0
Page 10-Sunday, March 7, 1982-The Michigan Daily
'M' rally overtakes
(Continued from Page 1)
break the game open.
"I DON'T know what happened," he said. "It just
seemed to be easy after Eric's three-point play. I
think we just hung in there and rebounded better."
Badger coach Bill Cofield thought his team just
went cold in the late stages of the contest.
"I thought we played well for thirty-five minutes,
but the last five minutes we just went flat," the
Wisconsin coach said.
ONE THING Cofield was impressed with though
was the play of Michigan's Person. The 6-7 center hit
on eight of twelve shots from the floor, scored 21 poin-
ts, a career-high, and grabbed eight rebounds.
"This was probably Ike Person's best game of his
career," said Cofield. "He hit some turn-around
jumpers that made him look like (Ohio State's) Clark
Kellogg.".
Person, who said he has had better games, took it in
stride. "I just shot the ball well when tIwas open and
Fish Tales
By MARK FISCHER
got some offensive rebounds," he explained.
BUT IT WASN'T that easy for the Wolverines.
Michigan took the early lead, but failed to capitalize
on numerous Wisconsin turnovers in the opening
minutes. It looked like the Wolverines were on their
way to an easy win, anyway, when a Turner jumper
and a Garner dunk gave them a 27-18 lead midway
through the first half. After a Wisconsin timeout,
however, Michigan squandered two opportunities to
extend its lead, and soon the Badgers had fought back
to within four points at 32-28.
The Wolverines seemed to be feeling the effects of
last Thursday's physical contest at Purdue, as
Wisconsin continued to wear Michigan down and took
a 37-36 lead on Brad Sellers' three-point play with 1:43
Wisconsin
left until halftime. The Badgers extended that to 42-38
at the half.
AT HALFTIME, Frieder gave the Wolverines a
stern talk because he said that it looked like the
quality of their play was regressing back to what it
had been earlier in the season.
"I was disappointed with my team (at halftime),"
Frieder said. "After we got off to a decent start we let
it get away so easily. That's not the way we have been
playing."
The coach's talk apparently was effective. For the
first 15 minutes of the second half Michigan stayed
within five points of the Badgers and even led by one
point twice. Then the Wolverines went on the 12-point
spree that assured them of the victory.
lye, Bye Badgers
I
MICHIGAN
Min
Garner ............ 39
Rockymore........29
Person.............36
Pelekoudas........ 35
Turner............ 37
Carter ............. 21
Hopson ............3
Team rebounds
TFotals...........
I
FG/A FT/A R
10/15 5/7 11
4/7 2/4 3
8/12 5/6 8
4/7 4/4 2
5/13 5/7 2
3/7 2/5 3
0/1 0/0 0
5
34/62 23/33 34
A
2
0
0
5
1
0
0
PF Pts
4 25
3 10
2 21
4 12
3 15
1 8
10
WISCONSIN
Min FG/A FT/A
R A PF Pts
Of bartenders and coaches...
. nice guys finish last
MADISON
THERE'S A BAR here in Madtown called Buck's, not because of Bucky
the Badger but because of its proprietor, Buck Fahey Jr. Included in the
various posters, photos, and sports collages on Buck's walls is an old picture
of Buck Sr. and little Buck, who must have been no more than six or seven
years old when the photo was shot. The two are standing in a field
somewhere and Buck Sr., a former professional boxer, is pouring a beer into
little Buck's mouth.
Apparently Buck has kept up his ability to drink during the thirty-odd
years since the picture was taken. If you go up to the stocky Irish barkeep
and introduce yourself, tell him you're visiting from out-of-town and that
you've heard alot about him, he'll give you a warm handshake and insist
that you do a shot with him. Then he'll pick up the nearest jug of Irish
whiskey, take a chug straight from the bottle, and invite you to do the same.
There is a barn here in Madison called the Wisconsin Fieldhouse, not
because of Buck but because Wisconsin Badgers play sports there. Included
in the various trophy cases, signs, and pictures on the walls of the fieldhouse
hallways is a picture of William L. "Bill" Cofield, who must have been about
forty years old when the photo was shot.
Bartender stays, coach goes
But unlike the picture of Buck and his pop, the picture of Cofield will be
removed from the wall very shortly. While Buck will still be running his
popular bar after the Wisconsin basketball season is over, Cofield will not
still be running the Badger cagers.
The coach announced his resignation last Thursday night, probably
because he would have been fired otherwise. One of the only 5,230 fans in the
Fieldhouse during yesterday's 91-84 Michigan win yelled across the court to
the gadget mentor, "Cofield, you're six years behind!" Unfortunately for
Cofield, the fan had a point.
In his six-year stint at the reins of the Wisconsin hoop program, Cofield
managed only one winning season, a 15-14 finish in 1979-80. Since then,
Cofield's teams have finished progressively worse: 11-16 last year, and'6-20
overall, 3-15 in the BigTen (good for last place), this year.
And when you get down to it, you really have to judge a coach's perfor-
mance on whether or not his team and his program show improvement.
Sure, give the guy a grace period-unless he's totally incompetent, give him
two, three, even four years to get on track. But after that, if he continues to
lose with increasing frequency each season, it's time to get a new coach.
Progressively worse
One need only compare Wisconsin's 1981-82 season to Michigan's to see
Cofield's failure to bring improvement to his club. The Badgers defeated
Michigan in Ann Arbor in the Big Ten opener. At that point Wisconsin was in
fact the better team. But while Wisconsin showed little if any progress on its
way to going 3-15 in the league, the Wolverine cagers grew steadily better
over the course of the season-enough to win six of their last twelve con-
ference games; after losing 13 of their 14 previous contests.
"I'm proud of my players," said Michigan coach Bill Frieder, who deser-
ves a great deal of credit for taking his young, small team as far as he did.
"The team has progressed and improved. We've beaten teams the second
time around that beat us earlier in the season, and that shows character."
Cofield, a deacon and chairman in the Mount Zion Baptist Church, has
shown character himself. The coach was practically libeled by several inac-
curate reports in Milwaukee papers last week which cited faulty character
traits as reasons behind his pending dismissal. Still, he came in the press
room after yesterday's contest with his head high, talked about the game for
a minute, and then said, "All I can say to you is good-bye and God bless
you."
A nice thought.
In another nice gesture yesterday, Cofield started all four of his seniors,
two of whom had never started before, because it was their last home game.
The starters fell behind by seven points in the eight minutes Cofield left them
in.
Nice bartenders do good business. Nice coaches finish last.
Sellers ............
Zinkgraf ..........
Mitchell .........
Bailey..........
Jacobson ..........
Ploss............
Roth............
Blackwell .......
Golston.........
Dandridge .........
Team rebounds
Totals ...........
40
13
26
30
9
8
15
26
20
13
8/14 5/5 13
3/4 0/1 2
5/8 0/1 8
8/18 2/3 1
1/2 0/0 1
1/1 0/0 2
2/7 1/1 2
5/13 0/0 11
3/6 0/0 0
1/4 2/3 0
5
37/77 10/14 45
1
0
1
3
1
0
0
I
7
3
3
0
5
3
3
1
1
2
5
2
21
'6
10
18
2
2
5
I
8- 18 91
10 -..
6 AP Photo
4 BADGER GARY Zinkgraf goes for a bucket with the assistance of teammate
84 Cory Blackwell while Michigan freshman Leslie Rockymore looks on. The
Wolverines came out on top in.,the contest, however,.with a 91-85 win over
Wisconsin.
Halftime score: Wisconsin 42, Michigan 38
Attendance: 5,230
17 25 1
Cagers face N D in
finale
A
By LARRY FREED
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame
against the Wolverines of Michigan is a
classic match-up between two of the
nation's premier institutions. Right?
Well, maybe not, at least NBC didn't
think so as they yanked today's basket-
ball game (1:05 p.m.) from the air-
waves in favor of the ACC conference
championship game.
But can you really blame them? Both
Notre Dame and Michigan are in the
midst of rebuilding seasons and this
game will bring their respective
seasons to a merciful conclusion.
MICHIGAN WILL be coming off of a
rough road trip to Purdue and Wiscon-
sin, where they earned a hard-fought
split by beating the Badgers yesterday
91-84. But playing three games in four
days could take its toll on the young
Wolverines.
"They're going to have to play on
guts tomorrow, because they're really
beat," said Michigan coach Bill
Frieder.
Frieder's players agree that the two-
game road trip might have an effect on
today's performance. "I don't feel it
(tired) right now but maybe I'll feel it
once I start playing," said Ike Person,
who scored a career-high 21 points
against Wisconsin yesterday.i h
HOWEVER, Michigan will have
some incentive in the contest. It will be
trying to avoid its first 20-loss season
since 1960. In addition, senior captain
Thad Garner will be performing in his
last game for the Wolverines. Garner,
with 11 rebounds yesterday, became
only the seventh Michigan player to
register a 1,000-point, 600-rebound
career.
"For us to avoid 20 losses this season
is a damn reasonable goal," said an
emphatic Frieder.
The Wolverines will also be perfor-
ming in the Pontiac Silverdome in front
of their largest crowd of the year. The
last meeting betweenthe two schools-
also in the Silverdome-drew 37,000
fans, the second-largest crowd in NCAA
history. Phil Hubbard and the
Wolverines upset the highly-touted
Fighting Irish, 62-59, in that contest
which ended the 1979 season.
BUT THAT was three long years ago
and the onlyuthing that remains the
same is the luck of the Irish. And, in
fact, that has not been holding up too
well either.
Coach Digger Phelps is enduring his
worst -season sin~ce his first yeara
Notre Dame ins1971. But there is hop
for the future, especially with 6-2 junior
guard John Paxson returning. Paxson,
who has been one of the few bright spots
for Phelps' Irish this season, is
averaging over 13 points per outing
while leading the team in assists.
"John is the best guard in the coun-
try," Phelps said of his All-American
guard prospect. "He can shooot, he can .
pass and he can play defense with the
best of them. He's great with thg
basketball because he makes things
happen, and he's an excellent floor
leader."
Paxson's supporting cast, however, is
not as strong as past Irish teams.
Senior guard Mike Mitchell will join
Paxson .in the backcourt, while fresh-
man Ron Rowan (6-5), sophomore Cecil
Rucker (6-8) and Farmington native
Tim Andree (6-10) will start up front.
LINEUPS
MICHIGAN
(45) Thad Garner ...... (6-7)
(23) Dean Hopson ...... (6-7)
(52) Ike Person ........(6-7)
(32) Dan Pelekoudas ... (64)'
(25) Eric Turner ....... (6-3)
NOTRE DAME
F
F
C
G
G
(6-8 .......Cecil Rucker+
(6-5) ....... Ron Rowan
(6-10) ...... Tim Andree
(6-2) ..... Mike Mitchell{
(6-2) ...... John Paxson
(43)
(24)
(53)
(15)
(23)
GAME TIME & SITE: 1:05 p.m., Pontiac Silverdome
RADIO: WAAM-AM 1600, WWJ-AM 95, WCBN-FM 88.3, WUOM-
FM 91.7
BIG TEN R OUND UP:
Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota 7-
foot-3 center Randy Breuer scored a
career high 32 points and grabbed 12
rebounds, as the seventh-ranked
Gophers claimed a 87-75 victory over
Ohio State yesterday, and with it the
Big Ten Championship.
Minnesota went into the game with a
share of the title clinched, and the vic-
tory gave them the title outright. It's
their first conference championship
since 1972.
MINNESOTA finished the regular
season 22-5 overall and 14-4 in the con-
ference. the Buckeyes.finished 21-9 and
12-6.
It was a wide open game from the
opening tap, with Minnesota grabbing
the upper hand behind the shooting of
Breuer and swingman Trent Tucker.
Even though Ohio State shot a respec-
table 51 percent in the first half, the
Gophers shot a blistering 70 percent.
Breuer was 6 of 6 from the field and 6
of 6 from the free throw line in the first
half for 18 points, while Tucker scored
15. Tucker finished with 23. Those first-
half statistics all
build a 10-point le
six at intermissio
performance of Cl
In the second ha
pressure on, bui
early, and then n
State could never
forced to foul in th
Indiana 74, j
BLOOMINGTO
scored 17 points a
14 yesterday as
huge advantage a
beat Michigan St
second-place tie
ference basketbal
The Hoosiers'v
Purdue's 66-65 ups
champion Minne
over Ohio State,1
tie between Indian
for second place.
INDIANA HIT:
the first half en:
then broke the gs
dumPps OSU I
owed the Gophers to burst early in the second half. Thirteen
ad. Ohio State cut it to of those 19 points came at the foul line.
)n behind the 13-point For the game, the Hoosiers hit 38 of 47
lark Kellogg. free throws to only 10 of 15 for Michigan
alf Minnesota kept the State.
ilding its lead to 12 Kitchel's 17 points left him eight poin-
iever faltering. Ohio ts behind Purdue's Keith Edmonson for
cut it down and was the league scoring championship. Ed-
e closing minutes. monson also had 17 in the Boiler-
/i4*' .n St. 58 makers'victory over Iowa to finish with
man it, 5 a 20.6 average. Kitchel wound up with a
N (AP) - Ted Kitchel 20.1 average.
nd Tony Brown added Purdue 66, Iowa 65
Indiana, piling up a
at the free throw line, WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) -
ate 74-58 to finish in a Freshman forward Dan Palombizio hit
in the Big Ten Con- a free throw after time expired Satur-
lirace" day, lifting Purdue to a 66-65 upset of
'ictory, coupled with No. 11-ranked Iowa in their season-
set of Iowa and league ending Big Ten Conference basketball
sota's 87-75 victory game.
produced a three-way The Boilermakers, paced by Mike
a, Iowa and Ohio State Scearce with 19 points and Keith Ed-
.f rmonson with 17, rallied from nine points
13 of 16 free throws in down in the second half. Edmonson's
route to a 35-26 lead, last basket with a minute to go tied the
ame open with a 19-4, game at 65-65, then after Iowa stalled
for a last shot by Kenny Arnold,
Palombizio was fouled as he scram-
bled for the rebound.
THE FREE throw for the '6-foot-8
freshman was his only point of the
game.
The victory dropped the Hawkeyes to
20-7 for the season and 12-6 in the Big
Ten. Purdue finished at 11-7 in Big Ten
play and 14-13 overall, averting is first
losing season since 1966.
The Hawkeyes bolted from a three-
point halftime lead to a nine-point edge,
44-35, five minutes into the final period.
Iowa maintained an edge of 7-9 points
Ei Randy Breuer (4o) through the next five minutes before
o State forward Tony Scearce ignited Purdue's comeback
Hatch a rebound as
Kellogg (33) looks on. Illinois 85, N'western 65
ed Ohio State, 87-75, - CHAMPAIGN (AP) - Craig Tucker
h the Big Ten title, scored 19 points to lead a balanced at-
for title,
tack and Illinois roared to a 85-66 vic-
tory over Northwestern in a Big Ten
basketball finale yesterday.
Perry. Range added 17 to the Illini
total while James Griffin finished witl'
16 and Derek Harper 14. Jim Stack of
Northwestern led all scorers with 24
points.
FINAL
Big Ten Standings
Conf. Overall
Minnesota ..........
Iowa .............
Ohio State........
Indiana..........
Purdue .............
Illinois .............
Michigan State .....
MICHIGAN ........
Northwestern.....
Wisconsin........
W
14
12
12
12
41
10
6
6
4
3
L
4
6
6
6
7
8
12
12
14
15
W L
22 5
20 7
21 9
18 9
14 13
17 I1
11 17
7 9
8 19
6 20
Yesterday's Scores
MICHIGAN 91, Wisconsin 84
Illinois 85, Northwestern 65
Purdue 66, Iowa 65
Indiana 74, Michigan State 58
Minnesota 87, Ohio State 75
Illinois, expecting a bid to the
National Invitation Tournament,
finished the.regular season with a 10-8
record in the conference and 17-
overall while Northwestern closed at
14 and 8-19.
Northwestern's only lead came at 2-0
on a basket by Stack but the Illini, hit-
ting on their first five shots, went ahead
10-7. Led by Tucker and Harper, Illinis
shot ahead with leads of 26-15 and 28-17.
GOPHER CENTE
outstretches Ohi
Campbell to sn
Buckeye Clark K
Minnesota down
yesterday to clinc
SEnSp
:; .