FA9KETBALL (5) Utah 68, TEXAS EL PASO 46 (9)Stanford 79, ARIZONA STATE 71 Brigham Young 79, (15) NEW MEXICO 60 (22)SYRACUSE 76 Pittsburgh 61 WOMEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL (3) OLD DOMINION 60, East Carolina 39 (4)Louisiana Tech 83, SW LOUISIANA 36 (18) Hawaii 87, UNLV 70 (20) W. Kentucky 100, South Alabama 42 NHL HOCKEY NY Rangers 5, TORONTO 2 Buffalo 1. BOSTON 1 COLORADO 1, Phoenix 0 Los Angeles at CHICAGO. inc. SPORTSkjn d~ During break, the following Michigan teams will be at Big Ten tournaments: men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track and men's swimming. Of those, the only defending Champion is the men's swim- ming team. Friday February 27, 1998 7 ._.... 'M' swimmers trail Gophers after a day By Jacob R. Wheeler Daily Sports Writer A slow and steady pace won't win the sprint events, but it might eventually win the tournament. Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek knows that the Wolverines are not in hot water, just because they got off to a slow start in the first day of he Big Ten Championship yesterday in Minneapolis. Michigan's strength is - and for years has been - in the distance events. So Urbanchek isn't surprised that Minnesota, the other conference powerhouse, is wiming the tournament after cleaning up in the sprinting events. "Last year we were down 20 after the first day," While most students are away on break, six Michigan teams will vie F for conference titles this week. Urbanchek said. This year the deficit is only 16. So we're still in a pretty good position to go for the title on Saturday." The Golden Gophers lead Michigan, 208-192, after fairing well in the 200-meter individual medley and dominating the 50 freestyle. Minnesota took three of the top eight spots in the 200 preliminaries and just dominated the 50 free. The Gophers' Ty Bathurst won the 50 free with a time of 19.8, and Jeremy Rients fin- ished in third place only 0.38 seconds behind. But Michigan did fair well in the 500 freestyle, yes- terday's only distance event. Wolverines occupied the top five spots and six of the top eight in the prelimi- naries. Freshman Chris Thompson swam a 4:19.67 to win the race. Tom Malchow, Andy Potts, Mike McWha and Joe Palmer all finished within 2.5 sec- onds of each other to fill out the top five. "That's our domain," Urbanchek said. "That's the event we've been well prepared in. We're just follow- ing in the footsteps of previous teams." Urbanchek says he is not worried about the deficit. Minnesota led until the very last event last year. The Wolverines managed to salvage their 11th title in the past 12 years, winning a majority of events on the last day of competition. But the Gophers have the home pool advantage this year, which may translate into a few more Minnesota points by tomorrow evening. FILE PHO -Despite dominating the 500 freestyle, Mike McWha and the Wolverines trail con- ference rival Minnesota after one day of the Big Ten Championships. Down the stretch they come Women searching for first tourney win Inaugural tourney is ahead for 'M' hoops B.J. Luria Daily Sports Writer In three years at the Big Ten Tournament, the Michigan women's basketball team has never won - a game. The Wolverines (10-6 Big Ten, 18-8 overall) will make his- tory tomorrow if they Tomorrow's beat the winner of Who: Michigan itght's game between or Minnesota Wisconsin and Where: Indianap Minnesota. When: 6 p.m. In all likelihood, the Notables: The N Gophers don't stand trying to w" th( much of a chance of Big Ten touram advancing to the sec- ond round. Minnesota, which won only one Big Ten game this season, has sus- pended seven players, including five starters. "Of those seven players - Angie Verson, Sarah Klun, Lynda Hass, Kiuna Burns, Theresa LeCuyer - those are their meat and potatoes," Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "I'll say it publicly: We will prepare for Wisconsin." The Wolverines' last meeting with the Badgers (9-7, 20-8) was a debacle. Without leading scorer Pollyanna Johns, Michigan suffered a 16-point road loss. Vf hockey v5. poll el nea "Wisconsin is a lot, I think, like we are. They're just bigger," Guevara said. "They have a good inside-outside (game). Katie Voight is one of the best 3-point shooters, one of the best scorers in the Big Ten." On Jan. 23, Voight lit up the ._--_---Wolverines for 19 points on >ne 5-of-9 shooting from the 3- s point line and senior Ann Klaperich poured in 22. is If Michigan wins, the Wolverines probably will erines are face Illinois in the semi- finals. But with an NCAA it g. tournament bid on the line, they cannot afford to take anything for granted. The selection committee will announce at-large bids on March. 8. "I'd by lying if I said 'no, we weren't thinking about it,"' Guevara said. "I don't think its a lock at all, but I think we're getting serious consideration. I think a lot's going to depend on how we play in the tournament." Although the Badgers finished in sixth place in the conference, Wisconsin is far better than its record indicates. The Badgers were once ranked as high as eighth in the nation and come into the tournament ranked No. 23. By Mark Snyder Daily Sports Editor With the Big Ten tournament begin- ning next Thursday and Michigan's first postseason game on Friday, the Wolverines have reason to be excited. After thrashing Indiana Sunday and bouncing around Penn State on Wednesday, Michigan is brimming with confidence that wasn't present a week ago. Just like that, Michigan (10-5 Big Ten, 20-8 overall) went from pretender to con- tender in the Big Ten race and possibly beyond. this past secure with the No. 4 seed at the tourna- ment, their opponent remains a mystery. Indiana, after losing again Tuesday to Illinois, must fend off Iowa on Saturday to gain the No. 5 seed and a rematch with Michigan. The game will be the first of three games on Friday. ------------- ---- Tomorrow's game Who: Nichigan vs. Wisconsin Where: Crisler Arena When: 12:15 p.m. Notables: After facing Wisconsin, the Wolverines head to the first ever lBig'Ten tournament next week in Chicago. The inaugural tourna ment, held at the United Center in Chicago, will feature four days of com- petition. As important as the inaugural tournament' may be,and as focused as the Wolverines are about making history as the first champions, they still 4 Yes, with the magical 20th victory on Saturday, Michigan secured its place among the NCAA's top 64 teams, a posi- tion it lacked after last season's stumble to the finish. In the collapse that forced the Wolverines into the subpar National Invitational Tournament last year, they lost five of their last seven games. As if to make a statement about renewed focus, Michigan ended this sea- son with a 48-point trouncing of Indiana and a similarly impressive 16-point win over the Nittany Lions. While the Wolverines know they are have a regular-season game to play. The tradition of senior recognition, continues tomorrow afternoon when Michigan hosts Wisconsin (3-12, 11-17). The absence of one of Michigan's three seniors remains the biggest ques- tion entering the game. Maceo Baston sat on the bench again at Penn State, but that may change tomorrow. His plan is to practice today before deciding whether to play in his Crisler finale. "We'd like to have him back for 'senior day,"' Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "But we're not gonna push it." PAUL IALANiAN/Uaily Michigan guard Robbie Reid has a good chance of seeing Indiana guard A.J. Guyton soon. The fourth-seeded Wolverines might face the Hoosiers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament at the United Cetner in Chicago next Friday. 7 faces four final foes By Sharat RaJu CCHA, 25-8-1 overall) host Ferris State DaySports Editor (11-12-3, 14-16-3) tonight and Lake -its the most crucial time of the sea- Superior (12-11-4, 15-13-4) tomorrow at sor:here are four hockey games left. Yost Ice Arena at 7 p.m. tomorrow's con- 4 " second-place ------- - ---- test against the Lakers is Michigan wins all four and Tonight's game the final regular-season first-place Michigan State Who: Michigan vs. Ferris and 'senior night' for s one, then the State Michigan. Wolverines can lay claim to Where: Yost Ice Arena The following week- yefarother CCHA champi- When: 7 pn., end, Michigan travels to otnIiip. Notables: Michigan begins a Bowling Green (5-18-3, The tension is building, four-game season-ending 7-24-3) next Friday and 1.stretch against low er-division the situation is getting CHA opponents - Notre Dame (10-13-4, intense ... and few fans State, Lake Superior, Howling 15-16-4) next Saturday vl be able to experience Green and Notre Dame. The The importance of this I Spring break has arrived Wolverines trail first-place stretch for the Wolverines at the University, just in Michigan State by one point. increased after last week- 3e for Michigan's most end's two losses to No. 2 ical part of the season. Michigan State, enabling the Spartans to The fifth-ranked Wolverines (14-6-1 take over first place by a single point. Michigan State plays the Bulldogs and the Lakers, also, but also travel to fourth- place Northern Michigan in the season finale. The Spartans have to travel to Marquette and face a team that they tied nearly a month ago. Fortunately for the Wolverines, each of the final four opponents is in the bot- tom half of the conference. Ferris State, however, did give Michigan a run for its money this season. The Bulldogs forced overtime in both previous games against Michigan - losing once and tying once. "We have to win our games, Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "If Michigan State wins all their games, they'll be in first place. We can't worry about them winning. We have to win our Michigan forward Bill Muckalt and theI games. Trackreaches climax Women travel to State; men head to Purdue JOHN KRAFT/Daily Wolverines will play four games over break. - ---- ---------- ---- dig Ten Indoor Championships Who: Men's and women's tack teams Where: Men - West Lafayette; women - East Lansing When: All weekend Notables: The women's team will have to contend with powers Wisconsin and Illinois in East Lansing. The men's team hopes to rebound from a fifth-place finish last year. By Chris Duprey and Rick Harpster Daily Sports Writers While many Michigan students leave campus this weekend for a much antici- pated spring break, the Michigan track teams will head into the most important weekend of the season - the Big Ten Indoor Championship. It's a guarantee that the women will come into the Big Ten championship at Michigan State with their top lineup in place. This is the meet that the Wolverines have had circled on their cal- endars for a long time. "Wisconsin and Illinois are the two programs we're striving to reach," Michigan coach James Henry said. The Badgers bring their solid distance core - the same group of talent that won the Big Ten women's cross country title last fall. The Illini sport a solid line- up overall, much like Michigan. The men's team heads to Purdue with hopes to improve on last year's fifth- place finish. In addition to superstars Kevin Sullivan and John Mortimer, the distance team is hoping for points from Jay Cantin and Don McLaughlin - who have been huge contributors this season. The Wolverines also hope for strong showings from their sprinters. GUADALATARA SUMMER SCHOOL 1998 I Y vs aar.. A g - v - JL- lool% 100"%L