Ups and downs

Hoosiers lose big to Michigan

He's spent much of his career trying to silence critics, but yesterday afternoon, Jerod Ward was in a world of his own.

Ward exploded in front of a national television audience yesterday in perhaps his brightest performance of the season, solidifying his status as an offensive force and leading Michigan to its most lopsided victory ever in Big Ten play. The Wolverines romped past Indiana, 112-64, in front of an announced sellout crowd of 13,562 at Crisler Arena.

Ward scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and exited the game to a rousing standing ovation that brought even the alumni out of their seats.

SARA STILLMAN/Daily Jerod Ward had one of his finest games as a Wolverine, when Michigan defeated Indiana yesterday, 112-64. The senior forward poured in 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting.

"It was very touching," Ward said of the ovation. "I thought that we had great crowd support. I was very proud of our team, and it was great that the fans were as supportive as they were.

"It was probably the loudest crowd support that I've had since I've been here."

The Wolverines improved to 9-5 in the Big Ten (19-8 overall) and pulled into a fourth-place tie with the Hoosiers (9-5, 18-8). The teams will likely face each other again in less than two weeks, in the four-versus-five matchup of the Big Ten Tournament.

Although Ward, who had 18 points and nine rebounds by halftime, will get the lion's share of the attention, he was not alone yesterday. He was just one of three Wolverines to score more than 20 points - Louis Bullock had 26 and Robert Traylor had 22 - and strong performances by Robbie Reid and Brandon Smith put the Wolverines over the top. Reid, who had not scored in double figures since the first Michigan-Michigan State meeting, on Jan. 10, had 16 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. And in 21 minutes of action, Smith had 12 points, his most since scoring 14 against Tennessee-Chattanooga on Dec. 20 - which was also the last time he played at least 20 minutes in a game.

Indiana struggled from the beginning and never really tested the Wolverines, who scored 42 of the half's final 57 points to turn a 12-10 lead into a 54-25 advantage at the break.

"Michigan played great," Indiana coach Bobby Knight said. "It was a great game from Michigan's standpoint.

"I've only seen them place twice this year, and they were a lot better this time."

Indiana pounded the Wolverines in Bloomington on Jan. 6, using 19 points by Andrae Patterson to win 80-62. Yesterday, Patterson didn't score, and the Hoosiers got a total of 25 points from their starting five.

"I wish I could figure it out," Knight said. "This has not happened to us often."

The Wolverines drained 15 3-pointers yesterday, the most they've ever made in a single game and one fewer than the Big Ten record, set by Purdue earlier this season. And the last time Michigan scored more than 100 points in a game was in 1994, against Boston University.

Last year against Indiana, the Wolverines held an 18-point halftime advantage before losing in overtime, 84-81, in the teams' meeting at Crisler Arena. The fact wasn't lost on Traylor, who made it a topic of conversation during halftime of yesterday's game, when the Wolverines led by 29 points.

"The first thing I said at halftime was, 'Don't forget last year,'" Traylor said. "We wanted to make a statement, and that's what we did. We wanted to show people that we belong in the NCAA Tournament."

After the break, Michigan went on a 19-5 run to begin the second half. Traylor and Bullock combined to score the team's first 23 points of the half, and it wasn't until Ward hit a trey with 12:54 remaining that someone else scored. But by that time, the Wolverines were up by 42 points and the game was all but over.

"We beat a quality team, close to the end of the season, on our home court, in front of a national audience," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "What more can you ask for?"

02-23-98