Easy Street

Wolverines bop Bucks from outside

COLUMBUS - It's something the Michigan players and coaches do at every game: stand by their seats from the opening tipoff until the Wolverines score.

On Saturday, Michigan stood for a mere 25 seconds before its main man, Robert Traylor, got whacked and broke his nose, and painfully walked to the bench. And this was on Michigan's first possession.

Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe pointed to Travis Conlan to enter the game in Traylor's place, giving the Wolverines a three-guard lineup. A little more than a minute later, Conlan nailed a 3-pointer from the left baseline, allowing his teammates to comfortably take their seats. Conlan's trey was just the beginning of Michigan's 3-point barrage that led to its 79-61 victory before a sellout crowd of 13,276.

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Junior guard Louis Bullock connected on five-of-seven 3-point attempts and tied his career-high with 28 points in Michigan's 79-61 victory over Ohio State in Columbus on Saturday.

"The best feeling that I got in the game was when Travis (Conlan) made his three," Ellerbe said. "You feel like Louis (Bullock) and Robbie (Reid) will get theirs going, and that gives you a third guy out on the perimeter."

The 19th-ranked Wolverines improved their overall record to 15-4, getting their eighth victory in 10 games, and improving their Big Ten record to 4-1. The Wolverines are tied for first in the conference with Michigan State and Iowa. Ohio State fell to 0-4 in the conference and 7-10 overall.

The Wolverines tied their season-high with 12 3-pointers in 24 attempts, a mark they equaled against Tennessee-Chatanooga at Crisler Arena on Dec. 20. The 3-point total was one shy of the team record, which was set against North Carolina in a March 1989 NCAA tournament game.

Louis Bullock led the way from behind the arc, connecting on five of seven 3-point attempts and tied his career-high with 28 points, 16 of those in the first half. Bullock also was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line.

The Wolverines took advantage of the Ohio State 2-3 zone, constantly making the extra pass, which gave the guards open looks on the perimeter. In addition to Bullock's hot shooting, Conlan and Robbie Reid each nailed three 3-pointers.

"For myself as a shooter, I love zones, because I know there's some open spots in there," Bullock said. "When a team plays a zone like that, you have to watch yourself and not relax."

Michigan's first 15 points came on five 3-pointers and the Wolverines quickly jumped out to a 13-point lead at the 12:19 mark. Ohio State came back to within six points with six minutes remaining in the half, but Bullock connected on a 3-pointer to ignite a 12-2 run. Michigan went into halftime with a 37-22 lead. An 8-0 run in the first 1:30 of the second stanza, capped by a Traylor follow-up layup, gave the Wolverines a 23-point cushion.

Conlan played one of his best all-around games of the season. He had six assists in the first half, four of which led to triples by his backcourt teammates. The senior co-captain also held off the Buckeyes' leading scorer, freshman Michael Redd, who was second in the conference with a 21.6 scoring average and ranked first in the nation among freshman scorers coming into the game.

Although Redd finished with a team-high 20 points, it was on eight-of-25 shooting and he had just 10 when the Wolverines opened up their largest lead of the game, 62-32, with 9:10 remaining.

"Clearly, we were in over our heads," said Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien, who is in his second year at the helm of the Buckeyes. "That, in my opinion, is the best team that we've played to date."

The game did not start off well for one Wolverine when Traylor broke his nose by knocking heads with Ohio State's Jason Singleton in the opening minute of the game.

"I turned toward the middle and I banged into someone's head," Traylor said. "I felt his head go one way and my nose went the other way."

Traylor returned, playing 21 minutes in all, to finish with 10 points.

Michigan hosts Minnesota tonight.

01-20-98