Orange crushes Wolverines in Maui, 58-46

LAHAINA, Hawai'i - It was Louis Bullock who was in the zone in the first game of the Maui Invitational on Monday, but it was the zone that quieted him and the Michigan basketball team against No. 18 Syracuse (2-0) yesterday.

Bullock and Wolverines (2-3) were shut down by the Orangemen's stringent defense, 58-46, in the sultry heat of the Lahaina Civic Center.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim "does an excellent job coaching the zone," Bullock said. "He's been to an NCAA final with that zone. Especially in a hot gym like that, I wasn't surprised to see the zone.

"They played excellent defense. I didn't get that many open looks."

Even more surprising than the zone defense was seeing Michigan's sharpshooters misfire. After racking up 24 points against Clemson in the first game of the tournament, Bullock was held scoreless in the first half against Syracuse. He finished with o

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Michigan guard Louis Bullock was held to just seven points as the Wolverines fell to Syracuse, 58-46, in the second round of the Maui Invitational last night.0`

nly seven points on 2-of-12 shooting and only 1-of-4 from 3-point land.

Along with Bullock, Robbie Reid - the other half of Michigan's bomb squad - was kept quiet with five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

"If you would have said we would've held Bullock and Reid to 12 points, I would've said we won by 50," Boehiem said. "Our defense was tremendous. We just did a good job on those two guards."

Despite Michigan's shooting woes, the Wolverines were very much in the game. In fact, they trailed by just one point, 22-21, at halftime. But an 8-2 run to start the second half set the tone for Syracuse. Michigan was forced to play catch-up for the rest of the half.

"It was a close game," Bullock said. "Both teams were fighting."

With 10:37 left to play in the game, Bullock threw a sensational lob pass to sophomore forward Brandon Smith who had snuck behind the zone defense and threw down a two-handed alley-oop. At that point, with the largely pro-Michigan crowed in a frenzy and the Wolverines trailing by four points.

But that was the closest the Wolverines would get. Syracuse took advantage of frontcourt powerhouse Etan Thomas, who grabbed nine rebounds and scored 17 points down in the paint.

"Etan Thomas is a load inside," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "He's as good a man inside as we'll play all season."

Thomas was also able to take advantage of a somewhat depleted frontcourt. Michigan power forward Josh Asselin left the game in the middle of the second half after his right hand, already heavily taped, was inadvertently hit by an Orangeman. Asselin said that it aggravated an already tender "pulled ligament" on his thumb.

With Asselin gone, Thomas was free to abuse Michigan inside. And when it wasn't him inside, it was speedy guard Jason Hart from the backcourt. Although he airballed a 3-pointer early - the fans made sure he didn't forget it, either - he finished with 20 points.

"I didn't pay much attention to the boos," Hart said. "I just tried to stay focused and help my team win."

While the two regular threats for Michigan were taken out of their games, freshman Leon Jones was torrid off the bench. He was 5-for-10 and led the Wolverines with 13 points, including two 3-pointers. Asselin, who played just 24 minutes because of the injury, was second with 10 points.

"They're defense was pretty good," Ellerbe said. "But I think our shot selection was over-zealous.

Michigan plays Utah tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the third-place game.

11-25-98