Page 12-The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, February 14, 1990 BSKaALLNEaaOaaO BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK Spartan wins player of week by Steven Cohen Daily Sports Writer Michigan State's Kirk Manns, the conference's leading scorer at 20.8 points per game, earned the conference player of the week award. Manns, who scored 30 points Mon- day night at Iowa, tied a Big Ten record for three-pointers with eight. Manns has connected on a league- leading 50 percent of his shots from three-point land, nailing 44 of 88 trifectas. "We're very pleased for Kirk," Spartan coach Jud Heathcote said. "He's a guy who worked to make himself a good player, not a great player, but a great shooter. There are a lot of great shooters sitting at the end of the bench." 'PEP' ADDS SPARK TO SPARTANS: At the beginning of the season, Heathcote said his team's hopes would ride on Mike Pep- lowski. Without the 6'10", 270- pound Peplowski, Heathcote said the team would resemble a doughnut - a team with no center. Yesterday, Heathcote spoke about the oft-injured 6'10", 270-pound center from Warren DeLaSalle High School. "We're elated over Mike Peplowski. The last two games he's taken up space on defense and has been in the right place at the right time on offense," Heathcote said. WELCOME TO THE JUN- GLE: Minnesota's Williams Arena is widely viewed as one of the toughest places to play at in the country. On Thursday, Michigan tra- vels to the Gophers' home turf, where Minnesota has won 25 of its last 26 home games. The other coaches sympathized with Michigan coach Steve Fisher's task. "It's mainly the floor. You go in with a different perspective," Wis- consin coach Steve Yoder said. "It's just not on the same level, you're looking down into the bench. I know you people who know every- thing will say that the floor is still 94 feet and the basket is still 10 feet high, but it is a tough place to play." Added Heathcote: "I said for us, the two toughest places are (Pur- due's) Mackey Arena and Williams Arena because of the raised floor. We do a lot of communicating from the bench." He likened the bench to a "dugout at a baseball game." BIG TEN BIDS TO TOUR- NAMENT: Three teams have a legit- imate shot at the conference crown - Purdue at 9-2, Michigan State at 9-3 and Michigan at 8-3. Illinois at 7-5, Minnesota at 6-5 and Indiana with a 5-6 slate all are expected to make the NCAA tournament. Purdue plays four of its next seven games at home while MSU has four of its -- Manns q AA next six at the Breslin 'They (MSU) two of the guards in the co in Smith and Man -Lou H Illinois Leauge coaches seem to f Spartans in the Big Ten chas "Michigan State is pla good ball as anybody in the Illinois coach Lou Hens "They have two of the grey Center. in the country in Smith and Manns, and they're not only winning on the haveroad, they're winning big." have Added Purdue coach G e n e great Keady: "With their schedule, Mich- untry igan State has to be favored." Ins...0 ROAD WORRIERS: North- enson western, which plays at Illinois to- coach night, has lost 34 consecutive game on the road, and that's starting to get to coach Bill Foster. avor the "I was glad somebody asked se. (about the winless streak) because I aying as haven't heard it since about ten league," minutes," Foster said. "It certainly is on said, a great concern. It's been difficult to t guards handle." WRESTLING NOTEBOOK Lehrke earns Big Ten honors for January by Jeff Sheran Daily Sports Writer Junior co-captain Fritz Lehrke (190 lbs.) captured Big Ten wrestler of the month honors for January. During the month, Lehrke compiled an 8-0 record, including two pins, a technical fall, and three major decisions. Lehrke boasts a 28-6-1 record this season (9-0-1 in dual meets), while maintaining his No. 6 national ranking throughout the dual meet season. "Fritz is everything I could want in a captain," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "He doesn't get down on himself and always thinks of the team first. (The awards) are well-deserved." "I didn't even know I won until (basketball player Mike) Griffin told me the other day," Lehrke said. "It's kind of cool." Despite winning the award, Lehrke stated that his goals for the remainder of the season remain unchanged. "I want to win a national championship. But right now, all I'm concentrating on is the Big Tens." WORLD CLASS: Wolverine assistant coach Joe Wells has been selected to coach the United States national team at the world champion- ships in Tokyo, Japan this summer. The championships rank second in significance to the Olympics, where Wells served as an assistant coach for the 1988 U.S. team. "It's a great honor, especially since now I'm the head coach," Wells said. "It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited about it." Wells has long been regarded as one of the premier coaches in wrest- ling, despite the fact that he remains an assistant under Bahr. "It just goes to show you that people inside the wrestling world recognize that Wells is a great coach, and we're lucky to have him at Michigan," Bahr said. Trying to crack the U.S. team will be Michigan assistants Kirk Trost, John Fisher, and Joe Pantaleo. Trost (220 lbs.) and WeIIs Fisher recently returned from the prestigious Tibilisi Tournament in the Soviet Union. Fisher placed fifth in the 136.5-pound class, while Trost failed to place. However, Trost, the 1986 heavyweight national champion, holds a number two national ranking on the U.S. national team, and defeated the top-ranked 220-pounder in the world, Iran's Achmed Atovov, 1-0, earlier this year. NEW RANKINGS: Michigan dropped from ninth to thirteenth in the latest national rankings from the Amateur Wrestling News. However, the Wolverines expect to be higher by the time the next poll comes out, after beating Northwestern (No.15), Iowa State (No. 6), and Minnesota (No. 11) consecutively. Oklahoma State is the top team in the land. Several Wolverines placed in the individual poll in addition to Lehrke. Joey Gilbert (134 pounds) ranks ninth, and Larry Gotcher (150) eighth. Sam Amine (158) holds the eleventh spot, while heavyweight Phil Tomek is ranked ninth. 0 It's official: Buster awarded heavyweight NEW YORK (AP) - Now, the boxing world agrees: Buster Doug- las is heavyweight champion. And there apparently is agreement on another front: His first challenger will be Mike Tyson. Douglas-Tyson II came close to clearing the final hurdle yesterday when Evander Holyfield's manager, Ken Sanders, said, in Atlanta, that his boxer probably would step aside to allow the rematch. Billionaire developer Donald Trump says Douglas-Tyson II will be June 18 in Atlantic City, al- though Douglas has not signed a contract. In fact, Douglas only learned hours earlier that he was undisputed champion when the World Boxing Association became the last of the sport's three major governing bodies to recongize his 10th-round knock- out of Tyson on Sunday in Tokyo. "We don't have a rematch now," Don King, Mike Tyson's promoter and adviser, said yesterday at a news conference. "We're trying to get one. The first thing we have to do is get a rematch. As you know, the catching comes before the hanging." Tyson, who appeared with King at the news conference, said his loss was "a temporary, minor setback. I don't take it to heart. I'll be the champion again. I'm still one of best fighters in the world and when the rematch comes, I'll prove it." "We've been approached to make a deal, by Don King, to step aside I1 We're Looking For a Few I title outright and make way for the rematch," Sanders said. "We're waiting for the contract from him. If it's what they said it would be, we probably would do it." "They're just asking us to move it three or four months," Sanders said. "It's a very good deal for us. We know we'll be fighting for the championship." In his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, Douglas said the main thing for him "is that I am now looked upon as the heavyweight champion of the world. It was a lifelong dream come true, and I thank God for that." The International Boxing Federat- ion recognized Douglas as champion immediately, and the World Boxing Council extended recognition Mon- day night, after King, who promotes Tyson, dropped a protest of the result. "I never asked anybody to change ther decision," King said. "We just want a first shot at a rematch." 0 Meet us Thursday, Feb. 1 5 in the Crawfoot Room of the Michigan Union between 10:00 and 3:00 Any Questions?Call Larry Stevens 661-1890 m I ________________________________________________________________________ I. "It only takes 30 seconds to love this car!' Mary Frasco, a grad student in Education at the University of Detroit, talks about falling in love with her Volkswagen. "Thirty seconds. That's how long it takes to put the top down on my Cabriolet. And that's how long it took me to fall in love. "There's nothing quite like the feeling you get driving a convertible. And there's no convertible quite like my Cabriolet. "Sunglasses on, wind in my hair- I love driving this car. And it's a good thing. Because when I go out with my friends there's never any question of whose car we'll take. "Everybody just hops in my Cabriolet. "I can't imagine driving anything else." The Volkswagen Cabriolet. It's the distinctive European convertible with the Volkswagen price. ~It'stim~e t .hik abot 0 0 m m