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 :; .