Saturday, February 16, 1974 TH EM I CH 16M DA I LY Page Seven Saturday, February 16, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven B ugVS By GEORGE HASTINGS Special To The Daily BLOOMINGTON - In any Big Ten bas- ketball season, there are. always many "big games." But what could be the biggest of them all takes place today at Assembly Hall, when the Michigan Wolverines take on the Hoosiers of Indiana.. It is a game that has all the signs of a super-important clash. Michigan and In- diana rank as the top two teams in the conference, with 8-1 and 7-1 records, re- a spectively. They sport nearly identical overall marks, 16-3 for Michigan and 15-3 for Indiana. And the winner will take a big step toward winning the Big Ten title. Michigan coach John Orr admitted that this is his team's biggest game yet. "This game puts the team that wins one game up in the loss column," he said, "and the per- centages will be pretty much in that team's favor to at least tie for the title." His assistant, Jim Dutcher, was even more sccinct: "If Indiana gets by us, they're going to be damn tough to beat." But, as Orr and the entire Wolverine team know, Indiana's going to be damn tough to beat today in their own arena. The Hoosiers have been playing their best basketball of the season in recent weeks, following a yearly pattern at Bloomington, where the basketball teams seem topstart slow and get better as the season progresses. "They're at the top of their game now," says Dutcher, andtwith good reason. Indi- ana has not lost since it dropped its con- ference opener to Michigan in Ann Arbor, sweeping seven Big Ten games since that time. And the Hoosiers seemed to reach their peak only last Monday night as they invad- ed. Madison, .and smashedtthe Wisconsin Badgers, right out of the title picture by a crushing 81-63 score. Of course, the Wolverines have been flying high of late, too. Michigan has won five straight games since its only confer- Indiana in crucial contes ence loss to Purdue, and the Wolverines also own an impressive win over Wiscon- sin. The game shapes up as a battle of two hot teams. In terms of individual statistics, the Hoosiers do not possess an individual stand out. Their leading scorer, Steve Green, is scoring a little less than fifteen points a game, and no Hoosier averages even six rebounds a contest. Compare those to the 22 points-a-game count of Michigan's Campy Russell, or the 12-per-game rebound average of C. J. Ku- pec, and you wonder what this Indiana team really has. The answer is, of course, that they have the best balance in the conference, with nine quality, experienced players that coach Bob Knight uses to his best advantage. The 6-7 Green anchors a fine trio of Hoosier forwards. Starting next to him is 6-7 sophomore Scott May, Indiana's sec- ond top scorer at 11.7. Backing them up is Bob Wilkerson, an amazingly quick play- er whose forte is tough defense. At guard Knight will start Quinn Buckner and Steve Ahlfield; with Jim Crews playing a great deal as a backup. Buckner is com- ing off a fantastic weekend in which he contributed 19 assists against Illinois and Wisconsin, as well as canning 17 points against the Badgers. Coming in to play either position is Indi- ana's own version of John Havlicek, 6-5 John Laskowski, who never starts but us- ually plays most of the game. He aver- ages 10.7 per contest. At the beginning of the year, center was a problem for 'the Hoosiers, but lately it has been a plus. 6.10 freshman Scott Ben- son has started the last six Indiana games, and his improved rebounding has been a big factor in the Indiana surge/ Tom Abernethy, at 6-7, is a capable back-up man. Adding to the incentive for the home team today will be the memory of its early loss to Michigan, a game in which the Hoosiers were leading by 15 points at halftime, but were blitzed in the second half to go down to a 73-71 defeat. At that point in the season, however, Benson had not been playing well, and he sat out the entire game This time around, his presence may make for a different type of game. "The big change is that they'll be running more," says Dutcher, at- tributing that to the fact that Benson's presence on the defensive boards helps Indiana get the ball out and to its breakers more often. One facet of the game that should mark this contest will be defense. "They're the best defensive team we've faced," ad- nutted Orr. The statistics bear him out, as Indiana has allowed its opponents only 60 points-per-game and a 40 per cent shoot- ing mark. But Michigan has also been winning games this year on its defensive strength, so any points in this contest will have to be hard-won. Inevitably in any Big Ten game be- tween two evenly matched teams, the home court advantage can tell the dif- ference. The Hoosiers have a 28-2 home record in the three years Assembly Hall has been in existence, losing only to No- tre Dame in the last two years. On top of that, Indiana officials expect a record crowd of 17,500 to jam into the structure for the purpose of harassing the Wolver- ines. But basketball games are won on the court, not in the stands, and the Michigan players know thatstheysalmostthave to win this game to win the Big Ten title. Nobody outside of Ann Arbor seems to be giving them much chance today, but considering what this team has done so far, nobody should be surprised if John Orr pulls yet another miracle out of his hat. Saturday, February 16-9:00 p.m. BURSLEY HALL ENTERPRISES presents JOHN KNOWLES' A SEPARATE PIECE BURSLEY HALL WEST CAFETERIA ADMISSION $1.00 SDT SPAGHETTI DINNER FEB. 17 5:00-8:00 $1.75 ticket Proceeds go to U of M Speech and Hearing Camp-Shady Trails 1405 HILL DID YOU KNOW... 69 billion people* have lived on earth. The 4% still alive (3 bilion) can SAVE 10% t D ON EVERY BOOK THEY BUY AT eCENTICORE BOOKSHOP4 336 MAYNARD *If they had all bought THE JOY OF SEX there would be a few billion more to take advantage of the sale. OPEN HOUSE-SATURDAY at FOREST TERRACE 1001 SOUTH FOREST Fall Rentals Modern Two-Bedroom Apts. Daily Photo by ROLFE TESSEM JOE JOHNSON SOARS past Wildcat Willie Williams for a fast break layup. Little Joe will have the unenviable task of stopping Quinn Buckner in today's critical battle with the Indiana 'Hoosiers. Awesome By FRED UPTON "No doubt about it. Michigan's the best," exclaimed Wolverine mat mentor Rick Bay after his top-ranked Maize and Blue de- molished the fourth-rated Wiscon- sin Badgers 24-9 before close to 3,000 spectators in Crisler Arena last nit. "We- felt . we had to beat Davids' and Huizenga to win," mu# DW consiuroath!ane Klevin and possibly he was right. Both-won tight, hard-fought matches against their Badger opponents, to s'uccessfully close their careers before the Crisler Arena aficionados. Fellow seniors Gary Ernst and captain Jerry Hubbard also won their matches, prompting Bay to remark that "I was very pleased all our seniors won. And they all put on a great show." Hubbard was the most spec- tacular. The undefeatedWolver- ine captain had freshman Tom Grabot nearly pinned . several times, and his 17-4 superior de- cision was, if anything, decep- tively close. As expected, Davids had a rougher go at 134 against cheese- stater Jim Abbott, "Abbott is the only guy at 134 in the country who can dunk a basketball," Bay noted ,and that's exactly dlaily sport NIGHT EDITOR: JOHN KAHLER why Davids always has putting him down. It tool versal and the riding tim to secure the Htazel Parkr triumph. Rob Huizenga defeated ing Big Ten 167-pound Ed by a narrow 3-0 score which did not accurately the course of the matc walk-on from Rochester, totally baffled the Badg with his pretzel-form figu leg holds. Ernst's victory was the of the lot. The heavyweigt Saline let up in the final m reprieving Badger Glen' from a superior deciiso with the meet already d the 9-0 score was emb ment enough. 158-pounder Dan Brin John Ryan at 167 both did grapplerS than a lot of people expected. sion setb Brink held a quality wrestler, consin's Pat Christenson, to a 1-1 draw, Ten cha while Ryan fashioned a charac- not enti teristic escape - plus - riding 2-0 stayedc whitewash of B a d g e r Frank Horswill Davies. , suffering Wolverine Dave Curby, disap- nn a gan pointed at not being able to face 5-2 deci Wisconsin's t o u g h 190-pounder "Valle Laurent Soucie, who stayed home of close - - with a bruised knee, used his accurat trouble experience and muscle to maul man fr k a re- understudy Ron Jeidy by a 9-4 to score .e point count. Until he iatie's The only two Wolverine losses were suffered by Bill Schuck at defend- 142 and 12-pounder Rich Val- Vatch ley. chuck's 12-1 superior deci- smash Badgers s " s " fully furnished & carpeted erch apt. equipped with its own burglar alarm system private parking--free garbage disposals 24 hr. emergency maintenance service live in resident manager Cable TV-free 8 or 12 month lease available See Randy or Andy Young Apt. 211, 769-6374 back at the hands of Wis- defending 150-pound Big amp Rich Lawinger was rely expected, but Valley close to Badger Craig throughout the meet, g a last-second takedown rmble to drop a deceptive sion. y sure has lost a buch ones," Bay commented ely, but once again the om McLean, Va., failed any success on his feet. does, he'll probably still continue to lose the cose ones. Last night's confrontation was not important solely as a con- frontation between the nation's number-one a n d number-fEur teams. The results of the match- es will have a definite bearing on the seedings for the Big Ten championships, scheduled f o r the first week in March at Evanston, Ill. "Seeding can win a tourna- ment for you," Bay cliims, "even if you don't have as much talent as some other teams. I think that Brown (15-1), Hub- bard (21-0), Davids (19-2-1), Hui- zenga (19-3) and Curby (19-3) could all be first seeded with Ernst (19-4) second seed." Bay summed it up: "I couldn't be more proud of this team com- ing through the way we have. This is the best team in the country. We've wrestled most of the top-ranked teams and beaten them all. We may come up flat against another team, but the way we wrestled tonight, we're the best." i WOMEN FARING WELL at 177 reflect h. The N.Y., er ace ire-four easiest bt from inutes, Vissers n, but lecided, iarrass- k and i better fond farewell 'p T1- n o e hti nn re 118-Jim Brown (M) dec. Jim Haines . tq'o& j & 6/ & LG N t u/'WFt.F (w), 7-2. 126-Craig Horswill (W) dec. Rich Valley (M), 5-2. By LESLIE RIESTER which swam a 3:41.07 but the real 134-Bill Davids (M) dee. Jim Abbott and MIKE WILSON story was Semchyshen's 48.1 (WV). 3-2. 142-Rich Lawinger (w) sup. dec. Bill As expected, the Michigan clocking of the final leg of the schuck (M), 12.1. swimmers had an easy time last race. Semchyshen had to come 150-Jerry Hubbard (M) sup. dec. night, drowning tht Gophers of from behind for the Wolverines in Tomn Grabot (WV), 17-4.c 158-Dan Brink (M) drew Pat Chris- Minnesota, 82-40. the final leg of the race.j tenson (W), 1-1. However, in view of the light Gordon Downie proved to be a 167-John Ryan (M) dec. Frank Da- competition, the victory was sweet pleasant surprise when he was vies (W), 2-0. 177-Rob Huizenga (M) dec. Ed and pleasing to see. clocked at 9:45 for the 1000 free- Vatch (w), 3-0. Highlighting the action was style. This time is the best time 190-Dave Curby (M) dec. Ron Jeidy Michigan's 400 medley team of recorded so far this year for HWt4ary Ernst (M) dec. Glenn Paul Foster, Brad Brockway, Tom Michigan in this event and it was Vissers (w), 9-0. Szuba, and Norm Semchyshen the first time Downie had ever This meet marked the final home appearance for seven seniors Stu Issac, Chris Hansen, Paul Fairman, Jose Aranha, Dick Quint, Pete Agnew, and Dan Fishburn on this year's squad. "That means Michigan, with the loss of these seniors, will have to do a great job for rebuilding next year," Stager praised..... In the Women's Big Ten Swim championships, Michigan is cur- rently in second place behind Michigan State. The Wolverines are 40 points ahead of Indiana. Shin- ing for the Blue were Maggie Stevens, first in the 50 meter butterfly and first in the 200 meter individual medley, and Debbie Brevits who placed second in the 400 meter freestyle. UN DM(T5I A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES WITH THE MARX BROS, in HORSEFEATH ERS and other comedy shorts and cartoons Movies, Refreshments and laughs all in the SOCIAL HALL OF H I LLEL 1429 Hill, 8:30 SAT. NITE $1.00 The Human Rights Party Platform Convention PART II Saturday, February 16 FROM NOON TO 5 Sunday, February 17 FROM 7 P.M. Alice Lloyd, Klein Lounge AGENDA SATURDAY: Economics Racism Energy Crisis Proportional Representation SUNDAY: Community Facilities and Child Care For more information stop by or call the HRP Office-761-6650 WOMEN'S CAUCUS-Thurs., March 21,7:30 1028 Church PLAYOFF HOPES SOAR: Icemen swum this race . . . It appears that Michigan coach Gus Stager has found his man for the dis- tance events at the Nationals. hold off Tigers By BILL STIEG 1M1ICHIGAN'S hockey team, playing in "bits and spurts," held off a die-hard Colorado College squad for a 5-4 victory last night at Yost Ice Arena. The win was the Wolverines' third straight WCHA triumph, and, coupled with Minnesota-Duluth's loss to Michigan State, it tied the Malze and Blue for sixth place with Duluth-another boost towards the playoffs. Things began well 'for Michigan. Just 1:35 into the contest, the Tigers' Mike Hiefield was called for charging, the first of the night's 17 penalties, including one misconduct. It took awhile for the Wolverine power play to get going, but finally Don Dufek steamed up the ice, bulled his way through two defenders, and slid a perfect centering pass to a ready and waiting Kris Manery. It took Manery a couple stabs at the puck to put Michigan ahead, 1-0. Michigan controlled play for the next ten minutes, getting several scoring chances and at last capitalizing with a pair of tallies. The first of these saw Manery putting on a great one-man show, beating the defense but getting off a weak shot. The rebound, however, was banged home immediately by a hustling Randy Trudeau, following up the play. Less than a minute later, big Angie Moretto continued his scoring binge with a backhander from ten feet out, after Julian Nixori's shot had been kicked away. Michigan was ahead now, 3-0, and it appeared they could 'probably sleepwalk the rest of the way to a victory. Things did not work out that easily, however, as Wolverine coach Dan Farrell pointed out: "We started playing pretty loosely after that and they just pecked away at US." But back came the Tigers with a pair to narrow the gap to 4-3. Their second goal came on a Michigan defensive lapse of which Wayne Holmes took full advantage and their third came on a power play slapshot that no Wolverine bothered getting near. Now the visitors seemed to be in control. EXCELLENT GOALTENDING by both Moore and Colorado's Eddie Mio kept the scoring to a minimum in the last period. Michigan scored at 12:53 on breakaway played to perfection by Randy Neal and Doug Lindskog, with Lindskog getting the goal.j The Wolverines were back to a two goal lead, but the Tigers kept plugging away. They couldn't get anywhere, how- ever, until the last minute of play, when they pulled their goalie for a three man advantage which even Moore couldn't handle. Doug Palazzari got credit for the goal mouth tip-in, which closed out the scoring. "We played two good periods, but we just ran out of time. We weren't ieady to play the first period," sighed Colorado coach Jeff Sauer. "I thought Mio had his best night. Moore also pleyed well. He's a showboat and a cocky little kid but he does the job." Farrell had praise for Kardos, Dufek, and Manery, but added, "We started relaxing and taking things too easy. We're going to have to have a much better effort Saturday night." Crying in their Coors FIRST PERIOD Moretto), 12:53; 9. CC -- Palazzari BULLETIN CORVALLIS, Ore. (A-, - Hot outside shooting by Paul Miller and four big free t h r o wv s by freshman George Tucker carried Oregon State to a 61-57 basket- bhll upset over top-ranked UCLA last night. L , 3< t 7Y1 yjI J t t ' ff 1 Coach Stager was pleased with; the results in the 200 butterfly as Tom Szuba finished with a 1:56.871 time, 4 seconds off the Michigan record. Szuba has not been swim-' jming well so far this season and! this effort was pleasing to see., Freshman Fred Yawger swam a personal best of 1:58.64 to place second. Two other Michigan swimmers turned in top individual perform- ances. Dan Fishburn set a per- sonal record in the 500 freestyle, swimming it in 4:45.87, and fresh- man Rob Helt splashed his way to a 2:00.08 clocking in the 200 yd. backstroke. SCORES WOHA MsU 6, Minn-Duluth 2 Minnesota 7, Notre Dame 2 Michigan Tech 4, N. 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