Tuesday, November 24, 1998
Michigan finds
Maui magic
The Wolverines upset Clemson
By Al Chase
on the exciting opening day
of the Maui Invitational
Star-BulletinLAHAINA --Two thrilling games, one runaway and a contest that went according to Hoyle marked the opening day of the 17th annual Maui Invitational basketball tournament.
Three teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll advanced to today's semifinal round at the Lahaina Civic Center, while No. 22 Clemson was upset by Michigan. Michigan (2-2) will play No. 18 Syracuse (3-0) and No. 17 Indiana takes on No. 19 Utah (2-1).
In earlier consolation bracket games, host Chaminade (0-1) met Clemson (5-1) and Kansas State (3-1) played Arizona State (1-2).
The first thriller had Michigan jumping out to an 18-9 lead after 10 minutes. That was the biggest lead of the game and neither team went up by more than five points in the second half.
The Tigers rallied with a 15-2 spurt and led 24-23 at the half although that margin would have been greater if not for a 7-for-18 effort at the free-throw line.
Wolverines 6-foot-3 senior point guard Louis Bullock took over in the second half, scoring 19 of his game-high 24 points.
"I knew at halftime the younger guys were looking for leadership. I wanted to be aggressive," said Bulloch, who hit two big 3-pointers late in the game.
Clemson's 5-9 senior point guard, Terrell McIntyre, thought the key for Bullock was shooting free throws.
"He got to the line early in the half, got comfortable and then started knocking down shots," McIntyre said.
McIntrye himself was hounded defensively by Michigan's other guard, 6-1 Robbie Reid, and finished with just seven points on 2-for-11 from the floor.
With 2:34 to play, Michigan took the lead for good (54-53) on two free throws by freshman guard Leon Jones. After Clemson's Johnny Miller missed a 3-point attempt, Bullock made two free throws. Reid then hit a huge basket with a running 10-foot jumper with 1:28 left.
Jones' free throw gave Michigan a 59-56 lead with 5.1 seconds left, but Clemson's Andrius Jurkunas stole the ball off the rebound on Jones' missed second shot.
With 3.1 seconds on the clock, the Tigers inbounded after a timeout, but Jurkunas' line-drive 3-point attempt hit the front of the rim
"We had three options on the inbounds play. We were hoping for the 3 or to get fouled taking the 3," Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said."We had two chances to secure the rebound at the end and didn't," Ellerbe said. "It was a gutsy performance by our team. We adjusted to a lot of situations and showed we can come back.
"I thought Robbie's man-to-man defense on McIntyre, who averages 20 points a game, was big. Robbie kept him off balance the whole game."
The Wolverines held the advantage in all three shooting categories, 42.9 percent to 39.1 from the floor, 33.3 to 15.8 on 3-pointers and 75.0 to 54.8 from the charity stripe.
Indiana 71, Kansas State 70: In a game that showcased tough, physical man-to-man defense almost the entire 40 minutes, the Hoosiers remained unbeaten with a second-half rally that wiped out the Wildcats' 16-point halftime lead.
Indiana led for the final 1:03, taking the lead on two free throws by 6-1 junior guard Michael Lewis.
Two free throws by 6-1 junior guard A.J. Guyton, who led Indiana with 25 points (15 in the second half) and one by 6-10 sophomore forward Kirk Haston with 6.2 seconds remaining provided the margin of victory as Kansas State's Cortez Groves canned a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"Kansas State took everything completely away from us in the first half," Indiana coach Bob Knight said. "Kansas State just came in here to beat our ass and did it in the first half."
Shawn Rhodes, a 6-11 forward/center averaging 6 points per game, did the most damage for the Wildcats. He grabbed seven rebounds, scored 15 points and blocked two shots. He also sank 2-of-4 3-pointers.
The Hoosiers managed to stay within range by scoring 15 of their 29 first-half points off turnovers, but were on the short end of a 45-29 score at intermission.
"I knew at the half that it was not going to be a 16-point game. Indiana has a dangerous offensive machine," Kansas State coach Tom Asbury said. "We had an opportunity to put the game away if we had taken care of the ball."
The Wildcats, who pushed the ball up the floor at every opportunity, eschewed the chance to milk the 45-second clock as Indiana closed the gap in the last five minutes. Also, the Hoosiers held Rhodes scoreless in the second half.
Utah maintained a slight lead for the first eight minutes of the second half. Then with 6-2 senior point guard Andre Miller scoring (8 points) and dishing out assists (3), the Utes turned a 19-5 splurge into a 17-point lead with 5:19 to play.
Alex Jensen, a 6-9 junior forward had seven points, scoring on all three of Miller's assists.
Miller finished with 24 points while ASU was led by Eddie House and Jason Patton, each with 12 points.
"I thought we played good defense (man-to-man the entire second half, limiting ASU to 23 points) and we took care of their changing defenses," Utah coach Rick Majerus said.
"We're still young and inexperienced and have a lot of work to do in November and December."
"We played hard and intelligent in the first half," ASU coach Rob Evans said. "Utah picked up the tempo in the second half and really got after Eddie House."
Majerus credited Jeremy Killion and Adam Sharp for their defensive effort against House, who was held to 12 points, seven below his average.
The Silverswords only trailed by six (16-10) at that point, but were outscored, 23-4, the rest of the half and the Orangeman cruised in the second half.
Tony Bland led Syracuse with 15 points.
Kenzie Weir scored 11 points and Marcus Murphy added 10 for the Silverswords.
Maui Classic
Michigan: Asselin 0-1 2-2 2, Smith 1-6 0-0 3, Vignier 4-5 0-0 8, Reid 6-13 0-0 14, Bullock 5-13 10-11 24, Young 0-0 0-1 0, Jones 2-4 3-4 8. Totals 18-42 15-20 59
Clemson: Jurkunas 2-8 0-0 5, Wideman 5-10 4-8 14, Jamison 3-6 5-9 11, Miller 1-4 1-2 3, McIntyre 2-11 2-3 7, Christie 0-0 0-2 0, Allenspach 2-2 4-4 8, Whitt Whitt 3-4 0-0 7, Solomon 0-1 1-3 1. Totals 18-46 17-31 56
Halftime--Clemson 24, Michigan 23. 3-Point goals--Michigan 8-24 (Bullock 4-9, Reid 2-9, Jones 1-2, Smith 1-4), Clemson 3-19 (White 1-1, McIntyre 1-7, Jurkunas 1-7, Solomon 0-1, Miller 0-3). Fouled out--Asselin, Vignier. Rebounds--Michigan 28 (Asselin, Smith, Vignier 5),Clemson 36 (Jamison 11). Assists--Michigan 11 (Bullock 4), Clemson 10 (McIntyre 6). Total fouls--Michigan 23, Clemson 20.
Syracuse: Williams 3-4 0-0 7, Blackwell 4-7 2-2 11, Thomas 1-1 1-2 3, Hart 5-12 0-0 11, Griffin 2-4 0-0 5, Shumpert 4-8 1-2 11, Campbell 3-6 0-0 6, Ovcina 2-4 0-0 5, Bland 6-10 0-0 15, Brown 2-6 0-0 4, Celuck 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 34-64 4-6 82
Chaminade: Murphy 4-12 1-2 10, Berkovitch 2-8 0-1 5, Tracy 2-6 1-2 5, Feeney 0-1 0-0 0, Weir 4-11 3-4 11, Krafels 2-6 1-2 6, Kirk 0-3 2-2 2, Morgan 0-0 3-4 3, Lino 0-1 2-2 2, Marso 0-2 0-0 0, Port 0-2 0-0 0, Graham 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-53 13-19 44
Halftime--Syracuse 39, Chaminade 14. 3-Point goals--Syracuse 10-21 (Bland 3-5, Shumpert 2-5, Hart 1-1, Williams 1-1, Blackwell 1-2, Griffin 1-2, Ovcina 1-3, Brown 0-1, Campbell 0-1), Chaminade 3-16 (Krafels 1-1, Berkovitch 1-5, Murphy 1-6, Feeney 0-1, Weir 0-1, Lino 0-1, Marso 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Syracuse 38 (Blackwell 5), Chaminade 34 (Tracy, Krafels 6). Assists--Syracuse 16 (Hart 7), Chaminade 6 (Murphy, Feeney 2). Total fouls--Syracuse 17, Chaminade 6.
Kansas State: Dies 0-3 0-0 0, Reid 3-6 2-2 9, Rhodes 6-15 1-2 15, Griffin 2-8 0-2 4, Groves 5-13 0-3 12, May 4-11 3-3 12, Kitt 5-9 3-6 13, Kimm 1-1 0-0 3, Reynolds 1-1 0-0 2, Sims 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-68 9-17 70
Indiana: Recker 3-9 4-8 11, Washington 1-6 0-0 2, Gladness 4-9 5-6 13, Lewis 4-4 2-2 11, Guyton 8-20 4-4 25, Fife 0-1 1-3 1, Turner 1-3 0-0 2, Haston 2-4 1-3 5, Richardson 0-0 1-2 1, Odle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 18-28 71
Halftime--Kansas St. 45, Indiana 29. 3-Point goals--Kansas St. 7-16 (Groves 2-5, Rhodes 2-6, Reid 1-1, Kimm 1-1, May 1-3), Indiana 7-19 (Guyton 5-10, Lewis 1-1, Recker 1-6, Fife 0-1, Turner 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Kansas St. 50 (Rhodes 15), Indiana 38 (Gladness 14). Assists--Kansas St. 13 (Griffin 6), Indiana 14 (Lewis, Guyton, Jimenez 3). Total fouls--Kansas St. 24, Indiana 19.
Arizona State: Lazor 1-11 7-11 9, Oziwo 0-1 0-0 0, Prewitt 0-1 2-2 2, House 4-13 2-3 12, Mason 2-9 0-0 4, Tape 0-2 0-0 0, Davis 0-3 0-0 0, Patton 3-7 5-6 12, DuBois 3-5 0-0 9. Totals 13-52 16-22 48
Utah: Mottola 4-9 5-6 13, Jensen 4-8 1-2 11, Althoff 1-1 1-2 3, Miller 7-7 7-10 24, Killion 2-7 0-0 5, Sharp 2-3 0-0 5, Cullen 1-4 0-0 2, Crockett 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-40 14-20 65
Halftime--Utah 28, Arizona St. 25. 3-Point goals--Arizona St. 6-17 (DuBois 3-5, House 2-4, Patton 1-1, Lazor 0-1, Tape 0-1, Davis 0-2, Mason 0-3), Utah 7-15 (Miller 3-3, Jensen 2-4, Sharp 1-1, Killion 1-6, Cullen 0-1). Fouled out--Prewitt. Rebounds--Arizona St. 27 (Oziwo, Prewitt 5), Utah 36 (Motolla 6). Assists--Arizona St. 7 (House 3), Utah 14 (Jensen 7). Total fouls--Arizona St. 18, Utah 18. A--2,500.
