Men's Basketball
vs. Ohio State
Tonight, 8 p.m. (Raycom)
Crisler Arena
Si
Men's Swimming
vs. Stanford
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Canham Natatorium
The Michigan Daily Thursday, January 13, 1994 Page 5
Spartans too much for youthful Michigan
WOMEN'S $ OURT MSU fights off gutsy
'M,' Gray, 74-62
Blue sees some signs of
?romlse despite loss
By SCOTT BURTON
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
EAST LANSING - Teams in the rebuilding process, like the Michigan
women's basketball team, often speak of "good losses." That is, although it
may lose a certain game, it's performance is encouraging - a sign of better
things to come.
The Wolverines, with five freshmen and only seven total active roster
embers, have had several of these good losses in 1994. Their recent loss to
' rdue, 78-57, for instance, was one where Michigan stayed tough with the
nationally-ranked Boilermakers well into the second half.
You can classify last night's 74-62 loss against Michigan State in this same
category as well. After its two toughest losses of the year-a 101-58drubbing
at the hands of Indiana, last Friday and a winnable 79-69 loss to Detroit-Mercy,
Sunday - the Wolverines kept saying they could bounce back against the
Spartans and play a good game.
And that's exactly what they did. Although Michigan didn't win, it had
numerous leads, kept Michigan State from pulling away on a number of
occasions and battled fatigue to throw a scare into the Spartans.
l Furthermore, the Wolverines showed evidence that they had learned some
essons this season - how to handle the press, the importance of working to
find better shots and keeping an edge on defense.
"You're looking at a group of girls with heart and a lot of pride," Michigan
captain Yeshimbra Gray said. "The coaches were unhappy with what we were
doing, we were unhappy with ourselves."
If all goes well for Michigan, the season won't just be measured by how many
good losses it had. It will be about whether the team had a "good" losing season.
What will make a good losing season? For Michigan, it will be about
whether it can stay mentally tough and positive while it works its way through
Shat is sure to be a grueling and unrewarding Big Ten season. Whether they
an remember that bigger and better things await them, even though every-
thing may be a little tough to handle right now.
"I think it is a very unique situation in that I'm happy to be a part of it,"
freshman point guard Jennifer Keifer. "It's tough with seven players and five
freshman, but I think it will only help in the long run."
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
The Michigan women's basketball team fell to MSU last night, 74-62.
"We do have a lot of team unity, to keep working hard, never give up and
hopefully we will win some games," Gray said.
A good part of Michigan's healthy attitude has been the positive nature of
coach Trish Roberts. Although she has hit her tolerance level of mistakes,
letdowns and poor play, she always finds a way to describe each game as
"encouraging," and always remains confident for a better future.
"I think they are young, I think they are going to make freshman mistakes,"
Roberts said. "But they are really getting to play and I think it is only going to
make them that much better in the long run."
By BRENT MCINTOSH
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
EAST LANSING - Shimmy
drove, Shimmy ran the floor, Shimmy
shot the jumper, but in the end, junior
forward Shimmy Gray and the Michi-
gan women's basketball team came
up short.
Only 12 points short, but the Wol-
verines moved to 0-3 in the Big Ten
and 3-9 overall, despite a 24-point,
eight-rebound performance from
Gray, the eldest Wolverine.
Michigan State (1-1 Big Ten, 6-5
overall) was quicker, taller and older
than the embattled Michigan team,
and it showed in its 74-62 triumph last
night at the Breslin Student Events
Center in East Lansing. The Spartans
were led by junior forwards Tanya
Place, who had 17 points, and Kisha
Kelley, who pulled down nine re-
bounds to go with her 15 points, de-
spite dislocating her finger only two
minutes into the game.
"(The finger) was kind of ugly,"
Spartan coach Karen Langeland said.
"It certainly was a problem tonight."
Not enough of a problem to stop
Michigan State, though. Only the play
of Gray - whose 24 was a career-high
- and freshman guard Jennifer Kiefer
keptthe Wolverines in the game. Kiefer
played the entire 40 minutes, scoring 12
with three buckets from behind the arc
and four assists.
The Wolverines also got help from
sophomore forward Jennifer
Brzezinski, who hauled down 12
boards in her first start this season.
The Spartans, down three at the
half, came out of the locker room with
newfound fervor. Over the first eight
minutes, they pressed the Wolverines
into multiple turnovers and outscored
them 22-7 to take a 12-point lead.
"We had a few mental letdowns,"
Michigan coach Trish Roberts said.
"It was a time when Michigan State
came out and hit three or fourjumpers
in a row. By that time, we were just
fatigued."
Michigan cut the lead to four twice
with about seven minutes to play, but
could never get closer.
"The difference was our shooting
percentage in the second half,"
Langeland said. "We took bettershots,
looked to penetrate more."
The game began like no one ex-
pected. The Wolverines jumped out to
an 8-2 lead after only three minutes, as
Gray hit a pair of jumpers and a layup.
With almost eight minutes left,
the Wolverines had rebuilt a nine-
point lead, their biggest of the game,
only to see Michigan State jump out
on a 16-2 run, the kind that had beaten
Michigan in several previous games.
Down five, the Wolverines were
playing out of synch and being forced
into turnovers by the Spartan fullcourt
press. Tradition dictated that Michi-
gan probably wouldn't climb back
into the game.
But Kiefer hit a three, then led
Gray with a textbook pass off the fast
break. Gray's layup and the free throw
that ensued after a Place foul put
Michigan up one. An almost identical
play by Kiefer - minus the foul -
brought the lead to three. The Spar-
tans finished the period down, 34-31.
"The first half was good," Roberts
said. "We played it exactly like we
wanted to, but we've got to go out and
play 40 minutes of basketball, not 20."
MICHIGAN (62)
FO FTRFM
MIN M-A M A O-T A F PTS
Gray 37 11-21 2-2 5-8 2 4 24
Brzezinski 38 2-8 0-0 4-12 4 2 4
Shellman 39 4-15 0-0 1-3 3 3 8
Kiefer 40 4-7 1.1 1-3 4 4 12
Johnson 21 4-11 1-2 1-2 1 0 9
Ross 20 1-4 1-2 0-3 2 2 3
DiGiacianto 5 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 2
Totals 200 27467 5-7 13-37 1616 62
FG%:.403. FT%:.714. Threel)ont goals: 3-10,
.300 (Kiefer 3-3. Gray 0-1, Johnson 0-2,
Shellman 0-4). Blocks: 2 (Gray 2). Turnovers: 18
(Brzezinski 5, Kiefer 4, Johnson 4, Ross 2, Gray).
Steals: 8 (Brzezinski 3 Kiefer 2, Shellman 2,
Ross). Technical Fouls: none.
MICHIGAN STATE (74)
FO FT RES
MIN M-A MA OT A F PTS
Place 35 7-14 1-2 1-4 1 3 17
Kelley K. 32 5-12 5-5 4-9 4 2 15
Kelley,D. 19 0-2 0-0 1-400 0
F Powers 37 4-11 6-7 1-6 6 0 16
Euler 34 4-8 0-0 0-3 5 1. 9
Collier 2 0-2 0-0 00-0 00 0
Bums 8 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 3
McMaster 12 3-4 0-0 1-1 0 0 6
Gray 17 3-6 0-0 1-2 10 6
' Nelson 4 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 0 2
Totals 200 2861 13-15 11-33 17 7 74
FQV~ .4 59. FTV .867. Three-Woet goals: 5-11,
.455 (Powers 2-4, Place 2-5, Euler 1-2). Bocks:
2 (Euler, Place). Turnovers: 18 (Euler 8, Place 4,
Kelley, K. 2, Gray, Kelley, D., McMaster, Powers).
Steals: 10 (Euler 3, Powers 3, Kelley, K. 2, Gray,
Place). Technical Fouls: none.
Michigan....;:34 28 - 62
> Michigan State. 31 43- 74
' At Breslin Center, A: 1,159
Michigan, OSU square off amid off-court activity
By BRETT FORREST
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
' Amid talk of broken bones, boy-
cotts and transfer students, the Michi-
gan (2-0 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) and
Ohio State (1-1, 8-5) men's basketball
teams find a game on their dockets.
Tonight at 8p.m. at Crisler Arena,
Buckeye coach Randy Ayers will try to
mend his recently broken ankle with a
victory over a team that seems to have
healed a wound of its own.
This evening's game should mark
the debut of Wake Forest transfer
Makhtar Ndiaye. The 6-foot-8 native
of Dakar, Senegal, will provide size
and depth to the Michigan bench -
two of Michigan's glaring weaknesses.
However, he has not seen time in a
college contest and is admittedly out of
game shape. How much will he play
against Ohio State?
"If he goes in there and all of a
sudden blocks two shots and dunks
one," Wolverine coach Steve Fisher
said, "I will probably give him more
time."
That is not too likely to happen, so
Fisher will depend on his stalwarts on
the inside -juniors Juwan Howard
and Ray Jackson.
"With Jackson and Howard, I think
they're very active in there," Ayers
said. "I think when you take it in there,
you have to be strong with the ball. I
don't think that's any different than it
has been in the past."
Ohio State has endured a rigorous
schedule thus far, falling to No.8 Ken-
tucky in the Maui Invitational, and
losing toNo.1North Carolinain Chapel
Hill andNo.23 WestVirginia at home.
While these tough contests may dam-
age the young Buckeyes' psyche, Ayers
said he expects the experience to pay
dividends.
"Now is where you hope that the
schedule works to your advantage," he
said. "As we get into our conference
play a little bit more, we hope that the
fact we've been in some tough envi-
ronments will help us during the con-
ference time."
Sophomore forward Derek Ander-
son leads the Buckeyes in scoring (17.2
ppg) this season, and along with 1992-
93 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Greg
Simpson (11.4 ppg), the duo provides
crucial points from underclassmen.
Senior guard Jamie Skelton leads the
backcourt in scoring (13.8 ppg).
A third-team All-Big Ten selection
from last season, Lawrence
Funderburke (11.3 ppg) is still recov-
ering from off-season surgery to both
knees. The senior forward's scoring
has dropped off from the 16.3 ppg
average of last year, but he has made
headway recently.
"Lawrence has made good
progress," Ayers said. " Certainly he
has a ways to go, but he's played well
since the conference has started."
In arecent development, the Black
Coaches Association (BCA) said its
members are considering delaying or
boycotting games-possibly as soon
as Saturday, Martin Luther King's birth-
day -to bring attention to its disagree-
ment with the NCAA.
The BCA is lobbying the NCAA to
reinstate a 14th.scholarship for Divi-
sion I basketball programs. Ayers, a
member of the BCA, is unsure of what
he and his team will do.
"I have not made a decision yet on
boycotting," he said. "One way or an-
other, we're going to have some more
discussion within (the BCA)."
BCA expected to boycott
games as early as Saturday
DES MOINES,Iowa (AP)-Plans
for a college basketball boycott gath-
ered strength Wednesday, with more
coaches supporting the unprecedented
protest and talks with the NCAA bro-
ken off.
Rudy Washington, director of the
Black Coaches Association (BCA) and
the basketball coach at Drake, would
not say when the walkout would take
place, but acknowledges it is likely to
happen. He said the boycott would
include players and could conceivably
last the rest of the season.
Some coaches said they hoped to
avoid such action but would participate
in a show of unity.
"There comes a point where you
have to take a stand," said Washington
.State coach Kelvin Sampson, a mem-
ber of the BCA. "We've got to have
solidarity on this."
A vote at the NCAA convention
against restoring a 14th scholarship in
Division I men's basketball triggered
the boycott plan.
The coaches could act as early as
Saturday, which would coincide with
the birthday of slain civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr. Stopping tele-
vised games on a weekend also would
deprive the NCAA of revenue from
those telecasts.
NCAA executive director Cedric
Dempsey said he had no idea what the
BCA planned or when it would act.
~1
AEAF
Pledges Love
Their Actives;!ll
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Michigan guard Jalen Rose drives the lane in the second half of last Saturday's game against Iowa. The Wolverines
return to Crisler Arena tonight to face Ohio State. The Buckeyes, led in scoring by sophomore Derek Anderson, are
currently 1-1 in Big Ten play, with a 72-68 victory against the Hawkeyes and a 69-55 loss to Wisconsin in Madison.
moo. 4 wrestlers hope strength at bottom of
lineup better than Penn State's at the top
By BARRY SOLLENBERGER the top teams in the country," Michi- pounded when freshman Brandon
DAILY SPORTS WRITER gan coach Dale Bahr said. Howe (126) sustained a knee injury
The road to the national champion- This year is no exception. last weekend against Morgan State,
The Amateur Wrestling
News' top 10 teams in
the country as of Jan. 12:
Rank
Team