Men's Basketball at Michigan State Tomorrow, 8 p.m. East Lansing SPORTS Ice Hockey vs. Lake Superior State Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Yost Ice Arena The Michican Dailyv Tuesday, January 28, 1992 Page 9 W. .. ..., y...... _ INJURIES STILL PLAGUE WOLVERINES Men gymnasts finish third by Mike Hill After three meets, the Michigan men's gymnastics team is still looking to break into the magical 270-275 scoring range. The Wolverines, suffering from various bumps and bruises, finished last in Saturday's tri-meet at Cham- paign. Michigan State topped all with a 275.25 overall score, followed by Illinois at 272.15 and finally Michigan with a 264.9. "It may look bad but we're moving in the right di- rection," coach Bob Darden said. "We're three points up from last week's performance, but we still need to work on getting consistent scores from everyone." The tumblers started the competition with an un- usually weak performance on the rings. But they quickly got back into the meet with an impressive 47.45 showing on the floor exercise. "The guys really rocked on those routines," Darden said. Rookie sensation Brian Winkler placed second on the floor behind Michigan State's Paul Dackerman with a 9.75. Ben Verrall tied for the third slot with a 9.65 and Jorge Canacho notched the fourth spot with a 9.60. However, the Wolverines ran into some serious trouble on the pommel horse when their first three performers fell. Michael Mott and Glenn Hill did their best to pick up the slack, nailing 9.30 and 9.35 scores, respectively. Hill's score was good enough for a first-place tie with the Spartans' Chris Miller. "That was really unusual for us because we're one of the better pommel horse teams around," Darden said. Winkler added another quality performance on the high bar. His 9.35 topped all other Michigan competi- tors and notched him fourth place in the event. Another sore point for Michigan was their perfor- mance on the parallel bars. Not one Wolverine scored over an 8.7. All five of Michigan State's performers scored higher on the event. In comparison, Darden was quite pleased with his team's effort on the vault. Winkler again led the way with a 9.30, just .05 off the pace of first-place finisher Chris Spinosa of the Spartans. Ben Verrall tied for third with a 9.25. Winkler continues to impress everyone in his first year at the collegiate level. His 54.05 was good enough for fourth place in the all-around competition. Win- kler paced the Wolverines in every event but one. "As a freshman, he's really doing a great job for us," Darden said. "To be able to perform on the same level as (Michigan State's) Miller and those guys is unbelievable." The Wolverines continued to work around injuries. Last year's top performers, Royce Toni and Jim Round, were again unavailable. In addition, Ruben Ceballos and Mott suffered slight ankle injuries which forced them to skip their high bar routines. All four are doubtful for next weekend's meets against Iowa State and Michigan State. Michigan's Raul Molina performs on the still rings at Keen Arena earlier this season. A weak performance on the rings contributed to the Wolverines' third place finish behind Michigan State and Illinois Saturday. Sibs' presence produce largest crowd of year by Adam Miller Daily Basketball Writer Last weekend was "Siblings' weekend," and in the middle of a snowy winter there were plenty of sibs forced to stay inside. The Michigan women's basketball team is glad they were. Students and sibs turned out at Crisler for the largest crowd of the season on Friday night, as an announced 1,015 viewed the Wolverines' 83-77 victory over Minnesota. Michigan's previous high of 950 occurred Dec. 13 during an 86-73 victory over Notre Dame. However, only an estimated 756 showed up after the festivities Sunday to see Michigan lose to Iowa, 73-61. JUMPIN' JEN: The Michigan athletic department once again provided halftime entertainment for both the women's and men's basketball teams last weekend. The American Double Dutch Jumpers, a competitive jump- rope team, performed their acrobatic routine Friday night at the women's game. When the jumpers came back for Saturday's men's game with Wisconsin, they were briefly joined on the court by Wolverine guard Jen Nuanes. While Nuanes did not join in the act, she did display her own quick-footed jumping ability. TUBE TALK: Sunday's game was televised live on Sportschannel Chicago. To the Hawkeyes, who appear on network or cable television five times this season, Sunday's appearance was nothing special. "It's just like any other game, but the timeouts give you a breather," said Iowa's Toni Foster. To Michigan it was a different story. Aside from Ann Arbor community access "Wolverine Watch," the team makes no other television appearances this year. Many players said before the game that they were enthusiastic about the broadcast opportunity. But coach Bud VanDeWege said afterwards that the exposure could have worked against Michigan, as well. "It's a good thing we came out like we did in the second half," VanDeWege said of the Wolverines' turnaround from an uninspired first stanza. "If we hadn't, then it would have been a bad thing to be on TV. But 1think anybody watching us left that second half knowing that we have a very competitive, very respectable team." STREAKIN': Big Ten teams were involved in a number of streaks last weekend. Among them: 12 - the number of consecutive losses to Iowa by Michigan. The Wolverines last beat the Hawkeyes, 58-56, Jan. 19, 1986 in Ann Arbor. 30 - the number of consecutive Big Ten road losses by Minnesota alter Friday's game. Webber and Co. ready for Spartan fans by John Niyo Daily Basketball Writer Supposedly, it's been circled on Michigan State calendars for over a month. And because all the press, all the attention, and all the hoopla has surrounded Michigan's rookie crew, the Spartans are keying on Wednesday's game in East Lansing like never before. This year, state bragging rights aren't the only incentive. With the addition of Michigan high school standouts Chris Webber and Jalen Rose to the Wolverine lineup, rivalry takes on a new meaning - at least for the Spartan fans. "(The fans') main focus will be on me and Jalen," Webber said. "But they'll be on the five freshmen, too. It's been like that everywhere we've played." For the other three rookies, the in-state feud isn't instinctive. New- 'The crowd's going to be on me like no crowd before.' - Chris Webber Michigan forward Webber doesn't expect anything less from the fans in East Lansing. "I remember going there when I was a junior," Webber said. "I know they can get personal. I'm not saying that's bad or anything. I'm just say- ing that it-will in no way faze me." However, Webber is expecting a little more abuse than normal. Last year's national prep player-of-the- year had fans of both Michigan and Michigan State guessing right up until the last minute with his college choice. When Webber announced after winning a second straight Class B state title that he would wear the Maize and Blue, the hopes of Spar- tan faithful were dashed. Certainly, those same fans will be on hand Wednesday to jeer Webber at every chance. "The crowd's going to be on me like no crowd before," Webber said. "But it's fun to shut 16 or 17 thou- sand people up." And Webber says he won't worry about state bragging rights. Rather, he will simply concenfrate on notching Michigan's fourth Big Ten victory. "I've never been one for rivals; because of a team name," he said. "Rivalries with other players is one thing, but just because they're Mich- igan State doesn't mean as much.": What it does mean for the Wol- verines is a chance to move up in the Big Ten standings. Michigan now stands at 3-3 in the conference, 11=4 overall. Webber helped the Wolverinel even up their league record with 25 points and 17 rebounds in Saturday's 98-83 victory at home against Wis- consin. Meanwhile, a surprising Mich- igan State squad raced out to a 10-0 record to start the season, and now stands at 3-2 and 13-2. Last season MSU swept Mich- igan. The Spartans defeated the Wol- verines, 66-59, in Ann Arbor, and, 85-70, in East Lansing. comers Jimmy King and Ray Jack- son are both from Texas, while Juwan Howard cane to Michigan from Illinois. But the rivalry is starting to settle in. "It really just hit me today," Jackson said yesterday after practice. "Everyone's more intense. A lot more intense." The ballyhooed class got an initi- ation to Big Ten heckling at Iowa, where Quaker Oats had five life-size cardboard cutouts of Captain Crunch on hand to watch as part of a corporate promotion. But the Hawkeye fans decided to call them the "five freshmen." CURRENT STANDINGS Indiana Ohio State Minnesota Michigan State Purdue Michigan Iowa Illinois Wisconsin Northwestern Conf. W L 5 0 4 1 4 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 4 1 4 0 6 All W L 14 2 12 3 12 7 13 2 11 6 11 4 10 5 8 8 10 8 7 9 KENNETH SMOLLER/Daily Michigan forward Juwan Howard shoots over Wisconsin's Billy Douglass during the Wolverines' 98-83 victory Saturday afternoon. I .4 U U 1992 CAMPS OF CHAMPIONS ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE? UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS WILL BE HIRING SUMMER CAMP: - COORDINATORS - COUNSELORS - OFFICE STAFF " You will have most days free to take classes or enjoy a beautiful summer in Ann Arbor * You will live, work, and play with a spectacular camp staff * Coordinator and counselor positions include room, board, and a weekly salary " You will meet campers from all over the country, ages 8-18 and e\11i]I 1 [M 111iIM1 [MI 11111 h'I ~U1111 l I.~' F VjjI