BASKETBALL
continued from page 1
lead of their own. But when Mills
fouled out with 5:30 remaining and
Michigan leading 68-66, the
Wolverines hopes to beat No. 6
Arizona all but disappeared.
Mills had starred offensively
with 16 points despite playing only
21 minutes, six in the second half.
Any hope Michigan had
disintegrated when their other
experienced big man, Loy Vaught,
fouled out with the Wildcats leading
by two with 2:44 left.
"We felt if we could get one of
the two big guys in foul trouble
that it would hurt them because we
felt they only had three guys inside
that they could count on," Arizona
coach Lute Olson said. "The fact
that Mills only got 21 minutes was
certainly the key."
Michigan coach Steve Fisher,
who suffered his first loss as a head
coach after leading the Wolverines
to the national championship said,
"(Olson) had a game plan that was
to take the ball inside, to get
Michigan's big guys in foul
trouble. It worked. We did not do a
good job of stopping that. I did not
do a good enough job stopping it.
You stop in preparation and we
weren't prepared."
Rooks led a balanced Arizona
scoring attack with 20 points. Four
other Wildcats placed in double
figures - Jud Buechler (11), Matt
Othick (13), Williams (12) and
Wayne Womack (12).
Rumeal Robinson led all scorers
with 27 points.
"It's obvious that Rumeal
Robinson is an All-American,"
Olson said. "He makes you know
where he is all the time in your
defense and he's so strong when he
makes his drives - he's difficult to
deal with in the paint."
The Massachusetts native found
it tough to carry a team lacking its
inside game. Robinson hit his first
two free throws to give Michigan
its first lead at 12-11, and conjured
up images of the NCAA
championship game.
But after hitting his first two, he
shot only four of ten from the
charity stripe to go with 9-of-20
field goal shooting (3-11 on three-
pointers).
"We didn't work hard enough to
get the ball inside, "Fisher said. "I
don't know how many three-
pointers we threw up (20), but we
didn't make too many of them (5).
We were too quick to shoot the
three."
The Michigan Daily -- Sports Monday - November 27, 1989 - Page 5
/ Early-season loss
by Steven Cohen
Daily Basketball Writer
SPRINGFIELD, MA - Everyone knew that
Michigan's first loss under new coach Steve Fisher
would happen sooner or later. But when it did happen
it came suddenly and surprisingly.
Though they were facing a strong Arizona squad,
which has compiled a 64-7 record the past two
seasons, the fourth-ranked Michigan team was expected
to triumph over No. 6 Arizona. After all, they are the
defending national champions.
One early loss does nothing to diminish
Michigan's hopes of repeating as national champions.
"Every loss is disappointing," Michigan forward
Loy Vaught said. "This one is the same as the others.
But in a crazy way it might have been good to get it
(the loss) out of our system."
Arizona had purged themselves on November 9
against the Australian team. Wildcat coach Lute Olson
deliberately avoided playing his best players in order to
quell media speculation about his starting rotation.
Arizona, members of the AP top 10 the past 33
weeks, lost to the Aussies, 70-61.
Butch Henry, Arizona's Sports Information
Director, observed that Olson didn't care whether he
won or lost the game, hoping the experience would
"humble" his team.
Duly humbled, the Wildcats came out against
Michigan with great intensity and jumped out to a 46-
41 halftime lead with a never-abating fire in their eyes.
Following the Tip-off Classic, the Wolverines
understood that they will not repeat as national
champions unless they improve in certain areas. But
more than mere awareness, the Michigan players
seemed intent on making sure the necessary changes
occur.
Several Michigan weaknesses were exposed by
Arizona, and Olson explained his game plan.
"We tried to change things up defensively for them
so they never could get into a rhythm," he said. "We
changed from zone to man-to-man to shake them up.
(We planned) to get the big people in foul trouble; we
knew that if we could get them into foul trouble, it
would be to our benefit. We had to board. We couldn't
give them a lot of second shots."
Olson thought that Michigan will be able to
overcome these situations in the future. "Michigan is
primarily a man-to-man team. The team doesn't attack
the zone. I'm sure that Michigan will handle the zone
well as they play with it."
Fisher's use of the three-guard offense after his big
men got into foul trouble might be questioned.
Though Michael Talley and Demetrius Calip played
effectively, the unused James Voskuil, who scored 11
points on five-for-six shooting against Poland, might
have made a difference.
Honorably, Fisher accepted responsibility for the
loss and acknowledged he would study the films in an
effort to avoid future defeats.
Fisher said, "We told our kids after the game that
we played poorly with our inside defense, but it starts
at the top. I am the guy who has to get us prepared."
And maybe that will bring the Wolverines back to
season-ending form.
AP Photo
Rumeal Robinson watches as the ball, and the game, slip away from the
Wolverines Saturday. Robinson led the scoring with 27 points, only to
see Michigan's effort come up short in their 82-75 loss to Arizona.
Robinson and Co. hoping
Boston is home sweet home
Spartans finish off Michigan
and its 1-17 Big Ten season
by Steven Cohen
Daily Basketball Writer
BOSTON - Tonight in the
second game of Rumeal Robinson's
homecoming weekend, Michigan
takes the court against Boston
University on the parquet floor of
Boston Garden.
Robinson, who led Cambridge
Rindge & Latin high school to a
state championship in 1986, will
be reunited with the Terriers' coach
Mike Jarvis, who coached him in
high school.
The Terriers, 21-9 last season,
were picked by five of the seven
coaches in the North Atlantic
Conference to win the division
despite losing starting guards Tony
Dacosta and Jeff Timberlake. Senior
center Ron Moses and senior point
guard Steven Key lead the Terriers.
Moses was the NAC's leading
rebounder last season and Key is the
Terriers' leading returning scorer at
10.3 points per game.
BU defeated Indiana State, 73-
60, Saturday night as Moses scored
21 points and Key chipped in 17.
Playing a capable opponent and
having lost a game should inspire
Michigan.
"It won't be a game taken
lightly," Robinson said. "It will be
a heavily contested game. No one
likes to lose two in a row."
The hometown hero had an
entourage of 17 relatives and friends
at the game in Springfield.
by Theodore Cox
Daily Sports Writer
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EAST LANSING - Michigan
State served the ball into the center
of the Wolverine defense. Four
Michigan players converged at
once, forming a tight huddle. They
all reached out, only to tangle arms,
and watched the ball bounce
awkwardly between them.
That final error Wednesday
night, which gave Michigan State
(4-14) the match 8-15, 15-8, 15-7,
15-6, was a fitting finish to the
Wolverines' 1-17 Big Ten season.
In the opening game, the East
Lansing crowd witnessed Mich-
igan's competitive potential. The
Wolverines jumped out to an early
8-2 lead behind the strong serving
of middle hitter Kim Clover.
"They started out with really
tough serving," Spartan coach
Ginger Mayson said. "It wasn't so
much our passing, it was definitely
their serving. That really concerned
me because they were hitting our
primary passers and really abusing
them."
Michigan's whole offense seem-
ed to flow early on as their passing
and hitting connected for several
points.
"We were really fired up during
warm-up," Michigan outside hitter
Karen Marshall said. "I think going
into it knowing it's our last game
gave everyone that extra effort at
the start. There are times when we
just sort of click when we play
together; we're talking, we're mak-
ing eye contact. That happened
during warm-up, which led into the
first game, but after that we started
to break down."
Michigan first came apart when
Marshall and Carla Hunter collided
in the first game. Marshall badly
bruised her left hand, forcing her to
the sideline for some ice.
The typical Michigan mistakes
returned for the duration of the
evening. Fumbled passes and miss-
ed service returns set up several
Spartan kills by Kristine Bailey and
Becky Belanger, who combined for
33 spikes.
The Spartans' blocking game
also came on strong in the last two
games - led by Dawn Andrews,
who finished with six block assists.
"Our communication broke
down, we didn't receive-serve as
aggressively as we did the first
game and that pretty much did it,"
Hunter said.
Michigan coach Joyce Davis
agreed. "Once again we had diff-
iculty executing, executing."
The defensive play of Mich-
igan's Clover kept Michigan in the.
match. She had four block solos to
unofficially tie her for the-
Wolverine career blocking record at
104 with fellow senior Hunter.
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IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATIONAL SPORTS
Wrestling Meet
Fraternity, Residence Hall, All Campus
Tuesday, November 28, 1989, 11 am - 4:30 pm
Intramural Sports Building
Ice Hockey
All Campus
Tuesday, December 5, 1989, 11 am - 4:30 pm
Intramural Sports Building
Ice Hockey Officials Clinic
All Campus
Wednesday, December 6, 1989,6:30 pm
Intramural Sports Building
Visit your Intramural or Recreational Sports
Department and sign up today!
General Motors is proud to be associated with your campus intramural recreational sports and activities.