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