Women's Basketball vs. Minnesota Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. Crisler Arena The Michigan Daily __ SPORTS Hockey vs.RPI Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. Yost Ice Arena Page 7 Thursday, January 16, 1986 Wolverines wary of gasping Gophers By TOM KEANEY "How many of you guys have been written by a former President before?" asked Bill Frieder to open lffs press conference on Tuesday. "Gerald Ford wrote me today." ALL IN A day's work for Frieder. Four years ago in the dark years of Michigan basketball, a letter of en- couragement from a former president of the United States would have been the highlight of the season. This year Ford is just another well- wisher. "THAT'S NICE of him, isn't it?" asked Frieder. "I wish he'd let me use his condo or something." Yes, the Wolverines are truly in the big time, and the "ordinary" oc- currance of a presidential letter is proof. The big guys have become really big. Frieder won't even let reporters near them during the week. He knows. The bigger you get, the harder that fall comes. The coach is just trying to keep his team from get- ting too big. Take tonight's game against Min- nesota at Minneapolis. The Gophers are pushovers, the worst team in the Big Ten. They haven't won a league game yet. BUT FRIEDER knows that big teams with unblemished records are highly visible targets for league doormats - even Minnesota. "Minnesota is struggling a little," said Frieder, "but I know from way back that when a league leader comes into town, it's a way of getting your team back together to come up with a great performance." "I GUESS they're 12 to 15 point favorites," said Gopher coach Jim Dutcher. "But this is our first home game after being on the road for our first three. "We'll be up for this game." Minnesota does have its problems. It begins with Mitchell Lee, the sophomore forward who has been in court the past ten days from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., according to Dutcher, defending against sexual assault charges. ALTHOUGH cleared Tuesday, he hasn't practiced during that time and will be replaced tonight by 6-9 George Williams. "We haven't been a very good rebounding team," said Dutcher. "We need Lee for that. But the main thing is that we've just shot the ball so poorly." Most of that poor shooting has come from the guard tandem of Todd Alexander and Marc Wilson. They have been extremely erratic, but either member is capable of going on a tear. MINNESOTA even had trouble from its proven commodities. Bir- mingham Brother Rice graduate John Shasky, perhaps the only legitimate pivot man in the Big Ten at 7-0, is averaging only 14 points per game. Containing him will be a major facet just doesn't work that way," Frieder said. "LAST YEAR we were sneaking up on people, but they're preparing for us differently now. "We need that killer instinct to put teams away." The Wolverines are riding a 16- game winning streak and are looking for their 20th consecutive victory in the Big Ten. Therefore, Michigan doesn't have to prove its consistency. But the Wolverines cannot afford to take Minnesota lightly. If nothing else, a loss might put Frieder off the ex-President's mailing list. Gopher cager Lee Ford ... Frieder's pen pal of the Wolverines' game plan tonight. "It's been tough for them, but it's nothing a couple of wins at home wouldn't solve," said Frieder. "That's what concerns me. They're going to be juiced up." Frieder's concern might seem a lit- tle excessive in light of the teams' comparative records and talent. But last year's experience wards him away from overconfidence against Minnesota. The Wolverines beat the Gophers at home by 41 points only to later steal a close one at Minneapolis, 66-64. "People expect us just to walk on the floor and blow someone out, but it cleared of MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) - A Hen-I nepin County District Court Juryf Tuesday night found University of Minnesota basketball player MitchI Lee innocent of third-degree criminalE sexual assault in the rape of a female university student. The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated three hours before retur-I ning its verdict before Judge Robert Schiefelbein. The courtroom erupted into cheers when the verdict was read and Lee hugged his mother, girlfriend, friends and U of M assistant coach Jimmy Williams. AS LEE left the Hennepin County Government Center, he only said "I'm happy, I'm happy. That's all." The 21-year-old sophomore forward has not practiced or played with the Gophers since the trial began Jan. 6. He is expected to remain at Min- nesota and resume practice with the team. Williams said Lee had lost weight during the trial and was not ingame shape. He was not expected to play in tonight's Big Ten game against rape rap Michigan, the Gophers' first con- ference home game. DEFENSE attorney Phillip Resnick had contended the woman engaged in consensual sex with Lee. The 20-year-old woman testified last week that Lee showed up early in the morning of Jan. 23 at her room in Cen- tennial Hall, insisting she allow him in to talk. She said he then raped her. During Monday's questioning, Resnick repeatedly asked the woman why she sat down on her bed with Lee and didn't scream or leave the dorm room after he made his first pass at her. "I believed that after I told him no' and he let me up, that would be it," she said. Think You're Pregnant? Free Pregnancy Test Completely Confidential Pregnancy Counseling Center 529 N. Hewitt, Ypsilanti Call: 434-3088 (any time) Daily Photo by DAN HABIB Minnesota center John Shasky shoots over Wolverine Rich Rellford in last year's 97-56 Wolverine victory. Rellford and Michigan look to im- prove their 16-game winning streak in Minneapolis tonight. Indiana tops Buckeyes, 69-66 BLOOMINGTON (AP) - Steve Alford had 32 points as Indiana, snap- ping a seven-game Big Ten home losing streak, defeated Ohio State 69- 66 last night. The Hoosiers led by as much as 12 points in the second half when Daryl Thomas hit a layup to make it 27-15 With 7:28 to go. OHIO STATE closed to within two points several times, the last on a driving layup by Curtis Wilson that made it 66-64 with 23 seconds left. Alford then hit two free throws and Ohio State committed an error. Alford, up at the line again, hit the fir- st of a one-and-one to make it 69-64 with eight seconds left. Brad Sellers made a layup at the buzzer to get the last shot in for the Buckeyes. Thomas added 15 points, 20 in the second half, for Ohio State and Wilson added 11 and Dennis Hopson 10 for the Buckeyes, now 9-5 overall and also 3-2 in the Big Ten. Hopson, who's averaged 23 points, was held to four by Winston Morgan in the first half. The Buckeyes shot only 38 percent from the field before the intermission. jumper to cut the gap to 69-68. But Wingate scored the Hoyas' final four points, including two clinching free throws with two seconds left, to help Georgetown hand Syracuse its first defeat of the season. Reggie Williams scored 17 points for the Hoyas, 12-4 and 3-2 in the Big East. Rafael Addison led Syracuse, 13-1 and 4-1, with 16 points. GEORGETOWN, which never led in the first half, went on top for the first time when a Dalton layup gave the Hoyas a 37-36 lead with 16:50 remaining. The teams then traded baskets until Georgetown's Ronnie Highsmith scored six straight points, igniting a 10-2 scoring spree that enabled the Hoyas to take their biggest lead of the game, 54-48. The Orangemen then climbed back into the game when Addison scored five straight points to knot the score at 58-58 with six minutes left. Both teams started slowly. It took Georgetown nearly four minutes to get on the scoreboard, but Syracuse managed only five points during that span. St. John's 74, Seton Hall 58 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Walter Berry overcame a box-and- one defense to score 20 points and nin- th-ranked St. John's limited Seton Hall to 14 points in the final 13 minutes, beating the Pirates 74-58 in a Big East Conference basketball game last night. The victory was the 16th in 18 games for the Redmen and raised their con- ference record to 4-1. It was the sixth straight loss for Seton Hall, now 9-8 overall and 0-4 in the league. St. John's built a 48-36 lead early in the second half, but the Pirates came back with an 8-2 surge to cut the lead to 50-44 with 13:12 to go. That was as close as they would get. The Redmen went on a 14-4 run with Willie Glass and Ron Rowan scoring four points apiece. Rowan scored 15 points in the game, while teammate Shelton Jones had 13 and Glass had 10. Daryll Walker topped Seton Hall with 16 points. Andre McCloud added 12. Devils 4, Red Wings 3 (OT) DETROIT (AP) - Tim Higgins scored his sixth goal of the season 1:23 into overtime last night to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 National Hockey League victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Higgins took a pass from Greg Adams near the Detroit blue line, skated wide to the left of the Detroit net and beat Red Wings' netminder Eddie Mio with a 20-foot backhander for the game winner. THE DEVILS wiped out a 2-0 Detroit lead with three goals ina 4:04 span in the second period. Paul Gagne took a. pass from Adams and beat Mio from close range to begin the spurt at 8:55. Adams con- verted a rebound on a power play. 1:12 later to tie the score 2-2 and Mark Johnson's 50-foot slapshot with 2:01 remaining gave the Devils a 3-2 lead. BIVOUAC'S PRE-INVENTORY CLEARANCE FALL & WINTER MERCHANDISE Rent a Car from Econo-Car 20-50%O~ OPEN 7 DA YS A WEEK . % OFF WE RENT TO 19 YR. 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