MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 2) Duke 70, CLEMSON 66 IOWA 88. (6) Purdue 69 (10) Kentucky 79, FLORIDA 54 (16) ARKANSAS 96, (13) S. Carolina 88 (14) Mississippi 83, Louisiana State 57 (25) Rhode Island 87, (20) MASS. 85 MINNESOTA 82, Penn State 77 WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL (2) Connecticut 86, ST. JOHN'S 50 (18) Alabama 87, GA. SOUTHERN 48 (19) CLEMSON 87, N.C. Asheville 50 ;ftbmw##Udanj~ftrdT S Tracking 'M' teams The Michigan women's swimming and diving team will head to Bloomington this weekend to defend their Big Ten title. Preliminaries start at noon and the finals start at 7 p.m. Thursday February 19, 1998 9A The State ews Spartan seniors seeking respect, onferenece title By Fred Link Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - For the past three years, the seniors on the No. 3 Michigan State hockey team have played in the shadows of their more successful rivals in Ann Arbor. In their three years at Michigan State, they have atched as their rivals have won three CCH A regular sea- on championships, two CCHA playoff championships, and an NCAA championship. The Spartans hadn't won a title of any kind - until this season's Great Lakes Invitational. "I think we've been overshadowed a bit" Michigan State senior center Sean Berens said. "Since I've been here, Michigan has been the team to beat. And it's tough when you go around like that - when you're Michigan State and you have to play against Michigan when they've got the national championship and the exceptional records and all that. "We've had good records here, but its almost like you don't get the same respect as the University of Michigan because we haven't had a national championship. It's tough, but that's what makes the rivalry great." But this season, things were supposed to be different. After losing nine seniors, including Hobey Baker Award winner Brendan Morrison, Michigan was expected to have an off-year. Meanwhile, the Spartans returned a group of experienced players including Berens, Tyler Harlton -- the best defenseman in the CCH A last year -- aind honorable mention all-CCHA goaltender Chad dIban. Michigan State was picked to finish first in both the CCHA coaches and media preseason polls. "Since I've been here they've always had our number," Alban said. "They always won the big games. They've won championships, and they've had a good hockey team. We've had a good hockey team too, but they always seemed to beat us in the big games. "But now the tide is turning a little bit. We've got a real good team this year and they lost some key players last year." *After leading the CCHA for the first two months of the season, the Spartans faltered, losing games to lesser foes like Notre Dame and Alaska-Fairbanks. But once again, the Spartans find themselves trailing the Wolverines in CCHA standings. With 10 freshmen on the roster, Michigan has played well above expectations and with just six games remaining in the regular season, Michigan leads second-place Michigan State by three points. And even though the Spartans hlave beaten the Wolverines twice this season - one of those for their rst GLI title since 1985 - and are ranked higher in the national polls, the Michigan State seniors are still looking for their first CCHA title. And without two victories over Michigan this week- end, Michigan State's players know their regular season title chances are slim. "We know we have to win if we're going to have a chance," Alban said. "Michigan knows they're going to have to win one, too. Hopefully things will work out for us." And so, the rivalry between the Wolverines and the partans takes on added significance this weekend for the lAichigan State seniors. If they win both games, they will control their own destiny in the CCHA championship race. If they lose, they'll have to hope that Michigan fal- ters or wait for another chance in the playoffs. "Winning a championship was the goal that my senior class made for ourselves when we walked into this place as freshmen," Berens said. "That's tops on our list. We want to hang a banner from Munn (Ice Arena). "Michigan is standing in our way and I can't think of a better team to play against. It's an excellent battle when- *ver we play against them - especially when the stakes are this high." After three years, this could be the Spartans' final chance at a title. Mason's next milestone is 800 victones By Sharat Raju Daily Sports Editor EAST LANSING - If you have 800 of anything, that's a lot. If you have $800, you can buy a great deal of food, electron- ic equipment or whatever. If you score 800 on each half of the SAT, you can gain entrance into virtually any school in the country. If you have 800 career victories, you have more victories than Michigan State hockey coach Ron Mason has. For now. Mason, the coaching guru of college hockey, has 799 victo- ries under his belt - far and away more than any other coach, active or retired. The == next closest is Bemidji State's Bob Peter, who had 700 entering the season. The head Spartan can reach the 800- win milestone with one little victory over Michigan this weekend. But he knowsa victory over Michigan really isn't ever "little." "It's something the crowd looks for- ward to, as do the coaches and players," Mason said. "It's the highlight game each Mason year on your home schedule." As important as this weekend is for both teams and their sea- sons, there are few things that Mason hasn't seen or hasn't experienced as a coach. For 32 seasons, Mason has been the standard of excellence in coaching. On March 12, 1993, Mason passed former Boston College coach Len Ceglarski with a 6-5 CCHA playoff victory over Kent to become the winningest coach in college hockey with 674 victories. A year later - on March 18, 1994 - he became the win- ningest coach in North America, surpassing Alberta coach Clare Drake with 698. The list of accolades for the coaching legend continues: a record 17 NCAA tournament appearances, four regular season CCHA titles and seven tournament titles with the Spartans, a 1992 national coach of the year award and an NCAA championship in 1986. In recent years, though, Michigan coach Red Berenson has overshadowed Mason's success. The Wolverines have made five NCAA tournament appearances in the past six seasons. While the majority of the 1980s belonged to Mason, the 1990s See MASON, Page 0A FILE PHOTO Michigan State hockey coach Ron Mason can reach the 800-victory plateau by guiding the Spartans to victory in one of their two games against Michigan this weekend. Cleaves arrested or just hours after big victory EAST LANSING (AP) - Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves and forward Andre Hutson were arrested on alcohol charges early yesterday, hours after the team's first victory over Michigan in three years. Cleaves, 20, and Hutson, 19, were released Wednesday afternoon on personal recognizance bonds, East Lansing police Lt. Lewis Muhn said. Cleaves, a sophomore, was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol, refusing a breath test and a seat belt violation. Hutson was charged with "zero tolerance" a charge for minors with a blood- alcohol reading of at least .02 percent. A blood-alco- hol level of .10 percent is considered legally drunk in Michigan. East Lansing police said they were called to a dis- turbance at an apartment complex around 4:45 a.m. Muhn said that when police arrived they found the two players in a car, although he could not say whether the car was in motion. Muhn said police are investigating the incident to see if other charges are warranted. The players have 10 days to appear in 54- B District Court to answer the charges. Cleaves, one of 11 finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award sponsored by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Frontier Communications, said lie was embarrassed about the incident, saying he used bad judgment. "I feel I let my family down, my team down and MSU down," Cleaves said. "Whatever conse- quences I have to face from my coach I agree with them because I'm a leader on the team." Coach Tom Izzo said the school was still gather- ing information and had not made any decisions on what punishments, if any, to give the players. "I can't tell you how embarrassed I am," Izzo said. "Based on the facts, there will be some conse- quences that are appropriate with what happened." Cleaves and Izzo did not take any questions from reporters and did not elaborate on the incident. A spokesperson for the athletic department said that no team rules were violated and that the players did not have a curfew after the game. Terry Denbow, a spokesman for Michigan State, said players and team officials talk about appropri- ate behavior often and did so after the Michigan game. "The team, the players and the coaching staff were not given much time to enjoy (the win over Michigan) and they deserved more' Denbow said. MARGARE, TMYER/Disy Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves was arrested on alcohol charges relating to a post-game celebration after State's 80-75 victory over Michigan. I 1 Tough test? Call someone for sympathy. - m w m m w m= u m