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The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 9, 2004 - 5B

Talkin' the talk
"If we'd had (a timeout remaining), we'd
have won the game."
- Purdue coach Gene Keady discussing how the
Boilermakers were unable to set up defensively following
Brandon McKnight's basket with seven seconds left.

SATURDAY'S GAME
Purdue 63
Michigan 64

Players of the game

Brandon McKnight
(Purdue)
The guard finished with 10 points and
put Michigan on the ropes by hitting
two clutch shots in the final 30 sec-
onds of the game.

Courtney Sims
(Michigan)
Sims scored 11 points - including
the game-winning tip-in with 1.4
seconds left - and added 15
rebounds and five blocks.

Scoring problems plague Blue
Brown's minutes limited due to hand injury; free throws almost costly

SATURDAY'S GAME
Purdue (63)

By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Writer
In the midst of a brutal offensive drought
of more than ten minutes without a field
goal, Michigan needed a big
play in the biggest way. Not
just to save its game, but to-
save its season.1
It got one from a player t
looking like his former self.
Michigan guard Daniel
Horton hit two titanic shots down the stretch
for the Wolverines on Saturday, giving Court-
ney Sims the opportunity to win the game in
the final seconds. Although Horton airballed a
shot in the final seconds before Sims scored
the winning basket, his two clutch shots put
Michigan in the position to pull the game out.
Just after Purdue guard Austin Parkinson
stole the ball in the backcourt and went
untouched for an easy lay-up to tie the game
at 57 with less than two minutes to go, for-
ward J.C. Mathis handed the ball to Horton,
who nailed a huge 3-pointer after a Michigan
timeout.
"(Assistant) Coach (Chuck) Ramsey told
me when we came back out, and the score
was tied, to just make a play," Horton said.
"And J.C. really made the play. They were
doing a good job playing the ball screen, so
he just ran a dribble handoff and the guy

went underneath him."
Two possessions later, Horton made a hori-
zontal cut past two screens, received a pass
from Dion Harris just inside the foul line, and
nailed a jumper to keep the Michigan lead at
three.
"The big guys just set good screens, I just
curled and got to the basket," Horton said
While the sophomore went 6-for-15 from
the field and was inconsistent throughout the
game, fighting struggles that he has had the
entire season, his offensive activity gives hope
that he may be getting out of his slump.
Horton led the Wolverines with 19 points
and five assists.
"I thought Horton's play was spotty through-
out the game, but then we saw something that
Daniel's done for us a lot, as he made some big
plays and some big baskets," Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker said.
TAKING THE BLAME: Sophomore center Gra-
ham Brown played just eight minutes in Satur-
day's game, including just two in the second
half, partly because his left hand was bothering
him. Brown hurt his hand last week in practice
and has been nursing it since. In his limited
action, Brown missed three close shots and
picked up two blocking fouls. But despite his
injury, Brown was not making any excuses
after the game.
"I didn't play very well today," Brown said.
"Maybe it's the hand, but maybe I have to take

the responsibility upon myself. You can't really
say anything about the hand, you just got to
play your game. I take full responsibility that I
didn't finish as well as I needed to."
Brown is confident that he will be at full-
strength for this week's road games against
Minnesota and Iowa.
ALMOST PERFECT: Although it has been an
Achilles heel for much of the season, Michigan
shot extremely well from the free throw line
for most of Saturday's game. The Wolverines
went 15-for-20 from the charity stripe, well
above their season average of .660. But three
of their five misses came during the final min-
utes, with both Horton and Sims missing the
front ends of one-and-ones that gAve Purdue
the chance to take the lead in the final minute.
"We missed some big free throws, as I
thought Courtney's one-and-one and Daniel's
free throws certainly could have helped us."
Amaker said.
NOTES: Saturday's game was the first sell-
out at Crisler Arena this season ... The dou-
ble-doubles recorded by Sims and Bernard
Robinson were Michigan's first this season.
It was the first time two Wolverines had a
double-double in a game since 2000 ... With
Wisconsin's loss at Northwestern, Michigan
State (7-2) now has the Big Ten lead after
finishing its non-conference schedule 5-6.
The Spartans have lost just one game to a
non-ranked opponent.

Teague
Keifer
Kartelo
McKnight
Parkinson
Buscher
Ford
Nwankwo
Buckley
Carroll
TEAM
Totals

FG FT REB,
MIN M-A M-A 0-T A FPTS
35 6-13 0-1 1-7 0 2 14
23 4-8 0-0 4-8 2 3 8
28 0-4 0-0 2-6 2 4 0
25 5-12 0-0 0-7 2 0 10
30 3-7 2-2 2-6 9 4 8
20 4.7 2-4 1-2 0 2 10
2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
7 1-1 1-2 0-0 0 2 3
29 3-8 2-2 0-1 2 0 10
1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
1-2
200 26-60 7-1113-3915 27 63

FG%:.433. FT%:.636. 3-point FG: 4-14, .286
(Buckley 2-4, Teague 2-6, McKnighta 03,
Parkinson 0-1). Blocks: 5 (Keifer 3, Kartelo
2). Steals: 3 (Buscher, Keifer, Teague).
Turnovers: 15 (Parkinson 5, Keifer, 3, Buck-
ley 2, McKnight 2, Buscher, Kartelo,
Nwankwo). Technical fouls: none.
MICHIGAN (64)

Robinson
Sims
Brown
Abram
Horton
Harris
Petway
Mathis
Team
Totals
FG%: .361.1

MIN
36
37
8
31
34
29
9
24

FG
M-A
5-15
5-10
0-3
1-3
6-15
0-5
0-0
2-3

FT
M-A
1-2
1-3
0-0
4-4
4-5
3-4
4-4
1-2

REB
0-T
4-10
4-15
0-0
2-2
0-2
0-2
1-1
2-4
3-4

A
2
0
0
0
5
1
0
2

F PTS
1 11
1 11
2 0
3 7
2 19
1 3
24
1 5

200 224115.20241131364
FT%: .750. 3-point FG: 5-22,

RYAN WEINER/Daily
Michigan sophomore Graham Brown was limited to Just eight
minutes on Saturday due to a hand injury.

.227 (Abram 1-2, Horton 3-8, Harris 1-8,
Robinson 0-3, Sims 0-1). Blocks: 6 (Sims 5,
Abram). Steals: 7 (Horton 2, Robinson 2,
Harris, Mathis, Petway). Turnovers: 10 (Sims
4, Horton 3, Robinson 2, Petway). Technical
fouls: none.

BOILERS
Continued from Page 113
and improvise a defense on the fly to
stop the charging Horton - a situa-
tion that led to Sims' terrific inside
position.
"I wish we would've had (a time-
out)," Purdue coach Gene Keady
said. "If we'd have had one, we
would've won the game because we
would've got our defense set up. We
didn't block out. You've got to punch
the ball out and not let them have
another possession."
After the referees viewed the
replay of Sims' shot, Purdue was
given 1.4 seconds to attempt to steal
a win. But the Boilermakers' final
heave downcourt was tipped away,
preventing any last-second shot
attempt and preserving a roller-coast-
er victory for the Wolverines.
"I don't think we escaped, I think
we won," Horton said. "I think
that's something that this team is
getting used to doing - pulling it
out at the end."
For the first eight minutes of the
second half, it looked as if Michigan
(4-4 Big Ten, 13-6 overall) might run
Purdue (5-4, 15-7) out of sold-out
Crisler Arena. After leading 35-30 at
the half, the Wolverines watched Pur-
due trim the advantage to one before
responding with a 15-2 run to open
the 16-point cushion.
Freshman Dion Harris started the
spurt by converting a layup after
Horton threaded the needle with a
bounce pass through two Purdue
defenders. Two plays later, Harris
forced a turnover and fed senior
Bernard Robinson for an easy
bucket.
"I thought our defense was terrif-
ic," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker
said. "We were able to use our

defense to create good shots offen-
sively."
But that was the high water mark
for the Wolverines. Keady used one
of his team's timeouts, turning the
momentum around.
"(I told them in the timeout) to be
aggressive on offense first, and
believe they could make a come-
back," Keady said. "In college bas-
ketball, you're never out of it."
Purdue forward David Teague
began to heat up from the field, while
the Wolverines' offense was lulled to
sleep by the Boilermakers' zone
defense.
Michigan went almost 11 minutes
without a basket, managing a mere
three free throws over that stretch.
This drought allowed Purdue to tie
the game at 57.
<"I think (we frustrated them);"
Teague said. "We had them right
where we wanted them."
The two teams wrestled back and
forth from there on in. Horton ended
the scoring troubles by drilling a 3-
pointer from the top of the key. But
Horton and Sims each missed the
front end of one-and-one free throw
opportunities, paving the way for
McKnight to hit two shots that put
Purdue ahead in the final 30 seconds.
Sims and Horton's late-game hero-
ics were the culmination of solid
evenings from both players. Horton
had a game-high 19 points and added
five assists, while Sims recorded I1
points and 15 boards -his first
career double-double. Robinson
joined Sims in the double-double cat-
egory, with 11 points and 10
rebounds.
Michigan returns to action on
Wednesday as it travels to Minnesota
to take on the Golden Gophers, who
are still winless in the Big Ten after
losing to Illinois yesterday.

Michigan................. 35
Illinois.....................30

29 - 64
33 - 63

At: Assembly Hall, Champaign
Attendance: 16,618
BIG TEN STANDINGS

Team
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Illinois
Purdue
Iowa
Indiana
Michigan
Northwestern
Penn State
Ohio State
Minnesota

Conference Overall
W L W L
7 2 12 8
6 2 15 4
6 3 15 5
5 4 15 7
5 4 12 8
5 4 11 9
4 4 13 6
4 5 9 11
3 5 9 10
3 6 11 11
0 9 8 13

DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
in addition to netting the game-winning bucket, Michigan freshman Courtney sims blocked five shots against Purdue on
Saturday. In addition to the shots he sent back, Sims also appeared to alter a number of other Purdue field-goal attempts.

Sims
By Daniel Bremmer
Daily Sports Editor

confidence on the rise

Yesterday's results:
Illinois 79, MINNESOTA 69
Saturday's results:
MICHIGAN 64, Purdue 63
Iowa 87, INDIANA 82 (20T)
NORTHWESTERN 69, Wisconsin 51
Michigan State 84, OHIo STATE 70
Tuesday's Game:
Michigan State at Illinois
Wednesday's Games:
Michigan at Minnesota
Indiana at Penn State
Wisconsin at Iowa
Northwestern at Purdue
Saturday's Games:
Minnesota at Michigan State
Penn State at Northwestern
Michigan at Iowa
Indiana at Purdue
Ohio State at Wisconsin

Courtney Sims did more than just
score the game-winning hoop in Michi-
* gan's 64-63 win over Purdue.
Sims grabbed a game-high 15
rebounds and blocked five shots to go
along with his 11 points, which
included the game-winning basket
with 1.4 seconds left.
"I can't say enough about Courtney
Sims," Michigan coach Tommy Amak-
er said. "To play the way he did against
a team like Purdue is huge for Court-
ney's confidence."
And that confidence is on the rise.
The freshman scored a career-high
16 points against Iowa last Wednesday.
After that, Sims saw an increase in
his playing time on Saturday, some-
thing which may have been partially
responsible for his rebounding per-
formance. The freshman had been
playing around 20 to 25 minutes per
game this season. But in the victory
over Purdue, he played eight more
minutes than his previous career high,
spending 37 minutes on the court.
"I think (my minutes increased)
because I was rebounding," Sims said.
ROSEN
Continued from Page 1B
six games.
And most importantly, they snatched
the momentum back when it really
counted, even after they didn't convert
at the charity stripe.
"We didn't wilt down the stretch,"

"I think (Amaker) takes me out some-
times because I don't rebound or play
good defense. But I think I was a good
defensive presence (on Saturday)."
Sims's defensive contribution goes
beyond the numbers in the boxscore.
The freshman blocked five shots, but
he appeared to alter twice as many.
Many times, especially in the first
half, Purdue players drove towards the
rim only to see Sims in their path.
Those players had to change their shots
to avoid being blocked.
"I was just trying to be a defensive
presence;' Sims said. "I think I do that
a lot, even when I don't have as many
blocks. (Altering shots) is what I focus
on all the time."
At 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, it would
be more accurate to describe Sims as
"lanky" than "bulky." But Sims said
that he is feeling more confident lately
because he is beginning to feel more at
ease with the physicality of the college
game - an aspect of the game which
he struggled with at first.
"(I'm) getting used to playing bigger
people and not getting pushed around,"
Sims said.
The freshman said that he used to
have trouble maintaining his position
ball the length of the court through a
scrambling defense. He even knocked
away the final pass to seal the deal as
time expired.
"To go 10 minutes without a field
goal, that's not good," Horton said. "But
I think we showed a lot of character and
heart by being able to battle back and
still win the game"

when trying to box out defenders.
Because he wasn't used to the physical
environment, he was easily pushed
under the basket when going for
rebounds.
But on Saturday, Sims held his
ground and showed that he wouldn't be
out-muscled.
With his 11 points and 15 boards
against Purdue, Sims recorded one of
two double-doubles for the Wolverines
on Saturday. Senior Bernard Robinson
chipped in with 11 points and 10
rebounds for the other.
These were the only double-doubles
recorded by Michigan in any game this
season.
"We've definitely stepped up as far
as getting on the glass," Robinson said.
"(Our) coaches have been harping us
about getting on the glass, especially
the last couple games, and I think we've
responded well to it."
Sims's rebounding total on Saturday
blew away his previous career-high of
six, which he grabbed against Oakland
on Nov. 21 and again against Bowling
Green on Dec. 13. The freshman just
missed equaling his career high in
blocks (six), which he also recorded
against Oakland.

Offutisiy
The Michigan basketball team has haa a number of sfttches durng the BNg Tea sea-
she nt seeted bard to eome b~ A t6ett kdf va nse againtP.de 6i
are a few of the other breakcdown trough eight games tof te cofeec scedude.
at Michign State, Jam. 1$ - Nina-pius mhnUt.snn fish? goals
Score befare sttetcht Mchigan leads 19-5
.Ire ae
RSesult Mihigan State rolled to a 71-54 win. Mchian b ng ariund <ifter the lap*e 4<
oftene bu neitarecuvced f...m fhe43.. nt haW The $patanwder eosgr4
rh hrjutu for the in.
&at Wiscoosin Jan21 Five minutes Without scoring
tugt c4tftwaSpar ofaier04 n.
Result: The Badgers won their 23rd s&night athe Kohld Ceniter443. The
Wolhrixws ere onshe to conmae$anir the I 6-pomn lead that W\sonsn buish,
vs. 1owa~ Jan. 28 -Six minutes without scerdng
Score before atretlh Michhn leads 3 -0
Droughti Ia weant on a 15- run to natch the lead froam rt \ob tienn
$esuit: Mtahin held on tont9 4 a homec sitdard to h uoas ude
leste Abram led dhe \olvernes wth 24 points S$

UP NEXT:

Minnesota's Ben Johnson

HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED

Team
1. Duke
2. Stanford
3. St. Joseph's
4. Pittsburgh
5. Connecticut
6. Louisville
7. Mississippi State
8. Gonzaaa

Record
18-1
20-0
20-0
22-1
19-3
17-3
19-1
19-2

This weekend's results
Beat Clemson 81-55
Beat Arizona 80-77
Beat La Salle 89-63
Beat Notre Dame 66-58
Beat West Virginia 88-51
Beat UAB 73-35
Beat Mississippi 80-56
Beat Lovola Marvmount 87-57

This week's games
Virginia; at North Carolina State
at California
Dayton; Rhode Island
at Seton Hall; Connecticut
at Notre Dame; at Pittsburgh
at UNC-Charlotte
at South Carolina; at Arkansas
at San Francisco; at St. Mary's

MINNESOTA
Michigan would like nothing
more than to kick Minnesota
while it's down. The Golden
Gophers were knocked off on
Sunday by Illinois, dropping them
to 0-9 in the Big Ten. The
Wolverines continue to insist,
though, that the Gophers will be
dangerous on their home floor. In
its last two games, Minnesota
has led Michigan State and Illi-

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