MEN'S No. 6 Stanford at COLLEGE WASH, ST., nc BASKETBALL No. 20 FLOR. ST. 83. PENN STATE 83 Wake Forest 59 Northwestemn 45 No 22 U.R. 73. No. 4 Utahat Vrg ech 66 Air Force, inc No. 24 Hwai 65, No.5ARZONAS C E 63 Oregon 57 MARQUETTE 66, No. 25 Cincinnatti 63 WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL No. 2 Connecticut 89. SETON HALL 59 No. 9 Arizona at Oregon, inc. N. 11 U.N.C 67. NC. State 64 No. 13 UTAH 71. A r Force 54 No. 14 STAN. at Washington St., inc. No. 16 Wash a' CALIFORNIA, inc. No. 20 FLA. INT'L 85. Stetson 58 No. 22 CLEM. 79, Georgia Tech 56 0 Friday January 23, 1998 10, Blue wrestling ready to tackle Big Ten foes y Evan Braunstein Daily Sports Writer After months of tournaments on the West Coast and dual meets against non-conference teams, the Michigan wrestling team is facing familiar foes again. The Wolverines play out the bulk of their Big Ten schedule in the upcoming weeks. They will travel to Evanston today to face Northwestern and to Champaign to face Illinois tomorrow. The 10th-ranked Wolverines (0-1 Big Ten, 3-6 overall) will have their hands full with both opponents. The 22nd-ranked Wildcats have six wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their weight classes, and the eighth-ranked Illini are undefeated in dual meet competition. The Wolverines, on the other hand, have lost five of their past six meets and are suffering from a lack of consistent train- in&.They have not been able to find a groove. "We've continued to practice hard this past week to get everyone to feel more confident about their wrestling," Michigan assistant coach Kirk Trost said. After the death of teammate Jeff Reese, the Wolverines did- n't hold practice for several weeks. Trost said the losses to lx-er-caliber teams have caused some Michigan wrestlers to q4istion their abilities. "We want to improve their attitudes going into the match," he-said. Cast weekend at the National Tearn Duals, the Wolverines wer on the wrong end of many tight matches. Most of the miies at the lower weights were decided by just one or two pourts. "We lost a lot of close ones," Trost said. "We don't want to pass up any scoring opportunities this weekend, and we have been trying to get more intensity on the mat." ; The Wolverines should have the edge against the Wildcats. the Wolverines are 0-1-1 in their last two meetings at Evanston, but the Wildcats are weak in the middle of their line- dp. Chris Viola, Michigan's 118-pound wrestler, will have a key mitch against Dominic Caruso. Michigan's Damion Logan will also be challenged, wrestling at 134 pounds. Logan will face Northwestern's top wrestler, fifth-ranked Scott Schatsman. - The Illini will pose more of a challenge. They are 2-0 in Big Ten competition and have five wrestlers ranked in the top 12 Of their weight classes. bill Lacure, who has not wrestled in the past few weeks due Tb injury, may face Illinois' Eric Seibert, who is ranked No. I aiV150 pounds. If Lacure is not cleared to wrestle, freshman Jason Rawls will take his place. The Wolverines will need wins at the front of their line-up if riev want to overtake Illinois. Hoops looks to be super Sunday 0 By Mark Snyder Daily Sports Writer With the game against Big Ten co- leader Michigan just two days away, Illinois men's basketball coach Lon Kruger has his mind firmly focused on the Wolverines and their destructive power. "Obviously, Michigan is a very talent- ed basketball team," Kruger said. "And they're playing as well as anyone in the conference, maybe with other very good teams in the country." While Kruger's concentration may dwell on Sunday's 2 p.m. contest in Champaign, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe must be concerned with his own team and the memories of the last time the combatants squared off. On March 2, 1997, Michigan was reel- ing, and any chance of an NCAA tourna- ment bid was fading from view. After losing four games in a row, the Wolverines sought to right themselves in Champaign against Illinois. Through the first half, all was going according to plan. The Wolverines held a comfortable -or so they thought --six- point lead and were just 20 minutes away from a crucial road victory. "It was a drastic change," Kruger said, recalling the game's second half. "It is unusual to see a game change to that extreme." Robert Traylor's recollection was equally dismal. "We got out early," he said. "But they kind of made a run at us and we kind of shied away and played more timid bas- ketball instead of trying to finish off the game." That pressure on Illinois at the half quickly transferred to the Wolverines. The six-point cushion rapidly dis- solved in the second stanza, deteriorating into a 19-point defeat that dropped Michigan to 7-9 in the conference and out of the top 25. "Confidence changes a little bit and extreme things can happen, and that was the case in that game," Kruger said. One year later, Michigan can take solace in a summer victory, off the courts. Robbie Reid, who hedged between Michigan and Illinois this summer when deciding where to transfer from Brigham Young, has become a vital cog in the Michigan offense. "I'm sure the fans will have fun with (Reid)," Kruger said. "College basketball is such that you lose a lot of guys to the recruiting process. When you lose them, I'm sure the fans will have some extra fun with that." It isn't necessary to look any further than the opposing bench for extra incen- tive for the junior point guard. "I have a great respect for coach Kruger and for lllinois," Reid said. "Sure, there's an extra sense of motivation because you have that association with him, but I'm just going to go out and try to play hard." While the taunts may be directed toward Reid his main distraction will be the Illini's troop of 3-point bombers. Illinois' top three scorers - Kevin Turner, Jerry Hester and Matt Heldman -- are, all aggressive from beyond the arc. The paint, however, is an entirely dif- ferent scenario. "We certainly rely on the perimeter jump shot, as Michigan does, and the guys inside make a difference for them." Kruger said. "We know we need more inside scoring and an inside threat." The lllini's guard-oriented game may spell their doom against Michigan at the other end as well. While the Wolverines sport Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston across their front line, the Illini interior is thin, with just 6-foot-8 Jerry Gee to fend off Michigan's twin towers. "Traylor's kind of the core of what they do" Kruger said. "And there are very good players around him, so our hands will be full on Sunday, but we look forward to that challenge." MARGARET MYERS/Oaki The Michigan basketball team will travel to Champaign to take on the Fighting Illini this weekend They hope to avoid a repeat of last season's second-half collapse that helped cost them an NCAA berth. -1-1 Hockey tries to stretch lead By Pranay Reddy Daily Sports \riter High-intensity games have been some- what forgotten around the Michigan hockey team as of late. After five wins in five games over the worst of the CCHA (Ohio State twice and Bowling Green. Western Michigan and Alaska-Fairbanks each once), the fourth-ranked Wolverines (14-2-1 CCHA, 20-4-1 overall) are final- ly looking at a fair fight. The Wolverines travel to Oxford Ohio, this weekend for a two-game series against No. 7 Miami (10-5-2, 15-5-2). They will face the RedHawks tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Goggin Ice Arena. "We have to play as well as we can in big games - and these are big games," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I can't tell you that the last five games have been big games, but these are big games against a team that we could be facing in a playoff environment." Players alike are well aware of the importance of this weekend's games, especially because of Michigan's recent- ly weak schedule. "This is like the turning point in the season, whether we go forward or we go backward," Michigan center Bobby Hayes said. "These two games are prob- ably the most important games this sea- son for us right now" Berenson has reason to be concerned about his own team's game. Michigan has seemed to play to its level of its com- petition recently - poorly - yet still has pulled out victories. But this week- end, Berenson knows the Wolverines cannot make the same mistakes against the RedlHawks. "We have not been playing the top teamsso we've got to break some habits that we have gotten into," Berenson said. "I'm hoping that our team can come up and play at a better level than we have played at in recent games." Specifically, Michigan will have to hone its special teams, which have fal- tered the past three weeks. Michigan's power-play unit was a non-factor against Alaska and Western Michigan, Berenson said. But even more important for the Wolverines this weekend will be the play of their penalty killers. who will face one of the best power-play teams in the CCH A. Miami also has one of the top offen- sive-defenders in college hockey in senior Dan Boyle. Boyle, a IHlobey Baker candidate, is pacing the RedH hawks with 34 points and is third in the C( IA in overall scoring. In addition to the defense's offensive game, Berenson expects to see yet another physical game from a team try- ing to bang up his squad. "I think they'll be as physical and stronger than Western -- I don't know if they're going to be as undisciplined," Berenson said. "It seems like every team we play. we get their best physical game. They think that if they play physical, they can beat Michigan. "Our players are going to have to show up and expect to be hit. and get some hits in themsel es." Berenson said. Helping to bolster Michigan's lineup will be freshman defenseman Mike VanRyn, who returns from a groin injury, and senior forward Matt Herr, who returns from a one-game suspension. JOHN KRAFT/Daily Dave Huntzicker and the first-place Michigan hockey team will try to extend their lead in the CCHA this weekend as they take on third-place Miami (Ohio). I i a 1 0 U i i R -&.A .MbP %.xTT 97 . . ........