Buckeye futility continues Last night's win over Ohio State was Michigan's sixth straight in the series. The Wolverines' streak dates back to 1992, when the Buckeyes had a five-game run of their own going before Michigan won 75-71 in the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State still leads the overall series with the Wolverines, 74-62. Page 5 Thursday, February 9, 1995 Eight to .go for NCAAs he Michigan basketball team did exactly what it had to against Ohio State last night - it won. The Wolverines entered the game :with nine Big Ten games left and an NCAA tournament berth riding on their performance over the next four weeks of the conference schedule. One down, eight to go. Michigan took care of the Buckeyes with relative ease, but let's be realistic about the win. Ohio State is a team capable of beating a lot of high school teams, but not many ollegiate squads. Actually, with even turnovers in their first seven possessions - there are some high school teams that could have taken the Buckeyes last Snight. RYAN It was the WHITE kind of game White on Michigan was Target supposedto arget m win easily, and it did. But it was also one of tle first times all season that the Wolverines had won a game that could be circled on the schedule and marked as a gimme. Remember Penn Dec. 14? The Wolverines looked miserable in the 1irst half, and lost the game when the Quakers' Jerome Allen hit a line drive shot on Penn's last possession. The Quakers are an Ivy League team with no athletic scholarships, the kind of team Michigan should be able to handle. How about Washington Dec. 30? Last season the Huskies won five games, and this season, they have layed for the most part like, well, a bunch of dogs. They are 1-8 in the Pac Ten, and 5-12 overall. Yet they beatMichigan over winter break. And just a week and a half ago the Wolverines came out flat and lost their final non-conference game of the season, to St. John's. Those three games, games Michigan was supposed to and hould have won, are the difference etween the Wolverines' 6-6 non- conference record and a much more respectable 9-3. Because of its trouble against non-Big Ten teams, Michigan has to make an impression on the tournament's selection committee with its conference performance. With their non-conference record the Wolverines are going to have to *inish strong, most likely winning five of their last eight games, or at the very least go 4-4, to make the NCAA Tournament. With that in mind the question becomes which Wolverine team will show up for the home stretch of the season. Will it be the team that lost to Penn, Washington and St. John's? Or the team that ended Indiana's I50-game home winning streak? If it's the latter, Michigan won't have a problem getting into the tournament and could surprise some teams once there. If the other version of the Wolverines comes to play, they'll miss the NCAA's for the first time in the careers of Fab Five seniors Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. The Wolverines had nine games 4eft to prove to the selection committee that they are one of the 64 best teams in the country, and they won the first. One down; eight to go. Blue bucks Ohio State Michigan keeps Buckeyes winless in conference By Antoine Pitts Daily Basketball writer The long season for Ohio State con- tinued last night at Crisler Arena. The Buckeyes (0-10 Big Ten, 4-16 overall), still looking for their first con- ference win of the season, fell for the ninth straight time, losing to Michigan (7-3, 13-9) ,72-58. The win brought the Wolverines back to within a game of first-place Michigan State. Things went badly for Ohio State from the start of this contest. The first seven possessions of the game couldn't have been any worse. The Buckeyes couldn't even get close to the basket and didn't attempt a shot in the first four minutes. They turned the ball over seven straight times to begin the game - spotting Michigan an eight-point lead. For the game, Ohio State coughed up the ball 25 times leading to several Wolverine fast breaks. "I was really disappointed with the way that we started the game," Ohio State coach Randy Ayers said. "We had a lot of turnovers right at the start that really hurt us." With all of the fast break opportuni- ties, Michigan made plenty of miscues of its own. The Wolverines turned the ball over 17 times, but had enough on the defensive end to bury the Buck- eyes. "I thought we played fairly well at the defensive end," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "We said before the game that we wanted to create the tempo with our defense. We wanted to run." Using its defense, Michigan got out on the break and built a big lead in a hurry, taking a 31-18 advantage into the half. "You have to give them credit," Ayers said. "I've said all along that they'reoneof the betterdefensiveteams because of their athleticism and size." Jimmy King scored 15 points and became the 16th player in Michi- gan history to surpass 1,400 for a career. The Wolverines, sparked by the inside play of Maceo Baston, pushed the lead to as many 22 in the second half. Baston scored 13 of his 15 points in the second stanza. Makhtar Ndiaye scored six and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. "We're starting to get better play from the post,"Fisher said. "Makhtar is really playing intelligently right now." Ohio State was led by Antonio Watson with 19 points and nine re- bounds. Doug Etzler scored 15, includ- ing three 3-pointers. Even though the score was lopsided in Michigan's fa- vor most of the night, the Buckeyes did not quit. A 15-4 run by Ohio State late in the second half made it a 10-point game with 1:53 togo, but the Buckeyes could get no closer. "We did some positive things in that stretch," Ayers said. "We put to- gether a run but we weren't able to do anything with it. That's been the sce- nario the whole season." This year's Buckeye squad is far from the team it was three seasons ago. That squad was just one basket away from making the Final Four. "They're a totally different team but coach Ayers prepares them well," Michigan forward Ray Jack- son said. "They've had a lot of prob- lems down there but they still play hard." Ohio State's best chance for a con- ference victory may come Saturday when it hosts Northwestern. i OHIO STATEI MuN Watson 35 Dudley 37 Lumnpkin 19 Yudt 36 Etzler 38 Winston 9 Jantonio 12 Davis 10 Martin 4 (58) FG W-A 612 4-9 0-1 3-5 6-12 0-3 1-2 0-2 0-0 FT Wd-A 7-12 12 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-4 0-0 0-0 REB O-T A F 4-9 3 2 0-6 3 4 0-0 0 3 0-5 2 2 1-3 2 2 1-1 0 2 0-1 0 2 0-1 1 1 0-~j 0 0 6-31 1118 PTS 19 11 0 7 15 0 6 0 0 58 Totals 200 2046 12-19 I FG%: .435. FT%: .632. Three-point goals: 6-13, .462 (Etzler 3-5, Dudley 2-4, Yudt 1-2, Dayis 0-1, Watson 0-1). Turnovers: 25 (Watson 8, Dudley 6, Yudt 4, Lmupkin 3, Etzler 2 Martin). Steals: 2 (Etzler, Watson). Technical Fouls: none. MICHIGAN (7 Jackson Taylor Ndiaye King Fife Baston CDonlIan Mitchell Crawford Morton MIN 33 23 31 30 30 .20 10 17 5 1 2) FO FT M-A M-A 3-8 33 5-13 0-2 3-6 0-1 6-15 2-2 47 0-2 5-6 5-7 0-0 0-0 2-4 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 2-2 REB O-T A 3-5 6 3-5 2 2-7 2 0-5 3 0-0 0 2-5 0 0-2 0 0-0 2 0-1 2 0-0 0 F 1 3 3 3 1 5 1 2 0 0 PTS 9 11 6 15 10 15 0 4 0 2 72 Totals 200 2-60 12-19 11-32 1719 FG%:.467. FT%: .632. Three-point goals: 4-15, .267 (Fife 2-4, King 1-7, Taylor 1-1, Crawford 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Mitchell 01). Blocks: 5 (Ndiaye 2, Baston, Conlan, Jackson).Turnovers: 17 (King 5, Jackson 4,Conlan 2, Ndiaye 2. Taylor 2, Baston, Fife, Jackson). Steals: 9 (Fife 5, Conlan, Jackson, King, Mitchell) Technical Fouls: none. Ohio State..1840 - 58 Michigan-.....r.31 41 - 72 At: Crisler Arena; A: 13,562. SARA STILLMAN/Daily Maceo Baston slams home two of his 15 points last night during Michigan's 72-58 win. The Buckeyes dropped to 040 in league play. Men's tennis hopes to rebound in Minneapolis Michigan vs. Michigan State Olympia Arenas, Inc. is conducting a contest in conjunction with the Daily with prizes for the Michigan-Michigan State game Feb. 18 at Joe Louis Arena. The Grand Prize; A night for two at the Westin Hotel in downtown Detroit including two game tickets. Four First Prizes: Four game tickets each. Six Second Prizes: Two game tickets each. To enter, drop off your answers at the Daily sports desk in the Student Publications Building at 420 Maynard. The contest is cumulative - the contestants with the most correct answers over the next two weeks will have the greater chance to win. Today's question: What was the score of the first meeting between Michigan and Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament? Answer: Name: Phone: By Brett Krasnove Daily Sports Writer After failing its first test of the sea- son against Northwestern, the Michi- gan men's tennis team travels to Min- neapolis this weekend to compete in the Ice Volleys Tournament. JuniorJohn Costanzo sees the tour- nament as an opportunity for the team to redeem itself. "It's early enough in the year where (the loss to the Wildcats)doesn't make that much of a difference," Costanzo said. "I think everyone's really pissed off and ready to go." The Wolverines will be facing Boise State and Texas A&M at the two-day tournament this weekend. Big Ten ri- val Minnesota will host the event at the 98th StreetTennis Club. However, the Golden Gophers will not be competing against Michigan. There will be a slight change in the lineup for the Wolverines. Costanzo, who normally plays first singles, will switch places with second-seed Peter Pusztai. "Their results have been very com- parable so far this year," Michigan assistant coach Dan Goldberg said. "We're going to really give them both the opportunity to play No. 1." Injured freshman Arvid Swan will make the trip. However, it has not been decided if he will play. The Wolverines are not very famil- iar with the two teams they will be facing. However, Goldberg feels this will work in Michigan's favor. "We play two teams that have pretty good national rankings and we don't ~They don't know much about us. I think this will take a little bit of the pressure off." - Dan Goldberg Assistant Michigan tennis coach really know them," Goldberg said. "They don't know much about us. "I think this will take a little bit of the pressure oft'. "It's always more difficultplaying in your own part of the country when you know all the players and they all know your strengths and weaknesses." Michigan will begin with 38th- ranked Boise State on Friday night, a team Goldberg does not underestimate. "Boise State's actually pretty good. They're ranked in the top 40 in the country," Goldberg said. "They're pre- dominantly a team of foreigners. "College tennis these days is really dominated by a lot of foreign players. There's a real international force. Just look at the world rankings and you'll see a lot of foreigners up there." After Friday's match with Boise State, the Wolverines face a slightly more familiar opponent Saturday in Texas A&M. "We've played Texas A&M in the past, so we know some of their guys." Goldberg said. Come on down for the celebration! Bring a disk to copy free fun software! New product demos! a mm Imp w w Ew- low Food! 4') AM 0 C Today & Tomorrow IOAm-5pm Summer break... Winter break... 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