Hoops drops home finale to Penn State

Penn State 78

Michigan 72

By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Editor

The final score of Michigan's loss to Penn State, 78-72, might well be forgotten even before this season is. Once Brian Ellerbe and Tom Izzo are hailed as bright, young coaches clashing head to head for the best talent in Michigan and across the country, few will remember this, the Wolverines' 18th and no doubt not the last loss of their 91st season.

That's the gospel around the Michigan basketball program - better years are coming. More history is yet to be written. Why dwell on the negative?

"I think we'll see a coach that is gonna get his players to contend in the Big Ten and the country in the years to come," Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss said.

Nobody wants to say that next year could be even rougher than this one. Without the steady guidance of seniors Robbie Reid and Louis Bullock - honored in a pre-game ceremony along with Ron Oliver and Erik Szyndlar - next season the Wolverines might not surprise anyone.

If there were any surprises in this game between two Big Ten bottom-feeders, it was that lowly Penn State was able to sweep the season series with Michigan. The Nittany Lions pulled this off largely due to the efforts of Joe Crispin (17 points) and Calvin Booth (16 points), whose late-game sky hook put Michigan down by four.

"It just wasn't enough," Robbie Reid said.

He was talking about Michigan's effort last night, but he could have meant its entire season.

These Wolverines played their hearts out at times, especially when lifted on the cheers of their fans. But when the fan support wasn't there, their game usually wasn't either.

"I'm very, very disappointed in Ann Arbor and Michigan for not supporting Robbie and Lou," Ellerbe lashed out after the game. The fans are "really the epitome of college basketball."

When Michigan makes it back to the national prominence it once enjoyed, everyone will likely talk about the rough 1999-2000 season, not this one, the one in which the true seeds of Ellerbe's program were planted.

This season, Ellerbe began to make this program his own. He worked with the athletic department to bring the notoriously quiet Crisler Arena fans into the game more. He recruited his

first class of high-school seniors. A class that, even without the committments of Jason Parker and LaVell Blanchard, is ranked near the top 10 in the country.

But that could be lost in the shuffle along with the two records Bullock set last night. His 25 points vaulted him to No.4 on the all-time Michigan list with XXX and his eight free throws gave him 487 for the season, the most any player has ever made at Michigan. He tied the Big Ten record for 3-pointers, with his XXXth, but couldn't get his last one to fall.

There might still be more memories to be made from this season. Ellerbe doesn't coast to the finish of anything he does, and he wants his team to be the Cinderella of the Big Ten Tournament.

It's happened before - last season. And don't think anybody around the Michigan basketball program has forgotten about that.

Louis Bullock played his final game as a Wolverine in Crisler Arena last night. The senior finished strong with 25 points and was a perfect 8-8 from the line.

WARREN ZINN/Daily

02-25-99