uritdftga TD~j PRO BASKETBALL Detroit 102, DENVER 82 DALLAS 109, Boston 107 Seattle 108, MINNESOTA 92 GOLDEN STATE 101, Cleveland 95 Phoenix 112, L. A. LAKERS 96 Toronto 103, SACRAMENTO 96 PRO HOCKEY Montreal 3, BOSTON 0 FLORIDA 5, Vancouver 4 NEW JERSEY 6, Hartford 0 PHILADELPHIA 5, Edmonton 4 N. Y. Islanders 3, TAMPA BAY 0 St. Louis 4, LOS ANGELES 2 PRO BASEBALL CHICAGO (AL) 4, Detroit 1 Montreal 5, ATLANTA 4 ST. LOUIS 4, Cleveland 1 New York (AL) 3, TORONTO 1 FLORIDA 4, Baltimore 1 Friday March 14, 1997 11 layoffs hat UP onight foricers J ran Stilman D '~Sports Writer 11-1, 8-0, THAT'S BLOWOUT CITY, BABY! Even though the Wolverines defeated Alaska-Fairbanks by those scores last weekend in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, chances are good that Michigan w be involved in much tighter games for the remainder of the postseason - ,'vever far the Wolverines advance. Michigan's first tough test in the play- bffs could come against Bowling Green in this evening's CCHA semifinal at Joe Louis Arena. The No. I seed, jN1ayoffs Michigan, and the At Joe Louis No. 4 seed, Arena, Detroit Bowling Green, face off at 5 p.m., (1) MIchigan vs. followed by the vowling other semifinal an, game between today, 5 p.m. No. 2 Miami (Ohio) and No. 3 t12Miami (Ohio) Michigan State at "3) Michigan ' 8:30 p.m. If any team is today, 8:30 p.m. capable of destroying its danpionship opponent, it's gaE' Michigan, but his- trrow, 730 tory says that one- goal games are : All games an more likely than PAIS. blowouts in the postseason. TIckets: Available' -The Falcons are for both nigts certainly capable through of playing the Ticketrmaster, Wolverines close. (810) 64-6666. While Michigan defeated the F icons in both games at Yost Ice Arena 9 season, 4-1 (Nov. 9) and 6-1 (Feb. 1), the Wolverines needed two third-period goals to gain a 3-3 tie at Bowling Green on Nov. 16.n id for the Wolverines, a close game oeems more pressure on goaltender Marty Turco. Over the last three years, the junior ' ndtminder has shown he can step it up M&-d~come through when it counts the t- in the playoffs. }UIurco has a career winning percentage 'f825 and a 2.37 goals-against average. ''n the playoffs, not including this season, Bheo has stoned opponents with a 1.96 G'AA and a .833 winning percentage. It was Turco's performance in the 1994-95 NCAA semifinal against Maine that proved his worth to Michigan coach Red Berenson. Turco stopped 52 of 56 t in that game which did not end in Maine scored 28 seconds into a h period. He kept us in that game. Maine had a rat team" Berenson said. "They had tigat scoring chances. Turco defied them to score. He proved then that he was a playoff goalie." ~ ~ow that playoff time is here again, is prepared to be the.deciding fa- "oif necessary. gonna make a difference, ' hether it's in the first period or in the Speriod," Turco said. 1' urco also says that he is not con- cerned with the increased pressure goal- tenders feel in the playoffs. "I know, come tournament time, that we're not gonna score as many goals as W Would like. I'm the last line of defense. Pressure is what you make out 6f if I'm not too worried about the pres- sure". And Berenson doesn't worry too ch about his goaltender. Throughout career, Turco has rebounded well after making a wrong play or giving up a bad goal. "Some goalies will get rattled, some goalies will start not being sure," Behnson said. "He's got that way about See TURCO, Page 13 --Take that Blue bounces Miami with hot second half By John Leroi Daily Sports Editor After a week of distractions, the best thing about Michigan's win yesterday was that the Wolverines finally got to get back on the court. A 76-63 win over Miami (Fla.) got the Wolverines to the second round of the NIT, but it also gave Michigan players a chance to put behind them what has been a week of turmoil. "The best thing for us was to get back on the court;" said- sophomore center Robert Traylor, whose rela- i $ Michigan 76 withn s h i p - - JIEUU~bEwith a J Miami (Fla) 63 named Ed Martin and new Chevrolet Suburban have been the focal point of alleged NCAA rules violations. "It felt good just to get back on the court and play and not worry about any thing else. As far as I'm concerned, all of that is over. We're here to win the NIT." Since the Athletic Department admitted on Monday to committing two minor NCAA rules infractions, controversy has brewed as to what else exactly is going on with the basketball pro- gram. While the Athletic Department adamantly denies any major NCAA violations, a story in yesterday's Detroit Free Press quoted two unnamed sources saying Martin had given money to current and former Wolverines and has been doing so for years. So Michigan coach Steve Fisher had his hands full, preparing for the Hurricanes and weathering the stress of the tumultuous week. "Probably I was effected more than anyone in terms of concentration," Fisher said. "We just tell our kids to control what they can. "I'm sure the distractions won't disappear. It probably won't go away right away, but we can't let that affect our job on the court." The Wolverines' (20-11) next assignment will be a second-round game on Tuesday at Crisler Arena with Oklahoma State (19-12), which knocked off Tulane last night. The win over Miami (16-13) was the first postseason victory for any current Michigan player. The Wolverines have bowed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament each of the last two seasons. Michigan drowned the Hurricanes in the sec- ond half, mostly due to hot shooting, but also with an aggressive defense. The Wolverines shot a spicy 63 percent in the second and held Miami to just 36-percent accuracy. The Wolverines led by just one at halftime but used a 14-3 run early in the half to stake a 55-41 lead. The Hurricanes crept back within five, but Michigan went on a 19-9 run over the next eight minutes to put the game out of reach. "In the first half it seemed like we were play- ing because we had to, not because we wanted to," Fisher said. "In the second half we had more enthusiasm defensively and that created more of an offensive flow." The Hurricanes had trouble all night ,with Michigan's size. Although Miami out rebound- ed the Wolverines, no Hurricane could find much offense in the paint. It didn't help that All-Big East second-teamer Tim James, Miami's only real inside threat, fouled out mid- way through the second half. If it weren't for senior guard Clifton Clark's 25 points, the Hurricanes wouldn't have even been in the game. Michigan forward Maceo Baston put togeth- er a personal highlight reel, with two ridicu- lously amazing slams in the second half on his way to 19 points. Baston was just one of four Wolverines in double-digits on the night. After a messy week, Michigan center Robert Traylor is finally smiling. He has reason to: The Wolverines beat Miami (Fla.) last night in the first round of the NIT, the first postseason win for this group of Wolverines. Postseason wi gives Wolvernes reason to smile again aceo Baston's soaring one-handed slam toward the end of the Wolverines' win over Miami (Fla.) last night was the icing on the cake, and a symbol for the Wolverines. He soared through the air, and so did Michigan - into the second round of the danced into the lockerroom. The Wolverines haven't smiled in a long time, and they didn't deserve to either. You remember the five-straight losses, blowing the game against Minnesota and having it rubbed in their faces in their own house? Remember Illinois reeling off a 41-9 run? Remember how the Wolverines needed overtime to beat Ohio State, not making the NCAAs and the most recent buzz about possible NCAA viola- tions --big time violations? So Mr. Baston, tell the world why you are so happy. "I'm just happy that we have a postseason win for the first time in my career," he said. Bingo, give the man a dollar. The win is what it's all about. This group of Wolverines won a game in the postseason for the first time. It doesn't matter that it wasn't in the NCAAs, but just in the NIT - the "Not Invited Tournament;" the "Not Interested Tourney," the "Not in Tucson" tourney (my personal favorite). But whatever, you get the picture and the Wolverines get the win. Personally, I'm in shock that Michigan was able to beat the Hurricanes so soundly with all that has been going on. The Wolverines won despite just 18 fans on hand at Crisler Arena. Even Maurice Taylor said, "... we only had about 150 peo- ple here,"(his estimate is probably closer: after all, he did have the better view). They won despite reading all of the newspapers dotted with those ugly accusations and tales See RUMORE, Page 12 . DANIELLE RUMORE Rumore Has It N IT. He smiled and pumped his fists as the crowd erupted with the basket and subse- quent foul on the play, and so did the Wolverines as the clock expired and they Colorado takes down Hoosiers WINSTON-SALEM N.C. (AP) Chauncey Billups scored 24 points as Colorado handed Indiana an opening-. round defeat for the third straight year. Billups, a second-team All- A m e r i c a n, scored 20 points 39 in the first half as Colorado. built a 46-31 lead. The Buffaloes (22- NCAA 9), making their tournament first NCAA appearance in 28 years, went on to beat Indiana (22- 11) by 18 points, matching the Hoosier's worst NCAA tournament defeat in 71 games. PURDUE 83, RHODE ISLAND 76, OT Brad Miller had a career-high 31 points and eight rebounds and Purdue scored the first six points in overtime. Freshman Brian Cardinal, whose 3- pointer with 16 seconds left in regula- tion forced OT, hit the first basket in the extra period, and Purdue (18-11) never trailed again. The Rams (20-9) had their chances to win in regulation. But Tyson Wheeler's leaner bounced off, and Michael Andersen missed the follow before the buzzer. IOwNA 73, VIRGINIA 60 Guy Rucker scored 19 points and Andrew Woolridge added 17 as Iowa coach Tom Davis improved to 10-0 in first-round games. Iowa (22-9) never trailed and led by as many as 22 points in the second half before a late scoring spurt by Virginia's Harold Deane cut the final margin. KANSAS 78, JACKSON ST. 64 Scot Pollard, coming back from a broken foot, grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds to go with six blocks and 12 points in top-ranked Kansas' victory. Pollard, All-American Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce over- whelmed 16th-seeded Jackson State. LaFrentz had 18 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, and Pierce had 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks as Kansas (33-1) had a 61-27 rebounding advantage. KENTUCKY 92, MONTANA 54 Cameron Mills scored 19 points, his third consecutive career high, as the defending national champions routed Montana. Wayne Turner also scored 19 for Kentucky (31-4) , while Ron Mercer added 16. Bob Olson and Ryan Dick scored 10 apiece for Montana (21-11). See NCAAs, Page 12 pjgR RECORDS & USED CDR SELECTION, QUALITY & PRICIE ARE ALWAYS OUR TOP PRIORITY!! BUY-SELL-TRADE- RECYCLE JAZZ BLUES ROCK SOUL CLASICAL PUNK FUNK OPEN 7 DAYS-AIR CONDITIONED!! 617-8 PACKARD- NEAR 1ill ST.-663-2441 UPSTAIRS FROM UBWAY1I we've got hundeds of ed at 5 and less! . MII I I i {Ri/ Y 0 SPOT 4Mft&mm. Aaftu. M,%ww16 41M {; s ey a The 21st Century Program is now accepting applications for Subject Mastery Workshop Facilitators in English eMath o Physics *Chemistry Facilitators conduct subject mastery workshops that promote collaborative RIESTAURANt s"" IRIS #A* r m