4 Hall of Fame Bowl tickets still available Michigan Ticket Department Corner of State of HooverI The Michigan Daily SPORTS Tuesday, December 8, 1987 Men's basketball vs. Austin Peay Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Crisler Arena Page 8 .- * 'W; f ull court M' gets revenge with first-half explosion 4 SI Blue batters Broncos, p S Defense keys M' victory By PETE STEINERT In the opening minutes of last night's game at Crisler Arena, Western Michigan's Steve Riikonen fed Tony Baumgardt for an uncontested dunk to tie the game, 2-2. After the basket Riikonen ran down the court with a raised clenched fist a la Detroit Piston Dennis Rodman. It was a little too early to do any celebrating. In the first half, Michigan proceeded to blow out the Broncos, 113- 66, due in large part to a dominating Wolverine defense. That's right, defense. Sure, the offense racked up a season-high total in points, but right from the start the defense created opportunity after opportunity. Michigan rarely allowed Western more than one shot per possession. For the game the Wolverines out-rebounded Western, 45- 27. Defensive rebounds constantly led to fast breaks and some awesome display of passing. Twice guard Rumeal Robinson fed buddy Terry Mills for a slam dunk. The first one Robinson passed the ball behind him through his legs. The next one was behind the back. "I knew Terry was coming," said Robinson confidently of the first pass to Mills. Even J.P. Oosterbaan got into the act with a over-the-shoulder pass to Glen Rice for a layup late in the first half. "Once they got their rhythm and tempo on the fast break, there wasn't a hell of lot we could do," said Bronco head coach Vernon Payne. Along with his game-high 33 points, Rice shadowed Western's leading scorer Eli Parker the entire game. Parker, who entered the game with a 25.3 scoring average, shot just one-of-eight in the game's first 20 minutes. Parker finished with just seven points. "We wanted to stop that Baumgardt inside, and we we wanted to stop Parker on the perimeter," said Michigan head coach Bill Frieder. Rice had a lot of help, too. In fact that's been the key to the Wolverines' defense so far this season - their help defense. "Our help defense inside is a lot better," Frieder said. "Mills is significantly improved defensively than he was two weeks ago., Michigan's active man-to-man defense often double and triple teamed Bronco players under the basket. One would swear that it had more than five players on the court. The backcourt duo of Robinson and Gary Grant was a nemesis all night, combining for five steals (four by Robinson) and 23 assists (a team record 14 by Grant). So though the game started on a positive note for the Broncos, Payne could find nothing to be happy about by post-game press conference time. Well, he did find something. "I get to leave Crisler Arena in about a half hour." By SCOTT SHAFFER It was payback time at Crislet Arena last night, and the Wolverines repaid Western Michigan with inter- est. Michigan crushed the Broncos 113-66, avenging last year's loss and setting several school records in the process. Gary Grant dished out 14 assists to set a single-game record. The senior guard also became Michigan's career assist leader, sur- passing Antoine Joubert's total of 539. The 37 assists tallied by the team set a new standard as well. Glen Rice led all scorers with 32, 'connecting on 14 of 16 shots, while the team as a whole shot 68 percent, 51-for-75. For Rice, the victory was espe- cially satisfying due to his poor showing in last year's 62-59 victory by Western. "I felt embarrassed be- cause we shouldn't have lost to them last year. We took it out on them this year," said Rice, who scored just two points on one-for-10 shooting in that game. Terry Mills scored 19 points and tied Rice for the team lead with seven rebounds. Grant added 16 points, and Sean Higgins chipped in with a career-high 15 off the bench. Greg Rapp led all Bronco scorers with 15, while Eli Parker was held to just seven, more than 18 below his season average. Michigan never trailed, taking a 10-2 lead at the outset of the game. But the team really heated up in the final seven minutes of the first half. With the defense completely shut- ting down the Broncos and the of- fense on fire, Western was outscored 25-2 going into the locker room. "Once they got their tempo and rhythm on the fast break, there wasn't a hell of a lot we could do to slow them down," said Western head coach Vernon Payne. Despite the excessive score, Payne did not feel that the Wolver- ines were trying to rub anything in. "They ran the break down our throats and executed on the half-court. You can't tell kids to stop playing, so I don't think they tried to run the score up," he said. "We made our free throws and everything we shot went in, so you end up with that kind of game," said Michigan coach Bill Frieder. Frieder left Grant in the game long enough to get the single-game assist mark. "There's no guy deserv- ing of all the assist records more than Gary Grant. He's been an un- selfish, great player here," said Frieder. The play of Rumeal Robinson was yet another bright spot. The sophomore guard had eight points and nine assists, including one that brought the 12,101 fans in atten- 113-66 dance to their feet. Robinson drove the lane and went up for a layup, but instead of shooting the ball, he passed it backwards between his legs to a trailing Mills for the slam. The team's .680 field goal per- centage was a Crisler Arena record, and the Wolverines second-best shooting performance ever, behind last year's .692 clip against Alaska Anchorage. Daily Photo by ROBIN LOZNAK Michigan's Loy Vaught dunks the ball in the first half of the Wolverines' 113-66 rout of Western Michigan last night at Crisler Arena. Michigan shot 68 percent from the floor, their second best percentage in history. ti c'mon... thursday's classes aren't a ill that importantA IS s v1 0 4>A)0 wJam 4: b 'I AU RC l6 Stand Up Comedy Attention Students!! The Office of Minority Affairs Open Forum Series presents 'Fireside Chat" a gtiv or ''O O * . a i.p 4a 4 b,, o '< 90, ' Gam' p n Swimmers cruise to victory By TAYLOR LINCOLN Michigan coasted to an expected victory last weekend, winning more than two-thirds of the events in the four team EMU Swimming Invitational. Newcomer breaststroker Mike Barrowman lived up to pre-season billing, winning the 400-yard IM and qualifying for the NCAAs in the 200-yard breaststroke. Brent Lang won two events, the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, and led his team to victory in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Mike Creaser won the 100-yard backstroke, and Marty Moran won the 200-yard butterfly. Lang, Creaser, and Moran teamed up with senior Jan-Erick Olsen to win the 400-yard medley relay. Michigan's Mike Creaser, Alex Alvizuri, and Dave Goch, placed first through third in the 100-yard backstroke. Alvizuri, Wilkening, and Goch finished first through third in the 200-yard backstroke as well. Michigan head coach J o n Urbanchek singled out his backstrokers as the bright spot. "The backstrokers as a unit all swam well," he said. "For the rest of the team it was pretty par for this time of the year." The Wolverines also dominated the diving competition. Lee Michaud, Bill Hayes, Tim Petsche, and Rob Silverman swept the top four spots in one meter diving (in respective order). The same four finished in the top five at three meters, with Hayes and Michaud finishing first and second respectively. Welcome Students! - DISTINCTIVE COLLEGIATE HAIRSTYLING for Men & Women - 6 HAIRSTYUSTS DASCOLA STYLISTS presents comedian .MARTY MICOLI ** -* HALL OF FAME BOWL 'The Sunshine Express" TAMPA, FLORIDA 12/28/87-1/3/88 From $259.00 Quad Occupancy 0 .hn rn..ivcmA nw'e.n o Dr. Charles D. Moody Vice Provost for Minority Affairs Date: Place: Time: Tuesday December 8, 1987 Kuenzel Room, Michigan Union 3:00-3:30 p.m. Reception 3:30-4:45 p.m. Forum