Cunningham cuts hair, clips Blue in rst start

WEST LAFAYETTE - The buzz had already started Friday night, a full day before Purdue's basketball team hosted Michigan.

"Watch out for Carson Cunningham, No. 43," a Purdue fan said in the East Side 10, a West Lafayette movie theater. "He's starting his first game tomorrow, and when you go back to Ann Arbor, you're going to be writing about this guy."

Cunningham is a great guard, the fan said. He is ambidextrous, meaning he can shoot, pass and dribble with both hands, a terrific tool to fool defenders. He's fun to watch, making exciting shots and passes. And, best of all, he has a hairdo that stands four inches from his head.

The 'do didn't exist - Cunningham shaved his head just before the game. But for at least a game, the rest was all true.

DANA LINNANE/Daily Aided by a pregame haircut, Purdue sophomore guard Carson Cunningham torched Michigan for 24 points in his first start as a Boilermaker.

Cunningham dazzled the crowd of 14, 321 with his off-balance shots and strange passes en route to two standing ovations and a team-best 24 points in Purdue's 81-71 victory over Michigan on Saturday.

Cunningham did not come out of the blue - actually, he came from the Pac-10. Two years ago, as a freshman at Oregon State, Cunningham started 26 games at point guard, averaging 14.9 points and 4.8 assists per game.

In fact, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe knew all about Cunningham - this summer, Cunningham played for Ellerbe on the Big Ten European tour.

"He's a kid who deserves it," Ellerbe said of Cunningham. "He's a basketball junkie. He likes to dribble his basketball around with him wherever he goes."

But it wasn't Cunningham's dribbling that killed Ellerbe and his Wolverines, it was his shooting.

The six-foot short guard, starting to give Purdue a three-guard lineup, hit 50-percent from the field, including several impressive off-balance shots. He also converted on 11 of 13 free throws.

With just over five minutes left in the first half, Cunningham made his first eye-popping shot. Driving down the left side of the lane, he found himself unable to get around a Michigan defender. So, rather than dish the ball off, his feet quickly left the ground. Falling backward, Cunningham switched the ball to his left hand - his supposedly weak one - and banked the two-foot fade-away layup off the glass and into the net.

Early in the second half, Cunningham again had the ball in the key. Instead of driving to the basket, he just pulled up, four feet in front of the basket, and, falling to his left, put the ball up with his right hand. Swish.

"Carson gives us penetration power," Purdue coach Gene Keady said. "He finally gave us the penetration without turning the ball over, and he took pressure off" of Purdue's other guards.

But Cunningham's most important basket was not off of penetration. With just over three minutes left in the game and the Boilermakers up by six, Cunningham had the ball with the shot clock running down. If Michigan got the ball back before a Purdue score, the Wolverines could cut the lead to four and be right in the game.

Instead, Cunningham came off a screen on the right side of the basket and hit a 3-point shot with just three seconds left on the shot clock to put Purdue up nine and the game out of reach.

01-25-99