MEN'S
BASKETBALL
(9) S. Carolina 85,
THE CITADEL 55
(10) N. Mexico 62,
TEXAS-EL PASO 71
(11) Cincinnati 76,
SOUTH FLORIDA 56
(13) Arizona 72,
OREGON 78
(15) Louisvile 71,
MARQUETTE 79
(16} Xavier 82
DUQUESNE 14
(22) CHARLESTON 81,
SE Louisiana 68
(25) California 78,
WASHINGTON 67
(20) Stanford at
WASH. ST., inc.
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
(3) STANFORD 82,
Washington St. 45
(18) 5. Austin 69,
NICHOLLS STATE 62
(23) G. Wash. 56,
LA SALLE 40
(25) Western Ky. 77,
NEW ORLEANS 71
PRO
BASKETBALL
Miami 92,
NEW JERSEY 87
INDIANA 92,
Denver 68
PHILADELPHIA 101,
LA Clippers 84
HOUSTON 107,
Toronto 97
Friday
February 21, 1997
10.
No more time or talk
from these Wolverines
OWA CITY - Talk is cheap. And
for this basketball team, it's about as
worthless as sunblock during a
Michigan winter.
There is no more time for idle banter
- not in late February, not from this
bunch of Wolverines who have done
enough yapping for the next few sea-
sons.
There is no more time to say: "We
know what we
have to work on."
There are no
more games left
for the drastic
improvement
this team needs.
Iowa crushed
Mjhigan like JOHN
day-old garbage LEROI
yesterday, which Out of
was'pretty much Bounds
h the
Wolverines played.
There is no more room for talk. Now
is the time for action. Three times this
season, Maurice Taylor has told me
-aer a game that "these next few games
will show what we're made of."
At least that many times, he's said he
wants to find the guys in the locker-
room who want to win. Late February
isi far too late for that.
This is not to say that the Wolverines
cannot lose another game this season.
That would be a ridiculous request.
Lping at Iowa isn't even such a disas-
tfJis occurrence. The Wolverines didn't
I play terribly, but they didn't play well.
Not well enough to win a big game.
The Wolverines played awful defense
in the first half, allowing the Hawkeyes
44 points on 65 percent shooting. The
Wolverines had far too much difficulty
handling Iowa's press in the first half,
and they turned the ball over too many
times to win a ballgame.
The Wolverines had trouble with the
. Hawkeyes' zone defense and still have
no shown any semblance of a half-
court offense.
;ihe Wolverines are not a bad team,
bi they're not a good one. They're
mediocre at best. It showed last night.
It was a game the Hawkeyes needed
to win more than the Wolverines did.
Both teams now own identical 17-8
records, although the Hawkeyes have
pulled ahead of the Wolverines by a
game in the Big Ten. Losers of three in a
row before last night, the Hawkeyes des-
perately needed a win to resuscitate their
NCAA tournament aspirations.
The Wolverines, although not exactly
on the tournament bubble, may need
three wins in their last five games to get
an invitation. Their next three games
are very loseable - at Purdue on
Sunday, home against No. 2 Minnesota
on Wednesday and at Illinois a week
from this Sunday.
That leaves a home contest with.
Northwestern and a road game at Ohio
State - two games Michigan better
win if it wants to avoid the NIT.
Of course, the Wolverines may
receive a berth to the Big Dance with
just two more victories, courtesy of two
big early-season wins over Duke and
Arizona, and the fact that baggy yellow,
shorts sell tickets.
They'd be just 9-9 in the Big Ten and
19-1 1 overall. Michigan was 20-11 and
10-8 last year when it was a No. 7 seed.
But the Wolverines have just two
quality victories in the Big Ten this sea-
son - home wins against Iowa and
Illinois. Two, that's it.
Right now, f. ey are the seventh-best
team in the conference despite having
the most talent. Do you think the
NCAA tournament will take seven Big
Ten teams?
If it were December or January.
here's what I'd say: Don't expect too
much from this team come March if
they don't improve their defense and
start executing a half-court offense.
But not now. Not with just five
games remaining. It's too late for any
considerable improvement. No more
time for talk.
Nope. Here's where I say: Don't
expect much of this team, period.
-John Leroi can be reached over e-
mail atjreroi@umich.edu
Iowa rolls in,
8-75 win
By Will McCahill
Daily Sports Editor
IOWA CITY - Buried.
That, in many ways, is what happened to the Michigan
men's basketball team last night in its 80-75 loss at Iowa.
After a nip-and-tuck first four minutes tlat saw th
Wolverines grab a 12-8 lead, the Hawkeyes pounced. Over the
next seven minutes, they exploded into a 23-4 run that gave
them a 31-16 lead, and left Michigan in a hole just too deep to
get out of.
The loss dropped the 18th-ranked Wolverines (7-6 Big Ten,
17-8 overall) into sixth place in the conference, while~ the
Hawkeyes (8-5, 17-8) put an end to a three-game losing streak.
Michigan coach Steve Fisher said the Hawkeyes, with their
backs to the Big Ten wall, made the big plays necessary to
overwhelm the Wolverines early and then keep them at bay
down the stretch. 0
"In eight minutes, we were outscored (23-4) to give them
such a lead that it became difficult for usto mount a charge"
he said.
Junior guard Travis Conlan underscored the insurmount-
ability of lowa's charge into the lead.
"They seemed to roll, and we could never get out of that first
big run they had," Conlan said.
"We just never got out of that deficit."
The Hawkeyes were able to stretch their lead to as many as
19 points late in the first half, and led, 44-29, at the break.
But five minutes into the second half, the Wolverine
appeared poised to make things tough for the Hawkeyes. Aft
Iowa point guard Andre Woolridge hit a 3-pointer to make the
score 50-36, Michigan broke the Iowa press, and sophomore
guard Louis Bullock was fouled on a layup attempt. He nailed
both shots to cut the lead to 12 with 14:52 remaining.
Two possessions later, junior forward Macco Baston sank a
layup after a feed from Conlan, whittling the lead t'o 51-40
On Michigan's next trip downcourt, sophomore center
Robert Traylor was fouled and made one of two free throws to
cut the deficit to 10.
But the Hawkeyes rattled off three quick buckets, and witg
9:52 to play, the lead was back up to 16 points, 57-41.
The Wolverines made another attempt to get back into the
game with less than three minutes left, closing to II points
when junior guard Brandun Hughes hit one of two free throws
with 2:33 to go.
And again, Iowa had the answer. Off a Bullock miss, the
Hawkeyes raced back in the opposite direction, and after some
crisp passing, junior center Ryan Bowen's lay-in restored Iowa
to its comfort zone with a 72-58 cushion.
On paper, things got tight again in the final minute of play,
as Michigan closed the lead to 10, then eight and then sixBu
each Michigan basket was followed by an Iowa trip to thecha
See HAWKEYES, Page 11
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
Iowa's Andre Woolridge stole the ball - and the game - from Brandun Hughes and the rest of the
Wolverines last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Wolverines fell, 80-75, to the Hawkeyes after com-
-mitting 19 turnovers. Woolridge finished with 25 points, as the Hawkeyes pulled ahead of the
Wolverines in the Big Ten standings by one game. The Wolverines, now 7-6 and in sixth place in the con-
ference, travel to Purdue on Sunday.
a i {I
-RESTAURANT
Saturday, February 22
Shakespeare, Ebe ab individual titles
By Josh Kleiribaum
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - The Michigan women's swim-
ming team took the first step toward its 1Ith-straight
conference title yesterday, earning 208.5 points, 30
ahead of second-place Minnesota, at the Big Ten cham-
pionship.
The third-ranked Wolverines were led by Shannon
Shakespeare and Jen Eberwein, who each claimed an
individual Big Ten title. Eberwein was also part of the
w inning 2(X)-yard fcesy Ic relx :eam.
Shakespeare, a freshanu, set a Big Ten champi-
onship record in the 20() individual medley with a time
of 2:00.87.
"I didn't even know that the record was coming in so
it was a big surprise,' Shakespeare said. "I'm really
happy about it."
Shakespeare was also part of the third-place 400 med-
ley-relay team, swimming the freestyle leg of the race.
Eberwein claimed the 50 free Big Ten title for the sec-
ond-straight year. She also swam the opening leg of the
200 free relay, posting the best time in that-event.
But not all the Wolverines had a good day.
Senior Melisa Stone, swimming the 50 free forthe l
time in her Michigan career, missed qualifying for th
finals by 1/100th of a second. She finished 13th overall.
"It's easy to see that this meet is not going to be a run-
away meet," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said.
"Over the next two days, we're going to have to be very
tough."
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By Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Writer
Maybe it was a sign. Due to a techni-
cal problem, the national anthem was cut
off at the halfway point before last
night's wrestling meet between No. 12
Michigan and No. 4 Illinois.
Two hours later, the Wolverines lost,
24-10.
After the
second period. Michigan's
1220 S. University " 665-7777
118-pound Chris Viola had a 3-3 tie with
Lindsey Durlacher but ended up losing,
9-3. At 134 pounds, Michigan's Corey
Grant was a 2-1 loser to Tony Siebert.
The Wolverines did not score a point
until 167-pounder Jeff Catrabone defeat-
ed Illinois' Bill Zeman, 8-0.
"I said all year, if we don't split the
first five (matches), we're in trouble, and
we didn't split the first five," Michigan
coach Dale Bahr said.
Part of the problem for Michigan may
be fatigue. After Sunday's loss to
Minnesota, the Wolverines had a short
practice week then had to make weight
Wednesday. They have to make weight
again today for tomorrow night's meet at
Wisconsin.
"The kids are a little tired right now;'
Bahr said. "I can just sense it. They're
dinged up a little bit.
"What I think we need to do is get
through the match at Wisconsin, give
them a couple of days off to relax a little
bit, try to get our dings healed up a*
then get ready for the Big Tens."
Catrabone sees the last couple of
meets as a slight slump.
"If we're going in a roller-coasterride,
let's go down now and come back up for
the Big Tens," Catrabone said.
Heavyweight Airron Richardson and
190-pound Frank Lodeserto, were
Michigan's only two other winners.
Happy as he was with his win over No.
Seth Brady, No. 6 Richardson sees roo*
for team improvement.
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I'A youi I'LIIU r(. i
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Stay at Boyne between
February 24 and March 14
(We bet your Spring Break is
in there somewhere!)
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Per day, per person, dbl. occ.)
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