Second-half bombardment sinks Clemson

Michigan 59

Clemson 56

LAHAINA, Hawai'i - And to the winner goes ... less beach time.

A cynic - or a biased reporter - would contend that all the Wolverines did by winning, 59-56 over Clemson yesterday, was assure themselves of a mid-afternoon (Hawai'i time, that is) game today against Syracuse. On the other hand, Clemson, by virtue of its loss, faces Chaminade in the beach-friendly loser-bracket game this morning.

The Wolverines play the Orangemen at 2 p.m. local time today (7 p.m. Eastern time), and the winner plays for the Maui Classic championship tomorrow. And no matter how costly the victory may have been with regard to sun absorption, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said he was impressed by his team's effort.

"They showed us a little bit as coaches," Ellerbe said of his players. "They showed us that they can come back from some adversity. We'll take this win and try to get ready for the next game."

The teams traded baskets for much of the second half, and neither team was able to take control of the game after Clemson led 24-23 at halftime. But Michigan's Louis Bullock stepped up to score 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers that may have been the difference down the stretch.

With less than seven minutes remaining and Clemson clinging to a four-point lead, Michigan's offense looked sluggish - so Bullock drilled a trey from the top of the key to cut the deficit to one. Little more than a minute later, after Clemson's Andrius Jurkunas canned a three to put Clemson up 49-47, Bullock hit again from long range. The pull-up shot, again from the top of the key, gave Michigan a 50-49 lead, and Clemson never recovered.

Robbie Reid iced it with a pull-up jumper from the left elbow that made the score 58-53 with 30.8 seconds left. Clemson managed to cut the deficit to three points, but a last-second 3-point attempt went off the front iron. Once it was over, all anyone wanted to talk about was Bullock's second-half performance.

"He played a terrific game, and I wish I could have admired it as a fan," Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said. "Bullock really caught my eye in the second half - it was a tremendous individual effort."

Michigan's win was especially impressive considering the absence of an inside game - and it was even more absent than usual. Josh Asselin fouled out with more than 12 minutes left in the game, and Peter Vignier, despite scoring eight points and grabbing five boards, was plagued by foul trouble as well - he picked up his fourth personal with about 13 minutes remaining.

Reid scored 14 points for Michigan, and Clemson was paced by forward Tom Wideman, who tallied 14. Guard Terrell McIntyre, who entered the contest averaging more than 22 points per game, was held to just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting. But Bullock was the story.

"In the second half, I just tried to be really aggressive," Bullock said. "It got me into a rhythm, and I was able to knock down some shots."

The Wolverines surged to an early lead, and when Leon Jones found Robbie Reid behind the Clemson defense for a layup, they had their biggest lead of the game, at 18-9, with 10 minutes left in the half.

But the rest of the first half was a struggle for Michigan. after Reid's bucket, the Wolverines scored just two points - on a pair of free throws by Josh Asselin - until the final play of the half.

Clemson closed to within 20-19 with two minutes left in the half, then took the lead less than a minute later. With 20 seconds to play, senior guard Johnny Miller picked off a pass and took it the length of the floor for a layup.

Jones answered with a 3-pointer from the left baseline with less than a second left, and the Wolverines went into the half trailing 24-23.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Michigan guard Leon Jones and his teammates kept Clemson away from the second round of the Maui Classic yesterday.

11-24-98