TOURNAMENT HOPES DASHED
r
Cageri
BY GARY KICINSKI
Here's' another fine mess the
ichigan basketball team has gotten
tself into.
The Wolverines, 11-8 overall and 5-6
n the Big Ten, not only have been vir-
ually eliminated from the Big Ten race
Big Ten Standings
slface
but also must face their old nemesis,
the Indiana Hoosiers, today at 2:00 p.m
in Crisler Arena.
Only the mathematicians give the
Wolverines any chance of post-season
action now, as the seventh-place cagers
find themselves four games back of the
lead and three games back of second
with just seven contests left to play.
"It seems that no matter what we do.
every game is more important to us
than the last one," said .coach Johnn.
Orr.
Thus, one might assume that at leasi
things haven't gotten to the point where
the games lack any meaning at all for
Michigan. Without the intensity of a
title race, the Wolverine coaches look
elsewhere for their source of player
motivation.
"We have to appeal to their pride,'
said Assistant Coach Bill Frieder. "But
we never have trouble getting them up
for Indiana."
The current Wolverine-Hoosier
rivalry is a carry-over from the mid
70's when both clubs were the cream of
streakin
the conference crop. "Beat Indiana five of th
twice" is still boldly posted on the wall to Ohio S
in Michigan's locker room as one of the the Hoof
team's goals for the year. western,
But like most of Michigan's team The su
,1
.5
g IU
heir last six games, losing only
State in overtime. On Thursday
siers handily defeated North-
82-57.
udden resurgence has Hoosier
Conference
Ohio State
Purdue
Iowa
Michigan St.
Indiana
MICHIGAN
Illinois
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Northwestern
W
9
8
7
6
5
5
4
2
1
L
2
3
4
5
6
6
7
9
10
All Games
W L
14 6
18 5
15 5
14 5
14 9
11 8
17 6
9 11
8 12
5 15
,
S
v
t
r
z
r
MICHIGAN
Mike McGee
Alan Hardy
Phil Hubbard
Keith Smith
Tom Staton
A
THE LINEUPS
(6-5)...... F ..'......(6-5)
(6-6)...... F .........(6-9)
(6-7)...... C .........(6-9)
(6-0)...... G .........(6-5)
(6-3)......... G .........(6-5)
INDIANA
Mike Woodson
Landon Turner
Ray Tolbert
Butch Carter
Randy Wittman
36yS
't.*
Today's Games
Indiana at MICHIGAN
Michigan State at Ohio State Northwestern at Purdue
Milnois at Minnesota Wisconsin at Iowa
full court
PRESS
Highlights from Columbus .:..
.. .Tom, Joe and Monica
By BRIAN MARTIN
COLUMBUS
T HE FINAL NAIL was hammered in the coffin lid Thursday night by
the Buckeyes. While the win gave Ohio State a one-game lead over
Iowa, the loss pulled the Wolverines to a 5-6 mark in the Big Ten, effectively
eliminating any chance of post-season play.
When asked about the conference race, Johnny Orr admitted that he
doesn't even think about it anymore.
** * *
Oh, there's Monica. I didn't think she was on the cheerleading squad for
basketball. Oh Monica, you do remember, don't you. You threw your rose
right to me at the football game in Ohio Stadium just last November.
* * * *
Admittedly, the season for Michigan is reduced to the role of spoilers. So
much was expected from these cagers and so many hopes have been left un-
fulfilled.
I can't believe it. The arena announcer just let one of the male
cheerleaders use the microphone during a timeout to elecit crowd support
for the O-H-I-O, Ohio, Ohio, Yea Ohio cheer. Can you image Don Canham
allowing that? He'd probably charge rent.
* * * *
Once again, poor shooting from the outside plagued the Wolverines.
They shot a meager 37.5 percent in the first half and fell behind by four at in-
termission as a result. Mike McGee was shadowed all night by hawking
defenders and only attempted 10 field goals, and all four of his successes
came on layups.
As a matter of fact, McGee has stuffed every breakaway basket in lieu of
a layup off the glass since he missed that one in the closing minutes against
Indiana last week in Bloomington.
* * * *
Well, what do you know, there's George Steinbrenner sitting up there.
He's probably mad he didn't sign Rod Carew to give the Yankees a con-
ststent hitter. Must be in town because he liked Woody's swing.
Turnovers fatal
Michigan had many opportunities to win the game, but didn't cash in.
However, Ohio State had just as many, in fact a few more, to blow the game
wide open. The entire contest displayed sloppy play which produced 51 tur-
novers by the two teams. The Wolverines committed three more than the
Bucks, which also proved to be the exact margin of victory.
The biggest turnover of all came when Michigan
broke downcourt with a two-on-one advantage, Alan
Hardy and Tom Staton versus Kelvin Ransey. Har-
dy tried to force the ball through Ransey inside to
Staton, but the junior guard from Toledo quickly
picked the ball from the air
A basket at that point would have tied the game.
City Al made four crucial mistakes (three tur-
novers, one foul) down the stretch which accounts
for his accumulating pine-time of late. I
I saw Tom Cousineau for the first time since we
graduated from high school together. He hasn't Monica
changed too much. He's still huge but has added an
earring to his left ear. He did remember me. I wonder if Monica does. She
has nicer ears.
Why am I drifting off like this? Maybe it's because I visited a sorority for
the first time in my life. The Tri-Delts, OSU branch. What a huge, plush
house, complete with a Steinway piano, color console TV and assorted
couples smooching on the couches at three in the morning.
You should see some of the apartments that the students live in. Exam-
ple: Four girls in a three-level apartment, two bedrooms upstairs and two
bedrooms downstairs with kitchen, living room and study in between. Each
has her own room. Rent: $90 per person. Just like A2. Oh yeah, the game ...
* * * *
Each team showed flurries of inspired play. Staton defensed Ransey
well, but picked up four fouls in the second half, disqualifying at the 0:20
mark. Ransey cooly sank both ends to notch the victory.
Todd Penn, all 5-9, 174 pounds of him, dives after a loose ball by the
Michigan bench in the first half, taking Bud Van de Wege (that's Mr. Moe's
Sports Shop) and the team water bucket with him. Moe found a new seat af-
ter that.
goals, the dream of beating Indiana
' twice has already been shattered, as
t the Hoosiers last week bounced the
Wolverines 68-62 in Bloomington, ex-
tending Michigan's winless streak
r there to 12 straight.
It wasn't the only disappointment of
f the season. Consider the sad state of af-
fairs of the Michigan cagers:
The Wolverines are ninth in the
league in field goal percentage (44.3)
and ninth in free throw percentage
(67.1).
. " Michigan is dead last in the con-
ference in rebounding margin, being
outboarded by an average of four per
game. The Hoosiers out-rebounded
Michigan 40-26 in the last contest.
" The cagers are 5-6 in the league,
and it took shots at the buzzer to win
three of those matches.
The reasons? The coaches lay the
blame on injuries and mistakes. "Our
problem has been Hub, losing Tommy
Statqn for nearly a month, and then
Keith Smith's ineligibility came at a
critical time for us," Orr said. "Then
Johnny Johnson started playing better
and he got hurt. Those are the reasons
we're not leading the league. If we'd
had Hub all along, we'd be in a lot bet-
ter shape."
At the same time, the Wolverines
have been making fatal mistakes in
- close ball games which they might
otherwise have pulled out. Thursday's
Ohio State game was a prime example.
"We had four baskets taken away from.
us on four travelling calls," Orr lamen-
ted. "Our starting front line had 20 tur-
novers. I've never had anything like
that as long as I've been here."
"In the past, there'd be five teams in
the league who you could play that way
and win," echoed Frieder, "but not
anymore."
However, the coaches aren't faulting
the players for a lack of effort.
"They're still playing hard and our at-
titude is terrific," Orr said, "and that's
not easy to do when you're down like we
are."
The Hoosiers, 6-5 in the league, have
been on a roller coaster season of their
own. Like the Wolverines, Indiana had
been predicted to challenge for the title
this year. But a series of problems
resulted in the dismissal of several
Hoosier players and the club got off to a
1-4 start.
Since then, the Hoosiers have won
fans envisioning a repeat of last year's
finish, when Indiana finished with a 10-1
record over its last 11 games, after a 2-5
start, to gain an NCAA berth. No one is
more aware of Indiana's true potential
than Orr, who says Indiana "is playing
the best of anybody in the league."
Landon Turner, Indiana's 6-9 fresh-
man forward, played the game of his
career against the Wolverines last
time, tallying 21 points, 15 over his
average. In an effort to cool him off,
Orr has moved center Hubbard over to
cover Turner, delegating Alan Hardy
with the responsibility of covering 6-9
center Ray Tolbert.
Another key defensive matchup will
be Michigan's defensive ace Staton on
Indiana's leading scorer, Mike Wood-
son. Woodson scored 23 against
Michigan in Bloomington and leads the
club with a 19.4 scoring average.
A MICHIGAN SWIMMER exhibits the style that has given the swim team
its 11-1 record this year. Today the tankers face Ohio State in a dual meet
in Matt Mann Pool at 3 p.m.
Confide _nt tankers
tangle with Bucks
By MARK FISCHER
Michigan's men's swim team goes up against Ohio State this afternoon
in hopes of adding yet another victory to its 11-1 record.
Although many of the tankers have been besieged with colds lately, the
team appears strong after two important weekend wins against North
Carolina and N.C. State.
ACCORDING TO Head Coach Gus Stager, "It was a good trip, a tough
trip and a good experience for our swimmers. It was certainly a team effort,
we had to go down to the last relay race to beat N.C. State."
The Blue tankers are generally confident they will also come away with a
victory over OSU. The Buckeyes are not thought to be as strong as they were
last year, and their top sprinter, Dave Culture, is just recovering from an in-
jury.
In fact, the Wolverines are so confident, they may experiment by racing a
few swimmers in different events than their usual ones. However, according
to Bob Murray, one of Michigan's own sprinters, if the experiments aren't
overly successful, "We've got plenty of people to fall back on."
UNDEFEATED BLUE diver Matt Chelich commented, "OSU and
Michigan have the best diving in the Big Ten." Today's outcome will decide,
at least for now, who number one and number two are in that department.
After today's contest, which starts at 3 p.m. in Matt Mann Pool, and is
the last home meet of the year, the tankers travel to Michigan State for the
season's last dual meet. Then come the Big Ten Championships down in
Columbus which, adds Murray, "will be a fiercely competitive meet."
i
Ray Tolbert
U
SPAR TANS SURPRISE MT U, 443
Women striders second at MSU
SCORES
NBA
Boston 112, Indiana 101
Philadelphia 117, San Diego 106
Kansas City 124, Chicago 114
Houston 106, New Orleans 99
WCHA
Michigan State 4, Michigan Tech.3
Special to The Daily
EAST LANSING - The women's
track team took off up to East Lansing
yesterday and returned with a couple of
victories, a couple of school records and
a second place of four teams in the
Michigan State Invitational.
Marianne Dickerson set two records
for Michigan. Her 5:04 for the mile run
was good for a first place finish as well
as a school record, and her second
place time of 17:22 in the three-mile run
was also a new record.
Dawn Woodruff pulled a first with her
time of 2:20.8 in the 880-yard run.
Woodruff was also on the winning mile
relay team of Renee Turner, Tina
Smith, Kathy Kampen.
Kampen, Turner, Katherine Sharpe
and Pam Moore copped third place in
the 880 relay with a time of 1:51, and
Woodruff, Sheila Mayberry, Julie Clif-
ford and Janice Downer received third
in the two-mile run with 10:01.
-DAILY SPORTS
Spartans nip Tech
EAST LANSNG (UPI)-Dan Sutton
scored three power play goals last night
to lead Michigan State to a 4-3 victory
over Michigan Tech in a WCHA game.
The first two goals, of Sutton's hat
trick, the first of the season for a Spar-
tan, put Michigan State on top, 2-0, at
the end of the first period.
After Aaron Rucks put Michigan
State on top, 4-1, at the 4:13 mark of the
final period, Michigan Tech got goals
from Rodger Moy and Glenn
Merkowsky to narrow the gap.
Michigan State is now 7-17 in the
WCHA and 10-19 overall.
. .. .. .
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i
SUMM
SU
ER
BLET
SUPPLEMENT
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I-
IFiii.... ...".- . ..
0.0
I-I
.I . .. . I
I I
] GO BANANASI
THURSDAY'S THE NIGHTI!
I
Thursday, February 8 is Grand Opening night at the !
I most exciting new disco in town! The Bananas Disco.
A throbbing, inviting new light in the night. See it.
I Wanr i Pool itI nva it Tiha Remeneni hUCeA 'RfA I
Neither team was able to capitalize ...
Look Joe, see Monica
*
NAME
ADDRESS
I pointed out Monica to Joe Falls. The Daily received decent press seats,
right with the Big Boys. Joe Falls wrote down the number 50 on a paper and
says he's too old anymore, doesn't even look.
Monica looked. She smiled.
We snuck into Ohio Stadium around 4:00 a.m. I climbed over an iron fen-
ce at the open end of the horseshoe. Had to pay my last respects to the 0 at
midfield, but somebody beat me to it. They're getting new turf installed in
the spring and someone cut the 0 right out of the carpet. Great souvenir.
All we got was an OSU roadblock end.
I PHONE
I I
1 COST: Only $8.00 before
I 5:00 p.m. March 2, 1979. I
I (March 3-March 19, cost is
$10.00)
I Make checks payable to the Mich- I
Igan Daily.