Women's Basketball vs. South Carolina Tonight, 7:30 p.m. Columbia, S.C. S Hockey vs. Notre Dame Saturday, 7 p.m. Yost Ice Arena Wildcats turn Wolverines into kitty litter Offensive woes continue to plague struggling 'M' AUBURN HILLS - They came late, they left early. Many of them didn't even bother to come at all. In between, the crowd at last night's inaugural DirecTV Great Eight Basketball Festival, mostly a partisan Michigan crowd, saw the Wolverines continue to struggle to put the ball in the net. It must seem like a broken record for the Wolverines. In three out of the four games this season, the offense has completely disappeared for extended stretches. This forces Michigan to be even tougher on the defensive end. That intensity hasn't been there most of the time. When the Wolverines experience an offensive drought, the defensive intensity usually goes right out the door with it. That results in huge scoring runs by the opposition. In the season opener against Tulane, Michigan had a big second-half lead that the Green Wave erased with a 17-0 run and then found it within itself to pull out a come from behind victory. . T The next night against Arizona State, the Wolverines weren't as lucky. The Sun Devils used several runs to ANTOINE embarrass Michigan, 79-62. NIN E ALast night, the Wolverines came out just how they began the season. Michigan scored the first bucket of the Pios game, but tallied just one more point over the next four and a half minutes. Meanwhile at the other end of the court, Arizona, which had its own problem scoring at the beginning of the game, began to hit shots. Defense kept the Wolverines in the game, however, resulting in a 32-31 Arizona lead at the half. The Wildcats came out hot in the second half, and the Michigan offense couldn't keep up. Quickly this game turned into a laugher sending many of the 18,885 toward the exits with a round of boos with over nine minutes to go. It seemed as if there were a lid on the Wolverine basket. The long scoreless stretches left the Michigan players and coaches with nothing but looks of bafflement written all over their faces. "When the shots don't go in you have to defend better," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "In the first half we did, in the second half we didn't." Fisher has already used three different starting lineups this season in an effort to shake things up. He pulled starting point guard Dugan Fife five and a half minutes into the game and tried Jimmy King and Jerod Ward at the guard spots. Later, Bobby Crawford ran the point for the Wolverines. The result remained the same. Right now Michigan is looking for an answer - any answer - to how it can mend its flailing offense. You aren't going to win many contests making just eight field goals in the second half and shooting 31 percent for the game. "It's real frustrating when you can't hit your shots," Crawford said. "We've faced tougher defenses then that but our shots just weren't falling. Nobody likes to lose, but in the long run this may be just what the Wolverines needed. It's much better that they have found out there inadequacies at this point in the season than further down the line. Arizona runs all over 0 Blue, 78-57, By SCOTT BURTON Daily Basketball Writer AUBURN HILLS - Sometimes there are complex reasons why a team loses a game. And sometimes, like in No. 17 Michigan's 78-57 loss to No. 9 Ari- zona last night at the DirecTV Great Eight Festival, the reasons are el- emental: If you can't put the ball in the basket when it most matters, you can't win the game. Michigan (2-2) failed to score a field for the first eight minutes of the second half, and turned the ball over on six of its first seven possessions. As a result, the Wolverines managed only 26 second-half points and watched a 32-31 halftime deficit ex- plode into a 21-point Arizona (3-1) blowout. "There is no explanation," Michi- gan guard Jimmy King said. "We can not fault anyone but ourselves. We came out flat to start the second half. We had a turnover every time we touched the ball, it seemed." "We are used to being one of the premier teams in the country," for- ward Ray Jackson said. "And to lose a game like this, even to a good team, it definitely hurts." For the game, Michigan shot less than 32 percent, by far their worst shooting effort of the year. The mis- ery was shared evenly from top-to- bottom, from King's 2-for-12 effort to freshman forward Maurice Taylor's 3-for-10. "We struggled," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "We shot miser- ably. You have got to stay in there and compete and fight through tough times. And we shot 31 percent and (had) 19 turnovers. Those are stats that losers bring home and we are going home just that." Arizona had its scoring problems on the night as well, but they softened once again up Michigan's defense in the second- half, thanks to a barrage of 3-point shots. The Wildcats' star guard, Damon Stoudamire, set the pace, hit- ting two treys in the first three utes of the second stanza. A third from Staudamire at 10:54 closed out a 25-8 second-half run by Arizona. Down 57-39, Michigan opened up its perimeter shooters to try to catch up. However, aside from a Jerod Ward 3-pointer at 11:41, Michigan failed to connect on one shot from beyond the arc until the game was out of hand. For the game, Michigan connected 6-of-18 3-pointers, three of wh came in the final five minutes. 'There is no explanation. We had a turnover every time we touched the ball, it seemed.' --- Jimmy Kirn* Michigan guard "In the second half, we came out and did a lot of things well," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "We did a good job of making it difficult for them to get the shots they wanted." Michigan stayed with Arizona in the first half, thanks to an impresst defensive effort. They held the W cats to mostly perimeter shots, effec- tively denying the ball from the hands of big men Joseph Blair and Ray' Owes, who notched a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. The loss to Arizona marked the second time in as many weekd Michi- gan was knocked off by a team from the Grand Canyon State. The Wol- verine fell to Arizona State last Tu9 day in the semifinals of the Maui Classic. DOUGLAS KANTER/DVaily Maurice Taylor cannot block this shot by Arizona's Joseph Blair, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Wildcats' 78-57 victory over Michigan. ARIZONA (T8) MICHIGAN (57) U U ~:. L\ d rr University of Michigan Drop off equipment Dec.2, 6pm-9pm ~L ~- SkiW Swap New and Used Equipment!i SKIS, POLES, BOOTS, BINDINGS, AND CLOTHING FOR BOTH DOWNHILL AND X-COUNTRY! Dec.3, 9am-9pm J Michigan Coliseum IQ FTRES FQ FREB MIN MA M-A O0T A F PYS MIN WA UWA 0-T A F PTS Owes 33 7-11 3-6 5-14 0 3 17 Jackson 37 4 15 2-4 3-7 2 2 11 Williams 19 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 4 3 Taylor 25 310 0-1 2-2 0 3 6 Blair 32 5-10 0.1 3-10 0 3 10 Baston 14 2-2 0-0 1-3 0 3 4 Stoudamire 36 7-14 5-6 0-6 7 0 24 Fife 20 1-1 0-0 0-0 4 3 3 Geary 32 2-4 0-0 1-2 5 2 5 King 33 2-12 6-8 1-5 2 2 11 McLean 8 1-4 0-0 0-0 20 2 Ndiaye 12 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 2 Simon 24 3-7 0-2 1-1 1 3 6 Ward 21 5-13 0-06-10 0 1 11 Kelley 5 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 2 Mitchell 16 1-4 1-3 1-3 1 1 4 Dickerson 9 4-6 1-1 1-4 0 1 9 Crawford 15 2-8 0-0 0-0 1 3 5 Eafon 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 00 0 Saint-Jean 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 01 0 Barmentloo 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 21 *7 9-16 200 1020 57 Totals 200 31-61 9-16 13-45 1517 78 FG%: .313. FT%: .563. Three-point goals: 6-18, FG%:.508. FT%:.563. Three-point goals: 7-20, .333 (Crawford 1-7, Fife 1-1, Jackson 1-4. King 1-1, .350 (Stoudamire 5-9, Geary 1-2, Williams 1-2 Mitchell 1-3, Ward 1-2). Blocks: 5 (Baston, McLean 0-3, Simon 04). Blocks: 2 (Geary, Jackson, Mitchell, Ndiaye, Taylor). Turnovers: 19 Owes). Turnovers: 20 (Stoudamire 5, Geary 4 (King 6, Taylor 4, Jackson 3, Mitchell 2, Baston, Blair 3, Simon 3, Owes 2, Kelley, McLean, Crawford, Fife. Ndiaye). Steals: 6 (King 2, Mitchell Williams). Steals: 3 (Geary 2, Simon). Technical 2, Ndiaye, Jackson). Technical Fouls: none. Fouls: Owes (hanging on rim). Arzona........32 46 - 78 Michigan. 31 26 - 57 At: The Palace of Auburn Hills; A: 18,885 Call Kelly (761-7673) or Amy (663-0634) for more information Moonstone, Inc. Looking for a Christmas gift for a great price? Look no further. ALL-WEATHER TRENCH COATS Navy Blue with zipout liner. Single and Double Breasted available in most sizes $49 plus $9.95 shipping and handling Women's sizes 8, 10, 12 & 14 Men's sizes 34 (available in black), 36 & 38, Limited Quantity available so order NOW 1-800-217-6168 BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Stoudanure leads All- By ANTOINE PITTS Daily Basketball Writer AUBURN HILLS - With 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds against the Wolverines, Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire earned honors as the Great Eight's Most Outstanding Player. Also named to the team were Duke's Cherokee Parks, Florida's Andrew DeClercq, Missouri's Paul O'Liney and Connecticut's Ray Allen and Kevin Ollie. RAVE REvIEws: Despite the poor turnouts, coaches of the participating teams praised the Palace of Auburn Hills for the tournament it put on. "I am very impressed with this facility," Arizona coach Lute Olson sa4 "It's a great place to play." "This is a great event," Florida coach Lon Kruger said. "The people here did an outstanding job. The concept is great, it's a great way to tipoff the season." The Palace will host the Great Eight for at least the next two seasons and will be a first-round site for the 1996 NCAA Tournament. ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT REACHES OUT: The Michigan athletic department named Keith Molin as a special assistant to athletic director Joe Roberson. Molin, who served on former Michigan governor William Milliken's cabi- net, will assist in the athletic department's community outreach project. "He knows that athletics go well beyond the scoreboard and has the abi1* to make others understand that as well," Roberson said. "That will be his primary responsibility." SMOOTH DELIVERY: Earlier this week, Michigan assistant coach Scott Perry became a father for the first time. Scott's wife, Kim, gave birth to Chelsea Denise Perry shortly after the Wolverines' exhibition game Monday night. FREQUENT FLIERS: With its trip to the Great Eight, Arizona has now logged See NOTEBOOK, Page 9 ih AIN m " 67TH ANNUAL GALENS TAG DAYS FRIDRY DECEMBER 2 SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 GMAT, GRE, MCAT, & LSAT. Unluersity of Michigan Medical Students will tiesm. nl~tn m~~E~~Isqag a t~i.n e fnr :b t I I