SPORTSMonday Tdvla * What was the last men's basketball team to win the Big Ten and national titles in the same year? (Answer, page 2) 1W.. Inside SPORTSMonday Football Wrestling Q & A The R.H. Factor Men's basketball Women's basketball Women's swimming Hockey Men's swimming Volleyball Men's tennis 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 King and Jackson sit; Spartans get smashed Uproar will soon * be out of style AST LANSING -0 shots, 0 rebounds, 0 blocks, 1 STEAL. The magic marker signs bobbing in the student section at the Breslin Center Saturday night said it all. Michigan was in trouble again, and it had nothing to do with timeouts or the chicken pox. Starters Jimmy King and Ray Jackson and walk- on Chris Fields were suspended for at least one game for violating team policy. Allegedly, they broke the rule about stealing beer from neighborhood party stores. Forget about their innocence or guilt, or even their taste in beer (although Molson Ice is not a bad choice). What Spartan fans were concerned about, more than Ray's mental state or Jimmy's future eligibility status, was their evening's taunting material, and the players' theft was just the kind of fuel they needed. The story broke Friday, eliciting a collective groan from newspaper readers and sports bars RACHEL around Ann Arbor. Saturday, BACHMAN Spartan fans, wearing empty beer Bach's Score cases on their heads, seized the opportunity to rub Michigan's latest Hard Copy-type plot in their intrastate rivals' faces. Hi Mom. Send Bail Money. The students reveled in the seediness of it all, chanting "Tastes great. Less filling," in spirited unison. They should enjoy it while it lasts, for this embarrassment, too, shall pass. Although the Wolverines crisply dismissed the Spartan entourage, Steve Fisher was more than a bit troubled by his absent players' predicament. After the game, the sweaty-lipped coach said he told his players to let the jeers just, "Be noise. Don't take anything personal." The clearly unnerved coach did not take his-own advice. Fisher handles scandals like neckties - they're not comfortable, but sooner or later you know you'll See BACHMAN, Page 4 Rebounding ices win over Michigan State, 59-51 By BRETT FORREST DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER EAST LANSING - In a season with more surprises than an O. Henry short story, the Michigan men's bas- ketball team was forced to deal with yet another unexpected drama over the weekend. Playing without the services of suspended starters Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, the No. 13 Wolverines (7-2 Big Ten, 15-4 overall) rose to the challenge Saturday, conquering Michigan State, 59-51, before 15,138 at the Breslin Center. After being rocked on the boards' by the Spartans (5-5, 14-8) in the teams' Jan. 5 meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan dominated underneath, outrebounding the hosts, 38-22. Michigan State managed just three, offensive boards to Michigan's 12. "They kind of manhandled us out there," Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote said. "They were a little stronger physically. We didn't get in sync offensively at all." The Wolverines were ferocious when it came time to defend under the basket. They showed no mercy on Michigan State's big man, Anthony Miller, forcing him to kick the ball out to the perimeter nearly every time he touched it. They allowed Miller only six attempts from the field. In fact, the Spartans shot just 36.7 percent (18-of-49) as a team. State's leading scorer, junior guard Shawn Respert, never found his rhythm, shooting 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from the field, finishing with a team-high 15 points. "(It was) our best defensive effort of the season," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "I think there's a reason when you shoot poorly. They had very, very, very few second looks at the basket." The Wolverines had numerous second chances of their own, espe- cially early, grabbing eight offensive boards in the opening stanza. Michigan did what it planned to do in the first half - get the ball inside to its experienced center. How- ever, Juwan Howard could not find his range, hitting just two of his 10 shots in the first half. Likewise, Makhtar Ndiaye had problems from the field. The fresh- man hit only one of his six shots, all in the first half. The one basket was an uncontested layup from the blocks off a solid pass from Leon Derricks at the 16:00 mark of the first half. Howard recovered in the second half to lead both teams in scoring (18) and rebounding (12). The big man has stepped up his rebounding game re- cently. Against Purdue last week he snagged 17 boards. "I'm really concentrating more with my rebounding," Howard said. "We knew that tonight was going to be stressed more with the rebound- ing." Michigan nearly forgot its funda- mentals late in the game. Halfway through the second half the Wolver- ines led by 11 points. The Spartans then drew close. After a steal and breakaway dunk by State's Eric Snow with 8:50 left in the game, Michigan's Dugan Fife missed and Ndiaye picked up his See SPARTANS, Page 4 MICHELLE GUY/Daily Jalen Rose drives against Michigan State in Michigan's 59-51 win over the Spartans at the Breslin Center Saturday. The victory kept the Wolverines in first place in the Big Ten. Hockey moves closer to CCHA title By JAESON ROSENFELD DAILY HOCKEY WRITER Ferris State did exactly what it had to do to beat No. 1 Michigan. The Bulldogs kept the nation's top power play unit off the ice by committing only four penalties, all in the first period. They also limited the second-leading offense in the country to a season-low two goals by playing tight defensive hockey. Ferris State even outshot the Wolverines, 27-24. But the Bulldogs (9-12-1 CCHA, 10-17-1 overall) could do nothing to take Steve Shields out of his game, and the nation's top netminder turned away all but one of their shots in a 2- 1 Michigan triumph before 7,498 fans at Yost. The Ferris State victory coupled with a 10-4 home win over Kent State Friday moved the Wolverines (22-1- 1, 27-2-1) to within one point of clinching the CCHA regular-season championship and made coach Red Berenson the winningest coach in Michigan hockey history. "I thought both goaltenders were excellent," Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said. "What impressed me most about Shields was how he handled the puck. He iced it by him- self." Shields, whose 2.33 goals against average leads the nation, took matters into his own hands several times in the scoreless third period, shooting the puck out of the Wolverine zone to alleviate pressure from the defense. "It's a good asset to have," Shields said. "It really helps our defense to flip it out into the neutral zone." At the other end of the ice, Shields' counterpart, Craig Lisko, kept the Bulldogs in the game by holding the Wolverines scoreless for the opening 23:09 of the contest. Michigan's Warren Luhning fi- nally broke Lisko's armor early in the second period on a feed from Mike Stone. The freshman collected the puck at the blue line, split a pair of Bulldog defenders and wristed a shot at Lisko. The Ferris goalie turned Luhning's first attempt away, but Luhning stuffed the rebound along with Lisko just across the goal line for a 1-0 lead. Brian Wiseman doubled the Wol- verines' score when he took a pass Wolverines to sign prospect Center Robbie Gordon of the Powell River (B.C.) Paper Kings has given Michigan his verbal commitment. Gordon is the fourth prospect to commit to the Wolverines. See story, page 6. from David Oliver between the circles and flipped a wristshot high glove side on Lisko at the 10:30 mark of the second period. The Ferris defense then put the clamps on the high-powered Michigan offense, holding it score- less for the last half of the contest. "Anytime you can hold Michigan to two goals, you've got to be happy with your defense," Daniels said. "We need to find a way to score more goals." The Bulldogs finally did get on the board when Robb McIntyre scorched a slapshot from close range into the top of the Wolverine net. The tally at 16:56 of the second stanza set the stage for a closely contested, de- fensive third period. "Tonight's game was anybody's See HOCKEY, Page 5 JONATHAN LURIE/Daily Brian Wiseman looks to score in Michigan's 10-4 win over Kent State Friday. Working to be the best HITE arena isn't much of a s rTER LIhead coach Dale Bahr. Gymnasts topple local rivals in State Classic By RYAN W DAILY SPORTS WRt urprise to The wrestling room inside Crisler Arena has a climate that compares favorably to that of a tropical rain forest. It's one that is in stark contrast to the cold winter afternoon outside the arena. On this day inside that wrestling room, the Michigan wrestling team is finishing practice with a 10- minute workout, consisting of jogging, sprinting, crawling and jumping. It is designed to make every part of the body ache. mat and in the classroom "The line I hear from the guys is that all Harp has done since he got to Michigan is study and wrestle," Bahr said. Harper will be the first to admit that he spends most of his time doing just as his teammates say, studying and wrestling, but he does get out. "I like to go out whenever I can," said Harper, who is a fifth- year senior. "The other night we went and saw 'Tombstone' - Sean By MELANIE SCHUMAN DAILY SPORTS WRITER It was a celebrity event yesterday at Cliff Keen Arena when University President James Duderstadt, his wife Anne and Michigan's new Athletic Director Joe Roberson were on hand to watch the Michigan's women's gymnastics team dominate its intrastate rivals at the State of Michi- gan Classic. Michigan, still undefeated with a record of 4-0, focused on the indi- vidual team performance rather than Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan were all in at- tendance to support their teams. "I like to see the kind of crowd who can appreciate good gymnas- tics," coach Bev Plocki said. And "good gymnastics" could be found in every direction. Michigan captured the number one spot in all five events (including all- around) and junior Beth Wymer once again got the crowd roaring. Wymer, named Big Ten Gymnast of the Month, broke her own school I w