Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Sunday, March 10, 1985 Knight next on Blue hit list By STEVE WISE It's kind of an interesting twist for the Wolverines to end their 1985 basketball season against the Indiana Hoosiers today. Actually it might be better called an interesting rotation since that's what the two teams have done since their last meeting, the Big Ten season opener in January. You remember. That was the game in which the Big Red Machine gave notice, in the form of a nationally televised 25-point slaughter, that it was indeed a contender for the Big Ten title. THAT WAS the game in which Uwe Blab showed who was boss among Big Ten centers, -pouring in 31 points and making Roy Tarpley and his 12 points look silly. That was the game after which Bill Frieder explained how much work it would take for his Wolverines to go anywhere this season. If you don't remember, Michigan forward Richard Rellford can remind you. "I THINK Indiana embarrassed us here," said the 6-6 junior, "and Bob- by (Knight) knew that he embarrassed us." Two months and 15 conference wins later, Michigan has banished all other contenders for the Big Ten title and is completing the best season in its history. Eight conference losses, countless different lineups and about as many Bobby brouhahas later, Indiana is finishing up its first losing conference season since Knight took over. ONCE TODAY'S game is over, Michigan will officially receive its NCAA tournament bid, while the Hoosiers may pick up early invite to the off-season. As if it hasn't been an off-season for the Hoosiers already. Everyone's eyes followed the famous chair as it slid across the floor of Assembly Hall, so they seem not to have noticed as In- diana slid into five losses in its last six outings. Four of those, like the chair, were on the home court. Those losses leave the Hoosiers at 7-9 in the Big Ten and 15-12 overall. In- diana would not have done even that well without two players, Blab and Steve Alford, who usually account for half the Hoosiers' offense. BUT BLAB HAS recently played below this season's par (about 16 per game) and more like the not-quite ten- point-per-game player his career stats show him to be. In the past four games Blab has scored more than ten just on- ce, and has generally struggled. The Wolverines will likely try to make Blab's last game as a Hoosier forgettable by throwing Butch Wade at him defensively. Wade has developed into an excellent defensive specialist since the Indiana debacle, and he thinks he's ready to slay the 7-2 monster from Munich. "I can spin him one way or another, and Tarpley with the long arms can block him or at least distract him a lit- tle," Wade said. WHILE BLAB has drifted toward his true level, Alford has fallen well below his. And the 6-2 guard's demise has probably dragged Indiana down with him. A nearly 60 percent shooter last year, Alford has come up with such pitiful performances lately as three-of-14 against Illinois and three-of-12 against Purdue two weeks ago, and two-of-12 against Michigan State Thursday. All that has reduced the Olympian's efficiency to about 45 percent from the field, but Alford's 17 points per game Daily Photo by STU WEIDENBACH Roy Tarpley, shown here trying to go over Hoosier's Uwe Blab and Todd Meier in January, hopes to lead Michigan to its first victory ever at Assem- bly Hall today. NCAA ROUNDUP: Scrapping Hoyas leave no doubt NEW YORK (AP) - Top-ranked Georgetown, despite getting only 18 minutes of playing time from All-America center Patrick Ewing because of foul trouble, defeated second-ranked St. John's 92-80 last night to win the Big East Conference tournament title for the fourth time in six years. The defending NCAA champion Hoyas will carry a 12-game winning streak and a 30-2 record into the NCAA basketball playoffs next waeek. The Redmen, regular-season Big East winners, were beaten for the second time by the Hoyas in 10 days and dropped to 27-3. The game was marred by five technical fouls, two each against the head coaches, John Thompson of Georgetown and Lou Carnesecca of St. John's - all in the first half. With 7:16 remaining in the second half, reserve Ron Rowan of St. John's and Reggie Williams of Georgetown were ejected for scuffling. Michael Jackson led five Georgetown players in double figures with 19 points, followed by Bill Martin with 18 and David Wingate with 17. Georgetown never trailed, leading 47-40 at half- time, and by as much as 14 points in the second half when the Hoyas built their lead to 78-64 on Martin's three-point play with 8:03 remaining. The closest St. John's could get after that was 84-76 on Chris Mullin's field goal and two free throws with 2:40 left. The score was tied at 26 and 28, but after that the Hoyas led the rest of the way. N. Carolina 57, N. Carolina State 51 ATLANTA (AP) - Kenny Smith scored five poin-- ts in the final minute to pace sixth-ranked North Carolina to a 57-51 victory over No. 18 North Carolina State yesterday, sending the Tar Heels into the Atlan- tic Coast Conference championship against Georgia Tech today. North Carolina, making its 15th appearance in the ACC title game, took the lead for good on a Steve Hale jumper with 3:05 left to play at 48-46.. Smith, who led North Carolina with 16 points, then cemented the victory with three free throws and a dunk in the final 33 seconds. Spud Webb, who scored 12 first half points, led Nor- th Carolina State, 20-9, with 13, hitting only a free throw in the closing minutes. The Tar Heels, 24-7, trailed 23-22 at halftime but broke out on top early in the second half and took the lead at/32-28 after a six-point run capped by Brad Daugherty's turn-around jumper with 15 minutes left. Auburn 53, Alabama 49 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Gerald White hit two free throws with 10 seconds remaining in overtime and Frank Ford had a dunk at the buzzer as Auburn edged Alabama 53-49 yesterday to capture the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. The victory for the emotion-driven Tigers, playing their final season under Coach Sonny Smith, gave them the SEC's automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA championship tournament. It was the fourth victory in as many days for the Tigers, making them the first team since the SEC renewed its postseason event in 1979 to claim the title after playing a first-round game. Georgia Tech 75, Duke 64 ATLANTA (AP) - Mark Price scored 24 points to lead a quartet of Georgia Tech scorers in double figures as the top-seeded and ninth-ranked Yellow Jackets knocked off No. 7 Duke 75-64 yesterday to reach the finals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Tech, which will be making its first ever appearan- ce in the title game, will meet No. 6 North Carolina. Tech, 23-7 led 32-26 at half-time but Duke, 22-7, behind the hot-shooting Jay Bilas and Johnny Dawkins, finally caught the Yellow Jackets and went ahead 42-41 on a Dawkins' jumper with 11:02 remaining. Tech's Bruce Dalrymple, however, knocked in a 15 foot jumper to give the, Yellow Jackets the lead for good 24 seconds later. Duke made another run to within 53-51 on a layin by Bilas before Price knocked in a pair of free throws with 5:01 left and Yvon Joseph and John Salley followed with baskets for a 59-51 edge. Memphis State 90, Florida State 86 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Baskerville Holmes pumped in 24 points, including a retrieve of a missed shot at the end of regulation, as fifth-ranked Memphis State needed an overtime period to outlast a deter- mined Florida State 90-86 in the championship game of the Metro Conference basketball tournament yesterday. Memphis State, 26-3, scored the first five points of the extra period on a 3-point play by center William Bedford and a short jumper by guard Andre Turner to take an 81-76 lead. Florida State, 14-16, could come no closer than three points the rest of the extra period. Memphis State had to go the extra period without their star Keith Lee, who fouled out with 1:21 left in regulation. Wichita State 84, Tulsa 82 TULSA, Okla. (AP) - With Xavier McDaniel powering in 34 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, Wichita State outlasted a furious Tulsa rally to upend the No. 15 Hurricane 84-82 for the championship of the Missouri Valley Conference postseason basketball tournament yesterday. The victory gives the Shockers, 18-12, the league's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Tulsa fell to 23-7 and also expects an NCAiA invitation. The Shockers broke open a close game late in the contest with a 13-2 run that staked them to a 78-63 ad- vantage. Wichita State still had an 82-68 lead with 2:50 left when the Hurricane mounted a final charge. Tulsa's Steve Harris, who bombed 37 points - 24 in the second half - picked up a loose ball in the midst of a scramble on a Wichita State inbounds play in the closing seconds, but his off-balance shot bounced off the rim and bounded out of bounds as the buzzer sounded. Associated Pr St. John's center Bill Wennington holds the ball away from Georgetown cen- ter Patrick Ewing in first half action at Madison Square Garden last night. Ewing saw limited * time, but the Hoyas prevailed, 92-80. BIG TEN ROUND UP: Illini cruise past Gophers CHAMPAIGN (UPI) - Ken Norman, a reserve who has started the last two games because of injuries to No. 14 Illinois' bench, scored 20 points yester- day to help the Illini secure second place in the Big Ten with an 82-56 thrashing of Minnesota. Illinois, which ran its home winning streak to 24, improved to 24-8 overall and 12-6 in the conference - good for sole possession of second place. Min- nesota fell to 13-15 and 5-12 in failing to give Coach Jim Dutcher his 300th career win. Doug Altenberger scored 15, Anthony Welch added 12 and Bruce Douglas, who had a school-record 13 assists, had 10 for Illinois. The Illini took a 35-24 halftime lead after trailing 4-1 early in the game and being tied at 11. The Illini extended the lead in the second half to 43-31 when Norman put in a missed shot by Tony Wysinger. Norman, who has scored in double 82-56 The 5-11 Stokes gave the Buckeyes some breathing room with a pair of baskets within a 21-second period late in the contest. Stokes' two baskets, the second coming on a steal and dunk, put Ohio State up 74-66 and the Buckeyes, who had struggled most of the game, never led by less than four the rest of the way. Sam Vincent, the Big Ten's leading scorer, Scott Skiles and Ken Johnson, kept the Spartans in contention. Vin- cent finished with 27 points before he fouled out with 1:08 to play, Johnson had 20 and Skiles 19. Three other Buckeyes were in double figures: Brad Sellers, Dave Jones and Dennis Hopson, all with 14 each. Wisconsin 61, N'western 53 MADISON (AP) - Rick Olson scored 20 points as Wisconsin jumped to a quick 8-0 lead and held on to beat last place Northwestern 61-53 in a Big Ten Michigan's Omar Davidson became All-American last night as he place sixth inUtheA400ymeters a~t the CAA 'i 1 . w. ANIQ Mlww