Hockey
vs. Team Canada
Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Yost Ice Arena
Si
S
Basketball
vs. Penn State
Sunday, 2 p.m.(Raycom)
State College
Blue reaches for two in a row
Wolverines meet Lions in second Big Ten contest.
By SCOTT BURTON
Daily Basketball Writer
Penn State, entering its third season
in the Big Ten, was supposed to be the
conference doormat as they adjusted to
an increased level of competition.
But someone forgot to inform the
Nittany Lions.
Penn State (0-1 Big Ten, 8-2 over-
all) - which hosts Michigan (1-0, 7-
5) Sunday at 2 p.m. - knocked off
Michigan State, Iowa and Big Ten
champion Purdue last season en route
to a 6-12 conference record and an
eighth-place conference finish.
This season, the Nittany Lions fin-
ished their non-conference schedule
with an 8-1 record and lost their Big
Ten opener in Minnesota Wednesday
night, 69-67.
Hence, Michigan coach Steve
Fisher knows that there is no room for
a letdown after the Wolverines' con-
fidence-building 71-61 victory over
Purdue Tuesday - especially since
Sunday's game will take place on the
road in the raucous Recreation Hall.
"We have to know that Penn State
will be tougher than Purdue was,"
Fisher said. "You got to know that
when you go into somebody else's
building in Big Ten time you are
going to have a hostile crowd going
crazy and rooting against you - and
we are going to have to do a good job
reacting to the crowd."
John Amaechi (15 points per
game) is the leader of the veteran
Nittany Lion team. The 6-foot-10 cen-
ter is tops among Big Ten players in
rebounding (10.2 rebounds per game)
and is an especially skilled scorer
from the low post.
"He is legitimately the best low-
post center in our league," Fisher said.
"He is the leading rebounder in the
conference, and he is a force when he
gets the ball."
Makhtar Ndiaye will start at center
for Michigan Sundayand he - along
with Maurice Taylor - will initially
try to handle Amaechi. Additionally,
Fisher plans on double-teaming
Amaechi down-low when he gets the
ball.
However, Fisher will not concen-
trate all of his team's defensive effort
on containing Amaechi. That's be-
cause Penn State has two other skilled
offensive players to worry about.
Forward Glenn Sekunda, a trans-
fer from Syracuse, leads the team
scoring (17.5 ppg). At 6-foot-7, he
can be particularly difficult to defend,
as he is often too quick for power
forwards and too big for small for-
wards.
The other challenge is freshman
shooting guard Pete Lisicky. He has hit
25 of his 54 three-point shots and makes
an otherwise mediocre perimeter shoot-
ing team dangerous.
"We can't just concentrate on
Amaechi - they have four other good
players," forward Ray Jackson said.
"We have a great defense. Wejust have
to continue to play as hard as we've
See LIONS, Page 11
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily
Sunday against Penn State, Michigan forward Maceo Baston and the rest of the Wolverines hope to continue their
winning ways. The team is coming off a 71-61 victory over Purdue in its first Big Ten contest of the season.
Icers face off against Team Canada E
Botterill and Hilton to rejoin team after stint at World Juniors ,s
By TOM SEELEY
Daily Hockey Writer
The Michigan hockey team has not
played in many exhibition games in
recent years - it has been too busy
beating upon teams for the record. But
that will change tomorrow night at
Yost Ice Arena when the Wolverines
(9-2 CCHA, 14-4 overall) face off
against Team Canada.
The contest will mark Michigan's
first exhibition game since early in the
1989-90 season when it defeated West-
ern Ontario, 6-4. Since that game, the
Wolverines have compiled a 152-45-
15 record.
"It's an opportunity to play a team
that is above-average skill level," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said. "We're
allowed to play a game against a so-
called 'foreign opponent' above our 34
games, so when the opportunity pre-
sented itself I thought (the game) would
be good for our team and our program."
The game will be the only action
the squad sees all weekend, and it should
provide a slight break for the Wolver-
ines before returning to conference play.
Next week they head to Sault Ste. Marie
to face Lake Superior State in what
should be one of the toughest road trips
of the season.
"The timing of the game is good
because the way the schedule was, we
wouldn't have had a game," Berenson
said. "It's important that we have a
game in preparation for getting back
into our league with Lake Superior."
Currently, Michigan is sitting atop
the CCHA standings and is riding a bit
ofahot streak after winning its seventh
consecutive Great Lakes Invitational
championship last week. The Wol ver-
ines have scored 88 goals in their last
13 games and lead the nation with a
6.28 goals-per-game average.
That mark is in part due to the Wol-
verines first game in the GLI when they
netted 13 shots against Michigan Tech.
Then in the championship game, the
team overcame an early two-goal defi-
cit and defeated Michigan State, 5-4.
The Wolverine defense also shone
during the tournament as it held both
teams without a power-play goal.
Defensemen Steven Halko and Blake
Sloan were both named to the all-tour-
nament team, and for his efforts Halko
was also named the CCHA Defensive
Player of the Week.
"Going into the weekend, we as-
sumed if we beat Michigan Tech, we
would play Michigan State (in the fi-
nals)," Halko said. "So we wanted to
play good defense against Michigan
Tech, and then you have to play good
defense against Michigan State, or else
you're not going to win the game."
During the tournament, the Michi-
gan offense was firing without two of
its top scoring threats. Sophomore Ja-
son Botterill and junior Kevin Hilton
have been at the World Junior Champi-
onships in Red Deer, Alberta for the last
week. Botterill represented Canada,
while Hilton suited up for the United
States team. Tomorrow's contest will
mark the return of the two forwards,
who before the tournament were among
Michigan's top three scorers.
Since starting play in October, Team
Canada has compiled an 18-11 record.
It is coming off a bronze medal perfor-
mance at the Spengler Cup in Davos,
Switzerland, and tomorrow night's
game will mark the team's second stop
in its weekend tour of the CCHA. To-
night the team will face Lake Superior
State in Sault Ste. Marie before it heads
south to face Michigan.
While tomorrow's contest is still
an exhibition game, some of the Wol-
verines are taking it a little more seri-
ous than others.
"I don't know ifsome of the Ameri-
cans (on the team) know too much
about the whole program, but to us
Canadians, Team Canada is a pretty
big deal," said sophomore Brendan
Morrison, one of 12 Canadians on the
Michigan roster. "Team Canada is a
goal to lots of players in Canada and
playing against a team like that is a
pretty big deal, and we're really look-.
ing forward to it."
JOSE JUAREZ/Special to the Daily
Mike Legg is one of the 12 Wolverines who hail from Canada. Michigan hosts Team Canada tomorrow at 7 p.m.
U U
'M'wresting
By DANIELLE RUMORE'
Daily Sports Writer
While most of the students on cam-
pus caught some rest and relaxation
during the winter break, the Michigan
wrestling team was busy honing its1
skills at the prestigious Midlands
Wrestling Championships.
The tournament, held in Evanston
December29 and 30, provided a good
opportunity for the Wolverines to l
polish their skills during the vacation.
"It was good competition for us,"1
Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "We ;
wanted to keep our kids wrestling
over Christmas. Otherwise, it would 1
have been a two week break for us."1
The tournament's large field, which1
featured collegiate wrestlers as well asl
wrestlers who have already graduated,
offered serious competition for all in-j
volved.
"This was the premiere wrestling
tournament in the country," Bahr said.;
plaCes three,
"The best collegiate and Olympian
types were there."
Once again, the Wolverines
struggled with the lower weight classes
but managed to place three wrestlers in
the top six in the upper weight classes.
Senior Chad Biggert was the top
finisher for Michigan as he placed third
in the 167-pound weight class. He suf-
fered his only loss to 28-year old Joe
Panteleo in the quarterfinals. Panteleo,
a former captain for Michigan and a
two-time NCAA finalist, is currently an
assistant coach at Michigan State.
Biggert rebounded from the set-
back, though, as he went a perfect 4-
Oin the consolation round. He clinched
third place when he defeated Iowa's
Matt Nerem, 4-3.
Freshman Jeff Catrabone (158)
finished fourth after losing twice.
Catrabone fell to 1994 All-America
Joe Williams of Iowa in the semifinals
and then to Daryl Weber of Iowa in the
at Midands
consolation bracket. Catrabone tie
Williams, 2-2, before losing on
referee's decision in overtime.
"Jeff had a real good tournament,"
Bahr said. "Initially, I thought he could
be an All-American. Now, I believe he
can be in the top four in the country (in
his weight class)."
Senior Jehad Hamdan (190)
rounded out the Wolverines' place-
winners, finishing sixth after medically
forfeiting his last two matches. The N
10-ranked Hamdan went on to defeaT
Nick Szerlip of Columbia, 5-2, in the
consolation quarterfinals and then won
one more match before having to stop.
"Jehad hurt his knee againstIllinois
and it was bothering him (at the Mid-
lands)," Bahr said. "We pulled him out
for this weekend."
The Wolverines return to Cliff
Keen Arena to host Eastern Michi
gan, Morgan State and Lehigh tomor
row for four rounds of dual meets.
Swimmers
stop at UCLA
By REBECCA MOATZ
Daily Sports Writer
Who could blame them?
After spending their winter vaca-
tion in a hot spot like Honolulu, the
members of Michigan women's swim-
ming and diving team was not anxious
to return to the harsh reality of an Ann
Arbor winter. Instead, the Wolverines
are easing their way back to campus,
with a stop in Westwood, Calif. to face
UCLA tomorrow.
However, the trip to Honolulu wde
not all fun and games. The team spent
its break training with two practices a
day and two meets.
The Wolverines easily outswam
University of Hawaii, 172-53, and in
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