Signing day Today is the first day that high school seniors are eligible to sign national letters of intent with collegiate football teams. Gary Moeller will find out how he fared in this year's recruiting wars. Read tomorrow's Daily to do the same and find out about the team's1995 freshman class. Page 8 Wednesday, February 1.1995 I Icers search for answer No. 1 Michigan unhappy with recent effort Blue faces road- weary Wisconsin 0 By Tom Seeley Daily Hockey Writer Most good teams go through some kind of mid-season slump when their play does not meet their expectations, but these minor setbacks do not usually land them in first place. However, after what was arguably its worst performance of the season, the Michigan hockey team woke up Mon- day morning to find itself in the top spot in the WMEB college hockey poll. Last weekend, the Wolverines struggled to earn three points against the seventh- and eighth-place teams in the CCHA. After tying Western Michi- gan Friday night, and escaping with an overtime victory over Illinois-Chicago Saturday afternoon, the Wolverines backed into the top spot when the pre- vious No.1 team, Maine, was upset by UMass-Amherst. "Everyone realizes that the play this weekend wasn't the reason why we're No. 1 in the country," Michigan captain Rick Willis said. "It's because Maine lost to the worst team in college hockey." Even though the Wolverines have not been firing on all their pistons since a5-1 triumph over Lake Superior State Jan. 13, the fact remains that they have not lost a game since a 4-3 setback at the hands of Minnesota Nov. 26. "We're concerned about (the re- cent play)," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Our team is not on a roll right now, even though our team is on a roll (in terms of its recent record). "I'm never going to be satisfied that our team has played their best, but I know that we can play better than we played last weekend." In additiontoaNo. 1 ranking,Michi- gan finds itself tied with Bowling Green for first place in CCHA. But with 10 conference games remaining in the schedule, current standings do not hold a lot of weight in the Wolverine lockerroom. "Everything is temporary right now. It's not like (first place) is a big deal," Berenson said. "We'd like to end up in first place, and to do that we have to beat the teams that we're fighting with and then win the games that we should win. We have our work cut out for us." While the consequences of Michigan's recent play have not been that harmful, the team has much higher standards for themselves. "We don't expect to have points in the season like that where we're not playing well," Willis said. "We expect to play well all the time. "We realize that we haven't been playing as well as we can in the last couple of weeks. We definitely are having a little slump, but it's nothing that this team can'tovercome. We have a great team, and we've just got to start playing like it." By Paul Barger Daily Basketball Writer The Michigan and Wisconsin men's basketball teams had one major thing in common entering the 1994-95 season. High expectations. Currently, both teams have fallen short of their lofty preseason goals. Michigan (5-2 Big Ten, 11-8 over- all) has been solid in conference play, but has struggled through its non-conference schedule. Wisconsin (3-4,9-7), on the other hand, has been a complete disap- pointment. Stan Van Gundy was handed the coaching position after Stu Jackson left to become the general manager of the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies. With All-American candidates Michael Finley and Rashard Griffith coming back to Madison, it looked as if Van Gundy had inherited a conference contender. Instead, the Badgers are in eighth place in the conference and are play- ing themselves out of the NCAA tournament. Finley, the Badgers' all-time leading scorer with 1,947 points, is putting up impressive numbers this season. The senior leads Wisconsin in points, assists, steals and is sec- ond in rebounds. He is the Big Ten's No. 2 scorer in conference games, averaging 23.7 points. "It's great to know that every time we take the floor one of the best players in the country will be on our side," Van Gundy said. Griffith has been solid for Wis- consin as well. He leads the Big Ten in rebounds, averaging 11.9 in con- ference games and 10.9 overall. The sophomore is also No. 1 in blocked shots during conference games. Wisconsin's biggest problem this year has been playing on the road. The team is 1-5 away from Madi- son, including an embarrassing 92- 76 loss to Eastern Michigan in De- cember. Ironically, the Badgers will face a Wolverine squad that has.struggled at home. Michigan is 4-3 at Crisler Arena and has not won there since beating Iowa in double overtime three weeks ago. "We have to go out there and take the advantage that we have," freshman Maurice Taylor said. "We can't lose to them at home and ex- pect to go to Wisconsin and win." Michigan's loss to St. John's Sunday came just as the Wolverines were gaining momentum. Since a loss to Penn State on Jan. 8, Michi- gan had registered road victories against Northwestern, Illinois and, most impressively, Indiana. The only defeat during the stretch was in Ann Arbor at the hands of Michigan State 73-71. The Wolverines are tied for sec- ond place in the conference with Purdue. An NCAA tournament bid is still in doubt, though, because of the six non-conference defeats. "Our goal is still to stay in con- tention for the Big Ten title and to gain a berth to the NCAA tourna- ment," Taylor said. "We need a con- fidence builder after the loss to St. John's." Maceo Baston blocks a shot in Michigan's loss to St. John's Sunday. The Wolverines hope to get back on track when they play Wisconsin tonight. Pusztai leads netters' effort at Big chance to win. By Brett Krasnove Daily Sports Writer SToday's question: What NHILAl-tar was theCCHA's 1989 "Game, set, match, Pusztai." The Champaign-Urbana crowd Rookie of the Year when he played for the Spartans? heard it Saturday, then heard it again Sunday and heard it once more Mon- Name: Phone: day before Michigan's Peter Pusztai finally surrendered to Minnesota's Russ Loel, 1-6, 6-1, 2-6, in the finals of the Big Ten Men's Tennis Singles Cham- pionship. Pusztai, a junior, wasn't the only success story to come out of Illinois. Three other Wolverines stormed their way into the Round of 16 or further, including quarterfinalist John Costanzo, freshman David Paradzik and junior Geoff Prentice, who both advanced to the round of 16. "It is the best overall tournament that we've played this year and we've played some good ones," Wolverine coach Brian Eisner said. "The reason this was the best was that, four of our players reached the round of 16; last year (at the Big Ten Singles Champi- onships), none reached the round of 16." The 10th-seeded Pusztai advanced to the finals with a hard-fought victory over the 12th seed, Minnesota's Stefan Tzvetkov, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6). Pusztai had rolled through the first three rounds. In the quarterfinals he faced rival Ben Gabler of Minnesota, after having lost when the two faced off at the Rolex Tournament in Wisconsin in Novem- ber. This time, he regained his pride by defeating the Golden Gopher, 6-7,7-6, 6-3, Sunday. Pusztai, however, wasn't im- pressed with how he did won thematch. Ten singles "It was more like a moral victory that I could fight out a match, but I don't think I played all that well," Pusztai said. Unseeded Geoff Prentice was the surprise of the tournament with a sec- ond round victory over No. 2 Jayson Bedford of Michigan State. Costanzo, the tournament's fifth- ranked player, felt encouraged by the lower seeded players' success. "You really see how good our team is when our five guy (fifth seed) can beat the top players in the Big Ten." WRESTLING NOTEBOOK: Rawls' knee injury prompts crucial decision COOKIES r For Valentines Dai Send your sweetheart a gift tit ® Mrs. Peabody's cookies Last Day For Shipment: FEBRUARY 8 We ship anywhere in the Continentali Mon-Thurs 8:30-7 Fri 8:30-5:30 Sat 10- 715 N. University 761-CHIP Order by Phone bm inm minmmmmm n of g I U.S. I 5:30