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Michigan rebounds to beat Minnesota

Is it possible that a man who is already 6-foot-9 can be standing a little taller? If so, then Maceo Baston better start ducking when he enters rooms.

The Michigan sophomore forward had 20 points and nine rebounds, six of them offensive, in only 22 minutes as the Wolverines came back to beat Minnesota, 65-62, Saturday night.

Baston was averaging 11.5 points per game coming into the weekend contest, but at the half Saturday, it didn't look like he was going to reach that mark. The Wolverines (7-7 Big Ten, 17-10 overall) were down, 29-23, and Baston had a lonely two points to go with his three fouls; the latter kept him on the bench for all but six minutes. In the second half, though, Baston had 18 points and no fouls in 16 minutes, all while turning the ball over only once.

"Maceo's had games like that," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "In the second half, it was like he said, `I'm going to post up and I don't care -- nobody's going to stop me.'"

The Wolverines desperately needed Baston's contribution: Without his 7-of-10 performance, they made a meager 12 of their 50 attempts. The Golden Gophers (7-7, 15-11) outrebounded the home team, 43-35, and fared better from the floor at 44 percent, but in the end, free throw shooting was critical.

"They made their free throws, and that was the difference in the ballgame," Minnesota coach Clem Haskins said.

The Wolverines went to the charity stripe 27 times and converted 23 of them; they were 22-of-25 in the second half. Freshman forward Albert White seemed to spend the whole evening shooting free throws. Despite making only two of his 11 field goal attempts, White earned a 15-point performance by missing only one of his 12 charity tosses. The Gophers, on the other hand, went to the line only 13 times, making eight.

"We've gone from a team that (our free throw shooting) was a big liability, to a team that it's a huge asset for us," Fisher said.

Even that asset may not have mattered for the Wolverines were it not for a second-half offensive burst from Baston.

With the game knotted at 40 and the Wolverines out on the break, Louis Bullock tossed a pass over the defense to a streaking Baston, who dunked for his ninth and 10th points.

After a tip-in by Minnesota's Courtney James, Baston drew a foul on a made layup and converted the free throw. James hit another layup, and then Baston scored another 3-point play.

Three possessions became eight points for Baston, and suddenly, Michigan was up four.

The Gophers drew even once more, but never led again. The Wolverines put them away with solid free throw shooting, hitting seven of their eight tosses in the final 22 seconds. They needed those since Minnesota guard Bobby Jackson scored seven points in those 22 seconds. He finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Minnesota led by as many as 11 in the first half, but the Wolverines gradually pulled themselves back in the game with solid defense and interior play.

The win pulls Michigan into a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference going into tomorrow's home contest against Michigan State. A victory in that game would go a long way toward making the Wolverines NCAA tournament material.

"Right now I think we control out destiny," Michigan forward Maurice Taylor said. "If we want to go to the tournament, we've got to win the rest of our games."