What is the last team to lose in
the NCAA finals in consecutive
years?
(For answer, see page 2)
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Blue nips 'Cats in
9 oerim, 81-78
by Anty DeKorte
Daily Bas etball Writer
- ''NEW ORLEANS - All season the Michigan bas-
ketball team has been notorious for playing to the level
of its opponent. However, it's only notorious when
Michigan (31-4) happens against a team who finished in
a four-team tie for second place in the Atlantic 10.
-Against Kentucky (30-4), ranked No. 1 during part
of the 1992-93 the season, the strategy produced a
f3 ., h'thrilling overtime national semifinal victory, 81-78. In
0 / '- .o. neweach case the results matched - a victory bringing the
3-" n; . , , 9as team one step closer to the national championship
- - E A fY° s @ S1 game.
3_ ,/ , / . '-'-, Chris Webber (27 points, 13 rebounds), Juwan
Howard (17, 3) and Jalen Rose (18, 6) did most of
Michigan's leg work, with Ray Jackson (11, 8) kicking
it up when needed.
Thedefensive effort signaled one of Michigan's
ter7strongest this season. Kentucky, which had been averag-
5 -, ing a 31-point victory margin in the tournament, could
only manage to shoot 41 percent for the game and
barely 35 percent after the halftime intermission.
"Give them all the credit," Kentucky assistant coach
Jeff Brassow said of Michigan's perimeter defense.
"They took away the three-point shot in the first half -
I don't even think Travis (Ford) scored. They did a
great job on him and no one else could get a shot off ei-
O the.
S$ "They did a great job of denying the passing lanes
- and taking our guards out of it," he added.
Despite the Wildcats' pressing defense, Michigan
P v r a continued to get the ball down to Webber and Howard.
-. ' 4 Not even Kentucky's All-American Jamal Mashburn
could deter the inside presence of Webber and Howard.
- °Mashburn's offensive prowess nearly matched that
of Webber's. He scored 26 points to go with six boards.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their reliance on the
"Monster Mash" led to their downfall. When he fouled
out with 3:23 remaining in the overtime, Kentucky had
a four-point lead, 76-72. A three-point deficit and the
-i end of the season faced the Wildcats 3:23 later.
"It was like night and day with (Mashburn) out
there," Howard said. "Mashburn is a top five pick in
r this year's NBA draft."
Howard made one free throw to cut the Kentucky
Slead to three, but the Wildcats' offensive options dwin-
dled when Mashburn sat down.
"We had to fight a lot of adversity down the stretch,"
Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said. "We were going to
create motion for Mash and isolate him. He's a great
one-on-one player and we thought we could utilize his
skills."
Without those skills on the court, Michigan's re-
bounding edge and size advantage became even more
- zpronounced. After a Kentucky miss, a Wolverine re-
. as bound led to two Ray Jackson free throws and a 76-75
game.
"Webber and Howard are definitely the strongest
guys I've been up against this year," Wildcat forward
Jared Prickett said. "They're a force on the boards,
powerful underneath and were a little too much for us to
KRISTOFFER GILLE/E/Daily handle tonight."
Two of Michigan's big men, Chris Webber and Jalen Rose, celebrate a victory of gargantuan proportions. See WILDCATS, Page 4
Softball sweeps twinbill
against Gophers, 8-0,1-0
0
Mystery Here
b Charlie Breitrose
Daily Softball Writer
EAST LANSING - Yesterday's
double header between Michigan
and Minnesota could be called "Tale
of Two Shutouts."
The Wolverines took both games
of the twin bill played at Michigan
State's Old College Field. The first
game was a roll from the start: short
and sweet. In contrast, the second
game was a marathon pitching dual,
ending in controversy after 13 full
innings.
The first nine innings were
smooth sailing for the each of the
team's pitchers. Michigan's Kelly
Kovach only gave up one hit, and
Gophers' pitcher Jennifer Johnson
let just two.
But the waters turned choppy in
the 10th, and kept on churning till .
the end. Kovach had to throw her
Silver scored the decisive run on a
inside-the-park home run. The home
run was unusual even for an in-the-
parker. The well struck fly ball was
tracked down by Wold and almost
caught, but the ball came out when
the left fielder collided with fence.
However, even the run-scorer
was skeptical of the umpire's call.
"I was running (after hitting the
fly ball) and I thought (Wold) caught
it," Silver said. "But the umpire said
the outfielder caught it off the fence.
So then I just kept running in.
But even with the home run,
Kovach had to get out of one more
fix. With a runner on third, Kovach
forced Kiki Romero, the Gophers'
best hitter with a .317 average, to
ground the ball back to her for the
put out.
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
said her team was pleased to win a
by Ken Davidoff
Daily Basketball Writere
NEW ORLEANS - The thing
with this matchup, this Michigan-
North Carolina game that will de-
cide the 1993 NCAA champion, is
that there's no mystery involved.
Sure, ask 10 people on Bourbon
Street here in New Orleans who
will win tonight's battle - which
tips-off at 9:22 p.m. at the
Superdome and is televised by CBS
- and four will tell you North
Carolina, four will tell you
Michigan, and two will simply
share with you the details of their
drinking exploits. The self-
proclaimed college basketball gurus
haven't come down as a majority
on either side. Nevertheless, there
was more intrigue involved in the
storyline of "The Crving Game"
But Montross brings,
interesting subplot
game of the 1992-93 college bas-
ketball season. These two teams
an know each other. Having played
back in December at the Rainbow
Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, with
the Wolverines pulling off a79-78
victory, each knows it can compete
with its opponent. The finalists also
share common opponents Duke,
Kansas and Ohio State to gauge
each other's progress. But the bond
these universities hold goes one
step further due to the presence of
one young man.
Eric Montross, the Tar Heels'
junior center, should have been a
Michigan Wolverine, you see. You
don't stick your tongue in the face
of tradition, not when tradition
means both your dad and
grandfather went to school and
x played basketball at Michigan. But
'~~' '-C- -