Sports Monday Trivia
What team fielded the first
all-Black starting lineup in
the Major Leagues?
(For the answer,
turn to page 6)
Inside Sports Monday
'M' Sports Calendar 2
AP Top 25 2
Men's track preview 2
Women's gymnastics preview 2
Get Rich Quick 3
Q&A 3
'M' ice hockey coverage 4
'M' men's basketball coverage 5
Women's swimming 6
Men's gymnastics 6
The Michigan Daily --Sports Monday-January 15, 1990 --Page 1
Tankers
beat Stanford
Men defeat No. 1 Cardinal, 61-52
by Michael Bess
Daily Sports Writer
Spectator-filled stands. The Michigan band. And two
of the nation's top swimming teams facing off in an
electric and highly competitive meet at the Canham
Natatorium.
What more can you ask for? Well, maybe the sight
of watching a riled up Wolverine squad topple the num-
ber one team in the country.
The University of Michigan men's swim team did
just that, upsetting the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal
Saturday evening, 61-52, before a standing-room-only
crowd that was literally hanging from the rafters.
"It was the most exciting dual meet that Ann Arbor
has ever seen," senior co-captain Brent Lang said.
"Some people say that swimming is not a spectator
sport, but I think we proved that wrong.".
The enthusiasm and energy of both fans and swim-
mers produced an atmosphere reminiscent of past
NCAA championship meets.
Michigan head coach Jon Urbanchek was pleased
with his team as well as the fan support. "It was very
exciting," Urbanchek said. "This meet was good for the
spectators and they helped us win. They elevated our
performance."
Michigan started the evening with an impressive
performance in the 400-yard medley relay. Wolverine
swimmers Rick Wilkening, Mike Barrowman, Jarret
Winter and Brent Lang posted an NCAA qualifying time
of 3:18.05. Their victory was crucial as it gave Ur-
banchek's squad a great deal of confidence for the re-
mainder of the meet.
"I knew coming in that the 400 medley would be
key," Urbanchek said. "We knew we could win follow-
ing their performance. Rick Wilkening swam over his
head and he enabled us to win the medley."
Wilkening was only one of many Wolverine swim-
mers to produce outstanding efforts. Lang garnered first
place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyles with NCAA
qualifying and pool record times. Mike Barrowman cap-
tured top honors in both the 200 individual medley and
the 200 breaststroke. In addition, sophomore Eric
Namesnik and first-year swimmer Brian Gunn finished
one-two in the 200 butterfly. See STANFORD, page 6
Gophers
Stanford's Janet Evans looks out of the pool after one of her races at the Canham Natatorium Saturday night.
by Lory Knapp
* Daily Basketball Writer
Free throws, those m-
third-ranked Wolverines
by No. 16 Minnesota, pr
the deciding factor as
escaped Crisler Arena wit
Big Ten victory of the s
83.
While the Wolveri
overall, 1-1 Big Ten) hit
of their free throws for
the Golden Gophers (10-3
2 Big Ten) shot a sorry
from the line, adding c
points to their game tota
Michigan guard Rumeal
who shot 7 of 10 from th
nearly four times as n
throws as did the entire
team.
"We missed a couple o
Ands of the bonuses, an
(the free throw attempts)
its hard to overcom
Minnesota coach Clem H
we had made those two or
free throws then we win th
Michigan head coa
Fisher said: "Minnesot
exceptionally well. (But) v
the ball inside, we passe
shots to get great shots,
what leads to shooting al
throws we shot."
Free throws were not
factor, however, as three W
scored over 20 points. Sear
and Terry Mills each had
and Robinson led all score
including three 3-pointers.
Mills, who was comin
horrible performance in
golden a
nights loss to Indiana, needed a good
ade by the showing against Minnesota to regain
and missed his confidence.
oved to be "I really feel bad about that (the
Michigan Indiana game). Coach (Fisher) really
h their first kept talking to me about it and said
eason, 87- 'you're going to have those kinds of
games but you have to bounce
nes (11-2 back."' He said I was the most
81 percent consistent player on this team and I
26 points, have to continue to show that, and I
overall, 1- can't get frustrated. That's
33 percent something I did today - not get
only three frustrated. I just came out and played
al. In fact, my game."
Robinson, Mills, along with Higgins, were
he line, hit the emotional leaders out on the
nany free court for the Wolverines as Higgins
Minnesota waved his hand in the air a la Piston
Dennis Rodman after he hit a triple
f the front to put Michigan up 68-66, never to
d anytime trail again.
are 32-9, And, as Mills went to the free
le," said throw line with 4:58 remaining,
askins. "If Higgins and Mills were high-fiving,
three extra and the normally solemn Michigan
e game." crowd erupted.
That eruption was part of a 13-3
ch Steve run that consisted of three-pointers,
a played jumpshots and easy lay-ups as the
we pushed Wolverines went from down 63-66
d up good to up 76-69.
and that's "I just wanted to get everyone
L1 the free going," said Higgins. "It seemed like
we were falling into that trap of
the only getting lazy and I was getting excited
olverines because the crowd was going crazy
n Higgins, and he (Mills) made a great play.
23 points The adrenalin gets going and it just
,rs with 26 takes over."
That adrenalin was nearly snuffed
g off of a out late into the game as the Golden
Monday Gophers refused to die. With under
t foul line,
beats
one minute to play in the game,
Minnesota's Walter Bond (19 points)
hit a jumper followed by a Melvin
Newbern lay-up to pull the Gophers
to within one. Newbern, who
eventually fouled out along with
Bond, led Minnesota scorers with 20
points.
Mike Gill
GilAgi
Higgins escapes haze,
Hgisec ehecpsmakes spectacular plays
It had been one of those games where Michigan took the court, put their
Sony Walkmans on, and then waltzed up and down the court.
They were never losing badly - they're too good for that - but a spark
could not be found. They looked like the Geritol Generation after watching a
14-hour telecast marathon of Lawrence Welk and his bubbles.
Then Sean Higgins started to act up. And Terry Mills decided to join
him. They went from two old men looking for their AARP applications to
two youngsters flying a kite. They were kids - and they were having fun.
But Higgins and Mills came to play Saturday. Their leadership and shots
in the stretch, along with a generous referee's whistle, were enough to hold
off a pesky Minnesota Gopher team, 87-83.
Higgins hit a three-pointer to give Michigan its first lead in ages. Then
Mills drew a foul and Higgins was right there yelling at Mills, screaming at
Mills, hitting Mills - complimenting his play. Mills hit both free throws.
After Mills bounced a jumper in from off the glass, Higgins could not hold
back anymore. Hands flailed, and leaps occurred. He danced.
Higgins just became Dennis Rodman's younger brother.
All of this proved to be the heart of a 11-0 Michigan run - and one that
was keyed by enthusiasm and emotion, enough so that it woke the Wolver-
ines up from that halftime speech Steve Fisher imparted back on Monday in
Indiana, and caused them to play so sleepily since.
Fisher told them they needed some verbal enthusiasm, some emotion.
Higgins answered the call.
See GILL, page 5
Blue tries to break long losing streak at Illinois
by Taylor Lincoln
Daily. Basketball Writer
When Michigan last won a basketball game
in Champaign, Illinois Sean Higgins was in fifth
grade and Johnny Orr was the Wolverine coach.
The year was 1979.
Tonight, the Wolverines could take a long
step towards winning the conference cham-
pionship if they are able to snap thier losing
streak in Illinois (9 p.m., ESPN).
The Illini, whom the Wolverines defeated 83-
81 in last year's NCAA semi-final, are co-
favorites along with Michigan to win this year's
Big Ten title.
The game will be the Wolverines' third in
eight nights during a Big Ten opening spree in
which they face all three of the teams which
promise to threaten them most: Indiana, Minn-
esota, and Illinois.
But center Loy Vaught does not worry about
the lack of rest. "It's not going to be hard
mentally to get ready for Illinois," he said. "We
realize that we're a contender and they're a
contender. It's going to be a dogfight."
The Illini (i2-1, 2-1 Big Ten) lack their two
main players from last year, forwards Kenny
Battle and Nick Anderson. They make up for
their lack of experience up front with the Big
Ten's premier back court, with point guard
Kendall Gill and swingman Stephen Bardo.
Michigan guard Rumeal Robinson sites the
frontline game as the key to victory. "This is not
a typical Illinois team," he said. "They lost their
front line and we'll have to take advantage of
that, especially with Loy and Terry (Mills) down
low."
Falcons' OT goal ends crazy
contest and weekend sweep
Loy Vaught tries for two against the Gophers. The usually accurate
forward shot a tepid 4 for 11 from the field but pulled down 14 rebounds.
Women's basketball drops
two, falls to 1-3 in Big Ten
by Eric Lemont
Daily Hockey Writer
Conventional wisdom says
nothing exciting should happen in
Bowling Green, Ohio.
But don't tell that to the frenzied
record crowd of 5,005 at Bowling
Green State University Ice Arena last
Saturday. And certainly don't men-
tion it to the Falcons hockey team,
which converged on/attacked defense-
Oman Otis Plageman after his over-
tmP a.nal li - ; k tem ton .
chance for a comeback two minutes
and twelve seconds into overtime
when his innocent looking slapshot
hit off goaltender Tim Keough's
shoulder and into the goal.
After twice being down by three
goals, Michigan got its first lead at
8-7 with a blistering Mike Moes
slapshot at just under five minutes
left in the third period. But with
2:41 left in regulation, Falcon left
winger Matt Ruchty tipped in a
rt.n ir nl -au a arn. m . .. rti .o t
by Theodore Cox
Daily Basketball Writer
BLOOMINGTON - A frazzled
Michigan coach, Bud VanDeWege,
entered the post-game press confer-
ence looking for answers anywhere
he could find them. His Michigan
women's basketball team suffered
two more Big Ten losses over the
weekend. Michigan first lost to Ohio
State Friday afternoon, 84-67, and
then dropped a heartbreaker to
Indiana 60-58.
Michian n t9. 1-3 in ihe TRo
and built up a 23-13 lead.
"They reached and grabbed on of-
fensive rebounds and they just went
after it," VanDeWege said. "They
were more aggressive."
Late in the first half, guard
Tempie Brown found her shot in the
open lane to bring Michigan to
within four points at half, 27-31.
Brown's shot never left her in the
second half as her soft touch gave
the Wolverines a 45-41 advantage
with 11:28 left in the game.
Indiana ae acnk.however. as
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