The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 3, 2003 - 5B Talkin' the talk "Biggest game of my career." - Michigan forward LaVell Blanchard, after the Wolverines' loss to Illinois, when asked how the matchup with the Illin compared to the other important games in the senior's career. SUNDAY'S GAME Illinois 82 Michigan 79 Players of the game Brian Cook (Illinois) Eight of Cook's 26 points came late in the second half to give Illi- nois the lead. Some of those points were aided by favorable calls. LaVell Blanchard (Michigan) In his next to last home game, Blan- chard was in the zone from outside, stroking 7-of-Il 3-pointers for 25 points to go with seven boards. Painful loss shows Michigan point guard Daniel Horton shares a look of disgust in a huddle during a timeout. The freshman struggled all after noon for the Wolverines, connecting on just 4-of-17 shots. Powelis defense makes final minutes difficult for Blanchard how far 'AV C inderella's clock appears to have finally hit midnight. With the Big Ten's regular season title hanging in limbo, Michi- gan and No. 18 Illinois slugged it out in what was arguably the confer- ence's most exciting game of the year. But when the dust settled, the Fighting Illini were dancing off Crisler Arena's floor with a hard- fought, well-earned CHRIS BURKE 82-79 vic- tory. Goin' to work And the devastated Wolverines were left to comtemplate what might have been. "We haven't been fortunate to win, but they've been two of the most entertaining games we've played this season," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said of the Wolverines' two losses to Illinois. "They earned the win." Let's be honest: Michigan deserved better on Saturday. With 13,057 fans making up what might have been Crisler's most bois- terous crowd of the year, the Wolver- ines put on a show. Michigan matched the potent Illini blow-for-blow during the first half, taking a 46-44 lead into the break. The fireworks continued after the intermission, as senior LaVell Blan- chard connected on three of his career-high seven 3-pointers, and the supporting cast chipped in admirably, as the Wolverines built a 66-59 lead with just over 10 minutes left. The Wolverines were playing like last Wednesday's 73-42 collapse at Wisconsin was merely an aberration for a team destined for a Big Ten title. After that, though, for really the first time since the 0-6 start to the season, Michigan came back down to earth. And by the time Wisconsin slipped past Minnesota yesterday afternoon, the Wolverines' glass slipper was completely off, the car- riage had turned back into a pump- kin and Michigan's dream run at a conference title was all but ended. What it would take for the Wolverines to grab a share of the regular season crown now would be even more of a miracle than the as come sudden and spectacular turnaround that they had pulled to get in posi- tion to make Saturday's game hurt so much. "It's tough to take, because we played so hard, and we executed, and we still lost," freshman Daniel Horton said. That's the painful double-edged sword that the Wolverines and their fans are now left with in the after- math of the loss to Illinois. On the one hand, just think of how far this team has come in so short a time. From the laughing- stock of college basketball to being on the cusp of winning the school's first conference title since 1985-86. In just over three months, this team has placed Michigan basketball back on the national radar. But on the other hand, the Wolverines let a glorious opportuni- ty slip through their fingers against Illinois. A win would have left Michigan needing to finish 2-0 against Purdue and Penn State to guarantee a conference title. Maybe that's why Saturday's loss hurts so damn much. It's been such a long time since anything the Michigan basketball program has done on the court has meant so much. This wasn't just another early March conference game where the Wolverines were going through the motions while finishing out an 11- 18 or 10-18 season. This was, finally, a Michigan team playing for something bigger than "pride" or moral victories. "The crushing part of it is we played so hard but still came out with a loss," Michigan guard Lester Abram said. "We played hard enough to win the game, but it did- n't happen today." At the start of the year, a second- or third-place finish in the Big Ten would have looked like an outstand- ing accomplishment. But the victories, and week after week being on top of the Big Ten standings gave the Wolverines and their fans another look at what suc- cess feels like. There's no question that the loss to Illinois hurts, but the Wolverines can take solace - if only a little - in the fact that losses only hurt this bad when the games mean so much. Illinois..... ........... 44 Michigan................46 38 - 82 33 - 79 At: Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor Attendance: 13,057 BIG TEN Team Illinois Wisconsin Michigan Minnesota Purdue Michigan State Indiana Iowa Ohio State Northwestern Penn State STANDINGS Conference Overall 10 4 20 5 10 4 20 6 9 5 16 11 85 6 8 9 6 17 9 8 6 16 11 7 7 17 10 6 8 14 11 6 8 13 12 3 11 11 14 1 13 6 19 SATURDAY'S GAME Illinois (82) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Cook 36 8-18 8-10 3-7 5 3 26 Powell 35 6-9 4-6 1-7 3 0 18 Augustine 20 3-4 1-1 1-5 0 4 8 Williams 30 0-2 2-2 0-2 5 0 2 Brown 34 4-11 0-0 1-2 7 2 9 Head 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 Harrington 26 4-10 0-0 0-2 0 1 12 Smith 16 2-2 3-6 1-2 0 3 7 Team 1-1 Totals 200 27-56I S-22 8-28 21 14 82 FG%: .482. FT%: .818. 3-point FG: 4-10, .417 (Har- rington 4-8, Cook 2-6, Powell 2-3, Brown 1-5, Augus- tine 1-2). Blocks: 1(Cook, Williams, Smith). Steals: Brown 3, 1(Augustine, Williams). Turnovers: Brown 3, 1 (Cook, Augustine, Williams, Harrington). Tech- nical fouls: none. MICHIGAN (79) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Robinson 39 3-9 2-2 0-3 6 1 9 Blanchard 33 9-14 0-0 1-7 1 3 25 Brown 24 4.5 2-4 3.9 0 4 10 Abram 34 5-7 5-5 1-3 2 3 16 Horton 39 4-17 2-2 0.1 5 1 12 Harrell 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Groninger 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 Hunter 22 2-4 3-4 1-2 1 1 7 4-7 Totals 200 27-56 14-4710-3217 13 79 FG%:.482. FT%:. 24. 3-point FG: 5-12,478 (Blan- hcard 7-11, Horton 2-6, Robinson 1-3, Abram 1-2, Hunter 0-1). Blocks: 1(Robinson, Hunter). Steals: 1 (Robinson Blanchard, Abram). Turnovers: Horton 5, Robinson 3, 2 (Blanchard, Brown), Hunter. Technical fouls: none. By Charles Paradis Daily Sports Writer Saturday's basketball game at Crisler Arena quickly proved to be a clash of epic proportions.y It looked like neither team was going to miss a shot, as Michigan and Illinois, two of the top three teams in the Big Ten, came out on fire. The stars led the way for both teams, as the Fighting Illi- ni's Brian Cook .and the Wolverines' LaVell Blanchard scored team-highs of 26 and 25, points respectively. 11o O 80 Blanchard was especially hot in the first half. The senior forward connected on four of his six shot attempts from behind the 3-point arc and hit both of his shots inside the paint for 16 points before the break. In the second half, Illinois made several defensive adjustments, but none was bigger than switching Roger Powell to guard Blanchard. Blanchard had continued to knock down the three at the beginning of the half, until Illinois coach Bill Self called on the athletic forward to try to shut down the hot-handed Wolverine. Blanchard's play wowed all those who saw him, including Self who knew he would have to figure out some way to stop Blanchard to win the game. . "LaVell was awesome," Self said. "Their whole team played great. Roger still let (Blanchard) hit two threes on Rog, but Roger is competitive, and I don't think LaVell got another shot off the rest of the game." Powell and Self had a simple strategy to shut down Blanchard: Never lose him. "I just didn't leave him," Powell said. "I stuck to him like Velcro. He was hitting some big shots, so I couldn't let him get any air." The strategy worked. With Powell on Blanchard, the Michigan tri-captain was stifled. Blanchard hit one triple even with ,Powell's hand in his face as he elevated in the corner over Powell and knocked down the shot. This just served to ignite Powell's competitive nature. "Coach said, 'Stick to him."' Powell said. "So that's what I did. He hit one on the baseline on me, and I was in his face. I was like, 'Wow, I've got to get up on him a little more'"' After that, Powell was Blanchard's shadow, and as a result, Blanchard did not score in the last eight and half minutes of the game. Brian Cook and Dee Brown typically get all the atten- tion directed toward Illinois, but Powell has been an inte- gral part of the, team's recent success. "Hopefully I'm going to continue to play with a chip on my shoulder," Powell said. Powell's move from a role player to a leader has been a tough but necessary component of the team's success. While a few weeks ago people were asking him if he could continue to play so well, now it is taken as a given in Champaign that Powell will be there when needed. THE GREAT HOUDINI: In the first half of Saturday's game, Michigan freshman Lester Abram was perfect. He hit all five of his field goal attempts, including a 3-point shot from the top of the key, and made all five of his free throw tries. His ability to hit the outside shot and drive to the hole created matchup problems for Illinois. After Abram's hot start Self tried to matchup forward James Augustine to quiet the 6-foot-6 swingman. But Abram easily blew past Augustine for a layup. After the half, Abram was all but nonexistent. He attempted two shots in the entire second half and missed both, including an open three to tie the game with less than a minute to go. He was also unable to get to the free throw line like he had in the first half. Part of the problem was that Cook took up the duties of guarding Abram. The taller Cook was more agile than Augustine and could stay with Abram easier. Abram also picked up a few whistles in the second half, which he said hampered his ability to stay aggressive. "The first half I wasn't in foul trouble, the second half I was," Abram said. "That is about it." Tomorrow's game: Minnesota at Indiana. Wednesday's games: MICHIGAN at ,frt $tate Ohio State at Northwestern Illinois at Wisconsin Iowa at Michigan State Yesterday's results: Wisconsin 69, Minnesota 61 Last Saturday's games: ltinois 82, MiCHm 79 Northwestern 85, Penn State 79 (20T) Michigan State 69, Purdue 61 Indiana 91, Iowa 88 (OT) 7 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. Chris Burke can be reached at chrisbur@umich.edu. Saturday's games: Indiana at Penn State TBA Michigan State at Ohio State TBA Minnesota at Illinois TBA Purdue at MICHIGAN TBA Northwestern at Iowa TBA UP NEXT: ILLINI Continued from Page 18 shot in the half after scoring 16 in the first, then put up a shot that had all the hopes of a Michigan Big Ten Champi- onship on it. The attempt, taken from the left side of the key, was off, and Roger Powell grabbed the rebound before being fouled. It was the second time this season that Abram had missed a 3-point- er in the final minute of the game that could have tied the score, with the first such shot coming in a loss at Minnesota. A wild Abram layup attempt and three Illinois free throws later, the game was over and Michigan had failed to defend its all-important home game. "We had a couple of chances," Abram said. "Had we got a stop when Dee Brown took that jump shot that would have been huge. We didn't get that stop. Then I missed the 3-pointer to tie it up, and then I missed the layup. We just couldn't get it done down the stretch." , "It was hard to take a loss like this especially because either team could have come out of this victorious," jun- ior Bernard Robinson said. "And to be taken at home like this and to lose such a meaningful game, it hurts a lit- tle bit." Robinson put the Wolverines up by seven with 10 minutes to go in the game. But much like the first time the two teams met, Cook took control late in the second half, as he poured in eight points in less than three minutes. He was aided by the refs, who made two ques- tionable calls on Michigan center Gra- ham Brown than sent Cook to the free throw line. - Unlike the first time the two teams met, Blanchard went step-for-step with Cook, a fellow senior, as he scored 25 on 9-for-14 shooting and grabbed seven boards. After the game, Blanchard in a moment of rumination, admitted that Saturday was the "biggest game of my career." "He was determined, and single hand- edly got us off to a good start," said Michigan coach Tommy Amaker who unexpectedly stood up and prematurely ended his post-game press conference Saturday. "I think he was determined to will his way to a good performance today." With Wisconsin's road victory over Minnesota yesterday, it will take a Wis- consin win over Illinois on Wednesday and a Minnesota win at Illinois next weekend combined with Michigan win- ning its last two games for the Wolver- ines to capture the Big Ten Championship. Robert Summers AP PHOTO AT PENN STATE The Wolverines hope to right their ship against the struggling Nittany Lions. Michigan beat Penn State in the last meeting between the two teams 66-53 on Jan. 11. Penn State is in a tight battle with Northwestern for the 11th seed in the conference tourna- ment. NEXT WEEKEND: FURDUE Michigan will close its season this weekend with the Boilermak- ers at home. The Wolverines upset Purdue on the road 78-67 on Feb. 19. This will also be the final game at Crisler Arena for senior tn-captains Rotolu Adebiyi, LaVell Blanchard and Gavin Groninger. 'M' STATS Ti WEEKEND NOTES HOW THE AP Top 25 FARED ST. JOHN'S 72, No. 6 DUKE 71: Duke might want to rethink the strategy to schedule a nonconference game on the road in March. The Blue Devils (20-5) were looking like they were in prime position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament until St. John's (13-12) scored the last 12 points of yes- terday's game to stun Duke. After St. John's missed a shot to take the lead with 30 seconds left, the Blue Devils looked like they would hold for the last shot. But St. John's guard Marcus Hatten stripped the ball from Duke guard Daniel Ewing and was fouled on a Marcus drive to the basket with no time left Hatten on the clock. ing five consecutive turnovers during a game-clinching run in the second-half. The loss was Georgia's first game since former player Tony Cole laid out a string of allegations against Georgia assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr., claiming Harrick commit- ted academic fraud and gave him money. Georgia (17-8) had won four straight coming into the game, but the Wildcats were able to move to 14-0 in the SEC. No. 15 SYRACUSE 93, GEORGETOWN 84 (OT): Carme- lo Anthony is hotter than the girls of Cancun. Despite missing two free throws that could have put a Syracuse win away with 30 seconds to go in regulation, the freshman dominated George- Team 1. Arizona 2. Kentucky 3. Oklahoma 4. Florida 5. Texas 6. Duke 7 Kansas 8. Pittsburgh 9. Notre Dame 10. Marquette 11. Louisville 12. Wake Forest 13. Xavier 14. Maryland Record 23-2 23-3 20-5 24-4 20-5 20-5 22-6 21-4 21-7 22-4 20-5 21-4 22-4 19-7 This weekend's results Beat No. 19 Stanford 72-69 Beat No. 21 Georgia 74-66 Beat Texas A&M 69-64 Beat Auburn 73-70 Beat Texas Tech 76-71 Lost to St. John's 72-71 Beat No. 16 Oklahoma State 79-61 Beat Connecticut 71-67 Lost to Rutgers 95-82 Beat UAB 98-87 Beat East Carolina 82-76 Beat Clemson 80-68 Beat George Washington 71-70 Beat N.C. State 68-65 Player Horton Blanchard Robinson Abram Brown Hunter G 26 26 25 26 26 26 Min 35.9 32.0 31.2 32.2 19.4 20.5 A 4.3 1.0 3.2 1.3 0.5 0.5 Reb 2.5 7.2 6.1 4.5 4.3 3.7 Pts. 16.0, 15.8 11.7 10.2 5.6 5.3 o