9 The Michigan Daily-Thursday, February 23, 1978-Page 9 RECORD SHOULD FALL AGAINST ILLINI: Baxter By DAVE RENBARGER It should happen right around halftime during tonight's basketball game between Michigan and Illinois. David Baxter, penetrating the Illini defense, will dump the ball off to Joel Thompson for a slam. Or maybe 'Bax' will pass it off to Mike McGee or Alan Hardy for the bucket. Regardless of the details, Baxter's fourth assist of the evening will be his 140th of the year, establish- ing him as the top single-season assist man in Wol- verine basketball his ory. The current record holder, Michigan Administrative -Assistant Dan Fife, piled up 139 assists during the 1970-71 cam- paign. The senior co-captain, who averages eight assists per outing against Big Ten competition, naturally covets the record - a realization of a season long goal. "Breaking the assist record was my original goal I set at the start," said the unselfish guard. "It was the only goal I felt I could reach, with all the other scorers we've got." Even more than that, the record represents Bax- ter's successful transition from a prep scoring machine (29 ppg) to a collegiate playmaker. "When I left high school (Detroit Lutheran West), I had all the scoring records," he explained. "At Michigan I found myself playing with talented players. It's very gratifying to me to make the change." Unfortunately for Baxter, most basketball fans only remember the player who puts the ball through the hoop, and not the guy who sets up the oppor- tunity. As a result, not everyone at Crisler Arena tonight will even be aware that Baxter is zeroing in on Fife's mark. "Not a whole lot has been said about it," he ad- mitted. "If they do stop the game and announce it, assists'A quite a few people will be surprised." But Baxter has learned how to cope .with things like that over the course of the season -- the most trying and disappointing of his career. Things weren't so tough at the outset, as Baxter lead the Wolverines in scoring in the early going. But, as forwards McGee and Hardy developed of- fensively, Baxter found himself on the fringe of the Wolverine attack, taking fewer and fewer shots. And when his accuracy began to fall as fast as his shooting frequency, confidence problems cropped up. THE LINEUPS MICHIGAN ILLINOIS fichigan Wolverines in a post-season tourney. "I'm looking to end my career the same way I started it here. I came in a winner and I want to go out a winner." Baxter and his mates will have the opportunity to begin their eleventh-hour heroics against the Illini, who toppled the Wolverines 65-61 in Cham- paign last month. Michigan, ironically now the top free throw shooting team in the Big Ten, connected on but 3 of 12 freebies in that contest. It was their the first conference loss of the season after three victories, and the turning point of the year. Since then, Michigan has alternated winning with losing and now stands 8-6. Meanwhile, Lou Henson's Illini are 6-8, tied for sixth in the middle of the pack. Senior guard Audie Matthews paces the balanced Illini attack with 12.3 ppg followed by center Rich Adams and freshman forward Mark Smith (10.8 and 10.7 respectively). FHenson is never reluctant to go to his bench, per- ferring to keep fresh players in the game. In Cham- paign eight players saw at least 12 minutes of playing time, while nobody got over thirty. Forwar- ds Levi Cobb and Eddie Johnson plus guard Reno Gray will most likely be Henson's first relief men. In plotting his team's revenge, Baxter wants to include himself a bit more on offense and improve upon his 4 for 13 shooting effort at Illinois. "I'll be more active on offense and look for my shot more," he said. "I've got to take few chances and create some situations - by penetrating I can create mismatches underneath. "I've got to do more than just move the ball and play quarterback." If Baxter can follow through on his suggestions and help topple the Illini, then he will come out of the ballgame with something more than the new assist record. As long as his team can keep winning, the ever-so-faint possibility of Baxter's fourth straight tournament appearance will linger on. Mike McGee (6-5). F .Neil Bresnahan Alan Hardy (6-6).. F..... Mark Smith Joel Thompson (6-8)C .... Rich Adams Tom Staton (6-3).,. G .Audie Matthews Dave Baxter (6-3). G..... Rob Judson (6-6) (6-7) (6-9) (6-5) (6-2) v;'r: y t.. ::: { .v:; .. :: These problems combined with the fact that his team has been losing a lot more ballgames than they ever did in the past three years sent the former 'super-sub' into a frustrating slump. "It's been a disappointing season, but also a valuable experience," Baxter said. "Ever since I've been here I've seen only one side of the coin. We were always winning. "Now I've seen the other side of the coin. The media can say some disturbing things ... but then you realize all basketball is is a game. You still play to win, but when you don't win, it's not the end of the world." But Baxter hasn't resigned himself to a failing season just yet. He figures that a four- or five-game winning streak should be good enough to place the Doily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG MICHIGAN C0CAPTAIN David Baxter eyes his teammates in search of yet another assist while Indiana's Jim Wisman applies the pressure. Baxter collected seven of them against the Hoosiers in the Wolverines' 92-73 romp at Crisler Arena last month. On the year the senior guard has 136 assists already, four shy ofMichigan's all-time single-season record. Big Ten Conference leading scorers Player G FG/FGA Reb PF Pct. Avg. Avg. Pts Pts. Avg. Pct. FT/FTA Hi TANKER TABBED 'A THLE TE OF THE WEEK'4 1. Thompson, Minn.....1 2. McGee, MiCH........1 3. Johnson, MSU .......1 4. Lester, Iowa........ . (tie) Woodson, Ind....1 6. Ransey, OSU....... 7. Jordan, Pur.........1 (tie) Radford, Ind....1 9. Gaines. Wis......... 10. Keiser, MSU.........I 11. Allen, NU..........1 12. Parker, Pur....... 13. Williams, OSU .......1 14. Page, OSU.......... 15. Lockhart, Minn.......I 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 14 '4 14 14 137/247 123/245 92/197 92/195 115/213 112/219 91/260 84/145 89/200 91/ 167 79/204 87/161 81/189 77/186 74/147 .555 .502 .467 .472 .540 .511 .455 .579 .445 .545 .387 .540 .428 .413 .503 49/79 50/64 100/118 85/112 39/51 31/46 55/74 69/85 , 37/59 30/51 36/46 27/34 32/45 38/47 43/59 .620 .781 .874 .759 .765 .673 .743 .812 .627 .526 ,783 .794 .711 .808 .729 11.6 5.0 8.5 2.7 4.9 3.6 7.9 4.1 2.7 8.6 4.3 3.6 10.3 6.2 1.7 3.4 2.9 2.6 2.4 2.9 3.2 2.2 3.1 3.1 3.8 3.2 1.6 2.1 2.3 1.0 323 296 284 269 269 255 237 237 215 212 194 201 194 192 191 23.1 21.1 20.3 19.2 19.2 18.2 16.9 16.9 15.4 15.1 14.9 14.4 13.8 13.7 13.6 34 34 32 31 31 28 26 30 27 2s 22 21 24 23 25 Canales, By TOM STEPHENS Fernando Canales throughout the year has been a ' dynamic performer for Michigan's men's swimming team. Ever since his initial double win per- formance against Toronto in the season's first meet, Canales has proved his worth time and again with crucial performances that have helped ythe Wolverine freestylers dominate nearly every meet. Yesterday the Big Ten chose to honor Canales as its Athlete of the Week. The award is in recognition of the Puerto Rican freshman's most brilliant per- formance so far ini last week's meet with Michigan State. Last Saturday Canales came out of Matt Mann Pool with two more vic- tories in pool record times. His 1:39 in the 200 freestyle was topped only by a 45.6 in the 100 free that was also a var- sity record. As the first Michigan athlete to be so honored this year and the first Michigan swimmer ever in the memory of tanker coach Gus Stager, Canales exhibited what Stager called a "typical" reaction to the news. "He wasn't very excited," said the coach, "but I think it kind of sunk in along the way.". grabs c( "I was surprised," commented Canales, "because I didn't even know the Big Ten had an athlete of the week award. But I'm very happy and maybe I can even improve my times in the league meet next week. These little reinforcements are good because they give you something to look forward too." Stager had several good words for his young sprinter: "He's probably one of the toughest competitors on the team although I can't really say how tough he is because he hasn't been to akcham- pionship." He went on to make com- parisons with Michigan's NCAA cham- pion diver Matt Chelich and sophomore Mr. Everyting Paul Griffith, "two competitors who I have the greatest respect for." "Fernando knows what he's doing and he believes in himself," Stager went on. "His goals are to be the best swimmer in the country if possible and those kind of swimmers are always coachable. He has a great deal of inter- national experience, and his total per- formance throughout the year has been the most outstanding on the team. He definitely deserves the recognition." Next week the Wolverine tankrs will head for Columbus and the apex of their inference honor season at the Big Ten conference championships. As usual, Indiana would seem to have a firm hold on first place but the struggle for second shoudl be a very close contest between Michigan, Wisconsin (who edged the Wolverines by a single point in January), and possibly Ohio State. Whatever happens, Fernando Canales and the FF (for frosh freestyle) corps will be there and ready. Bowie to-the bench? ine owner By The Associated Press NEW YORK-A bloc of baseball owners is working slowly behind the scenes to send Commissioner Bowie Kuhn back into the full-time practice of law. An Associated Press survey indicates that nine of the 26 owners today would vote in a secret ballot to fire Kuhn, who has five years remaining on a seven- year term. The private lobbying against Kuhn hasn't reached the roll call stage yet, but owner Brad Corbett of Texas is known to have approached several of his colleagues about dumping the commissioner. Corbett had Kuhn's head in his hands three years ago in a meeting in I SC~ORES1 College Basketball Detroit 121. St. Francis, Pa. 89 Duke 78, Clemson 62 Yale 74, Brown 57 S. Carolina 67,William & Mary 54 Toldeo 64, Kent St.58 Seton Hall 87, St. Peter's 73 Miami, Ohio 78. Central Michigan 74 Transylvania 94, Centre 77 Maryland 91, Wake Forest 89 Syracuse 70, Niagara 69 Slippery Rock 71, Ashland 70, OT NBA Detroit 119. Houston 108 Portland 105, Washington 97 Seattle 94, New Jersy 83 NHL Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 2 rs hope so Milwaukee when the commissioner's contract came up for renewal. The Rangers' owner was one of four American League executives aligned against Kuhn at the time. But in an 11th-hour gambit, Walter O'Malley came flying in from the West Coast to convince Corbett and New York Yankees owner George Stein- brenner to change their votes. The other nay-sayers in 1975 were American Leaguers Charlie Finly of Oakland and Jerrold Hoffberger of Baltimore. Ray Kroc of San Diego was adamant in his opposition, but was coaxed to change his National League vote at the last minute for the sake of unanimity. Contacts with several ownership sources have provided a list of at least nine owners who are opposed to Kuhn today. They are Finley, Corbett, Hof- fberger, Steinbrenner and Kroc-the same owners in oppositon in 1975-plus four more: Gene Autry of California, Bill Veeck of the Chicago White Sox, Ted Turner of Atlanta and Bob Howsam of Cincinnati. :u f' The Crusaders TONIGHT at SECOND CHANCE Appearing through Saturday:/ OWN.4~ , 1. £$pr'rt4 '( the ik)ai4 Casals excels By The Associated Press DETROIT-Fifthe-seeded Rosemary Casals of Sausalito, Calif. beat Australia's Leslie Hunt 7-5, 6-3 last night in the second day of the $100,000 Women's Professional Tennis Tournament's six-day Detroit stop. A Cobo Hall crowd of 3,486 watched the continuation of first-round play and saw a competitive, aggressive battle between Casals and Hunt. In the biggest upset of the day, Caroline Stoll of Livingston, N.J. defeated six- th-seeded Sue Barker of England after leading the first set 5-3 when Barker became ill and retired. Barker's trainer said she recently recovered from the flu and appeared to be suffering a relapse. In the afternoon's only doubles match, Romania's Virginia Ruzici and Yugoslavia's Mimi Jausovec defeated Nicole Lorenzetti of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. and Hanna Strachonova of Czechoslovakia 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, winning the last set tie- breaker 5-4. Pistons shoot off Rockets DETROIT-Bob Lanier and Chris Ford led a fourth-period surge that enabled the Detroit Pistons to fight off the Houston Rockets 119-108 last night in their-NBA game. Ford had six baskets and Lanier four baskets and three free throws in the closing period to ward off a Houston rally. The Rockets had come back from an 82- 72 third period deficit to pull within 96-92 with five minutes to go on the hot shooting of Mike Newlin. He had 16 points in the last period. A three-point play by Lanier, four free throws by Money and a Ford basket quickly restored the Pistons to a nine-point bulge and they had no trouble the rest of the way. 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