r_, Men's basketball vs. Iowa Tonight, 9 p.m. Crisler Arena SPORTS Men's swimming and diving vs. Oakland Today, 2:00 p.m. Matt Mann pool Page 7 - -- - The Michigan Daily Saturday, January 19, 1985 Hot Hawks to harass 'M' By TIM MAKINEN Don't look for any 40-point blowouts tonight. For that mat- ter, this game might be a toss-up. The Wolverines, coming off a spectacular 97-56 victory 'Thursday night against Minnesota, take on the much- improved and highly-explosive Iowa Hawkeyes tonight at Crisler Arena. THE HAWKEYES (3-1 Big Ten, 14-3 overall) are currently perched atop the Big Ten with Indiana, after soundly defeating Michigan State Thursday night, 79-66. Iowa's early season success marks quite a turnaround from last season when the highly-touted Hawkeyes collapsed and finished with a miserable 6-12 conference record. "I'm still not sure how good we are," said second-year Iowa coach George Raveling. "We're still in our discovery stage. It's good to be one of the hunters instead of being hun- t ted like last year. . Fronting the Hawkeyes will be the "Twin Towers," Greg Stokes and Michael Payne, now approaching legendary status in Iowa City as they battle in their fourth and final year as starters. AT 6-10 AND 641, respectively, Stokes and Payne make their presence known both under the boards and on the score board. Stokes paces the conference in scoring with a 21.3 average, having torched the nets for 27 points against the Spartans. Payne carries a respectable 7.8 ppg average while the pair is tied for fourth in the league in rebounding, each player pulling down an average of 9.5 boards per game. Their inspired play symbolizes Iowa's revitalization this season. "There's a 300 percent improvement in attitude this year," said Payne. Added Stokes, "Everybody is just more used to the system. Last year it seemed as if everybody had to go back to their freshman year. (Raveling) stressed defense to the point that...offense never came around. Now he knows what to ex- pect from us, and we know what to expect from him." AIDING THE Iowa cause will be forward Gerry Wright, a 6-8 transfer from USC. Wright, whom Payne said "will just jump right out of the gym," sports a 9.8 scoring average and 7.5 rebounds per game in the conference. Remarkably, the Hawkeye frontline could be even more imposing except that Raveling decided to redshirt 7-0 junior Brad Lohaus. "When you can take a seven-footer who was a starter, and not only just put him on the bench but redshirt him, you have to have a quality frontline," said Michigan mentor Bill Frieder. "Iowa is a great rebounding team. (We) have to work like the devil to not let them get those second and third shots." While the Michigan forwards will definitely have their hands full under the boards, the Wolverines should have an advantage at the guard position. Raveling admits that his guards are only average, although senior Todd Berkenpas did single-handedly lead a strong comeback against Michigan last year at Crisler. The Wolverines ultimately prevailed, 53-49, after leading by as much as 17 points. TEAMING UP with Berkenpas will be junior Andre Banks who replaces injured teammate Jeff Moe. Moe, described by Raveling as a "poor man's Pete Rose," suffered a bruised heel prior to the Michigan State game but may see some ac- tion tonight. The contest marks a crucial point in the season for both squads. A loss for Michigan could stick the Wolverines in the middle of the Big Ten quagmire, whereas a victory could only build the momentum Michigan has gained in its last two games. The same applies for Iowa which doesn't want to fall behind Indiana with a setback at Michigan. Since both teams are coming off big victories, neither ap- pears to have a psychological edge. At the moment, this game appears too close to call. Daily Photo by STU WEIDENBACH Michigan center Roy Tarpley goes up for two as Minnesota's Kevin Smith (33) and Mark Wilson (24) trail the play in ac- tion from Thursday night. Wade, Stoyko fan clubs... ...bring fun back to Crider As Butch Wade put in a lay-up with 9:42 remaining Thursday night to put Michigan up by 29, the Butch Wade Fan Club came to their collective feet and waved their 'M' towels for the final time. The hoop capped off a 12-point, 13- rebound effort for the popular forward. A victory over Minnesota had long sin- ce been put in the bag. Two minutes later, a chant of "Stoyko, Stoyko" began rippling through what remained of the crowd of 11,482. The 6-9 freshman entered the contest at the 6:53 mark and proceeded to give the fans what they were looking for-a couple of fouls, two sprawling flips across the floor, and a charge into the basket support. Boy, aren't 41-point wins fun? Wade's best effort of the Big Ten season gave Chris Yurko, Ted Ketchum, and John Furkioti a lot to cheer about. Those three form the heart of the club, which currntly has a membership of about 50, according to Furkioti, who founded the club. "I've been a big Butch Wade fan since he was a freshman," said Furkioti, a junior from Ann Arbor. "We started with about 13 guys sitting together and it's spread through our whole area." When asked why the 6-8 Bostonian is the target of their affection, the club members chime in with a variety of responses. "He hustles", "He's all over the court", "He takes control of the game", "He's always giving 110 percent." Stoyko One can tell how devoted these guys are by bringing up the weakest aspect of their hero's game, his foul shooting. "It's improved. He's worked on it," said Ketchum of Wade, who was two of two from the line last night but entered the Minnesota game with a ridiculous 50 per- cent success rate. "You can tell how much he's concen-. trating (at the line)," added Yurko, a freshman from Yale, Michigan. "That's the way Butch is. He's putting in so much Wade effort." Ketchum, a senior from Birmingham, is considering a touch that might remind some veteran fans of the days of Leo Brown. "We're thinking about getting t-shirts that say Butch Wade Fan Club on them," he said. Wade appreciates the support. "It helps. It gives me encouragement," said the soft-spoken big guy after his effort against Minnesota. "I acknowledge them before the game." And the Butch Wade Fan Club is thrilled with the acknowledgement. "He winked at us!" they said in unison. Stoyko continues to provide a note of humor to a tight conference race. When Bill Frieder called him over to put him in the game, the Bay Village, Ohio native turned around to see who was chanting his name. "I had no idea," Stoyko said. "It's probably people I've met somewhere." While Stoyko is learning how to be a Big Ten forward, he provides the fans with a lot of laughs. Thirty-five seconds after entering the contest, Stoyko h.~a~ air am mittd nnA rI c naui. NP U did Am 2tiann nth -nin m m