Robert Traylor was polite after the game, but he wasn't going to lie. When asked if he was surprised at how lousy the Spartans' performance was in Saturday's basketball game at Crisler Arena, he paused and looked down, as if thinking of a way to deflect the question courteously, then thought better of it and simply said, "Yeah."
In a game that was more lopsided than the final score indicates, the Wolverines rolled and visiting Michigan State simply rolled over. In front of a sellout crowd of 13,562 fans, Michigan won, 79-69, thanks in part to dominant interior performances
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| SARA STILLMAN/Daily Michigan's Robbie Reid found defending Michigan State's A.J. Granger to be a hair-raising experience on Saturday at Crisler Arena. |
Traylor (8-of-12 shooting) had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Baston (8-of-13) had 23 and eight boards. The Wolverines went to their inside game early and often, and led by as many as 20 in the first half.
The victory moved Michigan to 3-1 in Big Ten play (13-4 overall), and came on the heels of a disappointing road loss to Indiana last Tuesday. Michigan State dropped to 2-1 in the conference (9-4 overall).
"This is a very important win for our basketball team," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "I'm pleased that we were able to come back from Indiana and play as well as we did early in the game."
While Michigan's offense was powered by the big men, the defense revolved around stopping Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves, who came into the game leading the Big Ten in assists (7.5 per game) and leading the Spartans in scoring (15.7 points per game).
Cleaves made just four of 19 shots in the game, and though he ended up with 14 points and five assists, his 1-of-8 performance from the floor in the first half helped Michigan take command of the game from the outset.
Louis Bullock was matched up on Cleaves for most of the afternoon, and though Bullock managed just 10 points in the game himself, Ellerbe was more than happy with the junior's defense.
"That was the key to the basketball game, without question," Ellerbe said twice. "We knew coming into the game that we would have to contain Cleaves, and Lou did a very good job of doing that."
The Spartans were led by Jason Klein, who hit four 3-pointers and wound up with 17 points. Only two other Spartans - forward Andre Hutson and Cleaves - managed to score in double figures.
"Right now, Michigan is a better basketball team than we are," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after the game. "If they keep playing the way they are, they're going to be tough to beat in this league."
The Spartans got in foul trouble early, and Michigan cashed in at the free throw line. Even though the Wolverines made less than 65 percent of their free throws (25-of-39), they still made as many as the Spartans attempted.
"We had some kids that played OK, and we had some kids that didn't play so well," Izzo said. "Michigan's handed it to us two years in a row - now it's been three years in a row. A couple of those have been what I'd call embarrassing losses."
Saturday's game never got completely out of hand, but on a couple of occasions the Wolverines looked ready to blow it open. With five minutes remaining in the first half, Robert Traylor's two-handed overhead outlet pass sprung Jerod Ward for a breakaway dunk, giving Michigan a 36-20 lead and bringing the crowd to its feet.
On the next possession, Morris Peterson was fouled by Bullock, and when Peterson took exception to the foul, Traylor received a technical for rushing to Bullock's aid. But of the four ensuing foul shots (two for the foul and two for the technical), the Spartans made just one. Michigan responded with five straight points - on a Baston layup, a dunk by Asselin and a free throw by Baston - to push its lead to 41-21.
Throughout the second half, the Spartans chipped away at the lead in spots, but never put together a major threat, and Michigan held on by hitting 13 free throws after the intermission.
"When you have a big lead like that early on, you tend to relax a little bit," Baston said. "We just had to stay focused and try to bear down on defense, and we were able to do that."
For Michigan, all five starters scored in double figures - and the only other player to score was Asselin, who had six points and four rebounds in just 12 minutes of action.
"It's a very good victory for us," Ellerbe said. "Now we have to go back to practice and go back to work, because the games keep coming."
SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Michigan center Robert Traylor makes his point to fellow Wolverine Jerod Ward, but somehow the Spartans got the idea as well. The 300-pound junior smacked Michigan State for 23 points.
01-12-98
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