Uhe Aitckian Jadl PORTS 1E)AY page is l3ack to reality, low expectations for MIc hikan As the students in section two of Crisler Arena wearily rose to their feet after watching Iowa administer the coup de grace to Michigan on Saturday, one fan remained in his seat, staring blankly at the scene in front of him. In his hands he held two of the yellow, cardboard '3-pointer' signs handed out before the game, held so the two '3's faced each other in a silent prayer for an eight-point basket - and a Michigan win - that wouldn't come. Michigan hasn't won since they beat Ohio State on Jan. 16. They're in a four-game hole, with Northwestern .Ohio State coming up next. On the road. It feels gall hope for the season is gone - for the first time in six weeks. - Funny, but weren't these guys supposed to stink all year? Wasn't this supposed to be not just a rebuilding season but a redesigning one? Put on a yellow T-shirt, get pumped up with a little "Maize Rage" and all of a sudden Cazzie Russell, Chris Webber and Three Mills are supposed to prance out onto the court and take the Maize and Blue to the Promised Land.3 x Hate to say it, but you knew s was going to happen. Nine d 13 sounded pretty darn OK in October. Didn't it? 3-6 in the Big Ten? Without any frontcourt to speak of? Not too shabby for Ellerbe's first official season. RICK But now, its bummertime FREEMAN again at Crisler. Reality has Freeman of come crashing down around the the Press ears of the Wolverines - and their fans. The bench has only bred 18 points in the last four games. Josh Asselin, who took off like a rocket after the Indiana game, when he scored career highs in three straight games, to aver- age 18.3, has become human once again. In Michigan's last four games - all of them losses - the sophomore has scored 28. This was what was supposed to happen. Remember? But it didn't. Michigan surprised Wisconsin, shocked Indiana, and all of a sudden, the Wolverines were movers and shakers in the toughest conference in America. The frontcourt began to play years beyond Air collective experience, and even though they lost to chigan State, they knew. If only, if only they could put together a complete game, they'd be exceeding all the expectations and the hype. Hype? Expectations? Where did those come from? They weren't supposed to be anywhere approaching a good team this season. Before the season, Louis Bullock said the Wolverines might be lucky to win three or four Big Ten games this season, if that. Well, they've got three so far. Give credit to Robbie Reid and Louis Bullock. Not averaging 35.2 points a game. And not for being michigan's top two 3-point shooters ever. Give them credit for not whining that they aren't getting any help. It would be easy for them to pout that the coach that brought them to Michigan got a raw deal. They won't end their careers in the NCAA Tournament. They'll probably end them in Chicago. They could be secretly cursing this fact. But they won't let that out. Instead they'll talk about how the frontcourt's learning. Robbie Reid will talk fundamentals with Peter Vignier, get him pumped up, rather than ask why he can't dunk on every play. These guys gave themselves - and their fans - a e that had them batting eyelashes with both top 25 polls and looking like candidates for the NIT. No Michigan fan expected to be on their feet at Crisler at all this season except to go to the Mr. Spots booth while Mateen Cleaves and his buddies played keep away. But the electricity in the building as Michigan tossed off Ohio State two weeks ago was more like 1989 that 1999. After that, Michigan was 3-3 in the Big, bad Ten and had knocked the Buckeygs out of the polls. to leave the ;inference with a paltry six teams in the rankings. Two, Ohio State and Michigan, both received votes. OK, Michigan got only one vote, but still, the AP poll was- n't even in the Wolverines' vocabulary in November. "There were no expectations" before the season, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "And we created some." And for a while, they soared above the expectations they built for themselves. But four straight losses have brought them back to reality. There might even be more blessings this season. Michigan's two freshmen, Leon Jones and Chris Young haven't found their limits yet. indon Smith is long overdue. But for now, salvation will have to wait. - Rick Freeman can be reached via e-mail at rickfree@umich.edu. 'M' answers, raises questions By Geoff ag8ion Daily Sports Writer The strength of its schedule was questioned. The strength of its character was questioned. With its play on Friday night, the Michigan women's basketball squad answered more than a few questions as it upend- ed Ohio r State 85-711 WISCONSIN 70 to move to 5- 4 in the Big MICHIGAN 46 Ten while posting a 13-6 record overall. But the celebration was short-lived, as Guevara and her squad came up short yesterday as they fell to Wisconsin 70-46. Serving as potent catalysts in Friday's win, Michigan's Stacey Thomas and Alayne Ingram, who teamed up for 48 points Friday, com- bined to manage a dismal eight, yes- terday. "It was a very frustrating after- noon," Guevara said. "It's disap- pointing, after how well we played Friday night, to come in and play like we did today." In netting a mere 46 points, yes- terday marked the first time since the season's first game that only one Wolverine scored in doubled figures. "I thought we couldn't shoot any worse than we were," Guevara said. "We got down and we just couldn't score." And in mustering a 30-percent shooting effort from the floor, Michigan's offensive output was its lowest in almost two months. "It's always frustrating not being able to score," Anne Thorius said. "We had some good looks, they just weren't falling" Part of that inability to score stemmed from Wisconsin's second- half defense that kept the ball away from the Michigan# post while thwarting the Wolverine's outside attack. "We didn't do a good job getting the ball to the post," Guevara said. "We weren't hitting anything from the perimeter either. You have to See BADGERS, Page 6B DANA LINNANE/Daily Michigan's Alison Miller couldn't control the ball, and the Wolverines couldn't control the Badgers yesterday. irty birds Iowa wears down 'M' n fourth straigt loss By Andy Latack Daily Sports Editor At times, it just seemed like Iowa had an extra player out there. And then, during one possession, they actually did. Midway through the first-half, Iowa was applying its swarming full-court pressure with six players on the floor. And while you wouldn't know it from the way the Hawkeyes was all over the court on Saturday, .IOWA81 officials eventually MICHIGAN 68 cleared the matter up and the y returned to having five play- ers. It didn't help Michigan any. The 16th-ranked Hawkeyes used this relent- less defense and its mammoth frontline to wear down an exhausted Michigan team, 81-68. "We lost to a good basketball team," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "They're very deep, and they play with a lot of passion and purpose." Nowhere was Iowa's depth more of an advantage that it was in the post. The Hawkeyes (5-3 Big Ten, 14-4 overall) were able to continually bring strong bodies off the bench, tiring out Michigan's smaller and less experi- enced frontcourt. Iowa enjoyed a 37-17 edge on the boards over Michigan (3-6, 9-13). The Hawkeyes grabbed a whop- ping 16 offensive rebounds in the con- test. "Every game, I say we should domi- nate inside," said Iowa center Jacob Jaacks, who came off the bench to Brandon Smith and his teammates took one in the face on Saturday, falling to No. 16 Iowa, 81-68. Elway bid foarewelli style, 34-19 'The Associated Press MIAMI (AP) - What a perfect way for John Elway to say goodbye. The man who spent his first 14 NFL seasons without a Super Bowl ring got his second straight last night, weaving his magic for what could be the final time and gaining revenge on former coach and adversary Dan Reeves and his upstart Atlanta Falcons. The final score was 34-19 over an Atlanta team that was its own worst enemy as the 38-year-old Elway, who was the unanimous choice for MVP, completed 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards and one touchdown and ran three yards for another score. The total yardage was third best in Super Bowl history. Elway refused to say whether he AP PHOTO J un ra - A-v a v av v See HAWKEYES, Page 58 H o kycmJ S Z C.ch a .n c e to ta k e CCHA led By Chis Duprey Daily Sports Editor NOTRE DAME In a weekend that tested soul as much as stickwork, the Michigan hockey team emerged with a heartbreaking one point. One point, courtesy of Friday night's 3-3 tie at Michigan State - not the two victories the Wolverines almost had, which would've given them first place in the CCHA outright. Saturday's 3-2 road loss to Notre Dame cost Michigan (14-4- 3 CCHA, 17-64 overall) a share of first place with the Spartans, heading into the conference season's final nine games. Fighting dead legs from Friday's intense battle, the Wolverines entered the contest against Notre Dame (12-6-2, 15-7-3) with hopes of handing the Fighting Irish their first home loss of the season. But a valiant two-goal comeback in the third period proved not to be enough, as Michigan's road woes continued with another defeat. "This team did not quit," Michigan coach Red Berenson sad "We verv we.ll could ha~ve won this came. We had the AP PHOTO John Elway departs the field after winning his second Super Bowl. Elway was a unanimous choice for MVP in the Broncos' 3419 victory over Atlanta. "I'm going to take some time, relish this year," Elway said. "You got to love those challenges. We got the team; we got the nucleus here to do it. It defi- nitely throws a kink into my thinking." In addition to the Falcons, who did everything they could to self-destruct on offense, Elway's accomplices were: U Darrien Gordon, who intercepted Fullback Howard Griffith, who had two 1-yard touchdown runs. Terrell Davis, the league MVP, who carried 25 times for 102 yards for his seventh consecutive postseason 100-yard game, breaking an NFL record set by John Riggins. Wide receiver Rod Smith, who caught five passes for 152 yards and I