Judgment Days

Michigan to stand trial in conference

This weekend is big for the Michigan basketball team. In fact, it's probably fair to say tonight's game against No. 10 Purdue at Crisler Arena and Sunday's game at No. 16 Iowa constitute the most important two-game stretch for the 19th-ranked Wolverines in a very, very long time.

These two games may be even bigger than 6-foot-8, 300-pound Robert Traylor himself.

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Guard Robbie Reid and the rest of the Wolverines hope they won't be tripped up this weekend as two conference foes loom this weekend. Michigan faces Purdue tonight at home, then travels to play Iowa on Sunday.

"With the way teams are playing, it's possible to lose one of these two and still win the Big Ten," Traylor said. "But we don't want to put ourselves in that predicament."

The way things stand now in the Big Ten, after Michigan State beat Indiana last night, the Wolverines (5-2 Big Ten) trail the Spartans by one 1/2 games. Also at 5-2 in the conference and tied with the Wolverines for 2nd are Purdue and Illinois. The Hoosiers come in next at 5-3, followed by Iowa (4-3).

All this means is that wins over both the Boilermakers and Hawkeyes would put the Wolverines in the driver's seat in the Big Ten race, two losses would be devastating and a split would be disappointing, but probably not impossible to recover from.

"It's not the end of the world if we lose," co-captain Travis Conlan said. "But it's going to make us that much better toward tournament time (if we win).

"These are big games for us. No one on this team has a Big Ten ring, and everybody wants one."

The key to what kind of momentum the Wolverines come out of this weekend with may turn out to be the game in Iowa City.

Michigan is 8-2 overall and perfect in the Big Ten at home this season.But away from Crisler it is a different story.

Three out of Michigan's five losses have happened on the road. And the Wolverines didn't even come close against the Hoosiers in Bloomington and, most recently, at Illinois on Sunday.

The Wolverines shot a season-low .333 from the floor against the Fighting Illini in a game that saw the Wolverines come out of the gate flat and fall behind big, early. Despite cutting the Illinois lead to three by halftime, the Wolverines did not score in the first four minutes of the second half and lost, 64-53.

WARREN ZINN/Daily The Michigan men's basketball team plays Purdue and Iowa this weekend - two games whose importance dwarfs even center Robert Traylor's considerable bulk.

All season, the Wolverines and coach Brian Ellerbe have talked about matching and surpassing their opponent's intensity.

"I think our guys understand we didn't come out with enough fire," Ellerbe said. "We need to create as much energy as possible."

But the Wolverines realize that they also need to just play some good ball.

"We're playing good enough on defense," Conlan said. "We're just not executing (on offense).

"We definitely need to execute on offense. Because, if we don't, we're just running around like chickens with our heads cut off."

Unlike against some of the lower echelon teams in the conference, the Wolverines will probably need superior defense and offense to handle the Boilermakers and Hawkeyes, which average 85.5 and 83.2 points per game, respectively.

One of the keys to stopping coach Gene Keady's Boilermakers' attack will be containing Purdue's all-time three-point field goal leader Chad Austin.

A preseason candidate for the John Wooden National Player of the Year Award, Austin is a threat inside and outside the arc, and on defense.

"He's the heart and soul of that team," Ellerbe said.

The marquee matchup to watch in the paint will be between Traylor and Purdue center Brad Miller.

Traylor and the Wolverines will not only want to keep the Boilermakers' leading rebounder and second-leading scorer away from the basket, but also off the free-throw line. Miller, who is shooting 77.6 percent from the line, has netted a team-leading 118 free throws.

Brian Cardinal has the second-most points from the charity stripe with 67.

In fact, the Wolverines could do well to keep all the Boilermakers away from the stripe, as Purdue is shooting a Big Ten-best 78.2 percent from the foul line in conference play.

Traylor and the Wolverines would also like to keep Miller and the Boilermakers away from the free- throw line.

"We got to get on those guys (Austin and Miller) early," Conlan said. "So that they don't get the rest of the team going."

Should the Wolverines get off to a good start offensively against Iowa - something they have not managed to do consistently on the road - they may be able to frustrate the Hawkeyes, who seem to be going in the wrong direction.

After starting the season 13-1, the Hawkeyes are 2-4 in their last six games, including yesterday night's loss by one point to the Nittany Lions.

01-29-98