESTERN 67
MICHIGAN STATE 85, Connecticut
66
Sunday'sgame.:
Ohio State 88, MICHIGAN 67
Illinois 51, PENN STATE 50
Tuesy's games:
Michigan State at Purdue, 7 p.m.
Wednesday's games
MICHIGAN at Illinois, 7 p.m.
Indiana at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Iowa at Ohio State, 8 p.m.
Rice at Northwestern, 7 p.m.
Wednesday,
Feb. 9
Michigan ao Ilknos
Assembly Hall
(Compaign), 7p.m. (ESPN)
When they faced off Jan. 16 in Ann Arbor,
it took Michigan an overtime period to beat
the Fighting Illini - a team that couldn't
hold a candle to Michigan State in a 25-
point loss a week ago.
And that eeked out victory was with Mr.
Crawford in the lineup. Wednesday,
though, Kevin Gaines will have to handle
llini sharpshooter Corey Bradford all by
himself.
Remember Robert Archibald, the talt,
skinny kid who gave Josh Asselin fits inthe
low post? When he matched up against
Andre Hutson in East Lansing, Archibald
didn't even muster up a field goal the
entire game.
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
The Wolverines saw two of the nation's best point guards last week, in Michigan
State's Mateen Cleaves and Ohio State's Scoonie Penn.
Womens hoops avoids road upset
By Michael Kern
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - It almost hap-
pened again.
Twice already this season, the
M higan women's basketball team
h ost on the road to a club that was
looking up at the Wolverines in the
standings.
looking up at the Wolverines in the
standings.
This time, Michigan found itself
down 40-39 to seventh-place Ohio
State at Value City Arena with 12:56
to play.
But there would be no deja vu for
the Wolverines, as they squeaked past
t uckeyes, 65-61.
'After beginning the Big Ten season
2-0, Michigan (8-3 Big Ten, 16-6
overall) traveled to lowly Indiana and
lost with point guard Anne Thorius
injured on the sideline. The
Wolverines also followed a road vic-
tory over then-No. 13 Illinois with a
loss to Wisconsin in Madison, a team
which had started the Big Ten season
0-3.
*n both of these cases, Michigan
held a lead at the half, only to blow
the game with a second-half scoring
drought. It appeared that the trend
would continue against the Buckeyes.
The Wolverines held a one-point half-
time lead but fell behind by one with
13 minutes to play.
The teams played to a standoff for
the next few minutes before a techni-
cal foul call on Michigan point guard
Anne Thorius shifted the momentum
in the Wolverines' favor.
Anne Thorius shifted the momentum
in the Wolverines' favor.
The technical seemed to wake
Michigan up, and the Wolverines
eventually reclaimed the lead and
extended it to as much as I1 with
three minutes to play.
"It was just a matter of frustration,"
Michigan coach Sue Guevara said.
"But she calmed down and got us out
of the game. I'm happy we only play
these guys once, and we're getting out
of here."
The difference in the game may
have been the Buckeyes' poor free
throw shooting. Ohio State was a
meager I1-for-24 from the line.
"Coming down the stretch, that's
where it all comes down to winning
and losing," Ohio State coach Beth
Burns said. "Sometimes it jumps out
and really bites you, and I think today
is a great example, where we missed
that many and only lost by four."
Michigan forward Stacey Thomas
had an off night offensively, scoring
just II points on 5-for-I7 shooting.
This forced the rest of the Wolverines
to step up their offensive game, which
they did. Three other players scored in
double figures, led by Thorius with
17.
double figures, led byThorius with
17.
"Ohio State did a nice job of clos-
ing off the middle,' Guevara said.
"Tomeka Brown isn't a slouch
defensively, and I think maybe Stacey
forced a couple things, and part of
that is Ohio State's defense."
Ohio State made a run in the final
1:30 of the game, cutting the lead
from I1 to four with trapping defense
and a number of quick layups. But
sophomore Alayne Ingram sank two
pairs of free throws after the
Buckeyes were forced to foul, keep-
ing the game out of reach.
"We kiew that if we got the ballsin
Alayne's hands or LeeAnn Bies'
hands, if they fouled them, they
would knock down the free throws,"
Thorius said."And we really executed
that down the stretch."
DANNY KALICK/Daily
Guard Alayne Ingram scored 13 points yesterday at Ohio State. She sank two
pairs of free throws down the stretch to preserve the road victory.
MICHIGAN (65)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A O-T A. F PT'S
39 5-17 1-2 3-12 0 3 Al
Goodlow 30 4-8 2-2 2-5 2 4 10
Miller 18 2-3 0-2 3-4 1 S'4
Thonius '.38 -5-8 7-9 0.2 4 .2 17
ingmar 32 ,,4-11 5-8 1.4 0 1 13
Wakr 19 2-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 4
Bies 24 1-5 4-5 -8 0 3 6
Totals 200 23-55 19-28 1639 7 18 65
FG%: .418 FT%..679 3-point FG: 0-2, .000 (Thomas 0-
1, Ingram 0-1) Blocks: S (Goodlow 2, Miller, Thonus,
Bies) Steals: 10 (flies 3, Miller 2, Walker 2, Thomas,
Thorius, Ingram,). Turnovers: 19 (Miller 4, Thorius 4,
Thomas 3, GoodTow 3, Walker 2, Ingram), Technical
Fouls: I (Thorius)
OHIO STATE (61) '
__. ..
Eighteen-year streak over as Wolverines win in Columbus
I.
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