Spo sM ndayTrivi a
How many consecutive Final
Four appearances has Duke
made in the NCAA
tournament?
(For the answer,
turn to the bottom of page 2)
'M' Sports Calendar
Men's Swimming
Baseball
'M' Athlete of the Week
Q&A
Sheran My Thoughts
Men's Volleyball
Men's Gymnastics
Softball
Water Polo
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The Michinan Dailv-Sports Monday
March 30. 1992
1 llc ru n uyan .. a .. .... ... ........... ..... .... .. .....
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If
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Ul
'M'
beats
Ohio St.
by Albert Lin
Daily Basketball Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Three
years ago, Michigan "shocked the
world" by winning a national
championship with an interim coach.
That coach was retained perma-
nently, and now Steve Fisher's team
is once again poised to shock the
world. The Wolverines moved an-
other step closer to their goal yester-
day, avenging two earlier losses to
Ohio State by beating the Buckeyes
in overtime, 75-71, to reach the Fi-
nal Four.
"I'm happy," guard Jimmy King
said. "But I don't know if I want to
scream or go through that wall."
King didn't have to run through
concrete, but he did again make the
key defensive play of the evening.
Friday night, King knocked away a
pass when Oklahoma State had a
chance at the tying shot.
Yesterday,dhe came over to help
Ray Jackson double-team Buckeye
All-American Jim Jackson with the
score tied and time running out in
regulation. The duo forced Jackson
into the air, and King tipped away an
intended pass. After a scramble,
Ohio State's Chris Jent picked up
the ball and fired an off-balance
jumper long as time expired, sending
the game into overtime.
In the extra session, the Wolver-
ines kept the Buckeyes out of synch.
Michigan scored on three of its first
four possessions to take a 73-67 lead
with 1:23 left. Ohio State began to
force shots, but the Wolverines
would not let this one get away.
"Earlier in the season, we may
have lost a close game like this,"
'Earlier in the season,
we may have lost a
close game like this. I
think we've learned
how to be calm in a
pressure situation.'
- Jimmy King
King said. "I think we've learned
how to be calm in a pressure situa-
tion. We've got the confidence now
that we will be able to win games
like this."
The team is now on a course
eerily similar to 1989's title run.
That year, Michigan went through
Atlanta and Lexington on its way to
beating Illinois in the national semi-
final after having lost twice to the
Illini during the Big Ten season. The
Wolverines have again gone through
those same cities, and this year's
conference foe was the Buckeyes.
"We weren't going to loss three
losses weigh on our minds," Juwan
Howard said. "We didn't want to get
down on ourselves. We knew they
would make a run. What we had to
do was stop them."
Trailing 57-50 with 9:35 left in
the second half, the Buckeyes went
on an 11-0 spurt, helped by Michi-
gan turnovers. The March 3 contest
in Columbus, which the Wolverines
lost on three consecutive turnovers
down the stretch, looked like it was
reappearing. But this time, Michigan
did not lose its composure.
Jalen Rose hit a jumper over Jent.
Webber maneuvered for a monster
dunk. And when Webber put back
another Rose shot to tie the score at
63, the transformation was complete.
The Columbus nightmare would not
happen again.
"You don't get nervous,"
Howard said. "You continue to play.
You've played 39, 40 minutes al-
ready - why give up? You have to
continue to work hard and that's
what we did.
"This game was like, who
wanted it more? I think we wanted it
See BASKETBALL page 5
Michigan center
Juwan Howards
(right) cuts down
the net after
Michigan beat
Ohio State to
win the Souteast
regional and a
berth in the Final
Four. t
KENNETH SMOLLER
*Icers head to Albany
by Rod Loewenthal
Daily Hockey Writer
DETROIT - Some claim that
the bullet came from a lone gun-
man's rifle. People at the scene wit-
nessed the shot penetrate the defense
and kill the champion.
The unlikely assassin, none other
* than Michigan's Mike Helber, struck
with less than two minutes remain-
ing in the game. His blast enabled
the Wolverines to escape from Joe
Louis Arena with a 7-6 victory over
Northern Michigan, the reigning
NCAA hockey champion.
Others disagree. They say that
the seeds of this destruction lay
buried within the game.
Helber's shot may have been the
fatal blast, they claim, but the fateful
shot came earlier. They point to
Michigan forward David Roberts'
goal with only a half a second re-
maining in the second period.
Spearheading a Wolverine power
play attack, Roberts took a feed
from Cam Stewart and found twine.
The score sent the Wolverines into
the lockerroom down, 6-4, and came
as the first of four unanswered
Michigan goals.
"I think it was critical," Northern
Michigan coach Rick Comley said.
"We had them so mentally down. If
they came out in the third period
down, 6-3, and we could play some
five-on-five hockey, it might have
been a different story."
These conspiratorial pundits
press their view by pointing to the
violence that erupted before the
evening's event began. Northern's
Joe Frederick appeared to be the
unwitting dupe of Wolverine
strongman Chris Tamer. During pre-
game warm-ups the junior forward
skated into the Michigan zone pre-
sumably to retrieve a lost practice
puck. "I inadvertently knocked into
him and he went down," a coy
Tamer said. The ensuing scuffle re-
sulted in a near-melee at center ice.
Both players received double minor
penalties: Tamer for roughing and
Frederick for slashing.
This skirmish left both teams
skating a man short for the first four
minutes of the game, a pattern that
remained for a majority of the game.
Special teams were the featured
artists as Michigan totaled 12 power
plays while connecting on five of
them.
"The bench gets short when you
kill 12 penalties," Comley said of
his team's stamina. "I think the
penalty killing tires people. You al-
ways tell your kids to play until the
tank is empty. Today I think it hit
empty."
But the Wildcats did not look fa-
tigued in the second period when
they, too, managed to notch four
unanswered goals. The first came at
6:26 into the period when Frederick
had a breakaway from just beyond
the blue line. The junior faked a
See ICERS, Page 6
Michigan's Mark Ouimet scrambles in front of the net in yesterday's 7-6 victory over Northern Michigan.
Smiles
and
by Andy Stabile
Daily Sports Writer_
A little kid walks across the
Cliff Keen Arena floor - on his
hands. Some hundred gymnasts,
friends, and parents fail to notice
the boy who barely comes up past
their knees. Most of them are pre-
occupied congratulating the
Michigan gymnastics team, which
has just won another meet.
He makes all this look easy, and
after a few cartwheels, the boy
again finds his hands before making
his way to the center of the floor
exercise area. He finally gets back
on his feet just as one of the Wol-
verine gymnasts reaches the center
of the floor. Ali Winski gives her
7-year-old brother Adam a hug.
Soofn anothe'r Povmnst comes~
All Win ski dazzl
with floor. routil
Spins
many directions. Then Ali Winski
es- made her way to the same floor
where Adam now stands. She pro-
ceeded to steal the show.
7 ~ Throughout her floor routine,
Winski flirts with every member
of the audience. It's the stuff that
puts peoples' hands together. Win-
ski smiles and the audience grows
louder.
Her smile gets wider. She
jumps, spins, flips a few times then
sticks her landing. And smiles. Ali
always smiles. The judges usually
agree with the audience.
Time and time again, Winski has
proved to be one of the most charis-
matic and successful stars on the
Wolverines' team, but the Mich-
igan junior is the first to admit it
.l n e l.v. thanna
Women gymnasts
win Big Ten crown
by Andy Stabile
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING
thought the No. 9 Penn S
en's gymnastics team wou
Big Ten Championshipsi
first year in the conference
Someone forgot to
Wolverines.
The No. 15 Michigan
the Nittany Lions a warm
to the conference Friday
defeating them, 191.70-
the 10th Big Ten'
Gymnastics Championsh
Lansing.
Michigan was shakyc
exercise, the vault, but rel
score well on the uneve
was a two-team race aft
be the balance beam. At last season's
Big Tens, falls from the beam may
- Most have cost the Wolverines a champi-
tate wom- onship. Once again, they were in a
uld win the position to lose.
in this, its But what happened on that four-
e. inch-wide strip of wood this year
ask the took the Wolverines full circle.
They showed the maturation which
team gave they did not a year ago.
n welcome As each Wolverine landed from
y night by the beam, the Michigan team became
190.90; at more and more aware that some-
Women's thing special was happening.
ips in East Redshirt frosh Kelly Carfora
landed with a smile - 9.85. Then
on its first junior Ali Winski - 9.75. Fianlly
bounded to it was Beth Wymer's turn. Another
en bars. It 9.85. Wymer would go on to win
er the first the all-around and Big Ten
igmg
r e g r im &? 3
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