Sunday, February 4, 1973
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Seven
Sunday, Feruary 4, 173ITHEIMICIGANIDAIL
Daily Photo by KAREN KASMAUSKi
Jerry Hubbard (L) and opponent square off
Daily Photo by KAREN KASMAUSKI
Jean Gagnon dismounts the high bar
full court
P RESS
Michigan plays tough
. . .but still cantw in
By DAN BORUS{
Special To The Daily
CHAMPAIGN
THOUGH THEY HAD all the reason in the world to, the much
maligned Michigan cagers did not fold yesterday at Illinois.
They were beaten by a team they were probably superior to, but
they were not whipped.
"I find it hard to believe that Michigan is 4-4 in the Big
Ten," said a jovial Illini mentor Harv Schmidt after his squad
sent the Maize and Blue roller-coaster deeper into its horrible
descent yesterday. "They really took it to us."'
The game was one of the seemingly endless nightmares
that the Wolverines have suffered of late. A bad pass here,
and untimely turnovers and poor free throw shooting there
came back to haunt the Wolverines as they have in the last
four or five games.
And once again they had allowed the opposition's star to
remain in the game with four fouls, Nick Weatherspoon, playing.
what he later called, "my best game," calmly gunned the
Wolverines to an agonizing death.
But no one can say that the Wolverines handed him the
buckets. He earned them, fighting through a sticky and agres-
sive Wolverine man-to-man defense.
Coach John Orr, his face long and white, reacted angrily
when a reporter suggested that his squad did not play "the
good D." "I thought we played defense well," Orr snapped
In one of the few times he showed emotion in the post-game
interview session. "Did you think we weren't tough?" he
queried.
Harv Schmidt, for one, thought they were exactly that.
"They showed us a lot down there, coming at us man-to-man,"
he said. "Jesus, they were tough. They played us nose to
nose. But 'Spoon '(Weatherspoon) played a fantastic game,
boy, let me tell you!"
And it wasn't offense that the Wolverines lacked, either. In
the second half, they sunk an unbelievable 19 of 27 field attempts,
which, for non-math majors, converts to 70.4%. That figure is
especially high when you consider how down and disgusted the
Wolverines feel.
Whatever ails the Wolverines, and something does to be sure,
this correspondent cannot believe the lack of the will to win is
one of the viruses. He does not believe it because of Michigan's
performance yesterday.
Although their game was off, as it has been for well nigh
three weeks, the Maize and Blue hustled. Henry Wilmore, who
had an embarrassing one point in the first half, came off the
bench and tried to rally the squad.
"We perked up at the end," said Orr. And they did. They
fought, they contended hard, and they had their chances, but
somehow they fell short of the goal.
Faced with the prospect of squaring off with a team that
honestly believes that it is in the thick of the Big Ten race,
a distinction Michigan has unfortunately lost, the Wolverines
sucked up their disappointment and played with a fury, but
not always the skill of a team fighting for the crown. And
when the boorish and bush Illini partisans booed their every
action, the Wolverines held their ground.
Sure, something's wrong. The Maize and Blue cagers turned
the ball over 17 times to the Illini, and on plays on which they
were not being actively challenged. And they missed easy shots,
i.e., free throws. What hurt was that they were one-and-one
attempts. John Lockard, Greg Buss, and Joe Johnson all missed
at key points in the game. And, to add to the list of Wolverine
woes, they let a smaller and sometimes slower team stay almost
even with them off the boards.
It's hard to believe that, with eight games gone in the Bigj
Ten season, mighty Michigan is not a challenger. Well, they
aren't. And even though the Big Ten and Illinois are much
improved, something other than the opposition is hindering
Michigan. Coaching? Attitude and desire? Pressure? Maybe.
But now the pressure is gone. No longer Big Ten contenders,
and able to play spoiler to only Ohio State and Minnesota, the
cagers could possibly go out and play for the joy and thrills of
it all. Or they could continue to fold, coming so close, yet so far
away.
Michigan has a challenge. A quick look at the box score
and you come away wondering how Michigan lost. With the
exception o( J.J., all the regulars shot over or near 50% from
the floor. That's the kind of shooting that wins ballgames.
Illinois
destroys
cagers'
By BOB McGINN
Special to The Daily
CHAMPAIGN - The hard-
charging Fighting Illini of Il-
linois rode the sensational
play of senior captain Nick:
Weatherspoon and the bril- SUNDAY
liant defensive work of guard NIGHT EDITOR:
Otho Tucker here yesterday to
a 76-75 victory over Michigan,
all but ending the Wolverines'.
Big Ten title aspirations. maining that sealed Michigan's
The loss, Michigan's fourth doom.
against four wins, was as bitter to Henry Wilmore then drove the
swallow as any all season. Coach length of the floor to score an un-
Johnny Orr's snake-bitten club has contested lay-in, but it wasn't
now lost its four league games by enough.
the combined margin of fifteenj Illinois grabbed the lead for
points. keeps four minutes into the second
Afterwards, a dejected Orr put half, and held advantages of as
this tragic campaign into perspec- many'as seven until the Wolverines
tive when he said, "We play them initiated their stirring bid for vic-
close, but we just can't pull them tory.
out." Trailing by 72-65 with 2:38 show-
The chief reason his hustling ing on the huge scoreboardclock,
team didn't pull it out yesterday; Wilmore suddenly came to life.
before the crowd of 11,117 in the First he drilled a long jumper from
Assembly Hall can be directly at- the left corner to cut the gap to
tributed to Weatherspoon. He fin- five. And then, twenty secondsl
ished with 34 points, but it was his later, the "old pro" rammed in
twn r o l h t hi h s another long range bomb.
text D&tiIy
SPORTlS
ELLIOT LEGOW
another, this one from the
line, Michigan found itself t
by just one, 74-73, with six s
left.
With Campy Russell al
heavy pressure on the in
pass, it seemed as if Sch
wouldn't get the pass in with
seconds. But he did, bar
Weatherspoon, who was pr
tackled in desperation by a
Russell.
A two-minute break ens
which nervous Illinois officia
Orr hovered over the fallen'
Finally, he got to his fee
walked slowly to the free
stripe to sink the foul shot
offset Wilmore's driving s
hopes
ho totaled 16 in the frame, along with
eight boards.
Schmidt saw his opponents' ag-
gressivecdefense as an indication
that Michigan had clearly come
to play. "They came after us right
from the start," he commented.
"It wasn't child's play out there."
The Art White-led officiating
crew must have agreed, because
they whistled some 47 personals
during the course of the afternoon.
Both clubs were hit hard by fouls,
e base Michigan losing Joe Johnson, with
trailing 4:32 left as well as Russell in the
econds closing moments, while the Illini
saw roughhouse cornerman Rick
pplying Schmidt and Jed Foster both exit
bounds midway in the second half.
roader Michigan also had a golden op-
in five portunity to seize control in the
ely, to second half when Weatherspoon
omptly drew his fourth at the 14 minute
diving mark. But the scrappy Illini re-
serves filled the breach until their
leader re-entered the fray five
ued in minutes later.
als and There was considerable doubt as
'Spoon. to what the Wolverine players' re-
t, and action would be after the crushing
throw defeats they suffered last week. But
ts that Russell, Brady, Ernie Johnson, and
shot at John Lockard all turned in fine
t~~~ s UC 1ccIO!SOIS w cn pus
ed the Illini's one-point lead
three with a scant five secondsr
Just out 'Spooned
Russell
E. Johnson
Brady
J. Johnson
Wilmore
Kupec
Buss
Lockard
Britt
TEAM
Totals
Weatherspoon
Schmidt
Conner
Tucker
Dawson
Foster
Schroeder
Roberts
TEAM
Team
MICHIGAN
FG FT R
8-15 4-4 7
6-8 3-4 a
6-11 1-2 14
1-5 0-1 2
6-13 1-3 1
1-3 0-3 5
1-1 0-1 1
3-3 2-2 1
0-0 0-0 0
3
32-59 11-20 42
ILLINOIS
FG FT R
15-25 4-6 16
1-3 0-0 2
4-il 2-3 5
2-9 3-4 6
6-13 7-11 4
1-4 2-4 2
0-0 0-0 1
0-0 0-0 0
F
5
4
3
5
3
2
2
1
0
25
the buzzer. performances. None of them how-
to With coach Harv Schmidt's club promne.Nn ftehw
re- in a four-corner stall and holding The first half had been nip and ever, could come close to equalling
a three point lead, 72-69 Ken tuck with the Wolverines leading the premier play of Weather-
Brady fouled his pivot counterpart, for all but three. minutes, never spoon.
Nick Conner. Conner missed the by more than five points. The score The win upped the Illini mark in
TP first of the one-and-one, but Illini was tied seven times before the the Big Ten to 3-1, but with their
20 sub C. J. Schroader gathered in scoreboard read 34-34 at the klaxon. treacherous schedule of Saturday-
15 the vital rebound. Orr's chargers seemed ready to Monday games from here on in,
13 . j assume command several times in Schmidt fully realizes the formid-
2 Then with just over 50 seconds the first twenty minutes, but un- able task ahead. As he put it,
13 remaining Tucker, who had ackn timely turnovers and Wilmore's "Indiana and Minnesota are the
2ed Wilmore without a field goal in1lack of offense kept the contest teams to beat, not Purdue. They're
a the initial stanza, was called for close. Michigan surprisingly came just too young." At one point in
o travelling, out in a man-to-man defense, but the season, he might have men-
75 The Wolverines rushed downcourt it didn't faze Weatherspoon. He tioned Michigan as well.
and their kingpin, Wilmore, fired -- -- - -__
TP upanother twenty-footer. This time
34 it caromed off the rim to Tucker,
2 who was promptly hacked by ErnieWolverine smers
17 Johnson.
19 The 6-6 sophomore atoned for his
4 earlier mistake by cashing in both
0 ends of the one-and-one, giving the
Illini a 74-69 cushion.
76 Wilmoredshit a short banker a
Ffew seconds later to cut the margin Special to The Daily electronically awarded s e c o n d
to three again. And after Jeff Daw- PRINCETON-"We were con- while the Blue's Mark Anderson
76 son misfired on a bonus free throw cerned about it, so we set out was less than two seconds further
situation and Wilmore hit still not to get in trouble in the back.
_______________________"
F
4
5
3
3
5
0
0
AP Photo
MICHIGAN'S HENRY WILMORE charges down court with the ball
in yesterday's basketball loss at Illinois. Wilmore was held to one
point in the first half but with 12 in the second half nearly pulled
out a Michigan win.
29-85 18-28 40 22
SCORE BY PERIODS:
12
MICHIGAN 34 41
Illinois 34 42
Attend~ance-11,1 17.
.
A PERFECT WEEKEND
Grapp let
By MIKE PRITULAa
The football team couldn't do it and the
Wolverines' basketball squad didn't even
come close. But the Michigan Mat Machine
chewed up its tenth straight opponent yester-
day as it surpassed all other Wolverine
sports in performance this year. Their 10-0
record was accomplished by a 20-12 victory
jver a scrappy Minnesota squad yesterday.
The win came on the heels of their 18-17
squeaker over Iowa on Friday night.
IT WASN'T AN impressive showing and
the Wolverines were perhaps a bit tired from
their heartstopper on Friday night. However,
coach Rick Bay was satisfied with the win.
"I thought we hung in there tough against
a tough team," Bay said. "And I was happy
to come out of this weekend with two wins.
This really sets us up for Michigan State."
JIM BROWN, DOING his thing, got Michi-
gan off to an early lead as usual when he
grappled Gopher Pat Neu into the ground.
Brown scored a 14-5 decision over the Min-
naent n ,_ on n v. nnet ntlt ic __
"s
thump Gophers*
Lamphere to gain an easy takedown and a
gift for a victory.
The meet was tied 3-3 when Wolverine
Freshman Jeff Guyton scored a superior
decision at 134 pounds giving Michigan a 7-3
lead. Guyton wrestled impressively as he
defeated last year's Big Ten runner-up by
a 16-4 score. Another Michigan freshman,
Lozon, who was wrestling his first varsity
match, lost a hard fought bout and dropped
a 4-2 decision to Minnesota senior Dick
Gautsch.
BAY THEN CALLED on his two Big Ten
Champions to widen the narrow 7-6 lead.
Jerry Hubbard and Mitch Mendrygal shut
out their ppponents at 150 and 158 lbs.
respectively increasing the Wolverine lead
to 14-6. Hubbard's win was a 11-0 pasting that
counted as a superior decision. It was a
methodical, almost boring, 2-0 victory for
Mendrygal, but it brought three points to
the team.
Minnesota took the next two matches as
they cut Michigan's lead to 14-12. Roger
"I thought Roger drained himself too fast
in the early part of the match," stated Bay.
"He really didn't have anything to finish up
with . . . These two matches kept them in
the meet and made it close."
WITH THE SCORE 14-12, it was all up to
Dave Curby and heavyweight Gary Ernst.
Curby wrestled well at 190 lbs. and eeked out
a 4-3 win over a tough freshman, Evan
Johnson. It was a close meet that could have:
gone either way but Curby prevailed in the
end.
At heavyweight Ernst showed his immenseE
strength as he dominated Gopher Dave
Simonson. The Wolverine junior came away
with a 6-1 win to sew up the Michigan win.
Ernst knew that all he had to do was to keep
from being pinned in order for the team to
win.
A PERFECT SEASON? Bay had said this
was possible from the start. Only two dual
meets stand in the path of the Michigan,
Mat Machine, Michigan State here on Feb-
..--r 111nnl A unncinthar nn h A
meet," commented swim coach
mee tgeronnhise-wmetsa-h In the backstroke event Prince-
Gsy Stageron hipre-meet stra- ,tn's Charlie Campbell was the
tgy for esterday's Tho nMtceigatvictor with a time of 1:56.0. Here
against Princeton. The'Mcia aanhwvrto Michigan mn
tankers made his plans look good agai, however, two Michigan men,
as they never were threatened Poul Foster and Tom Szuba, were
and eventually put the meet able to garner the'next two spots.
away, 70-43. , Michigan showed its nationally
Michigan's attempt to destroy feared breaststroke combination to
any Princeton victory hopes was the Tigers and came out the pool
realized in the first event, the .first, second and third ahead of
400 yard medley relay. Coming Princeton's best man. Stu Isaac
up with a new combination so as was first in 2:11.1, followed by Pat
to able to save the team's top Bauer and Mike Whitaker. Unfor-
freestylers for later, Stager was
still able to engineer a victory.
Chris Hansen, Stu Isaac, Larry
Day, and Paul Foster teamed up CLEVELAND (R) -- Olympic
for a 3:33.8 first-place finish. gold medal winner Rod Milburn
After that the tankers demoral- equalled a world indoor record
ized their opposition even fur- last night with a time of 5.8 sec-
ther in the 1000 yard freestyle. onds in winning the 50-yard high
Michigan's Tom Szuba easily hurdles at the Knights of Co-
triumphed in an excellent time lumbus track meet.
of 9:42.3, finishing more than 14
seconds ahead of Princeton's tunately only the top two swim-
touted Curtis Hayden. mers on a team count in scoring
"We wanted to gain control early so Princeton's first finisher was
and we did," Stager said. "Be- awarded third.
cause of this we were able to The diving events again called
switch some swimmers around in upon Michigan's depth to save
other races." It was Michigan's upo in's epth to save
depth which enabled it to maintain somethe one and three meter events
that control throughout the meet. Princeton's Bill Heinz took the
Princeton's two or three fine in- blue ribbon, but Michigan's Joe
dividuals were no match for the
C ~- -1 Crawford was a close second in