Which Michigan men's
basketball player turned
19 years old yesterday?
(For the answer, turn to page 2)
Inside Sports Monday
'M' Sports Calendar 2
AP Top 25 2
Athlete of the Week 2
Q&A 3
Sheran My Thoughts 3
Men's Basketball 4
Ice Hockey 5
Women's Baksetball 6
Track 7
Men's Tennis 7
Women's Gymnastics 8
Ir
The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday
February 10, 1992
n° d9W 3. 8S is; yr3'A6KB3ookies lead past Irish
:7 oe9 1 a y Five frosh start, score all Michigan 's points in 74=65 victory
y 41,. yk by Matthew Dodgex__ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _
9 PY p '"ea #oDaily Basketball Writer ______________________
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Michigan basketball
team's vaunted rookie class believes there is strength in
numbers.
Individually, the five frosh have each seen substan-
tial success. But they took each other to new heights on
Sunday.
Steve Fisher may have struck oil in a field of potent
natural resources. In the Wolverines' 74-65 victory
against Notre Dame yesterday, the Michigan coach hit
it rich by starting all five rookies for the first time
this season.
"My dad called me from Herrin, Illinois," Fisher
said. "He told me to stop being so stubborn and to
start the five freshmen."
The move created the best first half of the season.
Michigan pulled out to a lead of 17 points and coasted
into the lockerroom with a 38-27 halftime lead. The
bold choice of Fisher's coaching staff ignited the
Wolverines, now 14-5 overall.
"That gave us a big lift," Chris Webber said. "We
realized what coach was doing. A lot of people thought
he was stupid for it. But he went out on a limb for us
on national TV."
Speaking of limbs, the arms of Webber and fellow
post player Juwan Howard dominated Michigan's of-
fensive production near its own basket.
Webber threw down six dunks en route to a 17-
point, 11-rebound, 5-assist performance, while Howard
tossed in 14 points and ripped down 13 rebounds
against the senior-dominated Irish.
Every Michigan point was scored by five
Wolverines who were playing high school basketball
one year ago. Jalen Rose led the squad with 20, Jimmy
King netted 19, and Ray Jackson contributed the re-
maining four points.
"The intensity built up when we walked on the
court," Webber said. "We had something to prove.
Young can beat old. It was not just a fluke."
Notre Dame coach John MacLeod concurred.
"They are a great group," MacLeod said. "Rose
looked like an eight-year NBA veteran. He was getting
all of his foul shots down. They are all athletic, quick,
and talented. There was no doubt in their minds about
how they would play us."
David Roberts and Mark Ouimet cheer a goal against Bowling Green.
Michigan had little to celebrate this weekend as it was swept by BGU.
'M iers drop two,
fall to third place
! by Andy De Korte
Daily Hockey Writer
Heading into its weekend series
against Bowling Green, the Mich-
igan hockey team was ranked first in
the nation. The weekend series
against the last-place CCHA team
was to mark Michigan's rise to the
top of the conference, since Lake
Superior's lead had shrunk to one
point.
Before the series, Michigan coach
Red Berenson said, "We didn't work
our tails off last weekend against
Lake to give the points away this
weekend."
But that was exactly what hap-
pened. While Berenson expected a
sluggish first period Friday, there
was no explanation for the sweep at
the hands of the Falcons. Bowling
Green followed Friday's 7-4 victory
with a 4-3 squeaker Saturday.
"Its the same old thing every
time we lose - there was no fo-
cus," Michigan center Mark Ouimet
said. "No one wanted to win. I'm
beginning to question whether this
team wants to win."
Both games started with a bad
omen for the Wolverines - a
Falcon goal before the one-minute
mark.
Saturday night, Dan Bylsma put
the Falcons on the scoreboard at the
:56 mark. The play developed in a
strange way. BG dumped the puck
into the boards behind goalie Chris
Gordon. Gordon went to clear the
puck, but he ended up checked under
a pile of players. As he re-oriented
himself in the net, Brendan Carper
took control of the puck behind the
net and passed to the waiting
Bylsma.
To even the score, defenseman
Aaron Ward cashed in on a man ad-
vantage 20 seconds after Falcon cap-
tain Peter Holmes went off the ice
for tripping at the 12:29 mark of the
first period.
After BG's Jim Solly and
Michigan's Dan Stiver traded goals
- Stiver's coming 2:45 into the
second period - Michigan was in
position to take its first lead of the
weekend.
Despite numerous chances, Mich-
igan took until the 11:34 mark of
the third period to take what would
be its only lead of the game. The
goal was vintage Denny Felsner. On
his knees, Felsner took a pass from a
See ICERS, Page 5
KENNETH SMOLLER/Daily
Michigan forward Chris Webber attempts a short jumper over Irish center Keith Tower.
Webber was one of the five starters who accounted for all of the Wolverines' points.
See CAGERS, Page'4
Men take seventh straight swim crown
by Chad Safran
Daily Sports Writer
Maybe Big Ten president Jim
Delaney should think about chang-
ing the name of his conference's
men's swimming and diving cham-
pionships to the "Michigan Wol-
verines and Everyone Else" meet
after this weekend in Minneapolis.
The Michigan men's swim c.tam
captured its seventh consecutive
conference title, topping second-
place Minnesota, 703-613.
After trailing the Golden Goph-
ers, 210-169, at the end of the first
day of competition Thursday, the
Wolverines didn't fret over what
lay ahead.
"I wasn't surprised we were be-
hind," Michigan coach Jon Urban-
chek said. "We knew we were going
to be behind; it was just a question
of the number of points."
. Wolverine sophomore Brice Ko-
pas was just as confident.
"The second day was ours and we
knew that," he said.
And it turned out they were both
correct. For the third year in a row,
Michigan surged ahead of Min-
nesota to the front of the pack
Friday.
The Wolverines began their
comeback, finishing in second place
in the 200-yard medley relay. The
team of Eric Bailey, Steven West,
'Thomas Hay and Gustavo Borges
clocked a time of 1:30.03, just .42
seconds behind the Minnesota four-
some. The Wolverines still re-
mained in second, but came up with
clutch performances in the 400 indi-
vidual medley.
Indiana's Brian Barnes won the
event with a time of 3:50.62, but
Michigan captured places two
through four. Steve Duttonhoffer
took the second spot in 3:52.59.
Kopas, who finished fourth in the
event at last year's conference meet,
came in third with a time of 3:52.87.
He was followed by Jim Hume's
fourth-place time of 3:54.40.
"It was really exciting," Kopas
said. "Everyone bettered their times
from the morning. It was great that
everyone could come back and swim
well at night."
Gustavo Borges finished .67 of a
second ahead of Iowa's Artur
Wojdat to win the 200-yard
freestyle in a time of 1:35.17. Two
more Michigan swimmers claimed
positions in the top eight - Van
Tassell (third, 1:36.22) and Kevin
Glass (seventh, 1:38.78).
In the 100-yard backstroke, de-
fending titlist Michigan's Steve
Bigelow, finshed seventh just be-
hind teammate Eric Bailey, who
came in sixth place. All finishers
were topped by Ohio State's Bill
Weaver's :48.25.
During the morning heats, Big-
elow had finished in a dead heat
See BIG TENS, Page 8
Al
by Ken Sugiura
Daily Hockey Writer
The Michigan lockerroom is
rolling. The Wolverines have just
stolen a victory from Illinois-
Chicago, an overtime thriller won
by David Roberts with seven
seconds left in the extra period.
The tiny room is full of chatter,
and Doug Evans is chattering the
most. The senior defenseman was
called for roughing that night after
he drilled the Flames' Mark Zdan
well after the whistle had stopped
play. The ensuing power play led to
a UTIC goal. Fortunately for Evans,
it did not cost Michigan the game,
but he now takes ribbing from all
sides.
"I'd swear on a stack of Bibles I
didn't hear that whistle," he said.
"I didn't hear that whistle blow,
I swear," he later vows. "If I said I
heard it, I'd never play another
period of Michigan hockey."
Before he leaves the locker room,
Evans will have made at least a half-
dozen such oaths.
Evans is talking to everyone,
IGrown I
Icer Evans gets serious
on ice, stays loose off
Ip
"But when I go down to the rink,
it's just business as usual."
It has never been more obvious
than this season, a season of marked
growth in which Evans has done
business with the fervor of an oil
tycoon.
ycHowever, Evans came perilously
close to not conducting his business
this season. He struggled his
sophomore and junior years, getting
benched for 10 straight contests last
season. As coach Red Berenson put
it, "He would look really good and
then he would have a mental lapse.
It just seemed like he couldn't play
consistently."
With just one defenseman
graduating and highly-regarded
rookies Tim Hogan and Al Sinclair
matriculating at Michigan,
Berenson believed Evans' playing
time could be curtailed
significantly. A tete-a-tete between
coach and player helped change that.
"Before the summer last year, I
came into his office, and we had a
long talk," Evans recalled. "He
real1v laid into me nrettv good. told
MOLLY STEVENS/Daily
First-year wrestler Jesse Rawls Jr. battles an Oregon Duck in the Cliff
Keen National Team Duals. Michigan finished in fifth place.
Wr lr t fifth
ae et rsat National Duals
by Shawn DuFresne
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan wrestling team
placed fifth at the Cliff Keen
National Team Duals this weekend,
tt.----_ _ - ^I :;to.o-: m n.nha : i
many weight classes.
Gilbert (No. 4 in the country at
134) defeated Penn State's third-
ranked Bob Truby, 6-3, and
Wolverine Brian Harper (150)
nnr A rn... ... - - a -mA
::;:. ;.:: :::: :.;::k k:..:::;:::::.;.....
;: >:<:
;tit
.. : .. .. ..... :. :. ........ .. ..v.. .....,.......,.. ...<...e .. ..... : .. ..... ..<.: .. <. ..
. t ........................................................... t.. k.3t. .,..,.d .... k.::.........:,. ..,. .,:. : ..... : .
.................z....... , a .. < , ,..,.....,.....