January 4, 2001 Sports h6r-sday STne Michigan Daiy .-- 8E '> . :I Quote of the weekend "Purdue played a lot harder than us. They had a lot more heart." - Michigan sophomore shooting guard Gavin Groninger after the Ilblverines'80-60 loss at the hands of Purdue. Player of the game Michigan guard Avery Queen Michigan 60 C( uc r n -c vd his ibest,! ACOi~rjfl" a (aivLT"r-71 1 ' i)rs irrtO cIi~sl, 17 i p ivems sss Purdue 80 Bilock party Purdue drubs hapless Blue, 80-60 By Dan Williams Daily Sports Writer WEST LAFAYETTE - After assembling a four-game winning streak, the Michigan men's basketball team fell face-first in a 80-60 loss against Purdue in last night's Big Ten opener. The thorough drubbing seemed to evap- orate any mirage of hope the Wolverines (0-1 Big Ten, 6- 6 overall) perceived after their holiday-season success. Purdue (1-0, 9-3) never trailed in the contest. "Purdue played a lot harder than us," Michigan sopho- more Gavin Groninger said. "They had a lot more heart." Michigan returned to its four-game losing-streak form of fundamental ineptitude. The Wolverines' turnovers, missed free-throws and dire foul trouble allowed the Boilermakers to operate with comfortable leads for most of the game. "Tonight was about a.lot of mental things," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "Our free-throw shooting was- n't very good, our turnovers were unforced. Purdue doesn't play a trapping or pressing type of defense. Our wing players were being overzealous and traveling." The Michigan offense was derailed despite shooting 50 percent in the first half. "Mental mistakes, turnovers - all the little things added up," Michigan point guard Avery Queen said. Michigan suffered from a lethargic start, missing two 3-pointers and turning the ball over twice in the first four possessions. Purdue jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and maintained a lead between three and nine points for most of the half. But in the period's waning moments, Austin Parkinson skewed Michigan with a 3-pointer to increase the Purdue lead to 43-33. Parkinson missed two free throws with 10.2 seconds left, but he scrambled for his own rebound, stepped behind the arc and drained his jumpshot. "I don't believe in luck - you've got to check out and go get the basketball," Ellerbe said. In the second half, Purdue blew the game open, lead- ing by as many as 24 points. Purdue's offense didn't exactly run like clockwork - Michigan forced the Boilermakers to settle for stretches of difficult shots. But the Boilermakers were opportunists. Purdue made 10 more free throws than Michigan, was YESTERDAY' S GAME MICHIGAN (60) [G V, R B3 MIN MA M A 0 T A PTs Blanchard 31 5 14 00 3 S 1 4 11= YOUno 18, )7 02 13 0 3 Asselin 32 5 5 7 29 Quecn 1G 13 00 1 6 51 B Robinson 26 3 12 1 2 26 4 y Jones .4 11 0 1 02 i 1 Searoht 7 03 00 0 1 0 G C . Groninger 21 1 7 00 00 r 2 7 Moore 11 3 3 05 23 4 6 Totls 200 2560 617 14:3 <2 60 FGr' ,:417 FTP'or 35313 pont FG 19 T1 (Queen 3- 8 Blanchard 1 4 Goninger 0 4, Rohinson 0 3) Blocks: 1 (Moore). Steals: (R~obinson 2. Blan ch,-r'Jones, Yo4ng4 .iunoveiss20 (Robinson 6,Bl' ai 5 Queen 4 Asselin 2, Young, Groninger, Moore). Tecnjai fouls none. Purdue (80) FG FT REB MIN MA MA OT1 A PTS Lowe 32 78 22 02 4 3 19 Smith 2/77-13 1I1 (13 1 4 i6 Allison 32 39 8 10 2 6 n 4 1,n Lewis 26 6 13 2 3 2 5 0 1 14 Cunningham 14 2 5 0 1 03 3 ' 5 Deane 20 2 3 2 2 00 0 6 Buscher 14 0 3 0 1 2 7 0 2 0 Richardson 8 22 02 13 3 0 5 Marshall 1 02 1 2 1 2 1 1 x Garrity 16 02 00 01 0 2 0 Totals 200 2958 1624 935 13 19 80 FG% :500. FT% c.667 3 point fG 6 10, 600 (Lowe 3 3, Smith 1 2, Cunningham 12, Parkinson 1 1, Lewis 0 1 Marshall 0 1) Blocks:S5(Allison 3. Lowe, Smith). Stea 7 (Lowe 3, Allison, Lewis, Cunnngham, Parkinson). W Turnovers: 12 (Dean 4, Allison 3, Smith 2, Lowe, Buscher). Technical Fouls: none. Michigan- Purdue. 33 27 60 43 37 80 At Mackey Arena, West Lafayette Attendance: 11,329 AP PHOTO Purdue drew seven more free-throw attempts than Michigan in the Boilermakers' 8060 win last night. Purdue made its living off converting opportunities. 6-for-10 from 3-point territory and turned the ball over just 12 times. Without an athletically superior team, sound basket- ball was enough to propel Purdue to an easy victory. "Any time you can beat Michigan by 20 it's a great win," Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "We got them sit- ting around." Avery Queen was the brightest spot for Michigan, scoring a career-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. "I've been working on my shot because I was strun- gling at the beginning," Queen said. "I'm definitely more comfortable being a point guard in the Big Ten. But it doesn't matter if we lose." Michigan falls to 0-5 away from Crisler, all double- digit losses. It returns home .an. 9 to face Indiana. BIG TEN STANDINGS Conference Overall MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daly Junior Chris Young and sophomore LaVell Blanchard swat Eastern's hopes of winning over break. unPrepared in C erenCe ebut Team Michigan State Minnesota Penn State Wisconsin Iowa Illinois Ohio State Purdue Indiana Northwestern Michigan W 1 0t 0 0 1 1 i 0 0 U L 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 a a w 12 11 9 9 1'? 10 9 9 6 L 0 2 2 3 i 6 6 \ k WIN-TER WONDERLAND By Michael Kern DaIly sports Writer WEST I.AFAYETTI§ - In last night's 80-60 loss to Purdue, it was pretty clear from the start that the Michigan men's basketball team was not ready for its first conference game of the season. Signifying things to come, the Wolverines turned the ball over three times in the first thee minutes cn route to 20 turnovers for the ,ame, It was the fifth time in 12 games this season that Michigan has fin- shed with at least 20 turnovers. The Wolverines' record is 1-4 in those i " C -tmes. "We didn't come out ready to play." said freshman Bernard Robinson, who finished with six turnov ers and just 3-of-12 shooting from the field. "No one came out ready. I know I didn't come out like I should have." Fron tiheir first possession, the Wolverines looked sluggish both ouiensi clv and defensively. Rather than set up the offense, they took a number of quick shots from the perimeter. But with just 4-of-19 shooting from beyond the are, Michigan gave up a number of long rebounds that lead to easy transition opportunities for the Boilermakers. Those oppor- tunities became easv baskets as the Wo therines failed to get back on (ICefen se. "They cashed in on a lot of the mistakes we provided them with,," Mlichigan coach Brian Ellerbe said, "We capitalized on their turnovers and quick shots." Purdue forward Rodney Smith said. "We got all of the loose balls and dove on the floor and did all of the little things that help teams win." A couple of times when the game was still close in the first halt, the Wolverines had opportunities to tie the game. But poor shot selection and execu- tion held Michigan back from 'get- ting over the hump. With 7:43 to go in the first half, the Wolverines pushed the ball up the court down just three points: Sophomore Gavin Groninger had an open three to tie the game, but the shot rimmed out harmlessly. "We were trying to make our comeback on one or two shots," Groninger said. "We put shots up too quick and that just dug us in a deeper hole." While Michigan shot the ball poorly, it outrebounded another opponent, crashing the offensive and defensive glass. The rebounding margin was only 38-35 in favor of the Wolverines. . But many of Purdue's rebounds came by outhus- tling Michigan and being the first to loose balls. "They beat us in all of the hustle areas, diving on loose balls and such," Michigan junior Chris Young said. "That's why we lost the game." Purdue guard Maynard Lewis admitted that the Wolverines were probably a more talented team. But that and the sour taste of last year's Big Ten home-opening double-over- time loss to Michigan motivated the Boilermakers to try and win the game by outworking the Wolverines and playing with more intensity. "If there is one thing we should have known about Purdue, it's that (Purdue coach) Gene Keady gets them to play hard," Groninger said. "He doesn't have any superstars. ie just has a lot of guys who play their tails off." Dec. 13: The Michigan basketball team snapped its four-game losing streak with an 89-71 win over Bowling Green. The Wolverines were paced behind sophomore forward LaVell Blanchard, who scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior center Josh, Asselin chipped in 18 points .and nine rebounds. Michigan held on to a slim three-point lead with four minutes to play but scored six quick points to put the game away. Vesterao,'s e:uk: PURDUE 80, Michigan 60 No. I MICHIGAN STATE 98, Penn Mtate '. No: 9 ILLINOIS 80, Minnesota 64 - OHIO STATE 73, Northwestern 5e Todav' game: Indiana at Wisconsin, 7 p.m Saturdacysgames. Purdue at Northwestern, 2 p.m Ohio State at Illinois, 8 p m. Wisconsin at Minnesota, 8 p. Iowa at Penn State, 1 pr. Sundas gaines: Michigan State at Indiana TBA Dec 23: Five Michigan players scored in double figures as Michigan downed Morris Brown 95- 81. Michigan was led by Bernard Robinson, who scored a game-high 17 points and dished out six assists. Blanchard and shooting guard Gavin Groninger both scored 16 points, Asselin had 12 points and freshman cen- ter scored 10 points. Michigan shot 59 percent from the field, its season high, topping its 53 percent performance against Wagner. The game marked1 the third game in the Wolverines' prior four that it topped the 90-point mark. Robinson's streak of 22- straight free-throws made was snapped. Tuesday ,'ndianaat Michigan C-isle Aiena, 7p.m (ESPN) This will be the fiist - and possibly only- opportunity for Michigan fans to see Mike Davis, Bobby Knight's successor. Davis has struggled to replace the Hoosier legend, coaching indiana to a 7-5 mark entering Big Ten play. Davis publically questioned his ability to coach Indiana after the Hoosiers lost to rivai Kentucky. This fueled speculation that Davis would leave indiaria following tnis season. All Pnotos MARJORIE MARSHALL/Oaily Freshman Avery Queen and Michigan held Bowling Green in check for an 89-71 win over break. Dec. 27: Michigan almost reached a new low, as Towson's Brian Allen missed a last-second 3-pointer which would have won the game. The Wolverines' 73- 71 win improved their record to 5-5 on the season. Blanchard led the way for Michigan, recording 23 points and a career-high 13 rebounds and Asselin chipped in 15 points. The Wolverines held Tamir Goodman, Towson's highly-touted freshman, to only nine points on 4-for- 5 shooting. "We had to come together as a team," Asselin said. "We bounced back and tried to play through the deficit. We knew we had to pick up the intensity in the second half. Every night we need to come ready to play." Dec 30: Michigan concluded its nonconference season with a 90-73 win over Eastern Michigan. The Wolverines were led by post players Chris Young and Asselin, who combined to shoot 19-for-22 from the field and scored 26 and 19 points respectively, both career highs. "That was a very good way for us to end the nonconference season," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. Asselin "played well. One of the things that was really evident was our guys made really good entry feeds. (Josh) finished plays after getting hit, which I really, really liked. You want to see that out of our big people." I WEEK'S BEST BIG TEN ROUNDUP HOW THE AP Top 25 FARED SUDAN-LY LEAVING: Connecticut's Ajou Deng will transfer to Fairfield. The junior from Sudan is leaving because of playing time. The 6-foot-10 Deng was averag- ing 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 15 minutes per game as a sophomore. Deng began taking classes yesterday. BANTA MENACE: Penn State's Marcus Banta was arrested and charged with tampering with a motel fire alarm. The sophomore WOODEN IT BE NICE: Duke's Shane Battier and Notre Dame's Troy Murphy were two of the 30 finalists for the Wooden award, given to the nation's best player. The other leading