The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 2, 2002 - 5B
Talkin' the talk
"You have to win it or lose it at the
free-throw line."
- Western Michigan coach Robert McCollum after the
Broncos held on, thanks to Michigan's 12-for-21 mark at
the free-throw line, including 2-for-8 in the second half.
SATURDAY'S GAME
' Western Michigan 56
M iMichigan 52
Players of the game
LaVell Blanchard
(Michigan)
Blanchard was Michigan's most
effective player, leading the Wolver-
ines with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Robby Collum
(Western Michigan)
Collum led the Broncos with 17
points, and was 6-for-6 down the
stretch at the free-throw line to seal
the win.
Queen dismissed for
violating team rules
Ingerson still sidelined with Achilles, knee injuries
By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Writer
Last Wednesday, Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker announced that junior point guard
Avery Queen had been dis-_
missed from the team for an BASKETBALL
unspecified rules violation. Notebook
"We appreciate Avery's
efforts here at the Universi-
ty and wish him and his family well," Amaker
said. "There will be no further comment on
this matter."
The announcement came just a day after the
Wolverines had returned from their season-
opening tournament, the Paradise Jam in the
Virgin Islands.
Queen came off the bench in all three
Michigan games in the tournament, averaging
* 11.3 minutes, but did not score.
The junior shared starting point guard
duties with Mike Gotfredson last season, aver-
aging 26.3 minutes and just over four points
per game.
In the wake of Queen's dismissal, the
Wolverines were left with the task of deter-
mining who would back up their starting point
guard, freshman Daniel Horton.
As of Saturday's game against Western
Michigan, those duties belong to freshman
walk-on- Sherrod Harrell.
But the make up of the Wolverines roster will
still force Michigan into giving Horton signifi-
cant minutes at the point guard position. With
the dismissal of Queen and the graduation of
Gotfredson after last year, the Wolverines are
lacking a point guard with experience.
"We need Daniel as our point guard,"
Amaker said. "We're not going to have the
luxury of experimenting with (Horton at the
shooting guard position)."
DOM BOMBED: The Wolverines' offensive
struggles so far this season have left them
desperate for someone to consistently knock
down outside jumpers.
Sophomore Dommanic Ingerson is capable
of doing just that. But the guard has yet to
play this year and was in street clothes during
the loss to Western Michigan.
"He's been injured - we're trying to deter-
mine the severity of it," Amaker said. "He
hasn't felt well enough to get out there in
practice. His knee and Achilles tendon have
been bothering him."
Ingerson played sparingly in the Wolver-
ines' exhibition victories over Wayne State
and the Nike Elite.
He played in all 29 of Michigan's games a year
ago, averaging 8.1 points a game in 16.2 minutes.
MAC TRUCK: Michigan's loss to the Bron-
cos dropped the Wolverines to a meager 1-3
against the Mid-American Conference in the
last two years.
Saturday's loss was the second straight to
Western Michigan. The Broncos knocked off
Michigan 79-73 last year. The Wolverines
then fell to Bowling Green five days later.
Michigan salvaged the year against the
MAC with an 88-58 romp over Eastern Michi-
gan on Dec. 12, 2001.
The Wolverines still have Bowling Green,
as well as fellow MAC teams Central Michi-
gan and Eastern Michigan remaining on this
year's schedule.
SATURDAYSSGAME
Western Michigan (56)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Williams 34 5-10 0-2 1-1 2 2 10
Berry 18 0-2 0-0 0-2 2 2 0
Kann 29 6-10 0-0 1-9 1 4 12
Collum 33 5-15 6-6 1-5 1 2 17
Reed 27 2-8 2-5 2-5 1 2 8
Slater 16 0-2 2-2 0-1 0 1 2
Snider 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Willis 8 1-2 0-0 0.0 1 0 3
Evola 8 1-3 2-2 4-4 0 1 4
Madison 11 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 2 0
Bronson 9 0-1 0-0 01 0 3 0
Totals 200 20.56 12-17 13.36 10 23 56
FG%:,.357. FT%: .706.3-point FG:4-16,.250 (Reed
2-4, Willis 1-1', Collum 1-8, Slater 0-1, Berry 0-2).
Blocks: 4 (Williams, Reed, SBater, Madison). Steals:
9 (Collum 4, Kann 2, Slater 2, Bronson). Turnovers:
16 (Collum 4, Kann4, Williams 3, Reed 2, Evola 1).
Technical fouls: none
MICHIGAN (52)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS
Robinson 33 3-11 4-5 2-6 3 4 10
Blanchard> 36 5-10 34.4 12 1 3 14
Hunter 21 0-1 3-4 1-2 0 0 3
Abram 31 2-7 1-2 0-2 0 5 5
Horton 31 5-16 0-2 0-5 2 3 11
Harrell 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Groninger 16 1-2 1-2 0-2 0 2 3
Brown 18 2-4 0-2 1-5 0 1 4
Bailey 5 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Totals 200 22-45 17.20 5-31 10 19 64
FG%: .365. FT%: .571 3-poInt FG: 2-13, .154 (Blan-
chard 1-2, Jones 1-1, Horton 1-7, Abram 0-1,
Groninger 0-iRobinson 0-3). Blocks: 6 (Brown 2,
Robinson, Hunter, Horton, Harrell). Steals: 5 (Abram
3, Robinson, Blanchard). Turnovers: 21 (Robinson 5,
Blanchard 5, Horton 4, Hunter 3, ,Abram 2, Harrell
Brown). Technical fouls: none.
Western Michigan.......25 31 - 56
Michigan...............24 28 - 52
At: Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor
Attendance: 9,781
BIG TEN
Team
Indiana
Wisconsin
Iowa
Illinois
Minnesota
Purdue
Northwestern
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Michigan
STANDINGS
Conference Overall
W L W L
0 0 4 0
0 0 4 0
0 0 3 0.
0 0 2 0
0 0 2 0
0 0 2 0
0 0 3 1
0 0 2 2
0 0 1 1
0 0 0 3
0 0 0 4
DAINNY MOIOSHK/Daily
The Michigan basketball team is hoping that guard Dommanic Ingerson will be launching 3-pointers
again soon. Ingerson has yet to play in the regular season due to lingering injuries.
Blanchard unable to
save bumbling Blue
BRONCOS
Continued from Page 11B
"We actually did a good job run-
ning that last play, because we ran a
play that we did last year that we
haven't really this year," Groninger
said. "I came off a double screen
from the baseline.-
"That's the first look for me to get
a shot from the corner. They did a
good job switching out, so I knew
LaVell would be on the other side so
I tried to drag it across the floor and
kick it to him."
Western Michigan coach Robert
McCullum was disappointed with
his team's last-second defense, but
nonetheless relieved that Blan-
chard's final shot fell out.
"(Michigan) got some middle
penetration and whoever was guard-
ing LaVell started watching the
ball," McCullum said. "I thought
our player did a good job hustling
back to try and contest the shot -
in those situations you want-to
make someone else beats you other
than LaVell Blanchard or Bernard
Robinson Jr."
Neither team was able to establish
a comfortable lead in the game.
Western Michigan led 25-24 at half-
time, and thanks to six points each
from center Anthony Kann and for-
ward Mike Williams, the Broncos
stretched the lead to 46-39 with
8:47 left.
"I think we need to improve (our
interior defense)," Amaker said. "I
think when you look at some break-
downs we had you we can see that a
lot of they key areas came as a
result of youth and inexperience
with Graham Brown and Chris
Hunter and the fouls."
Michigan responded, pulling
within 46-45, and accumulating
four fouls on both Kann (who fin-
ished with 12 points) and Collum
(17 points). But with a chance to
take the lead, freshman Lester
Abram was called for a charging
foul with 4:33 to go in the second
half, and the Wolverines never
pulled any closer than two points
the rest of the way.
"We talk a lot about deserving
things and I felt (Western Michigan)
certainly deserved the victory,"
Amaker said. 'We played with des-
peration to get back into it and give
ourselves an opportunity to win it,
but I think we all agree that they
deserved to win the way they played
the entire 40 minutes."
That's not to say that the Western
Michigan offense looked like a jug-
gernaut either - the Broncos had
just as much trouble finding the bas-
ket as Michigan, shooting 35.7 per-
cent from the floor and committing
16 turnovers.
"We didn't do the things we want-
ed to well, but I thought that we
kept our composure and that's why
we came out with a victory," Collum
said. "We didn't shoot as well as we
wanted to; credit Michigan, they
played good defense."
For the first time this season, the
Wolverines outrebounded an oppo-
nent, grabbing 41 boards compared
to the Broncos' 36. Blanchard paced
the charge with 12 rebounds (eight
offensive) to go along with his
team-high 14 points.
The Wolverines will have little
time to make any major improve-
ments, as Central Michigan comes
to Ann Arbor on Tuesday, the last
game before Michigan travels to
Duke next Saturday. The 0-4 start
for the Wolverines is only the sec-
ond time in the history of the pro-
gram that that mark has been
reached - the 1933-34 Michigan
team also began the year 0-4.
"We have to reevaluate a lot of
things, whether that means personnel
or what we're doing on the floor,"
Amaker said.
Blanchard agreed.
"We are at a point in the season
where we just need to find a way to
win."
Last Saturday's results:
Western Michigan 56, Michigan 52
Indiana 70, Virginia 63
Wisconsin 69, Wisconsin-Green Bay 52
Iowa 84, Tennessee State 51
Illinois 96, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 43
Minnesota 72, Georgia 69
Purdue 86, Louisville 84
Northwestern 59, Kansas State 55
Alabama 54, Ohio State 48
Yale 84, Penn State 68
Yesterday's games:
Indiana 84, North Texas St. 58
Illinois 85, Western Illinois 56
Tuesday's games:
Central Michigan at Michigan 7 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Duke 7 p.m.
Purdue at Xavier 7:30 p.m.
Penn State at Clemson 7:30 p.m.
Maryland vs. Indiana 9:00 p.m.
North Carolina at Illinois 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday's games:
Georgia Tech at Minnesota
Northwestern at N.C. State
Virginia at Michigan State
Wake Forest at Wisconsin
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
9 p.m.
9:30 p.m.
UP NEXT:
TONY DING/Daily
Daniel Horton will be seeing the majority of Michigan's playing time at point guard now that junior Avery Queen has been
dismissed from the Wolverines for violating team rules.
Freshmen running the show forM
Whitney Robinson AP PHOTO
CENTRAL
MICHIGAN
Central Michigan has a chance to hand
Michigan its worst start in school history
if it can come in to Ann Arbor and beat
the Wolverines.
POINT
Continued from Page 1B
obviously in the future."
Of course the
increased playing
minutes are a wel-
comed early
Christmas present
for Harrell.
"I'm fine with
it, if coach needs
me to step in, I'll Harrell
step in and do what I have to do to
get a victory," Harrell said.
While Harrell's offensive skills
may not be like those possessed by
Horton, that is not what the Michi-
gan coaching staff has demanded
from him.
Harrell brings a solid defensive
toughness to the game that Amaker
and his staff expect from the walk-
on freshman.
"Coach asked me to be a defen-
sive man, so that's what I focus
on," Harrell said. "I know that
defense brings offense so if you
play excellent defense then offense
will come."
Unlike, Queen, who stood at 5-
foot-7, both Harrell and Horton are
6-foot-3.
The two are also very strong, and
were able to challenge Western
Michigan's Robby Collum in Satur-
day's 56-52 loss.
"They made me work for every-
thing I got," Colluma said. "(Harrell)
and Horton are big and strong, and
they are pretty quick. You have got
to adjust to how they are playing."
NEXT WEEKEND:
~1
WEEKEND NOTES
No. 24 Minnesota 73, No. 17 Geor-
gia 69: With two seconds on the
clock, Minnesota's Michael Bauer
launched a 3-point shot that
bounced around the rim and then fell
in as time expired.
The break was a welcome sight for the
Gophers, who lost five games last sea-
son after blowing a late lead and near-
ly did the same against Georgia. The
Bulldogs recovered from a six-point
hole with under two minutes remaining
to tie the game.
The dclfat is all the more crushing for
"We're still a work in progress," Lavin
said. "We have a long way to go."
North Carolina 74, Stanford 57: After
winning the Preseason NIT, North Car-
olina's 8-20 record last season is
ancient history.
Rashad McCants again paced the Tar
Heels against Stanford -just as he
did in North Carolina's upset of No. 2
Kansas two days earlier. McCants is
one of three freshman, along with two
sophomores, that start for the Tar
Heels.
Interestingly enough, one of the goals
of this talented freshmen class is to
beat every team that North Carolina
lost to last season.
"What happened last season got me
pumped up and ready to play,"
McCants said. "I wanted to play for
them last season, but obviously could-
n't. Now we're here."
HOW THE AP
Team Record
1. Arizona 2-0
2. Kansas 2-2
3. Texas 4-0
4. Alabama 4-0
5. Pittsburgh 3-0
6. Duke 3-0
7. Florida 4-1
8. Oklahoma 3-1
9. Michigan State 2-3
10. Oregon 3-0
11. Maryland 3-0
12. Connecticut 2-0
TOP 25 FARED
This weekend's results
Beat Northern Arizona 101-66
Lost to No. 7 Florida 83-73
Beat Seton Hall 78-61
Beat Ohio State 54-48
Beat Arkansas Pine Bluff 89-49
Beat No. 14 UCLA 84-73
Beat No. 2 Kansas 83-73
Beat Prairie View 76-63
Lost to Oklahoma State 64-61
Beat Padfic 88-69
Beat Duquesne 89-39
At Vanderbilt, inc.
DUKE
Fresh off a win over UCLA in the Wooden
Classic, the Blue Devils will face two Big
Ten teams this week, Ohio State tomorrow
and then Michigan on Saturday afternoon.
'M' STATS
Player
Blanchard
Horton
G
4
4
Min
32.8
31.5
A
.5
2.3
Reb
8.0
2.8
Pts.
14.5
12.3
ri ll
M * Oklahoma State 64. No. 9 Michigan
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