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michigandaily.com/sports
sportsdesk@umich.edu
THURSDAY
FEBRUARY 14, 2002
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By David Horn
Daily Sports Editor
WEST LAFAYETTE - Last night's
79-43 loss to Purdue was the worst so
far this season for the Michigan basket-
ball team. It was so bad, in fact, that
Purdue coach Gene Keady (whose
Boilermakers were coming off three-
straight losses and are considered the
worst team
he .has MICHIGAN 43
coached in
years) said PURDUE 79
that his
opponents last night looked like "Pur-
due in blue suits."
The Wolverines - playing their
fourth game in seven days - could not
do anything quite right, and were help-
less to stop the Boilermakers (4-8 Big
Ten, 12-14 overall), especially Purdue's
sharp-shooting guard Willie Deane.
Deane torched Michigan (5-7 Big Ten,
10-13 overall) with a game-high 23
points, including 4-of-9 shooting from
behind the 3-point line. He led a 25-3
Purdue charge midway through the
first half, which Michigan was never
able to retaliate against.
But it was less a potent Purdue
offense and more an impotent Michi-
gan one that caused the Wolverines'
largest margin of defeat so far this sea-
son.
Michigan shot a season-low 24.1 per-
cent from the field, and a season-low
18.8 percent from the 3-point line. Cen-
ter Chris Young, around whom the
Michigan offense likes to rotate, was
rendered ineffective by a Purdue team
that made it a point to collapse on him
every chance it had. Young also failed
Fatigue obvious in
Michigan's debacle
JOE
SMITH
By David Horn
Daily Sports Editor
WEST LAFAYETTE - Maybe it
wasn't fair to ask the Michigan basket-
ball team to play last night's game
against Purdue. Not only were the stu-
dent-athletes in the maize and blue
playing their fourth game in seven days,
but they were also playing their second-
straight road game after returning to the
Midwest from a weekend trip to play at
Colorado State. That Monday game
was hard-fought by the Wolverines, but
they eventually lost in overtime, 70-66.
They left the Rocky Mountain State
exhausted, if not deflated, then returned
to Detroit for a heartbeat and flew
again to West Lafayette.
The exhaustion showed in last night's
game. Michigan committed 16
turnovers and shot a paltry 14-of-58
from the field. Moreover, the Wolver-
ines seemingly played in slow motion.
They committed loose-ball fouls,
were out-hustled for most loose balls
anyway, and eventually gave up 44
rebounds to their own 31. Michigan
shot the ball 58 times, but 32 of those
shots were from behind the 3-point
line, which would suggest that the
fatigued team was notable to find the
requisite effort or energy to work the
ball inside. The Wolverines set a sea-
son-high with those 3-point attempts;
the previous high was 30, set by a team
exerting whatever energy it had left at
Colorado State on Monday.
In an evaluation of last night's per-
formance, every symptom of an over-
worked team could be diagnosed ; The
disease was the rigorous schedule that
Michigan had to endure.
"We probably caught them at the
right time, after their long road trip,"
Purdue coach Gene Keady said.
But the Michigan players - and cer-
tainly Michigan's coach Tommy Amak-
er - were not willing to admit that
they were tired. Amaker did admit to
having been outcoached, and he and the
players all admitted to having been out-
hustled, but they are not ready to use
their recent itinerary as an excuse.
Still, they are looking forward to
finally returning to Ann Arbor.
"It'll be real nice to get back home
and get a home-cooked meal" fifth-year
senior point guard Mike Gotfredson
said. "Just get two really good practices
in Ann Arbor and hopefully come out
strong (on Sunday) against Indiana."
Michigan is now 1-8 on the road, and
can benefit from a return to Crisler
Arena now more than any other time.
"We're comfortable there, and we
play hard there, and right now we're a
different team when we play at home,"
junior guard Gavin Groninger said.
YESTERDAY'S GAME
MICHIGAN (43)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Godfredson 17 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Blanchard 19 4-9 2-2 1-2 1 2 11
Young 35 2-4 0-0 1-8 0 2 4
Jones 18 0-7 1-2 3-3 0 5 1
Gibson 11 0.1 1-2 1-2 1 2 1
Queen 23 3-6 0-0 0-0 1 0 9
Ingerson 9 0-9 0-0 1-1 1 0 0
Robinson 25 4-10 4-4 2-7 5 1 13
Bailey 14 0-2 0-2 1-3 0 0 0
Groninger 18 1-9 1-2 1-2 1 3 4
Adebiyi 11. 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 3 0
Totals 200 14-58 9.14 12-3111 19 43
FG%:.241. FT%: .643. 3-point FG: 6-32, .188
(Queen 3-4, Robinson 1-2, Blanchard 1-5,
Groninger 1-9, Jones0-6, Ingerson 0-4,Gotfredson
0-1, Young 0-1). Blocks: 4 (Young 2, Robinson, Gib-
son). Steals: 5 (Young 2, Jones, Ingerson,
Groninger). Turnovers: 16 (Blanchard 5, Jones 4,
Gotfredson 2, Queen, Bailey, Groninger, Young).
Technical fouls: none.
Purdue (79)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Marshall 24 1-3 0-0 0-3 0 2 2
Smith 25 3-7 1-2 1-6 2 3 9
Allison 28 4-7 5-6 1-6 2 0 13
Deane 37 9-20 1-1 0.5 4 2 23
Parkinson 26 1-2 1-2 0-2 7 0 3
Buscher 10 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 0 0
Ford 8 1-1 2-2 1-3 0 2 5
Carroll 13 3-3 2-2 2-4 0 1 8
Kilgore 19 6-13 0-0 2-4 1 2 16
Garrity 10 0-1 0-0 1-6 1 2 0
Totals 200 28.59 12-1512.44 18 14 79
FG%:.475. FT%: .800 3-point FG: 11-24, .458 (Ki-
gore 4-8, Deane 4-9, Smith 2-3, Ford 1-1, Marshall
0-2, Garrity 0.1). Blocks: 1 (Allison). Steals: 5
(Deane 2, Parkinson 2, Allison). Turnovers: 15
(Deane 4, Parkinson 3, Allison 2, Marshall 2,
Smith, Kilgore, Garrity). Technical fouls: none.
Michigan ...............17 26 - 43
Purdue........ .....38 41 - 79
At: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette
Attendance: 12,022
Improved?.
More like
regressed
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Purdue defenders swarmed all over Michigan last night, just like they're doing
here against Michigan freshman Chuck Bailey
to win the battle for position with 6-
foot-10 Purdue center John Allison.
"Every time I was even thinking of
posting up, they had three or four guys
just surrounding me at all times,"
Young said. "My guards were constant-
ly looking for me, but there was noth-
ing they could do about it."
Michigan's offensive success this
season has also come from the ability
of forwards Bernard Robinson and
LaVell Blanchard to create room for
themselves for open jumpers, and
sometimes, their ability to penetrate.
But Blanchard found himself in early
See BOILERMAKERS, Page 12A
JI
Icers' Martens eating
his way into lineup
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Cammalleri could play
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer
Every weekend during the Michi-
gan hockey season, thousands of
young fans pile into Yost Ice Arena to
watch their heroes compete. Some
dream of becoming a Wolverine one
day, and for a
select few, their HOCKEY
dream comes true.
That's how it Notebook
happened for
Michigan freshman and Ann Arbor
native Nick Martens. The defense-
man, who grew up on the east side of
town, had been coming to watch the
Wolverines with his family since the
early 1990's, when they began buy-
ing season tickets.
For. Martens, choosing Michigan
was a no-brainer.
"Growing up, every kid in Ann
Arbor that played hockey dreamed
about playing at
Yost on this
team," Martens
said. "Whenever
my amateur team
wasn't travelingh
on a Friday or Sat-
urday night, I was
here."
As a fan,
Martens attended
some of the most Martens
important games in Michigan's histo-
ry. He was at Yost for the NCAA
West Regional in 1997-98 when
Michigan defeated defending cham-
pion North Dakota, 4-3, to advance
to the Frozen Four. But that is not a
game that stands out in his memory.
"I remember the old rule they used
to have," Martens said. "When the
team scored 10 or more goals in a
game, you could get a free pizza the
next day with your ticket stub. I
loved those games.
"Back in those days, I was looking
forward to pizza every three or four
weeks."
Martens doesn't watch the team
as soon as Feb. 22-23
year in high school, Martens left Ann
Arbor and went down South for two
years to play with the Texas Tornado.
In his first year, he played hockey
while finishing high school. The next
year he took off school, and focused
on hockey.
"I had a couple odd jobs that year,
but most of the time I spent training,"
Martens said. "I made my final deci-
sion to come here last Christmas."
With eight defenseman currently'
suiting up for Michigan this season,
Martens has had to fight for a consis-
tent spot in the lineup. While he still
hasn't locked anything up, he has
skated in 17 games, recording a plus-
three rating.
"We knew about him when we
were looking for a defenseman,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
"We needed someone who could fit
in and get a chance to play, and he fit
the bill. Based on all the competition
we have on defense this season, I'm
impressed that he's played in so
many games."~
Martens feels that even though he
is not playing all the time, the
increased competition is a good thing
for him.
"If I was playing every game, it
wouldn't be as self-building for me,"
Martens said. "I try and do what I
can. If it's not being in the lineup,
than it's working hard to help other
guys get better.
"Hopefully I can keep in the lineup
though."
CAMMALLERI UPDATE: Michigan
junior forward Mike Cammalleri,
who has been sidelined since Jan. 12
with mono, received good news from
the doctor yesterday.
Michigan's leading goal scorer
(without playing in 12 of its games)
has received clearance to begin light
workouts, which include riding an
exercise bike and hopefully skating
by the end of this week.
Berenson said that the best-case
scenario for Cammalleri's return is
on Feb. 22-23 against Ohio State at
ah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah-
nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye."
The embarrassing chants of the
Colorado State student section resonat-
ed through Moby Arena in Monday
night's overtime victory over Michigan.
It was Colorado State's first win against
the Wolverines in three meetings.
Colorado State was 1-7 in the Moun-
tain West Conference, but a win over
mighty Michigan made the Rams' sea-
son. This sounds all too familiar for
another underachieving season in
Michigan basketball.
"This is the type of game you want to
put behind you," Michigan assistant
coach Chuck Swenson said.
The same could be said about last
night's lackadaisical effort against the
Boilermakers, a 79-43 shellacking by a
team that has struggled all year long and
was in 10th place in the Big Ten going
into last night's game.
Michigan's dismal 43 points was a
season low.
Actually, it was another low point in a
season full of them.
The Wolverines have simply had far
too many games they'd like to put behind
them this year. In coach Tommy Amak-
er's first campaign, Michigan has already
suffered losses against Bowling Green
and Western Michigan of the Mid Amer-
ican Conference and West Coast Confer-
ence's San Francisco.
Michigan doesn't discriminate against
Big Ten teams either, as it lost to North-
western at home for the second straight
season. Those pesky back cuts struck
again.
Michigan has always seemed to find
a way to make another team's season.
Too bad the Wolverines can't salvage
their own.
At 10-13, to end the season with a
.500 record and qualify for the NIT,
Michigan must win its final four games
or win three of its last four and win two
games in the Big Ten Tournament.
But beating the Big Ten's top two
teams (Indiana and Ohio State) and pass-
ing road tests at Wisconsin and Iowa is as
likely as former booster Ed Martin taking
over as Michigan's athletic director.
Remember, this is a team that found
itself down 51-19 at one point last night
against the struggling Boilermakers,
and the Wolverines' biggest win this
season was at home against Minnesota.
Amaker never promised an NIT bid
or a .500 record. But he did promise
improvement. And 23 games into this
season, things haven't changed --not
even from last season's 10-18 debacle.
Last year's team beat the Wagners,
Towsons, and Western Michigans of col-
lege basketball, while playing a much
tougher schedule than this year's team.
Last season, the Wolverines played four
teams ranked in the top 20, and battled a
much tougher Big Ten schedule - play-
ing Michigan State, Iowa and Indiana
twice. This year's team played just two
nonconference teams in the top 25,
including an overrated Boston College
team. Plus, the Wolverines purposely put
off taking part in the Big Ten/ACC Chal-
lenge until Amaker could get the pro-
gram off the ground.
Yes, excitement is filling Crisler
Arena with Amaker's arrival, and
Michigan is in a much better shape
recruiting-wise within the state.
But if you look at the play on the floor,
it looks like instead of building up, the
Wolverines have fallen flat on their face.
Granted, Purdue was Michigan's
fourth game in seven nights. But when
the Wolverines needed to answer the
bell and put their pride on the line in a
last-ditch effort to make the postseason,
Michigan gave its worst effort yet.
The Wolverines shot 21 percent from
the floor (6-28) and committed 12
turnovers in the first half. Four of
Michigan's six first-half field goals
were from 3-point range.
And the 3-point shots kept on coming
- reminiscent of last year's offense
under Brian Ellerbe: Pass the ball aim-
lessly around the perimeter, sit around,
wait until the shot clock runs down to
three seconds then flip up an errant shot.
The effort may be there, but the
results sure aren't. In fact, Michigan
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