Ice Hockey
vs. Miami
Tomorrow, 4 p.m. (PASS)
Joe Louis Arena
SPORTS
Men's Basketball
vs. Temple
Tonight, 7:35 p.m. (CBS)
Atlanta
The Michigan Daily
Friday, March 20, 1992
Page 4,
M'
cagers reach Big Dance
Temple's defense to provide challenge for young Wolverines
by Albert Lin
Daily Basketball Writer
ATLANTA - Every basketball
player, from a novice to a member of the
high school varsity, dreams of it. Until
you get to college, it is unattainable. But
once you get there, it is your team's goal
at the start of every season. It is the
Show, the Big Dance.
For the Wolverines' five rookies, the
moment has arrived. They will play their
first NCAA Tournament game tonight,
the reward for a 20-victory season in
their initial campaign.
"This is something I've dreamed
about since high school, grammar
school," Juwan Howard said.
For Michigan coach Steve Fisher, the
game marks a return to the site where he
started his improbable run to a national
championship three years ago. Fisher
coached his first two games as
Michigan's new boss in the Omni, beat-
ing Xavier and South Alabama in the
opening rounds of the 1989 tourney.
"It seems like yesterday on one hand,
on the other hand it seems like ages and
ages ago," Fisher said. "We're staying at
the same hotel, and when I waked into
the hotel, I had memories of smiling as
we walked out - coming in very ner-
vous, and going out extremely excited
and happy. I hope we have similar re-
sults."
In the Temple Owls, Michigan faces
an extremely smart, disciplined team.
The Owls have gained a reputation as a
slow-down team, but coach John Chaney
insists that label is not true. Temple aver-
ages 70.6 points and 57.5 shots per game
- not far from the Wolverines' mark of
78.4 and 61.1, respectively.
"I don't think we attempt to slow
things down," Chaney said. "I think what
we do is we approach the break judi-
ciously. If the break is there, we take it.
"I think it's just ineptness on our part
that we don't score a lot of points in
games. So it was just a bunch of self-in-
flicted wounds on our part. If the ball
drops, we'll score our numbers."
The Owls shoot only 43 percent from
the field, but they average 20 three-point
attempts per game. That is part of the
reason they were able to win the amount
of games they have. The other reason, of
course, is their defense.
Temple plays a matchup zone, which
combines many of the man-to-man de-
fense principles in a zone situation. Each
defender plays an area of the floor, but
what separates this defense from a typical
zone is that players will match up with
any offensive player that moves into his
area of the court, essentially creating a
constantly switching man-to-man de-
fense.
But while Michigan may be worried
about the Temple defense, rest assured
the Owls are worried about Michigan's.
"We find that our defense frustrates
everyone we come up against, but their.
defense also frustrates us," said Temple;
senior Mik Kilgore, the Owls' leading
scorer. "We have problems shooting the'
ball, getting our defense started. But I
feel if we play to the best of our defen
sive capabilities, our offense will take
care of itself."
Temple reached the final eight of last>
season's NCAA Tournament, but losf
Mark Macon and Donald Hodge to the
NBA. This years squad returns only five '
letterwinners, and Chaney considers hi'R
club nearly as inexperienced as
Michigan's.
"When you lose (Macon and Hodge),
you are left with youngsters who are not
used to carrying this team. I think I prob,
ably put too much of a burden on them,"
Chaney said.
Michigan will be without the services
of forward Rich McIver, who fractured."
an ankle in practice Monday, according
to Fisher. Guard Michael Talley is also
questionable for action with a groin pull.
Chris Webber a'nd Eric Riley look for a rebound against Michigan State this season. The
Wolverines face Temple in first -round NCAA competition.
Prime time arrives for 'M' icers
by Ken Sugiura
Daily Hockey Writer
There's something about the postsea-
son that brings out the best in some peo-
ple. Certain players, it seems, "rise to the
occasion," or "come through in the
clutch," better than others. And this week-
end at the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association finals in Detroit, those play-
ers, those who seem to "respond to the
pressure" will come to the fore.
When Michigan (30-7-3 overall) takes
the Joe Louis Arena ice against upstart
Miami (17-15-6) in the first semifinal to-
morrow, Michigan coach Red Berenson
will again have a chance to observe this
phenomenon.
"The pressure seems to bring the best
out of some players, and other players, it
crushes them. It's too much for them," he
said. "It's interesting that different players
become great playoff players."
Among the current Wolverines,
Berenson included forward David Roberts
among his crunch-time performers. Ro-
berts, whose numbers have fallen from last
season, is ready to again prove his worth.
"I'm really looking forward to it," he
said. "It's kind of a way to redeem the
season. I've kind of struggled this year, so
hopefully I can put it all together this
weekend and go out and have some fun."
While Berenson can evaluate his team
against such criteria, Miami coach George
Gwozdecky has no such luxury.
"I can't tell you about our players be-
cause we've only been to the playoffs
once since I've been here," he said.
By upsetting Western Michigan last
weekend in a 2-0 sweep, the Redskins will
make their first-ever appearance in the
CCHA semifinals. In making it to the Joe,
No. 14 Miami may have found its first
hero. Forward Brian Savage scored what a
Redskin press release termed "the most
important goal in Miami hockey history"
when he beat Western goalie Craig Brown
at 1:07 of overtime last Saturday to down
the Broncos, 4-3.
In addition, Savage tallied an assist
scored the first goal in Miami's opening
victory, a 3-1 triumph.
While the Redskins are just beginning
to understand playoff pressure, Roberts
and his fellow Wolverines know the rou-
tine well. Even still, Roberts can't find the
source for his ability to respond.
"It's something that you can't really
explain," he said. "It's a feeling you get -
you feel sharper, you feel like, 'Okay, this
is what we've played all season for. This
is the fun part."'
Goalie Steve Shields is another player
who gets the feeling. The sophomore has
gained a certain degree of notoriety for his
impressive play in Joe Louis. This season
in four games at the Joe, he has had three
one-goal games.
"I think you just have to be a little
more intense than you usually are," he
said. "During the playoffs, you just have
to stay intense the whole 60 minutes."
That may or may not be a problem for
Miami. Gwozdecky said that his players
will be freewheeling.
"I think that's what any underdog, es-
pecially a team that's the fifth seed has got
to go with," Gwozdecky said of his team's
'we've got nothing to lose' attitude. "I
don't think there's a lot of pressure on us."
Two Wolverines who may not suit up
are forwards Mark Ouimet and Cam Stew-
art. Ouimet suffered a shoulder separation
last Friday in the first game of Michigan's
two-game sweep of Ohio State, while
Stewart has been ailing with a groin injury
and missed yesterday's practice.
Michigan's David Oliver is scheduled
to play this weekend after his near
concussion last Saturday against OSU.
The winner of the Michigan-Miami
contest will meet the Lake Superior State-
Michigan State victor.
I
Mark uimet battles MSU at Joe Louis Arena earlier this season. The MKRISTOFFER GILLETTE/D
ark tOimetbttlkesnMUatJoe oinea h se a.Maize and Blue return
there tonight to take on Miami of Ohio in the CCHA semifinals.
ally,
Wrestlers in 14th after first day of NCAA meet
by Tim Rardin
Daily Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY - With
only five wrestlers competing at the
NCAA Championships, the possibil-
ity was remote that the 14th-ranked
Michigan wrestling team would bet-
ter last year's 12th-place effort.
With the second round of the
winners' bracket complete, the
Wolverines have shown the effects
of having a shortage of wrestlers, as
they find themselves in 14th place,
with only two wrestlers remaining.
Brian Harper (150 pounds)
started things off well for Michigan,
winning his preliminary matchup
with Missouri's Chip Bunner, 7-5.
However, Harper didn't fare so well
in the first round, as he lost a close
match, 5-4, to ninth-seeded Sepp
Doppler of Brown.
"I didn't feel like I was wrestling
real well," Doppler said. "I was too
tense and too conservative. "
At 126, Jason Cluff also began
the tournament well, earning a deci-
sion over Vance White of Drake, 8-
1. The tide again turned in the sec-
ond round, as Cluff fell to the No. 2
seed, Shawn Charles of Arizona
State, 15-7. Cluff then was elimi-
nated from the tournament by
Northern Iowa's Andy Showalter.
All-American Joey Gilbert, who
is the third seed in the tournament,
advanced into today's quarterfinals
with relative ease. His first-round
opponent, Eric DeVenney of Mis-
souri, experienced life in the
winners' bracket for only 57 sec-
onds, as Gilbert registered his third
fall of the season. Gilbert's second
match, against North Carolina
State's Clayton Grice, was only
slightly more challenging, as Gilbert
prevailed, 17-5.
"I need to stay more focused in
the first period," Gilbert said. "I was
pleased that I didn't give up any bad
points."
Michigan's other All-American,
eighth-seeded Lanny Green, cruised
much as his lighter teammate Gilbert
did, scoring a major decision, 15-5,
over Paul Jackson of Boise State. Iin
the second round Green: defeated
ninth seeded Kyle Rackley of
Cornell, 6-0.
Jehad Hamdan (190) lost his
first-round match to unseeded Todd
Hartung of North Carolina, 10-7.
Because their first-round opponents
went on to lose their next matche$,
both Hamdan and Harper were elim-
inated from the tournament. 1
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