The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 21, 2003 - 5B
Talkin' the talk
"It seemed like there were more Michigan
fans here than Northwestern fans."
- Michigan forward Lester Abram commenting on the
large contingent of Michigan fans among the 5,632 in
attendance at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday.
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 77
Northwestern 70
Players of the game
Jitim Young
(Northwestern)
Northwestern's most consistent
offensive player continued his
solid play, hitting for 20 points
and pulling down six rebounds.
Daniel Horton
(Michigan)
The freshman point guard continued
to impress, scoring 22 points -
including six second-half 3-pointers,
while playing 38 minutes.
Michigan fans out in force
for team's win Evanston
SATURDAY'S GAME
MICHIGAN (77)
By Seth Klempner
Daily Sports Writer
EVANSTON - As the Michigan men's bas-
ketball team walked off the court, coach Tommy
Amaker stopped his players
as they walked past their BASKETBALL
bench after the 77-70 win Notebook
over Northwestern. He then
had his players acknowledge
the group of Maize Rage members who made the
trip out to Evanston.
Approximately 70 fans made the five-hour trek
to the northern suburb of Chicago to watch the
Wolverines extend their winning streak to 11 -
the longest since the 1992-93 season. In two
buses paid for by Amaker, the students left Ann
Arbor from the Crisler Arena parking lot at 7:30
in the morning.
It was the first time the Maize Rage has taken
a road trip en masse, and their support had an
impact on the Wolverines.
"We had a (high) attendance here at the game
and we certainly appreciate that," Amaker said. "I
heard them in the locker room before the game
started. Anytime you have a number of your fans
come on the road, it is very exciting and I wanted
to make sure that our kids acknowledged that
support because it was certainly beneficial for
our team."
The cheering of the Maize Rage, which by the
end of the game had grown to more than 100 stu-
dents, could be heard clearly on the court and
over the television broadcast. By the end of the
game, they were even drowning out the North-
western student section, known as the Wildside,
when trying to distract the Wildcats' free throw
Red-hot Horton
Michigan freshman point guard Daniel Horton
earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week
honor yesterday, as he shared the award with
guard Willie Deane of Purdue. Horton's stats for
the week:
Jan. 15 at Ohio State
40 minutes, 17 points, five assists
Key play: With the game tight in the second half,
Horton makes a hustle play to save a ball headed
out of bounds. He then finds an opening in the Buck-
eyes' defense and drains an NBA-range 3-pointer.
Saturday at Northwestern
34 minutes, 22 points, five assists
Key play: With Michigan's lead at five and under
four minutes left, Horton uses a pick and a hesita-
tion move to drive the lane for an "and one" layup.
shooters and cheer on the Michigan comeback.
Maize Rage spokesman Peter Lund said the
group first told Amaker of its intentions of taking
buses to Evanston before the season started. But
when they got the cost estimates they knew they
would not be able to afford it. As soon as Amak-
er's office got wind of this, the marketing depart-
ment arranged the buses, which the Maize Rage
was easily able to fill.
"Ever since Amaker was hired and arranged a
meeting with the students, he has really wanted
our support," Lund said. "He knows how impor-
tant student support is from his days with Duke."
While Northwestern averages a meager 3,336
in attendance per game, the stands of Welsh-
Ryan Arena were slightly more full for the
Michigan game, which had 5,623 fans pack in for
Northwesters largest home crowd of the season..
DIAPER DANDY: Daniel Horton has been play-
ing some of the best basketball in the Big Ten,
and the conference is giving him his props. Hor-
ton received the Big Ten Player of the Week
honor for the second time this season. He first
received the honor for averaging 18.5 points
against Eastern Michigan and UCLA.
The freshman averaged 19.5 points and five
assists last week to help snap a seven game losing
streak to Ohio State and keep Michigan atop the
Big Ten standings. His standout performance
came against Northwestern, a game in which he
poured in 22 points and shot 6-for-13 from behind
the arc.
"He is a kid that always senses the moment,"
Amaker said. "I think you can also use the word
daring, and he has displayed that a number of
times this year and that couldn't be more evident
than this afternoon. It seemed like every time
there was a huge basket, he delivered it for us. I
think he has a knack for it."
Horton now joins Indiana's Bracey Wright as
the seventh freshman in Big Ten history to
receive the honor twice in one season and
became the first Wolverine to accomplish the
feat. Purdue's senior guard, Willie Deane was
also named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week.
NEW BANNER: The ceiling of Crisler Arena
became a little more empty when the banners
honoring the now "lost years" due to self-
imposed sanctions, were taken down. But soon,
Cazzie Russell's No. 33 will get some company.
Former All-American Rudy Tomjanovich will
become just the second Wolverine to have a num-
ber retired. His No. 45 jersey will be retired in a
ceremony during halftime of the Feb. 8 game
against Iowa. This will make former Michigan
Robinson
Blanchard
Brown
Abram
Horton
Harrell
Groninger
Hunter
Bailey
Team
Totals
FG FT
MIN M-A M-A
30 2-4 7-8
38 5-7 7-8
12 1-1 0-1
38 3-5 1-3
34 7-15 2-7
11 1-1 2-2
7 0-0 0-0
27 3-5 4-6
3 0-0 0-0
200 22-38 23-35
REB
0-T A F1
0-2 5 4
2-9 1 2
0-2 0 3
0-4 1 4
1-2 5 3
0.1 0 2
0-0 1 .0
2-5 0 3
0.0 0 0
0-2 -
5-27 13 21
PTS
11
19
2
9
22
4
10
0
77
FG%: .579. FT%: .657. 3-point FG: 10-20_ 500 (Hor-
ton 6-13, Abram 2-3, Blanchard 2-4). Blocks: 3
(Blanchard, Horton, Hunter). Steals: 7 (Horton 3,
Brown 2. Blanchard, Hunter). Turnovers: 13 (Hunter
4, Abram 3, Robinson 2, Blanchard, Brown, Horton,
Team). Technical fouls: Blanchard.
Northwestern (70)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Maley 20 0-2 2-2 1-3 2 3 2
Burke 37 1-6 3-4 2-6 3 4 5
Jennings 33 3-10 3-4 0-4 1 3 9
Parker 33 7-8 3-4 0-3 3 4 20
Young 38 8-13 2-8 3-6 2 4 20
Hachad 11 2-5 0-0 1-1 1 2 5
Blake 23 3-3 1-1 1-3 2 5 9
Duvancic 5 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 2 0
Totals 200 2447 1423 8-27 15 27 70
FG%: .511. FT%: .609. 3-point FG: 8-19 (Parker 3-3,
Blake 2-2, Young 2-4, Hachad 1-2, Burke 0-3, Jen-
nings 0-3, Maley 0-2). Blocks: 1(Burke). Steals: 5
(Hachad 3, Blake, Jennings). Turnovers: 13 (Burke
3, Blake 3, Maley 2, Duvancic 2, Jennings, Parker,
Young). Technical fouls: Parker.
Michigan....................32 45 - 77
Northwestern ...........40 30 - 70
At: Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL.
Attendance:5,632
BIG TEN STANDINGS
Team
Michigan
Iowa
Purdue
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Northwestern
Conference Overall
W L W L
4 0 11.6
3 0 11 3
3 0 11 3
3 1 13 3
2 2 12 3
2 2 12 4
1 2 9 5
1 3 9 7
1 3 8 7
03 5 9
0 4 8 7
Last Saturday's results:
Michigan 77, NORTHWESTERN 70
Purdue 82, PENN STATE 78
MINNESOTA 77, Michigan State 69
INDIANA 74, Illinois 66
Wisconsin 53, OHIO STATE 52
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Point guard Daniel Horton was stellar in Michigan's win on Saturday, scoring 19 points including this
crucial layup with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
center Chris Young the last Wolverine ever to
wear the No. 45 jersey.
Tomjanovich is sixth on the Michigan all-time
scoring list with 1,039 points and holds the
Crisler Arena single-game record for points with
48 and rebounds with 27.
The former center has won two NBA champi-
onships in his 11 years as head coach of the
Houston Rockets.
Two FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: For the first time
since the 1999-2000 season, Michigan is being
acknowledged by voters in the national polls. The
Wolverines received two points in this week's
Associated Press poll. No.. 25 California is 132-
points ahead of Michigan, while No. 1 Arizona
received 1,795 points.
HUNTER
Continued from Page 18
drills the guards were doing."
t Hunter leads the team with 24
blocks this season, the next closest
is Bernard Robinson with 12.
His long arms and agility require
opposing players to adjust their shot
if they want to take it at the big
man. Hunter has been using his
defensive intensity to fuel his offen-
sive production.
"I'm just trying to make my
defensive play turn in to more
aggressiveness on the offensive
end," Hunter said. "I think the better
I play on the defensive end the bet-
ter I play on offense.
"So I'm just trying to play good
defense, get rebounds and block
shots."
Rebounding is an area where the
Wolverines greatly need Hunter's
presence around the basket. Michi-
gan was out-rebounded by Ohio
State and Penn State.
The Wolverines also tied North-
western in rebounds with 27. Michi-
gan relies on Hunter to use his size
and agility to attack the glass.
One of the keys to Hunter's
rebounding success is his mental
approach.
"I just put it into my mind that
every ball that came off that rim
was mine," Hunter said.
The game was a homecoming of
sorts for the Gary, Ind. native. He
had a handful of friends and family
on hand.
But Hunter, who has bought into
Amaker's team philosophy, was
concerned about just one thing in
Horton takes over for
Blue down the stretch
Tomorrow's games:
Ohio State at Indiana
Wednesday's games:
Minnesota at Michigan
Penn State at Michigan State
Purdue at Illinois
Iowa at Wisconsin
Saturday's games:
Illinois at Penn State
Ohio State at Iowa
Indiana at Purdue
Northwestem at Minnesota
Sunday's games:
Michigan State at Michigan
7 p.m.
8 p.m.
6 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
7 p.m.
12:17 p.m.
1:34 p.m.
4:37 p.m.
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
WILDCATS
Continued from Page 1B
fifth of the half and sixth of the
game. He then completed his hero-
ics with a stutter-step drive that led
to a layup, foul and an insurmount-
able eight-point Michigan lead with
less than four minutes left.
"Horton is a good player," North-
western coach Bill Carmody said.
"He hit some three's at the top when
guys were with him, and he's hard to
identify (on defense) all the time."
The Wolverines received a terrif-
ic all-around performance from
center Chris Hunter.
Hunter came off the bench for 10
points, five rebounds and several
hustle plays to help set the tone in
the second half.
Blanchard also played another
stellar game, scoring 19 points and
grabbing a game-high nine
rebounds.
"We came with a lot more pas-
sion (in the second half), and I
thought LaVell Blanchard really led
the way for us," Amaker said.
The 11-game winning streak is
the nation's second longest, and the
longest streak by a Michigan team
since the 1992-93 team won 11 in a
row. But technically, this is Michi-
gan's longest streak since 1988, due
to the forfeiture of the 1992-93
campaign.
"It means a lot," Horton said. "It
puts us at 4-0 and (in) first place in
the conference. The two wins on
the road (Northwestern and Ohio
State) are especially important
because it's so tough on the road in
the Big Ten."
The Wolverines will try to stay
hot tomorrow night at 8 p.m. when
they host Minnesota at Crisler
Arena.
Three amigos
Michigan's big three of LaVell Blan-
chard, Daniel Horton and Bernard
Robinson Jr. combined for 52 of the
team's 77 points against North-
western Saturday. Here's how their
numbers compare with the other
top-scoring trios in the conference
this season.
Player PPG
Michigan
LaVell Blanchard 17.2
Daniel Horton 15.9
Bernard Robinson 12.6
Total 45.7
Indiana
Bracey Wright 19.1
Jeff Newton 14.4
Tom Coverdale 13.1
Total 46.6
Wisconsin
Kirk Penney 16.3
Devin Harris 14.9
Freddie Owens 12.9
Total 44.1
UP NEXT:
DAVID KATZ/Daily
Michigan center Chris Hunter goes up for a shot against Northwestern on Saturday.
Hunter's all-around game was a huge factor in the Wolverines' big road victory.
Evanston.
"I just wanted to get the 1lth-
straight win for Michigan," Hunter
said. "It didn't matter what family
was here, I was just trying to win
for Michigan."
MINNESOTA
An inconsistent Golden Gophers
team will be looking to build on a
77-69 win over Michigan State on
Saturday. Preseason Big Ten Player
of the Year Rick Rickert leads Min-
nesota with 14.2 points and 6.3
rebounds per game.
NEXT WEEKEND:
MICHIGAN
STATE
The wacky Big Ten schedule means
Michigan and Michigan State will
face off just once, next Sunday at
Crisler Arena. In a reversal of for-
tunes, the Spartans will enter the
game struggling, currently 1-3 in
the Big Ten with a 1-4 record on
the road for the season.
'M' STATS
-r--
WEEKEND NOTES
HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED
No. 12 MARYLAND 87, No. 3 DUKE 72: Maryland exposed
the Blue Devils on Saturday. The Terrapins (10-4),
behind the play of Drew Nicholas, handed Duke (12-1)
its first loss of the season.
Nicholas poured in 24 points in the win. Duke, which
had won 14 of the last 17 games at Maryland, all
played at Cole Field House. Apparently the Terps like
their new home of the Comcast Center better.
No. 8 KENTUCKY 88, No. 16 NOTRE DAME 73:
Kentucky slapped the Fighting Irish (14-
3) around in Rupp Arena thanks in part
to the defensive play of guard duo
Gerald Fitch and Cliff Hawkins.c
The two shut down Notre Dame Drew
CUT 65: North Carolina (11-5) has been hot and cold this
season, riding the shoulders of freshman stars Raymond
Felton and Rashaad McCants.
The Huskies (11-2) got their first lead of the game when
the human-shot-blocking-machine Emeka Okafor slamed
home a dunk off a fast break with 1:16 left in the game,
making the score 65-64.
North Carolina became just the second program in
college basketball, after Kentucky, to win over
1,800 games.
No. 14 INDIANA 84, No. 18 ILLINoIS 66: The Illini
found out just how good Jeff Newton is Saturday.
While Illinois (13-3) has Brian Cook, the
Team
1. Arizona
2. Pittsburgh
3. Duke
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. Kansas
7. Oklahoma
8. Kentucky
9. Louisville
10. Creighton
11. Connecticut
12. Maryland
13. Oklahoma State
Record
13-1
14-1
12-1
12-2
15-2
13-3
12-3
13-3
12-1
16-1
11-3
10-4
14-1
This weekend's results
Beat UCLA 87-52
Beat Syracuse 73-60
Lost to No. 10 Maryland 87-72
Beat Texas A&M 89-61
Beat South Carolina 77-75
Beat Kansas State 81-64
Beat Texas Tech 69-64 (ot)
Beat No. 16 Notre Dame 88-73
Beat TCU 87-74
Beat Illinois State 95-82
Lost to Miami 77-76
Beat No. 3 Duke 87-72
Beat No. 21 Missouri 76-56
Player
Blanchard
Horton
Robinson
Abram
Brown
G
17
17
16
17
17
Min
31.6
34.9
31.4
30.9
18.9
A
1.1
4.5
3.1
1.1
0.6
Reb
7.1
2.6
5.9
3.8
4.5
Pts.
17.2
15.9
12.6
9.4
5.5
I .