MENS NCA
BASKETBALL!
OHIO STATE 72
(16)Purdue 43
Georgia Tech at
(5) MARYLAND, Inc.
(t2 New Mexico at
NEW MEXICo ST., inc.
Team
We're not in 1996, we'
It's 1999 and the Michiga
As much different.
Gone is the prolific lead
Muckult, Brendan Morris
'Botterill. Gone are the
stops of Steve ----
Shields and Marty H0
Turco. Gone are
the teams that Co
'destroyed oppo- ----
nents in the first 10 minut
and-never looked back.
But as old heroes leave
must arrive.
Starting Saturday nig
takes to the road to battle it
est opponents yet --
Michigan State and Notre
The Wolverines squeez
ries against the Sparta
Fighting Irish in front of f
Arena crowds last Novem
need to prove that they
same teams in more un
roundings.
And Michigan fans wi
there will be heroes in 99.
So far this season, Bubb
has guided this team to se
toties over top teams. But
lot three straight away fro
Now it's time to see if
more than just a captain,
teammates from a great tea
pionship team.
He'll definitely need hel
hitest road losses, Michig
just one goal total.
NHL
HOCKEY
TAMPA BAY 2
Buffalo 1
Ottawa at
NY RANGERS, inc.
Vancouver at
NASHVILLE, Inc.
St. Louis at
PHOENIX, inc.
Detroit at
CALGARY, inc.
Colorado at
LOS ANGELES, inc.
the fah a
SPOR'E'S
rtacking 'M' teams
Watch the Michigan men's tennis team battle Williar
& Mary tomorrow at the Varsity Tennis Center. The
first serve is at 3 p.m.
Wednesday
January 20, 1999
12
will need its
this month
Opposing defenses have swamped
centers Mike Comrie and Mark Kosick,
e not in 1998. and have stifled the fire-powered line of
n hockey team Josh Langfeld, Bobby Hayes and Dale
Rominski.
dership of Bill Seniors or freshmen, it doesn't matter,
son and Jason if any of them want to hold up another
unbelievable championship trophy, someone must
------------- step up and take the torch.
To make offensive matters worse,
Scott Matzka, Geoff Koch and Greg
mITMentaiy Crozier are in deep slumps and have
------------- combined for just five goals this season.
es of the game And all three have the potential for
heroics.
e, new heroes « The Michigan power play has
improved since September, and looks to
ht, Michigan improve more.
ts three tough- But when the ref holds up his hand in
Ohio State, the third period and points to a defender,
Dame. will the Wolverines turn on the red light
ed out victo- against a Michigan State team with the
ans and the most stifling defense in the NCAA?
rantic Yost Ice And even if the referee points to
ber. Now they Michigan, can the penalty killers hold
can battle the off the Irish offensive threat?
ipleasant sur- Josh Blackburn has had as good of a
season as can be asked. The No. 3 goalie
ill find out if in the nation has stopped the necessary
shots, and hasn't let freshman butterflies
a Berenzweig bog him down.
veral key vic- But when the game is tighter than a
Michigan has Hooters uniform, will the young fresh-
m Yost. man perform like his predecessors?
Bubba can be While the question marks surround-
and push his ing this team still create a small cloud of
am to a chain- doubt, once the heroes of the season
show up, the sky will clear.
p. In the three Brendan Morrison did. Bill Muckult
gan mustered did. Marty Turco did.
Who's next? We'll find out this month.
O-
he
the
oa
Michi an has
chance to beat
another top team
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer
Darn it, just when the semester and Michigan's bas-
ketball season were humming along smoothly, now this.
After playing two games on two consecutive Saturdays,
the Wolverines (3-2 Big Ten, 9-9 overall) are about t
embark on the first truly crucial stretch of the season --
two more games in just four days.
And wouldn't you know it, both games are on the
road. And as luck would have it, most Big Ten teams
going on road trips this season have wound up as road-
kill.
But not a single Wolverine is getting out a spatula yet,
even though they face No. 17 Minnesota tonight in
Minneapolis (2-2, 11-3) and No. 16 Purdue Saturday in
West Lafayette (2-2, 14-4).
"We feel comfortable and we play our best basketball
at home," Michigan guard Louis Bullock said. "But th*.
biggest thing for us is we've got to finish that and do that
on the road."
So far this season, Michigan's only road victory has
come as close to home as possible, on Dec. 9 when the
Wolverines sank lowly, then-winless Eastern Michigan
in Ypsilanti.
That win came between two avert-your-eyes road loss-
es, to Western Michigan in Grand Rapids and, in the
worst defeat in Michigan basketball history, to Duke in
Durham, N.C.
But Williams Arena, as imposing as it can be, is n
Cameron. And Michigan's frontcourt, as unimposing as
it once was, is no longer an afterthought for Michigan's
opponents.
"This is one team I think that has obviously struggled
a little bit early but they seem to be in a position that
they're finding themselves right now," said Ohio State
each Jim O'Brien, whose Buckeyes learned first-hand
just how much the Wolverines have improved this sea-
son.
"When you break their team down and you have as
good a guard combination as they have - as there is i
the conference - and a rapidly improving frontcourt, I
think that these guys are going to be very formidable as
the season progresses," O'Brien said.
Praise from the defeated is nice, but it won't help
Ellerbe sleep any easier. Not with Minnesota on his
See GOPHERS, Page 14
Hobey Blackburn?
While the young freshman isn't very close to win-
ning the Hobey Baker Award, given to college
hockey's most valuable player, he's still having a
fine freshman seasoni thanks to one' of the top
defenses in the CCHA and a mental toughness that
has left the freshman jitters in the closet.
Here are the stats of the top goalies in the NCAA: BIekburn
NCAA Division
Rk Name, Yr
1 Ty Gonklin So
2 Joe Blackburn So
3 Josh Blackbur nFr
4 Dave Stathos Fr
I Goaltending Leaders
Team GP W-L:T
New Hampshire 10 10-0
Michigan State 18 12-3-3
Michigan 22 16-4-2
Princeton 9 6-11
SVG
0.939
0.927
0.914
}.923
GAA
1.21
1.37
1.99
DANA LNNANE/Daily
Twin towers Peter Vignier and Chris Young soar high above the competition to pull down a rebound. The
two hope to have the same success on the road against Minnesota and Purdue.
Memck, Crozier
may sit tomorrow
Women try to halt mid-season disaster
By Chris Duprey
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan hockey coach Red
Berenson said Andrew Merrick and
Greg Crozier should've showed bet-
ter discretion before involving them-
selves in fights last Friday against
Ferris State.
So, after serving the league-man-
dated one-game suspension last
Saturday night, Merrick and Crozier
won't be guaranteed spots in the
starting lineup for tomorrow's home
contest against Bowling Green or
this Saturday's game at Ohio State's
new Value City Arena.
Instead, the two forwards will have
to compete for positions with Krikor
Arman and Bob Gassoff - the play-
ers who took their place Saturday
night against Western Michigan and
turned in solid performances.
"I'm not quick to put them back in
the lineup," Berenson said. "They
took themselves out - they're going
to have to work their way back in."
Berenson indicated that his deci-
sion was not a disciplinary measure
- just a decision yet to be made on
the players' lineup status for this
weekend's pair of games.
With just 1:36 remaining in the
third period of Friday's debacle
against the Bulldogs, Merrick
smacked into Ferris State goalie
See LINEUP, Page 14
By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
The snowing and blowing has
calmed down considerably since
Michigan was, forced to postpone its
Jan. 3 matchup with Michigan State
due to poor weather.
But conditions have taken a deci-
sive turn for the worse for the
Michigan women's basketball team.
The Wolverines have found them-
selves blown off course, reeling from
a six-game skid and awaiting a break
in the storm that has become their
season.
Michigan coach Sue Guevara is
hoping that break will come tonight ,
when the Wolverines host Michigan
State at 7 p.m.
"There isn't a better team in
America for us to take out all of our
frustrations than the team that is
coming in here today and that's
Michigan State."
After breezing through their first
10 games of the season, Michigan
coach Sue Guevara and her squad
found themselves atop the confer-
ence standings and carrying the
momentum of their finest start in
school history when they were set to
host Michigan State earlier this
month.
The forecast, however, has grown
gloomy for the Wolverines ever
since. Stumbling to a 1-3 mark in the
conference on the heels of Sunday's
home loss to Penn State, Michigan is
hoping tonight's make-up game will
help the 9-6 Wolverines begin to
make up lost ground in the Big Ten.
"We're going to win a game in
January, we are going to win another
game," Guevara said. "It's just taking
a little longer."
If Michigan is to get back on track,
or at least win a game in January,
Guevara knows standout Stacey
Thomas will likely have to improve
her performance. Though only the
ninth Wolverine to tally 900 points
and 500 steals in a career, Thomas
has struggled finding her touch from
the floor.
"With Stacey Thomas going 3-for-
14 with six points, it's really hard for
us to win a game," Guevara said.
"That's not putting it all on Stacey,
but right now she's really struggling
from the floor.
"And with her struggling like she
is, we need other people to pick up
that scoring."
The duty of picking up the slack, it
seems, has fallen on the shoulders of
guards Anne Thorius and Alayne
Ingram. Combining for 31 points
Sunday against Penn State and 25
against Wisconsin last Friday,
Michigan's rejuvenated backcourt
has boldly staked its claim as a force
to be reckoned with.
"Anne and Alayne, the last two
games, they have done everything
they can as far as scoring-wise,"
Guevara said. "They both have found
p in smoke?
The Michigan women's basketball team's current six-
game slide is the worst since Guevara took over as
head coach -s. so why the turnaround? Strength of
-J
schedule is a likely cause. Compare:
First Nine Games
Wins over marginal foes,
included:
Central Michigan (10340)
Detroit (96-73)
Coppin State (104-49)
Alabama-Birmingham (73-55).
Illinois State (86-43),
Last Six Games
Against better opponents,
Michigan hasn't been as fierce,
losing six straight, and three
against ranked opponents:
No. 5 Louisiana Tech (84-66)
No. 20 Penn State (74-66)
then-No. 20 Vanderbilt (55-45)
2,
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their jump shots, they're both creat-
ing for other people, they're driving
to the basket."
And Guevara is hoping that con-
tinues, as her squad readies for
Michigan State, a school Guevara
herself helped coach from 1987 until
taking over in Ann Arbor in 1996.
The 9-7 Spartans find themselves in
the midst of a grueling week -
tonight's game will be followed by
two more this weekend.
Boasting a 3-3 record in the Big
Ten, the Spartans linger in the con-
ference's fifth spot.
Michigan, meanwhile, dwells in
the cellar of the Big Ten and hopes to
take out its frustrations of a five-
game losing streak on its intra-state
rival. To do that, however, Guevata
says her team-will have to rely on
what the trials of losing have taught
it.
"We were a better basketball team
than we were a week ago, we are a
better basketball team than what w4
were Friday and we have to keep get-
ting better," Guevara said. "They've
played with a lot of intensity, a lot of
heart.
"I can't fault their work ethic, but
now we have to play smarter."
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