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. . .. .. . - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i SUMM SU ER BLET SUPPLEMENT I r----- 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.