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 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 7 8 8 Fj A / T * A 5 The Michinan Dailv-Sports Monday March 30. 1992 1 llc ru n uyan .. a .. .... ... ........... ..... .... .. ..... Fp If r w a 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 51