PAGE SIX THE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY-, DECEMBER 12, 19GZ PAGE SIX THE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 198Z WCHA RACE: Last Year's Also-Hans Strong By BILL BULLARD The top three teams in last sea- son's Western Collegiate Hockey|; Association final standings will| have to fight hard to retain their1 superiority over the upstart four teams that finished below the .5004 mark last season. Although it is early in the sea-; son and no team has played more, than four WCHA games, it ap- pears that Michigan State, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Colorado College have much improved squads. The top three of a year ago-Michigan Tech, Michigan, and Denver-are not over the .500 mark in WCHA action so far. Only Exhibition Michigan has blasted two non- league opponents twice each but' in the WCHA is 0-2. These two defeats were close-2-1 (overtime) and 4-3 decisions to Michigan State. The weekend series with Denver will be an important one for both teams as neither, with a long season ahead, can afford to lose more games than it has. How- ever, it seems certain that no team this year will dominate the league like Michigan Tech ,17-3) and Michigan (15-3) did last sea- son. North Dakota demonstrated its improvement over last season in two games last weekend against Michigan State. The Sioux scored an amazing 16 goals against All- American goalie John Chandik in the two nights. Winning the first night 11-4,'the Sioux played a good offensive game the following night but lost 6-5. Michigan Tech, NCAA and, WCHA champion, has already split a two-game series with both Den- ver -and Minnesota. The Huskiesi traded victories with the Gophersl 2-3, and 1-0 and then split a pair; 3-1, 2-4 with Denver. Colorado College has yet to play, a WCHA game but it shouldn't be the pushover it was last season. The Tigers lost 18 straight games in the WCHA last season. This sea- son the Tigers strated out by breaking a 24-game losing streak, defeating McMasters 9-6. Most of the WCHA teams, how- ever, will sharpen up for the tough league games in the two months after Christmas vacation with non-league encounters during the vacation period. Michigan is not amon gthese teams and will not compete during the vacation. Last season, the Wolverine pucksters won the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute hockey tournament -Daily-Bruce Taylor STOPPED SHOT-Michigan State's All-American goalie, John Chandik, kicks out a shot by Michigan forward Gary Butler (18) on his way to a 2-1 overtime win over the Wolverines. Last week- end he wasn't so lucky as North Dakota poured 16 goals past him in two games. DUKE SECOND: learcats Voted Top in Nation Cincinnati Favored in NCAA Race By LLOYD GRAirFF(Babe) McCarthy knows that the(His offense is a revolving pattern Taylor has resorted -to a slower Other teams which will vie for Writing a basketball preview can best way to beat a hot hand is to intended to shake Heyman, or any- game than last year due to re- the honors include Bowling Green. be compared to a blind man writ- freeze it. He has the boys to give one else, loose for an easy jumper. duced speed, but so far his team Coach Harold Anderson has been ing a descriptive essay. any team the shivers. ; OSU-Again? has been equally successful. Those lavish in his praise of super-stars Now, for stabs into the basket- Another southern school, Duke, As if one great Ohio team isn't who hoped that the dynasty had Nate Thurmond, Howard Komives, .ball firmament. will pierce the national rankings. enough, the Buckeyes of Ohio ended will be disappointed. and Wavey Junior. The Falcons Even a blind man would prob- The main reason for their as- State are again a power. Another Big Ten team, Illinois, ran up a 21-4 season record in ably predict another national cendancy is Art Heyman who may Fred Taylor's squad, despite the will probably be solidly entrenched forging to a national title. championship for the Bearcats of well be the best college basketball loss of a trio of last year's runners- in the top ten of the country. Har- West Virginia, led by Rod Thorn, Cincinnati. Coach Ed Jucker lost player in the country, and cer- up, is again a top team. The vital ry Combes is banking heavily on Kentucky, possessing Cotton Nash rugged center Paul Hogue from last tainly is one of the most colorful. figure in Buckeye plans is Gary sophomores. Skip Thoren, a 6'10" and Adolph Rupp, Oregon State year s national champions but he Heyman, acclaimed and criticized Bradds who was Jerry Lucas' un- center, puts the pressure of Bill h is the only one missing. George for the intensity of his play, aver- derstudy last year. Burwell at center. BogieRedman,wit seven-footer Mel Counts, Wilson, an agile 6'8" forward may aged 25.3 points per game last year. Bradds has averaged 25 points a 6'6" moose, may secure a for- Stanford, under the on-court move to Hogue's old spot to cap- He is complemented by Jeff Mul- per game this year leading Ohio ward spot, and Tal Brody has se- leadership of Tom Dose, and St. italize on his rebounding prowess. lins, panther-like forward to four consecutive wins, includ- cured a guard spot. Dave Downey, Louis, coached by John Benington, Bear Gunner Coach Vic Bubas, Blue Devil ing one over touted West Virginia. a 20-point forward last year, and will be battling for that coveted Ron Bonham, the gunner of the mentor, has good height at center Two veterans. Doug McDonald and Bill Small, both seniors, have the number one ranking in the na- Bearcats, will still be at the for- and a pair of speedsters at guard. Dick Reasbeck supplant Bradds. duty of settling the sophomores. tion. ward shot. Picked on several pre- __ _ -------- --___- ------ - - -_________ seasonsAll-American teams, the whiz from Muncie, Ind., has devel- oped into a good defensive basket- § ball player to make him an asset on both sides of the court. Con- nie Heidotting, 6'8", will probably 9 fill out the front line. Wilson will, probably play the pivot, his nat- ural position, and Heidotting a § forward.'e In the backcourt Tony Yates and Tom Thacker are both great f performers. Yates is a cat on de- fense, and Thacker a playmaker magnifique. Both guards delight in § pilfering loose balls, and generally humiliating the opposing guards. Cincinnati, under Coach EdJh Jucker, is the early favorite for . the national title, but remembers$ what happened to the Ohio State y}r football team which couldn't lose^ but did. Little Challenger Pursuing the Bearcats for top ranking will be a little Catholic -< school, from the north side of k Chicago, named Loyola. Loyola ' subscribes to the simple "three R" formula of basketball strategy, re- bound, run, and run. And then they run some more and more, and § more. , The Redmen, coached by Georget Ireland, are experienced and bal- anced. Their five starters all aver- age in double figures. Loyola's of-Ot fense, however, is not based on a § 4 a O quintet. Ireland shuffles replace- § ments in and out. Gerry Hark- ness, a 6'3" forward from Brook-(i e S lyn, usually leads the team's of- ° greeive , 1 .- fense with aid from two vicious r'id a rebounders, Vic Rouse and Les Viyeijg shirt f Hunter. Vfo r The Redmen have averaged 108 gr lqttyts points per game after three gamesiwo this season with an average mar- I 'a gin of victory of a scant 55 points. OO A superb defense might hold ,et a/d e Loyola under the 80 point mark, Ss &,tl$rLt e us df and then again it might not, '' S/arirz a' is will &Yttani Opposite - ;:l- *el i "e 2ac -notfade-tto; Diametrically opposed to Loy- r "47/ r tS/a ozld i eor ola in basketball strategy is Mis- youers for r s - ri We sissippi State. As deliberate as the liJ4i,1 lve tie so ' .sw ill Redmen are fast, the Bulldogs use *" IYocol ball handling and defense to sub-w due their opposition. They lost just; - - t i d., fatit i O.ai / Ot t one game out of 25 last year and § of al0redV six of their first seven men have y e returned, including pre-season Iecov All-American choice W. D. Red Srr ness Stroud at guard. .:O. The Bulldogs will resort to a R7,S fast break to build an early lead, 1750 then hide in their impregnableS. ball-control shell. Coach James+t+9 College 1 8 l§'est Virginia , Richmond 59 oe Duke 90, Vanderbit 70 N.C Stae 7, Prylnd 4130t Openth itsoDc William & Mary 71, Virginia 69 OXXFORD CLOTHES BURBERRY COATS the nights of Dec Notre Dame 82, Western Michigan 68 ANN ARBOR DETROT 12021 SWittenberg 77, Kenyon 55 Capital 82, Wilmington 72 I 1 Ohio Wesleyan 83, Mount Union 61 3 vziiaiuva ,.+.al~no I By The Associated Press The Cincinnati Bearcats, letting its impressive record speak for it- self, ruled a near-unanimous choice yesterday as collegiate bas- ketball's No. 1 team in the weekly Associated Press poll. Ed Jucker's veteran crew, which finished second to Ohio State in last year's regular sea- son rankings but then whipped the Buckeyes in the NCAA cham- pionship, seemed determined to justify its lofty rating. The Bear- cats also were first a week ago. Cincinnati won its first four games handily to earn the plau- dits of the panel of sports writers and sportscasters participating in the poll. Of 45 ballots cast, the Bearcats received 44 first place votes and one for second. Duke collected the other first place vote. Duke piled up enough second place votes to remain in the run- ner-up spot. The Blue Devils have won all three of their starts and polled 365 points. Ohio State, 76-69 upset victor of West Virginia Saturday night, has won four in a row to move into the top ten for the first time. The Buckeyes ranked third with 212 points. The other clubs to break into the elite group for the first time this week were Colorado, the de- fending Big Eight titlist, and Illi- nois of the Big Ten. Colorado, 3-0, ranked eighth and Illinois, 2-0, was 10th. Records include games through last Saturday. Loyola of Chicago maintained its hold on fourth, place and Mis- sissippi State remained fifth. Both clubs enhanced their stature Mon- day night, Loyola crushing Wis- consin-Milwaukee 107-47 and Mis- sissippi State overwhelming Loui- siana- College 83-59. The top ten teams are: 8. Colorado 3 0 9. Oregon State 1 1 10. Illinois 2 0 Other teams receiving votes, list- ed alphabetically: Arizona State, Auburn, Bradley, Bowling Green, California, Colorado State, Con- necticut, Creighton, Dayton, Drake, Georgia Tech, Houston, Idaho, Iowa State, Kentucky, Marquette, Michigan State, Minnesota, NYU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ok- lahoma, Oklahoma State, Provi- dence, Santa Clara, Seattle, Stan- ford, St. Bonaventure, St. Louis, Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia Tech and Wichita. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Cincinnati (44) Duke (1) Ohio State Chicago Loyola Mississippi State West Virginia Wisconsin W 4 3 4 2 3 2 2 L 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Gotham Bowl Game May Be Televised NEW YORK P-) - New York's Gotham Bowl game between the Miami and Nebraska football teams, scheduled for this Satur- day at Yankee Stadium, definitely will be played and televised, direc- tor Bob Curran said yesterday. The game was seriously threat- ened Monday when the two col- leges demanded $60,000 in expense money to be placed in escrow be- fore their teams left their cam- puses. The demands were made on the heels of the report that ANN ARBOR'S HOCKEY HEADQUARTERS for SKATES-STICKS-GLOVES PADS-UN I FORMS STEIN AND GOETZ Sporting Goods 315 South Main Street-Downtown Curran was having difficulty find- ing a television sponsor. A promise to get up the money was made yesterday by Curran who declared, "We are annoyed by this request but we will meet it. We've already paid the full amount of the rental for Yankee Stadium and all our other expenses have been paid right up to date. This request is a bit unusual but we'll meet it. The ticket sale is promising." Bill Pierre, executive vice-presi- dent of the Gotham Bowl, said he was hopeful of an announce- ment "either today or tomorrow" of a television tie-up with a ma- jor network. "We're negotiating with two major networks-CBS and ABC- for the television rights," said Pierre. "I assure you the game will be televised nationally. It is not a matter of lack of interest, but a matter of price." ! ABC, which televised the game last year, dropped its option but Pierre insisted the system had re- newed its interest. Knicks Spurt Beats Celts; Lakers Win By The Associated Press NEW YORK-The New Yorl Knicks outscored Boston 26-15 ir the second quarter performance and went on to defeat the Cel- tics 95-87 last night in the second game of a National Basketball As- sociation doubleheader before 15,- 237 at Madison Square Garden. The Los Angeles Lakers held off a rally by the Cincinnati Roy- als in the final minutes for a 124-121 victory in the first game. The Knicks opened a 24-poini lead, 63-39, early in the thirc period with a 14-point string and then had to fight off the rallying Celtics in winning their fourth ir a row. 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