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 .. < , ,..,.....,.....