COLUMBUS - There certainly is no rest for the weary in the Big Ten, much less the injured or the banged-up, as Michigan will find out tonight. The Wolverines, after pounding Ohio State on Saturday, get back into action against Minnesota tonight at 7:30 in Crisler Arena.
The Golden Gophers (0-5 Big Ten, 7-9 overall) are off to a dreadful start following last year's Big Ten championship and Final Four appearance, though they stayed close to Iowa on Sunday afternoon before eventually losing, 82-69. In that game, Minnesota led, 17-2, after seven minutes of play, but were unable to hold the lead.
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| JOHN KRAFT/Daily Michigan's Robert Traylor, broken nose and all, hounds the Buckeyes' Jason Singleton in the second half of Saturday's game at Ohio State. Traylor broke his nose just 25 seconds into the game, but went on to score 10 points in 21 minutes of action. |
Minnesota senior Sam Jacobson, in his first game back after a three-game absence due to an ailing back, led his team with 24 points against Iowa and could pose serious matchup problems for Michigan. The 6-foot-6 swingman was the conference's fourth-best shooter from 3-point range last season, but he is perhaps better known for his flying dunks -he has a 38-inch vertical leap, according to the Minnesota media guide - than anything else.
Despite Jacobson and senior point guard Eric Harris, the Gophers are thin, after losing five players from last season. Harris is known for his defense and heady play, but the rest of the Gophers are struggling to mesh in the early going. But the Wolverines don't expect a walkover tonight, especially after Minnesota put a scare into the thirteenth-ranked Hawkeyes over the weekend.
"We've got a little payback with Minnesota," Travis Conlan said. "They came to our place and cut down our nets and won a Big Ten championship. We remember that."
The Gophers' celebration of their Big Ten championship-clinching victory at Crisler - including the cutting of the nets - annoyed some Michigan supporters. Tonight marks the two teams' first meeting since that game.
"They beat us twice last year in pretty close games, and I think our kids remember that," Michigan assistant Brian Dutcher said.
Masked Tractor?: Just 25 seconds after the opening tip of Saturday's victory over Ohio State, Robert Traylor suffered a broken nose while trying to control a loose ball on the offensive end. The big man went to his knees in pain, but returned soon after, and played the rest of the game with the nose unprotected.
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe was asked if there was any consideration of keeping Traylor out of the game after the injury, and he replied, "Absolutely not. He wanted to play, and what the big guy wants, he gets."
But, coach, shouldn't he have worn a mask, at the very least?
"There's no way you can fit a mask for Robert that quickly," Ellerbe said. "There's just no way you can put a generic mask on a guy like him, that big."
Michigan, for some reason, has had a host of recent trouble with the smelling organ: Maurice Taylor broke his nose last year, Chris Webber and James Voskuil both broke theirs at the same time while playing for Michigan's Final Four teams, and now Traylor joined the club on Saturday.
Did that really happen?: There were a couple of unusual sights during Saturday's game, both of which took place on the Wolverines' offensive end of the floor.
Michigan fans are used to seeing alley-oop passes tossed to Maceo Baston and Smith (Smith actually had two thrown to him on back-to-back plays against the Buckeyes), and even Asselin on occasion, but this was a new one. Louis Bullock - yes, Louis Bullock - tried to take a lofted pass and slam it while floating through the lane. He didn't complete the dunk, but he hung on the rim for a while, and certainly raised a few eyebrows with his leap.
Then, later in the game, Conlan went up on the offensive glass and tried to stuff an offensive rebound in the middle of the lane. He, like Bullock, missed, but was just as gallant in the attempt.
What would we like to see next from the versatile Wolverines? Asselin and Baston tossing up 3-pointers.
| Tonight's game |
|---|
| Who: No. 16 Michigan vs. Minnesota |
| Where: Crisler Arena |
| When: 7:30 p.m. |
| TV: ESPN |
01-20-98
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