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What Big Ten team has Ray Jack-
son and Jimmy King of the Michi-
gan basketball team never lost to?
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'M' hockey falls to
By Ryan White
Daily Sports Editor
NOTRE DAME - One week af-
ter clinching the CCHA's regular sea-
son championship for the second
straight year, the Michigan hockey
team did something that it hasn't done
since the early years of the Reagan
administration - lose to Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish (5-18-1 CCHA,
9-22-1 overall) beat the Wolverines
6-3 Saturday night at the Joyce
Fieldhouse, claiming their first vic-
tory over Michigan since the 1982-83
season.
Friday night the Wolverines (20-
4-1, 25-6-1) overcame a slow start
against Ferris State (9-13-4, 12-16-4)
to beat the Bulldogs 6-2 in front of
6,687 at Yost Ice Arena.
"It was just a sweet victory and
we'll put this one in the archives,"
Irish coach Ric Schafer said. "And to
win by three? C'mon - what would
the odds be in Vegas on that?"
Notre Dame center Jay Matushak
scored the first of his two goals 2:37
into the first period and the Irish never
trailed despite being out shot by the
Wolverines.
"As much as we were generating
offensive chances in the first period,
the puck just wasn't going in," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said.
It wasn't until after Jamie Ling put
the Irish up 2-0 early in the second
period that Michigan finally got on
the board.
Fighting
Sophomore defenseman Peter
Bourke's shot from the point hit Wol-
verine Ron Sacka in front of the net
and Sacka stuffed the loose puck past
Notre Dame goalie Matt Eisler to
make the score 2-1.
Jamie Morshead put the Irish back
up by two at 10:10 of the second when
he took the puck in the slot and fired
three shots before finally beating
Michigan goalie Marty Turco.
Michigan again pulled within one
goal on John Madden's 19th goal of
the season at 15:34. After taking a
pass from Mike Knuble at the blue
line, Madden beat Eisler with a shot
from inside the right faceoff circle.
The Wolverines' 3-2 deficit at the
end of the second was as close as they
Irish
would come, however. Jeremy Coe,
Tim Harberts and Matushak all scored
for Notre Dame in the third. Bourke
scored the Wolverines' final goal.
Michigan also had two goals
waved off. One for a hand pass at the
Irish blue line and another for too
many men on the ice while the Wol-
verines were on a power play.
Though Notre Dame was able to
get timely goals, never allowing
Michigan to tie the game up, the key
for the Irish was Eisler's play.
"We faded in and out with this
elusive thing called momentum,"
Schafer said. "But we got big saves at
critical times to keep us in the game.
See ICERS, Page 4
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DOUGLAS KMNTFR 06a
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Marty Turco was the losing goalie in Michigan's 6-3 loss to Notre Dame.
Blue drops Illinois to gain sole possession of 3rd
*Conlan key to success
with fancy passes and
heads-up leadership
Travis Conlan does not look like he should be
playing basketball at Michigan. In fact, he hardly looks
old enough to be going to Disney movies without the
accompaniment of an adult.
Yet he could be the key to the Wolverines' success
Tough defense sparks Wolverines
to ninth Big Ten victory of year
41
RYAN
WHITE
White on
Target
down the home stretch of the
1994-95 season. ,
On a team loaded with highly
touted freshman forwards, Conlan
is beginning to emerge as a point.
guard, a position that has been a
question mark for Michigan all
season.
Yesterday against Illinois he
scored a career-high seven points,
but more impressively he led the
team with five assists.
He threaded a bounce pass
between two Fighting Illini
defenders to Maurice Taylor for a jam. He tossed a no-
look ally-oop to Maceo Baston and made a number of
other passes that didn't result in baskets, but did
manage to electrify the Crisler Arena crowd - not
always easy to do.
"I like to push the ball up on the break, and coach
tells me to go in and change the tempo," Conlan said. "I
feel that I can pass very well and the coaches have
confidence in my passing."
In fact, making the big pass is what Conlan enjoys
most.
As a senior at Lake Shore High School in St. Clair
Shores, Conlan averaged 8.2 assists per game. He made
the dream teams of both The Detroit News and the
Detroit Free Press and finished second in voting for
Michigan's "Mr. Basketball" to teammate Willie
Mitchell.
This season, however, did not begin as Conlan had
hoped. He played sparingly throughout the Wolverines'
non-conference schedule.
"It's tough not to be somewhat discouraged when
you're not playing," he said. "But I think my
See WHITE, Page 5
By Scott Burton
Daily Basketball Writer
In the absence of a consistent half-
court game, Michigan discovered an-
other formula to score points in
yesterday's, 63-51, conference victory
over Illinois.
Tough defense and constant pressure
= turnovers and transition points.
The Wolverines held the Illini to 29.5
percent shooting for the game, the sec-
ond straight home game Michigan has
held its opponent under 30 percent. The
Wolverines also forced 13 turnovers,
which helped negate Illinois' 61 to 41
shot advantage..
"We've struggled all year with in-
consistency on the offensive end," se-
nior Ray Jackson said. "We feel if we are
going to win and make it to the tourna-
ment, we have to do it with our defense."
Michigan consequently blew the con-
test wide-open in the second half, thanks
to a defense that created numerous easy
transition buckets. The Wolverines shot
53 percent for the game, their second-
highest shooting percentage of the sea-
son.
"I think we are definitely the best
defensive team in the Big Ten," said
forward Maurice Taylor, who had two
blocked shots "Our defense generates
our offense. Without our defense, we
probably wouldn't score."
Freshman point guard Travis Conlan
directed the offensive mayhem in the
second-half, assisting on four transistion
scores in seven minutes of game time.
His ally-oop pass to Maceo Baston at
7:04 of the second half sealed a 19-3 run
and gave Michigan an insurmountable
56-35 lead.
"We have to make the transition game
more a part of our offense," Jackson
said. "If we do that, we'll beat teams."
Illinois mostly shut-off the Wolver-
ines transition game in the first half by
monopolizing the rebounds. The Illini
had a remarkable 13-0 advantage on the
offensive boards, and an overall 23-18
rebounding advantage, after 20 minutes
of play.
Center Shelly Clark was the main
capitalist of Michigan's defensive re-
bounding woes in the first half. Clark
collected four offensive boards, result-
ing in two easy buckets down-low.
The chippies that resulted from Illi-
nois' offensive rebounding kept the Illini
in the game early. Both Clark and Bryant
Notree dropped put-backs in the last
minute of the first stanza to bring Illinois
to within seven, 28-21, going into the
lockerroom.
"I don't remember a team dominating
us like Illinois did on the boards in the
first half," center Makhtar Ndiaye said.
"That's what kept them in the game. If
they don't get those 13 boards, I think
they won't score, because we know their
set plays."
Michigan kept Illinois more honest in
the second half, outrebounding the Illini'
20-13 to close out the game. More impor-
tantly, the Wolverine matched Illinois on
the offensive boards, collecting five to
the Illini's six.
Once Michigan shut-out Illinois from
the offensive glass, it challenged the
Illini's shooters to beat their defense.
Illinois failed to respond, with guards
Richard Keene and Kiwane Garris shoot-
ing a combined 5 for 23.
For the game, the Illini hit only 4 of
25 three-point attempts, and 11 of 23 free
throws.
"First, I want to give Michigan credit,
because they played very good defense,"
See ILLINOIS, Page 5
Ray Jackson fights for a loose ball in Michigan's 63-51 victory over Illinois yesterday.
Jackson helped Michigan hold the fighting Illini to 29.5 percent shooting.
Flying hgh
its his wp to MiA igar
Michigan continues to
reign in poolat Big Tens
Women take ninth championship in a row
Baston
neup
By Antoine Pitts
Daily Basketball Writer
Seconds remained on the
clock as Iowa came down the
floor for one final chance.
The see-saw affair came
down to the end of double
overtime with the
Michigan basketball team
hanging on to a one-
point lead.
The two teams had
battled back and forth
all evening but this final
attempt would be the
difference. Up the shot
went. Out of nowhere
came Maceo Baston to
swat it into the stands.
Victory.
against the
Hawkeyes, and
especially the
rejection at the
end, was a sign of
things to come.
The performance
came on the heel
of Baston's lowest
moment at
Michigan: The 6-
foot-9, 210-pound
freshman did not
make the trip to
Penn State because of academic reasons.
Baston had not finished all of the required
work for one of his courses and had to sit at
home while the Wolverines suffered a 10-
point defeat to the Nittany Lions.
"That was kind of disappointing because I
By Marc Diller
Daily Sports~ Writeir
INDIANAPOLIS - Explosive!
The No. 2 Michigan women's
swimming and diving team captured
its ninth consecutive Big Ten cham-
pionship in an dynamic manner Feb.
18 at the Indiana University - Purdue
University at Indianapolis Natato-
rium.
"I'm so excited for our whole
team,"sophomore Rachel Gustin said.
"Everyone - even those who didn't
taper - swam so well!"
The Wolverines exploded off the
blocks right from the very first race.
In the first event, Michigan junior
Megan Gillam anchored the 200-yard
freestyle relay team (freshman Kim
Johnson, sophomores Melissa Stone
and Dana VanSingle, and Gillam) to
a new Big Ten record (1:32.21), a
races and placed amongst the top-
eight in every event. Unexpectedly,
they scored enough NCAA qualify-
ing times to likely send 18 members,
a full squad, to Austin, Tex. Mar. 16-
18 for the NCAA Championship.
"There were no individuals out
there," Wolverine co-captain Alecia
Humphrey said. "Everyone pulled for
See WOMEN, Page 9
Men claim tenth
consecutive title
By Michelle Lee Thompson
Daily Sports Writer
For the Michigan men's swimming
and diving team, winning the Big Ten
championships this weekend was noth-
ing but a warm-up for the NCAA cham-
nionshin. which looms ahead a month
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