Hockey vs. Western Michigan Tomorrow,7 p.m. Yost Ice Arena S 'TS Women's Basketball vs. California-Irvine Tomorrow, 8 p.m. Irvine, Calif. Blue swamps Green Wave, 84-69 Rebounding edge keys Michigan's third straight triumph By CH AD A. SAFRAN DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER Blockades of stone are set up along beachfronts to prevent waves from crashing against the shore. The Michigan basketball team used its bodies to stop the Green Wave from crash- ing the boards in its 84-69 victory over Tulane last night before a Crisler Arena crowd of 13,022. Despite a height disadvantage, the Wol- verines were able to outmuscle the Green Wave all night near the basket and snare 39 rebounds, compared to only 29 for the oppo- sition. Leading the way once again was center Juwan Howard, who had 13 boards, includ- ing eight in the first half alone. "I don't feel I have to be the man inside," said Howard, who also totalled 21 points. This night he was not the sole contributor to the rebound column. Jalen Rose had seven and Ray Jackson added six of his own, including an offensive rebound and putback forMichigan's first two points of the evening. Tulane's leading rebounder, Jerald Honeycutt, had a mere six. "Michigan wasn't more physical than I expected. They were more physical than our players expected," Tulane coach Perry Clark said. "Our kids aren't used to that." A main reason for Michigan's success on the glass was the fact that the Green Wave splashed in only six of 24 attempts from three-point range "They shot a lot of long shots," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "It gives us a chance to rebound. We hope to continue rebound- ing like that." One facet of the game that Fisher is praying will improve is the number of turn- overs being committed by the Wolverines. After giving the ball away 24 times against Cleveland State Monday, Michigan was awash in errors once again, giving the ball to the opposition 22 times. Much of that was due to Tulane's flood of pressing defenses. The Green Wave showed the Wolver- ines a variety of pressures. Clark's squad switched from man-to-man and zone throughout the contest, as well as showing full and midcourt traps any time Michigan brought the ball upcourt. That did not surprise Fisher. "I thought we did a nice job against it. We got a lot of easy baskets," Fisher said. As a result of the press, the Wolverines had numerous open looks at the hoop, en- abling them to sink 62 percent of their field goals. Take away Bobby Crawford's 0-for- 5 performance and Michigan's shooting percentage comes out at a whopping 68 percent. King put home seven of nine and Jackson nailed four of his six attempts Jalen Rose, the game's leading scorer with 28 points, connected on nine of his I1 shots. Rose scored many of his points on drives to the basket, including a coast-to- coast dunk with 3:37 remaining in the con- test that gave Michigan its largest lead of the night at 78-62. "We gave up some easy shots and we don't play basketball like that," Clark said. "This is not the easiest place in America to play. This is not the easiest team in America to play." "They play a pressure defense and that style leaves you with open baskets," Rose said. "We just did a good job of breaking the press." While the Wolverines may have done well from the field, they practically drowned at the foul line, connecting on 16 of 28 free throws. Rose was 3-for-8, consecutively missing the front end of his two shots four times. "I know I can make field goals though," Rose said. The performance from the charity stripe was attributable to what Fisher called "a lack of concentration." While that may have been true at the line, Fisher did not see that as a problem during the game. "We played extremely hard for 40 min- utes," Fisher said. "And smart most of the time. We were prepared." The Wolverines showed off that pre- paredness at the game's most critical point. With Michigan up eight points with over nine minutes left, Tulane had an opportunity to cut the lead to six after completing an 8- 2 run. However, a Green Wave turnover short- circuited any chance of a comeback as the Wolverines scored the next six points for a 66-54 advantage. Michigan's run was capped with a Howard finger roll off a beauty of a no-look, back pass from Crawford. The 12-point swing pushed the Wave back to the Bayou as it never seriously challenged again. MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily Michigan forward Ray Jackson drives past Antonio Jackson in last night's 84-69 Wolverine victory. FULL COURT PRESS: .Wolverine fans prefer easy victories but a win is a win By RACHEL BACHMAN DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER That was the way it's supposed to go. In last night's 84-69 victory over Tulane, the Michigan basketball team was generously mer- ciful to its fans, limping into the lead halfway into the first half and keeping it the rest of the game. There was no nail-biting in the bleachers. Wo conjuring up excuses for friends at Michi- gan State about why the Wolverines lost to a team named after tainted saltwater. Just a win. "We wanted to come out from the start, not ... play catchup," Michigan's Juwan Howard said. Last night's game was a welcomechange from the Cleveland State debacle Monday night, in which Michigan did not overtake the Vikings until halfway through the second half. Coach Steve Fisher knows how important it is to get an *arly lead. "(Fisher) said that'll be a key," guard Jalen Rose said. The fans agreed, serenely sitting back and taking in the halftime show. The stressless stu- dent section was free to watch 73-year-old Mary Visel sink two underhand shots in as many minutes, all the while enjoying their teams nine-point lead. It was downright relaxing. That doesn't mean, however, that the game was something to admire. The Wolverines raised their turnover tally to 60 in three games. Bobby Crawford was 0-for- 5 from the field, setting the pace for the bench's grand total of four points (all from Saint-Jean). Ray Jackson whiffed all four of his foul shots. In addition, he caused several turnovers himself with his risky dishes (and I'm not talk- ing about the green ones in the back of the fridge). Dugan Fife got clocked in the face and in seconds looked like he'd been sitting in Bob Uecker seats too long. "I took a charge and as (the Tulane player) passed, his elbow came up and hit me in the nose," said Fife, who will have x-rays today. Almost simultaneously, Rose got a techni- cal he claims resulted from a miscommunica- tion with a referee. "He said he gave it to me for talking, (but) I was cheering Ray on," he said. Swan Lake it wasn't. Somehow, though, it's hard to stay mad at those tongue-wagging, alley-oop prone Wolver- ines. Even though they blow leads like candles on a birthday cake, their fans hang with them. And they're right back on their feet scream- ing approval when Rose jams to avenge his earlier technical, then risks another. When they do things right, the ulcerous moments sweating out a seven-point squeaker over Cleveland-esque teams are forgotten. Last night, Rose poured in 28 points. Howard snagged 13 boards. Jimmy King made smooth drives to the hole look as easy as a true-false communication final. And while the Green Wave halfcourt press sometimes made the men in maize turn red, for the second time in two games Michigan won because of its God-given ability. As Fisher said after the Cleveland State game, "We out-tal- ented them tonight." After making it to two straight NCAA cham- pionship games, the Wolverines are not likely to believe that talent can only get you so far. How much farther can they go? When asked if he was worried about coming out flat the first half, Rose replied, "We were winning, so I was happy." As long as they continue, so is everyone else. TULANE (69) FO FT REB MIN M-A M-A OT A F PTS Honeycutt 35 8&18 3-4 1-6 2 4 22 Hartman 28 3-10 1-1 3-3 1 4 7 Perry 14 2-5 0-0 2-2 1 4 4 Williams 32 2-10 0-0 2-4 4 3 5 Lewis 18 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 0 2 Allen 16 4-6 1-2 0-1 0 0 9 Simmons 24 4-8 0-0 1-2 2 2 9 Cameron 22 4-9 0-3 1-1 3 2 9 Jackson 2 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Childs 9 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 Totals 200 29-72 5-10 1529 1621 69 FG%: .403. F .500. Three-point goals: 6.24, .250 (Honeycutt 3-9, Williams 1-6, Cameron 1-5, Simmons 1-2, Lewis 0-2). Blocks: 5 (Childs 2, Cameron, Honeycutt, Lewis). Steals: 11 (Williams 4, Simmons 3, Hartman, Honeycutt, Lewis, Perry). Technical Fouls: none. MICHIGAN (84) FO FT REB MIN M-A U-A 0-T A F PTS Jackson 33 4-6 0-4 1-6 3 3 8 King 36 7-9 0-0 0-3 4 1 15 Howard 35 8-15 5-6 2-13 2 3 21 Fife 28 2-3 3-4 0-3 2 2' 8 Rose 40 9-11 8-14 2-7 4 3 28 Saint-Jean 9 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 4 Crawford 16 0-5 0-0 0-1 3 4-0 Derricks 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 200 32-52 16-28 939 1817 84 FQ%: .615. FT% .571. Three-point goals: 4-10, .400 (Rose 2-3, Fife 1-2, King 1-2, Crawford 0-2, Jackson 0-1). Blocks: 5 (Jackson 3, Howard, King). Steals: 10 (Crawford 2, Fife 2, Jackson 2, Rose 2, Howard, King). Technical Fouls: Rose. Tulane .........27 42 - 69 Michigan.......38 46 - 84 At: Crisler Arena; A: 13,022 (paid) a~es~wimmers .take on world-class field at Canham By DARREN EVERSON DAILY SPORTS WRITER Top swimmers from around the world will compete this weekend at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships at Canham Natatorium. The Open has served as a steppingstone to making the U.S. Olympic Team. Since its inception in 1985, nearly half of the Americans who have won individual events here have become Olympians. Among the Wolverines scheduled to compete is junior Alecia Humphrey, the 1993 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year. The Poughkeepsie, N.Y., native is looking to use this meet to gauge her progress this season. "I'm just trying to work harder this year, so I've been training pretty hard so far," she said. "I've swam faster this season than ever before, and (the Open) will just set me up for how I'm going to do at the NCAAs and at nationals." Humphrey also said that she and the other Wolverines competing this week- end will have an advantage because they are swimming in their own pool. "We had Big Tens here last year, and it's really good because then there are people in the stands watching you and cheering for you, and you're com- fortable," she said. "You don't have to worry about eating at weird places or food you don't like, stuff like that." Michigan will also be represented by Anne Kampfe and Lara Hooiveld. Hooiveld, from Australia, was the 1993 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, while Kampfe won the 200- and 400- meter individual medley (IM) events at last year's Open. To better suit foreign athletes and American collegians, achange has been made intheformatofthisyear'sOpen. This year's meet will be short course, meaning that a 25-meter pool will be used instead of the standard long-course 50-meter distance. This change means that every winning time will set a U.S. Open record. The meet consists of approxi- mately 800 swimmers competing in 14 individual events and three relays. Events start today, with the prelimi- naries beginning at 10 a.m. and finals for those events at 6 p.m. The schedule follows the same for- mat tomorrow. Saturday's preliminar- ies also begin at 10, but the finals get underway at 5p.m. due to coverage by cable network TNT. Today's events include men's and women's competition in the 50, 400, and 4x200 freestyle. Other races in- clude the 200 backstroke and IM, and the 100 breaststroke. ow MICHEILLE G~UY The Wolverine swimmers will get a chance at national exposure this weekend. TNT will broadcast Saturday's U.S. Open finals from Canham. Namesnik, Wouda, Dolan eye battle in U.S. By BRETT JOHNSON DAILY SPORTS WRITER The United States swimming world will be focusing its collective eye on nn Arbor this weekend as Michigan osts the 1993 U.S. Open swim meet. The three-day event, which starts today at Canham Natatorium, includes some of the United States', and world's, top male and female swimmers. It also provides the chance for the Michigan teams to compete against tough compe- tition early in the season. In addition, the competition will be the first major short-course meter event *eld in the United States. Normally, the Olympic-size 50-meter pool is used for meter-distance meets, but a 25-meter pool will be used this weekend. "Since this is the first time we've ever had a meet in short-course meters, everybody will be doing their best times," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "It will be a new experience. Only Europeans have competed in these races in the past." The men's side of the competition looks to be very strong as it brings in five 1992 Olympians as well as some of the United States' up-and-coming swimmers. This should provide the weekend with some exciting swims. The mostexcitement could come in the two individual medley (IM)events where three former or current Michi- gan swimmers should battle for the top spots. Junior Marcel Wouda, freshman Tom Dolan and former team member Eric Namesnik all have a chance to claim victory in both events. Wouda comes in as the NCAA run- ner-up in the 400-yard IM and is Michigan's top returning IM'er. Dolan finished second in the 400-meter IM at the Pan Pacific championships this sum- mer. However, both will have to keep up with Namesnik, who was the 1992 Olympic silver medalist in the 400 IM. The backstroke events will alsopro- vide a strong field. Michigan's Royce Sharp comes in as the American record- holder in the 200 backstroke, and Jeff Rouse, a Stanford graduate, currently holds the 100 backstroke world record. These two should clash in the 200. Rouse will also have to compete with an outstanding high school swimmer, Derya Buyukuncu, in the 100. "They'll be some very good races with Rouse and a high school kid (Buyukuncu) from California in the 100," Urbanchek said. "Buyukuncu Open finals is the high school record holder in the 100-yard backstroke. And in the 200 (meter backstroke), Royce and Rouse should collide head on." Other top U.S. swimmers who are competing include 1992 Olympian Roque Santos and high school senior and Stanford recruit Scott Claypool. As for Michigan, Urbanchek sees the event as an intermediate step in the training regimen. "We're not (resting the swimmers) to the point to do outstanding perfor- mances," Urbanchek said. "Nobody's prepared well enough to do their best times. (We're) just setting some goal times, some times for 'ourselves' to do." Thinking about applying to Graduate School at the University of Michigan School of Education? If YES, come to a meeting TODAY. 6 D.m. I ,T:, f.....:.. I Ifl\ /- 7 :=::