Men's &Women's Gymnastics
Big Ten Championships
Today and tomorrow, 7 p.m.
University Park

S

TS

Men's Basketball
vs. Maryland
Tonight, 10:32 p.m. (CBS)
Dallas

Hitters
.take on

The madness continues
Wolverines take on Terps and fab freshman

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Hoosiers
By RYAN WHITE
pAILY BASEBALL WRITER
Heading into its first Big Ten
games of the season this weekend,
doubleheaders both tomorrow and
Sunday against Indiana, the Michi-
gan baseball team is looking for the
same things as the Hoosiers - con-
sistency.
The only difference is that the
Wolverines (4-10) travel to
Bloomington looking to consistently
improve; while Indiana (14-3) is seek-
ing more consistent play.
Michigan is still trying to tighten
up its defense, which committed eight
errors in three losses against Arizona
State last weekend.
"We have not made substantial
defensive improvement," Michigan
coach Bill Freehan said. "Consistent
improvement to the point where I'm
ready to say that I'm happy with it."
Though Indiana's record doesn't
show it, Hoosier coach Bob Morgan
feels that his team has not been as
.consistent as it should be.
"We've been sporadic at times,"
Morgan said. "We've had pitching,
but no offense at some times, and at-
other times offense but no pitching."
Pitching shouldn't be a problem
for the Hoosiers in the first game of
the series when they send All-Ameri-
can candidate Bob Scafa to the mound
against the Wolverines.
Scafa, who was a first team All-
See BASEBALL, Page 12

By CHAD A. SAFRAN
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
DALLAS - Before the season
began, the Michigan men's basketball
team was all but a lock for the NCAA
tournament. With four starters
returning from teams that made
appearances in consecutive
championship games, the Wolverines
knew they had a good opportunity to
reach a third consecutive Final Four.
About the only thing Maryland
- their opponent for tonight's Mid-
west Regional semifinal at Reunion
Arena (10:32 p.m., CBS) - had in
common was the fact that both
school's names begin with the same
letter.
And yet somehow the teams find
themselves in the same situation -
two wins away from a trip to Charlotte,
N.C. and the Final Four.
Led by freshman center, the Ter-
rapins (18-11) have surprised every-
one by not only qualifying for the
field of 64 this year - the first time
theyt have since 1988 - but advanc-
ing to the Sweet 16.
Named by the U.S. Basketball
Writers Association of America as
National Freshman oftheYear, 6-foot-
l OJoe Smith has carried Maryland to its
matchup with the Wolverines.
Smith scored 51 points and
collected 20 rebounds in the
Terrapins' victories over seventh-
seeded St. Louis (74-66) and No. 2
seed Massachusetts (95-87) last
weekend in Wichita, Kan.
"Joe gives us the strength to play

inside," Williams said. "He competes
defensively. He's a quick learner."
The Norfolk, Va. native had better
be able to compete in the paint against
Michigan if he and the Terps want to
play Sunday against the winner of
tonight's other semifinal, between No.
1-seed Arkansas and No. 12-seed Tulsa.
He will be assigned the task of defend-
ing Juwan Howard, who has been noth-
ing short of unstoppable in scoring 62
points and grabbing 27 rebounds in the
Wolverines' two games.
"My teammates find ways to get
me the ball where I can score," Howard
said. "I'm excited by my play. I just
have to keep working. I'm focused
and tuned to winning a national
championship."
Assuredly as Howard will once
again become the team's on-court
emotional spark plug, Jimmy King
has more than basketball to ignite his
play tonight.
A native of the Dallas suburb of
Plano, King brings plenty of memories
back to the Metroplex.
"This is where it all started for
me," said King, who along with Ray
Jackson and Bobby Crawford
complete the transplanted Texas tri-
umvirate.
"I played high school here, and
have a lot of friends and family here,"
Kind said. " It will be nice for them to
be able to see me in person rather than
on TV."
What might not be great for
Michigan is Maryland's defense -
an array of man-to-man and zones

that could confuse any team, even
one as experienced as the Wolver-
ines.
Additionally, Maryland presses
like a steam iron. Through 29 games
this season, the Terps have caused
opponents to turn the ball over 581
times. They change their full-court
defenses from 1-2-2 to 1-2-1-1 sets.
The Wolverines, who have able
ballhandlers in Dugan Fife and Jalen
Rose, face few teams that like to press
the full 94 feet. Just two Big Ten
teams, Ohio State and Iowa, utilize
this game plan extensively.
"They do a nice job with their
press," Michigan coach Steve Fisher
said. "They give a lot of different
looks. Hopefully the fact that Texas
pressed us from start to finish will
help us because we had to go against
the press for 40 minutes."
With four juniors on the floor for
a majority of the game, Michigan
dominates the experience category.
Maryland starts three sophomores,
Exree Hipp, Duane Simpkins and
Johnny Rhodes, and freshman Keith
Booth in addition to Smith.
Many have noted the Terrapins'
similarity to the Michigan group that
lost to Duke and North Carolina,
respectively, in the 1992 and 1993.
title games. Much like the Fab Five,
Maryland is young, talented and
confident.
"(Michigan's accomplishments
the last two years) gave us a great deal
of confidence that we could do the
same thing," Hipp said.

MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Juwan Howard leads the Wolverines into their sweet 16 battle with Maryland
tonight. Howard will have his hands full with the Terp's freshman Joe Smith.

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one win away from senlfnals .Y V Q' * 1 i*f>' t{rS.2 eaa b

Sy PAUL BARGER
DAILY HOCKEY WRITER
There is a major obstacle in the way of the Michigan
hockey team and a third consecutive trip to the Final Four.
Michigan's opponent Sunday in
East Lansing could be one of two
formidable foes. The Northeastern
Huskies (19-12-7) come into the tour-
nament as a five-seed, carrying the
worst overall record of all 12 teams in
}he field. Northeastern has not played The
.yp to its competition, holding a 3-9-3
record against tournament partici- Road to
rants. That does not bode well for the St PaUl
Huskies, since they will have to face runs through
traditional powerhouse Lake Supe- East Lansing
rior State (27-10-4) to get a shot at the West Regional
Wolverines (33-6-1). March 26-27
Michigan and Lake State are very
amiliar with each other. The teams have already met four
imes this year. However, they have never faced each
* ether in the NCAA tournament.

"I thought (Lake State) would get a higher seed,"
Wiseman said. "But we're not at all overlooking them.
We're totally confident going in."
The Wolverines dominated the Lakers this year,
winning all four contests. The climax came last Sunday
when Michigan won its first ever CCHA post season title
with a 3-0 victory over Lake State.
A loss this weekend would mark the end of the
collegiate careers of Chris Gordon, David Oliver, Steve
Shields, Mike Stone, and Brian Wiseman. They have had
impressive careers filled with personal and team
accolades. The only thing missing is the coveted national
championship.
"It's our last chance as five seniors," Wiseman said.
"We've had some memorable experiences making it to
the final four the last two years."
Michigan will face solid goaltending no matter who
they must play. Northeastern sports a pair of goalies who
have both gotten a good amount of ice time. Todd
Reynolds is 12-8-5 with a 3.63 goals against average and
Mike "Bud" Veisor is 7-3-2 with a 4.26 GAA. Their
See HOCKEY, Page 12

JONATHAN LURIE/Daily
Michigan senior Brian Wiseman leads the Wolverines into East Lansing to face either Lake Superior or Northeastern.

'M' looks for road kills

r _____________________

By RYAN CUSKADEN
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
The Michigan women's tennis
:eam has not played in front of a home
crowd since early February, and it is
! possible that its familiarity with the
:oad has prompted the Wolverines to
Slay the part of the steamroller.
This past weekend, the Wolver-
nes (3-1 Big Ten, 7-5 overall) swept
i pair of dual meets, demolishing
?urdue and Illinois.
The netters hope to improve their
:op-40 national and No. 5 regional
:ankings as they pack their bags and
3repare to square off against Big Ten
W ivals Iowa and Minnesota.
The Hawkeyes (1-0,7-2) will chal-
enge the depth of the Wolverine
squad. They boast an impressive
tingles lineup led by Laura Dvorak
11-5) and Nikke Willette (8-5).
Michigan may not possess strong

singles players. However, the true
strength of the team lies in its
doubles. Wolverine teammates
Bojana Jankovic and Angie Popek
(11-4 overall) have secured a top-
thirty national ranking, and co-cap-
tain Liz Cyganiak and her sister
Sarah possess an impressive 9-3
doubles record.
A strong performance against Iowa
may aid Michigan in its dual meet
with Minnesota (3-6 overall). The
Golden Gophers have shown no signs
of 24-karat play this season, as their
hollow lineup has only one notewor-
thy member, Tiffany Gates.
Gates (10-5 singles), a recent
quarterfinalist at the Rolex National
Indoor Championships, will attempt
to lead her team past the Wolverines
this Sunday, a task which is formi-
dable due to Minnesota's lack of a
strong supporting cast.

2 -F
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