Pqge 12-Friday, January 6, 1978--The Michigan Daily
WIN BIG TEN OPENER 80-65:
FWolverines walk
past NU
By DAVE RENBARGER
-As far as the Michigan basketball
team was concerned, the Northwest-
emn Wildcats were just what the
doctor ordered.
:the Wildcats, familiar in their role
as: the healer of wayward teams,
shwed up a Crisler Arena last night
,.minus their top player - to help
Michigan kick off the all-important
conference portion of its schedule.
When it was all over, the Wolver-
ines had registered conference vic-
tory number one, 80-65, primarily by
virtue of a fast and furious first half
rush that staked the Maize and Blue
to a 13-point half-time edge.
With the Wolverines on the skids after
losing two of their last three games, in-
cluding that embarrassing overtime af-
fair to Toledo on New Year's Eve, they
were in dire need of an all-out effort to
get started on the right foot.
It was certainly that kind of an effort
in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
Michigan kept the Wildcats off-balance
throughout the first half with a very in-
tense brand of pressure defense that
went along quite nicely with a 51 per
cent shooting eye and a 25-12 reboun-
ding edge.
In fact, most of the fans in the stands
had to be wondering if this was indeed
the same club that looked so dismal
down the stretch against Toledo.
Assistant Coach Bill Frieder, at the
helm alone while usual boss Johnny Orr
was at home fighting off the flu, was
also impressed with the first half surge.
"I just thought we played with much
more intensity in the first half than we
did versus Toledo, and probably more
than we have against anyone else this
season," he said.
Wildcat Coach Tex Winter, who
engineered one of the most surprising
upsets in college basketball last year
when his team knocked off No. 1
Michigan, felt that his squad was just
too listless in the first half to stay close.
the first half."
The Wildcats were working at a
distinct disadvantage from the opening
tipoff with Tony Allen, their leading
scorer, not even on the premises. Allen
has an impressive list of credentials
already this season-37 points against
Las Vegas and 27 against Loyola-but
he remained in Evanston with a
stomach disorder, possibley appen-
dicitis.
"You would like to think that if one
guy is out of there, that someone else
will come right in and pick it up,"
lamented Winter. "But it just didn't
happen."
On the other side of the ledger, there
were plenty of Wolverines around to
pick things up, as blossoming star Joel
Thompson and forward Alan Hardy
shared the scoring honors with 18
apiece. Mike McGee tallied 14 more
before fouling out with almost seven
minutes remaining.
Frieder showed that he wasn't afraid
to go to his bench early, as ten men saw
action in the first half alone.
After the intermission, the Wildcats,
now 4-6, fell behind at one point 60-39,
but managed to stick in the ballgame
nonetheless. On two occasions laste in
the game, Northwestern moved within
nine points, but the Wolverines made
good on their numberous trips to the
free throw line (14 of 17 overall) down
the stretch to up their record to 6-3.
"Our starters got tired in the second
half and that's why we went to the ben-
ch," explained Freider. "Our starters
were dying out there but our subs did a
good job."
NORTHWESTERN
MICHIGAN
FG/A
McGee .............. 6/14
Hardy ............... 7/13
Thompson............9/12
Staton............... 4/8
Baxter .............. 3/8
Johnson ............. 1/4
Lozier............... 1/2
Robinson ............ 0/1
Heuerman........... 2/2
Bodnar, Marty ..,... 0/0
Bodnar, Mark .......0/0
Team.............
FT/A
2/2
4/6
0/0
2/2
2/2
2/3
0/0
0/0
0/0
2/2
0/0
R
2
7
10
7
4
1
0
3
4
0
1
4
45
A PF
1 5
0 3
0 3
2 3
4 1
0 1
1 3
0 1
0 2
2 0
0 0
TP
14
18
18
10
8
4
2
0
4
2
0
FG/A FT/A
Carroll .............. 0/1 0/0
Boesen.............. 1/4 0/0
Klaas ............... 3/5 2/4
Roberson............ 5/14 2/4
Marifke..............4/12 7/7
Gibson...............2/6 3/4
Campbell............ 6/15 1/2
Egan ................ 2/4 0/0
Wall................. 1/2 0/0
Endsley..............0/1 0/0
Fenlon.............0/1 2/2
Team............
Totals .............. 24/65 17/23
R
6
1
4
4
2
6
0
4
0
0
4
36
A PF
0 2
1 4
0 1
0 1
3 4
2 2
0 3
S1
1 1
1 0
0 0
TP
0
2
8
12
15
7
13
4
2
0
2
Alan Hardy
Totals ............... 33/64 14/17
10 21 80
9 19 65
"We know that we have got to play
with a great deal of desire and hustle
and enthusiasm in order to compete in
the Big Ten this year," Winter said.
"Tonight, we didn't show any of that in
Score by Periods
1 2 F
Northwestern ................27 38 65
MICHIGAN .................40 40 80
Attendance: 13,537
.
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BIG TEN ROUNDUP
Magic Spartans dump Gophers
By Daily Wire Services
EAST LANSING-Freshman Earvin
Johnson scored 31 points and paced a
furious comeback late in the second
half for Michigan State as the No. 18
ranked Spartans defeated Minnesota
87-83.
Trailing 74-67 with 4:07 remaining in
the game, Michigan State outscored the
Gophers 14-2 in the next two minutes
and 16 seconds to clinch the victory.
THE SPARTANS had jumped to an
early 26-12 lead midway through the
first half as their full-court press
seemed to have Minnesota bottled up.
But Minnesota came back in the
second half, hitting'20 of their first 31
shots to take the lead from Michigan
State.
The Gophers' standout center,
Mychal Thomson, who recently retur-
ned from a seven-game NCAA suspen-
sion, was top scorer for Minnesota with
27 points.
Rose Bowl
1978
Michigan vs. Washington
The Most Beautiful
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University of Michigan-
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Hot Hoosiers
BLOOMINGTON-Sophomore Mike
Woodson and senior Wayne Radford
combined for 31 points last night to help
11th-rated Indiana coast past Iowa 69-51
in the Big Ten conference basketball
opener for both teams.
THE HOOSIERS, 9-1, jumped to a 36-
23 halftime advantage. Indiana Coach
Bobby Knight had three of his starters
on the bench with his team holding a 51-
48 lead with 8:47 left in the game.
Iowa's Clay Hargrave missed a free
throw at that point and Knight sent
Radford, Woodson and freshman Ras
Tolbert back into action.
A jump shot by Tom Norman put the
Hawkeyes behind 53-45 with 6:30 left
and Indiana took command with eight
consecutive points.
RADFORD, who had 14 points, sank a
pair of free throws to star the streak
with 6:02 left. Woodson then made two
free throws and each sank a field goal
to complete the streak.
Ronnie Lester led Iowa, 7-3, with 16
points.
* * *
Badgers bounced
COLUMBUS-Freshman forward
Ken Page's 18 points paced Ohio State
to its first Big Ten opening basketball
victory in six seasons last night, a 77-61
K -dh
verdict over Wisconsin.
PAGE PACED a balanced attack for
the young Buckeyes, running their
overall record to eight victories in 10
starts. Wisconsin, also playing its first
league game, fell to a 4-5 record.
MIKE CLINE, the only starting
senior for Ohio State, contributed 15
points, sophomore guard Kelvin Ran-
sey had 14 and Herb Williams, a 6-foot-
11 freshman center, added 10 before
fouling out with over two minutes left.
Bill Pearson came off the bench to
spark the Badgers with 15 points, while
Joe Chrelich had 11 and Wesley Mat-
thews and James Gregory put in 10
apiece.
OHIO STATE, playing before its sixth
consecutive home sellout this season,
overturned an 11-6 Wisconsin lead in the
first four minutes.
The young Buckeyes, starting two
freshmen and two sophomores, out-
scored the Badgers 12-2 in the next four
minutes for an 18-13 lead. Ohio State
never trailed thereafter.
THE BUCKEYES, who posted their
last opening league victory at Purdue in
1972, rolled into a 32-26 halftime lead.
WISCONSIN NEVER came closer
than that in the second half, falling
behind 46-32 in the first six min-
utes. Ohio State ran its margin to
71-32 before Coach Eldon Miller
began substituting freely.
Ohio State, which has finished last
in the Big Ten in the last two years,
outshot the Badgers from the field 49
to 27 per cent and out-rebounding the
muscular Badgers 53-48.
Plucky Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, --Four play-
ers scored 19 points or more for
Purdue, topped by Walter Jordan's
21, in a 95-85 victory over Illinois last
night.
THE BOILERMAKERS t o o k
charge midway through the first half
by running off nine straight points
and holding the Illini scoreless for
four minutes en route to a 50-38 half-
time lead.
Illinois got no closer than nine
points in the second half.
PURDUE, PUSHING its record to
6-4 in winning their conference
opener, hit 33 of 42 free throws,
including 11 for 12 by Jordan and 10
for 12 by Wayne Walls. Walls and Joe
Barry Carroll canned 20 points
apiece for the Boilermakers and
Eugene Parker snapped out of a
scoring slump with 19.
Illinois, 6-4, lost four players on
fouls, including three starters. Rich
Adams and Audie Matthews led the
losers with 15 points each. Reno
Gray, who sparked an early Illinois
charge to an 11-3 lead, had 13.
ISCORESI
Wildcats tamed Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
MICHIGAN'S ALAN HARDY WOWED the Crisler Arena crowd with this behind-
the-back flying stuff. Mike Campbell reaches in vain, while Wildcat forward Brian
Gibson reacts in awe. The Wolverines had enough tricks in their bag to stuff
Northwestern 80-65. Michigan will play Minnesota Sunday, not Saturday as
marked on game tickets, as the Gophers try to rebound from Earvin Johnson's
31 point effort in a Spartan win.
poIt4c ( the ,kai/
Wings top Leafs
DETROIT - Reed Larson celebrated his return to action last night after
a five-game absence by scoring at 4:09 of the second period to give the
Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 National Hockey League victory over the Toronto
Maple Leafs.
The goal was Larson's 10th of the season and tied a Red Wings record for
goals by a rookie defenseman first set by Doug Young in the 1931-32 season
and matched by Rick La-Pointe in 1975-76.
The victory moved Detroit to within three points of third place in the
Norris Division behind Pittsburgh.
Larson, who had been out since he aggravated a sprained thumb on Dec.
18 against the New York Rangers, fired from the blue line for his winning ef-
fort.
Ian Turnbull gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with a goal at 11:29 of the first
period on a pass from Errol Thompson. Detroit tied the game at 16:35 when
Bill Lochead scored after a scramble in front of Palmateer.
Sweetness
NEW YORK - Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears, the National Foot-
ball League's record-shattering rushing champion, was named the NFL's
Most Valuable Player yesterday by The Associated Press.
Payton, who won his second straight National Conference rushing title
and his first league title with 1,852 yards gained on the ground, was literally
a runaway winner in the balloting by 84 sports writers and broadcasters,
three from each league city.
He received 57 MVP votes. A pair of quarterbacks, Bob Griese of the
Miami Dolphins and Craig Morton of the Denver Broncos, received 10 votes
apiece. The remaining votes went to defensive end Lyle Alzado and
linebacker Tom Jackson of Denver, quarterback Ken Stabler and punter
Ray Guy of Oakland and running back Lydell Mitchell of Baltimore.
Payton insisted on stepping into the season-long spotlight only if his
young blockers - center Dan Peiffer, guards Revie Sorey and Noah Jackson
and tackles Denis Lick and Ted Albrecht - stepped in as well.
And despite the inevitable comparisons between Payton and O.J. Simp-
son and Walter's challenges to O.J.'s records, the Bear nicknamed "Sweet-
ness" emphasized: "I could gain 5,000 yards and not tarnish the record of
this man. He is a great, sweet guy. He has made contributions to the game
over and above his ball carrying that will be remembered after most of us
have gone."
-AP
Ke C. Mass.? A
RICHMOND, Va. - K.C. Jones is the new assistant coach of the Boston
Celtics of the National Basketball Association, according to Rich Haney,
sports director of Richmond television station WTVR.
Haney said Jones, who had a one-year contract as coach of the Rich-
mond entry in the new All-American Basketball Alliance, accepted the job
Thursday afternoon after meeting with Celtics president and general
manager Red Auerbach.
Jones left Richmond Thursday morning, met Auerbach in Washington
and the pair flew to Hartford, Conn., where the Celtics were to play the
Phoenix Suns. -AP
Ali buckles under
NEW YORK - Muhammad Ali has formally filed an agreement with the
World Boxing Council to fight Ken Norton, thereby avoiding being stripped
of the heavyweight championship, Jose Sulaiman, president of the WBC,
said yesterday.
"He has complied with the first part of the edict issued in Madrid,"
Sulaiman said today by telephone from Mexico City.
SPECIALLY SELECTED, FAMOUS NAME
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