MEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(1) CINCINNATI 75,
Memphis 55
(4) AUBURN 65,
South Carolina 61
(5) Syracuse 82,
PITTSBURGH 72
(6) DUKE 92,
N.C. State 82 (OT)
(12) OKLAHOMA ST. 73,
(13) Texas 65
COLORADO 88,
(16) Oklahoma 80
(18) KENTUCKY 74,
Mississippi 69
WOMEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(24) Kansas 81,
BAYLOR 67
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Prep football recruit Carlos Rogers, a highly touted
wide receiver out of Saginaw High School, chose
Michigan State over Michigan and Tennessee late
Tuesday night.
Thursday
January 20, 2000
11A
Michigan 93, Northwestern 70
Alley-oop feed
proves Smith's
leadership role
By Jacob Wheeler
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan's rejuvenated forward Brandon Smith found
another way to lead the Wolverines last night; picking an
opponent's pocket of the ball, dribbling down court and
unselfishly setting up an alley-oop off the backboard for
freshman Jamal Crawford.
1mith could have simply layed in the ball, so as not to
'd insult to injury as his Wolverines romped to an easy,
23-point win - Michigan's widest margin of victory this
season.
Or he could have slammed home the basket himself.
This is only Smith's fifth game back in action, and his
scoring chances have been limited compared to those of
Crawford and LaVell Blanchard.
But playing the role of older brother who wanted to
show his protege a good time, Smith bounced the ball off
the backboard for the headbanded fan favorite to slam
home, increasing Michigan's lead to 14 with 13:29
t*raining in the game.
'I just screamed, 'backboard'," said Crawford, who led
all players with 20 points. "But I thought he was going to
take it himself and do something fancy like touch his toes.
"We had worked on that play in practice, not with
Brandon, but with LaVell.
"You'll see that play later."
After a difficult couple of days in which Crawford
denied countless rumors that his days as a Wolverine
were numbered, the electrifying guard seemed to have
n on the court against Northwestern.
rawford found himself back in the starting lineup
after missing the first 14 minutes of last Sunday's game
against Illinois. And by the time he left the floor for the
See LEADER, Page 15A
'M' helps N'westem
continue season slide
By Chris Duprey
Daily Sports Editor
If and when times get bad for the
Michigan basketball team this season,
take a look at Northwestern's rebuilding
effort and count your blessings.
The Wolverines sleepwalked through
the first half yesterday night, allowing
Northwestern to take whatever shot it
wanted (9-for-13 shooting from 3-point
range in the first half), turning the ball
over in non-aggressive situations (13
first-half turnovers), and pretty much
reinforcing every no-defense criticism
of them this season.
And Michigan still took a 49-42 lead
to halftime.
Then it seemed like the Wolverines
had a lockerroom epiphany, remember-
ing that Northwestern has three decent-
shooting guards and nobody under-
neath.
So they spread out on the defensive
end, and, thanks to some solid one-on-
one defense by Chris Young and Josh
Asselin in the post, Michigan was able
to hold the Wildcats to just 28 second-
half points en route to a 93-70 victory at
Crisler Arena.
Most importantly, LaVell Blanchard
appears to be all right after suffering an
ankle sprain Tuesday at practice.
Team trainer Steve Stricker was able
to tape up the tender ankle and protect
it enough for Blanchard to log 25 min-
utes against Northwestern. The fresh-
man should be able to play against Iowa
this Saturday without issue.
Michigan didn't make any tremen-
dous runs in the second half to put the
game away. And until Brandon Smith
threw Jamal Crawford an alley-oop off
the backboard for a showbiz slam, the
game didn't really look like a blowout
yet.
The Wolverines instead built their
lead with veteran-like subtlety -- a bas-
ket here, a defensive stop there, until all
of a sudden they had amassed a 91-64
advantage.
"We couldn't stop their halfcourt,
their transition, or anything," said obvi-
ously distressed Northwestern coach
Kevin O'Neill, whose club had just 10
total rebounds on the evening. "They're
a very deep team, they just wore us
down. I think they're probably a top-25-
level team."
Michigan could be just one win away
from that achievement. A victory at-
Iowa would give the Wolverines a two-,
win week, which usually results in siz-
able upward mobility in the polls.
Michigan is currently in that fine-print
"Others Receiving Votes" gray area at
No. 28.
Alas, Northwestern (0-4, 4-12) is
headed the exact opposite direction.
The Wildcats, a team without a junior
or a senior - Sean Wink and Aron
Molnar each quit earlier this season -
had no inside game and was forced to
bomb away from long range in the first
See WILDCATS, Page 15A
LOUIS BRAWN/Daily
Chris Young and the rest of Brian Ellerbe's nine-man rotation played well enough against Northwestern
to give the bench players more than two minutes of playing time, en route to a 23-point victory.
Women an
By Dena Beth Krischer
Daily Sports Writer
fhe stakes are high and the Michigan
women's basketball team is trying its
luck.
Wisconsin (2-3 Big Ten, 8-6 overall)
has anted its Big Ten record, after start-
ing 0-3.
And like any game of poker, the cards
are unknown until the end of the game.
Although tonight's game may be risky,
the Wolverines (4-1, 12-4) are up for the
adventure.
There's one thing about this team,
Michigan coach Sue Guevara said, after
recently overthrowing No. 19 Purdue
and No. 12 Illinois. "They love a chal-
lenge. This is going to be another very
big challenge for them."
With what appeared to be a winning
hand, Illinois anted 12 players in the
meeting against the Wolverines Monday.
ite up success on road
Michigan called, producing 12 players
of equal caliber, and raised the stakes,
knowing quite well that if they lost, it
would be risking more than just a loss to
a big-name team.
Confident that its hand would beat
whatever Michigan provided, Illinois
laid all of its cards on the table.
"That's going to be hard to beat"
Michigan seemed to say. "But just look
at what we've got here,' as it placed its
better hand out on the court.
Dumbfounded, Illinois dropped to
third place and its sense of notoriety
amongst those in the Big Ten seemed
lost as Michigan stole second place.
"I think Raina Goodlow was one of
(the key players)," Guevara said. "I think
Alayne Ingram had a really good game.
Stacey Thomas had a very good second
half. And then you've got to look at Anne
Thorius.
"Yeah, Anne didn't score, but I
thought she had a very, very good floor
game. We had a lot of contributions from
a lot of people."
Guevara had to trade in some cards for
a hand that would beat Illinois, and she
found the ones she needed.
"LeeAnn Bies came off the bench,"
Guevara said. "You cannot forget the
contributions from Kenisha Walker and
Heather Oesterle."
Now, after its sixth road win of the
season, Michigan accepts Wisconsin's
challenge and will deal tonight in front
of a likely crowd of 9,000 fans at the
Kohl Center.
Both teams are searching for their
third good hand in a row - a winning
streak much needed for Wisconsin to
stay alive in the Big Ten.
The Wolverines could also use a
streak, and if all goes well, they'll prove
TONIGHT
Who: Michigan at Wisonsin
Where: Madison
When. 7 p.m.
atest: The Wolverines are coming off of
two straight wins over ranked opponents
just how good they really are.
"We've been good all along" sopho-
more starting forward Raina Goodlow
said. "We're just now showing that we
know it. We come in and practice hard
every day and we're really starting to
mold together, and I think that con-
tributes to our success."
Goodlow, a big part of Michigan's
winning hand over Illinois, had some
champaign to celebrate her coming out
party.
"I thought I really stepped it up in the
game," Goodlow said. "I did what my
team needed me to do, and that's all I can
say. Everybody else played well also, it
was a team effort"
And a good hand dealt.
'M' icers take note
of Vermont hazing
4'
By Chris Grandstaff
Daily Sports Writer
When Michigan senior captain
Sean Peach skated off the ice on
Tuesday afternoon he'd already been
thinking about it.
Last Friday, Vermont canceled the
remainder of its hockey schedule
after an internal investigation deter-
mined that members of the
Catamounts had lied about allega-
tions of illegal hazing, and just about
everyone in the world of college
hockey is talking about it.
"It's a tough situation," Peach said.
"The seniors were talking about it
today. If I were a senior in my fourth
year, it would be a tough way to go.
But you can't let that kind of stuff go
on. We don't haze at Michigan."
The internal investigations com-
mittee at Vermont was initiated after
former Catamount goaltender Corey
LaTulippe had filed a lawsuit last fall
against the university and its athletic
department. LaTulippe claims that he
and other incoming freshman were
forced to perform sexually degrading
acts, drink alcohol until they vomit-
ed, and give out their credit card to
fund a senior white-water rapids trip
costing in excess of $800 U. S.
College Hockey Online said.
"You can't be doing that stuff,"
Michigan sophomore Mike Comrie
said. "If it had happened here I'd be
Wrestlers revved up for Wildcats, Spartans
extremely upset. But the reason we
don't do that kind of stuff is because'
the consequences aren't worth it. You
can't do stuff like that because it will-
get out - especially at a program-
like Michigan because we're closely-,
watched and you have to play by the
rules."
But Michigan's hockey team did-
n't always play by the rules. The pro-
gram found itself in a similar situa--.-
tion 20 years ago. In the fall of 1980,
four years before the start of current
Michigan head coach Red w
Berenson's tenure, the Michigan
icers were involved in a much publi-
cized hazing incident.
Three players were suspended for,,
two games, the entire team wasw
barred from local bars, two players
quit the team and the University=~
community exploded in outrage after
news that one member of the
Wolverines hockey team was left
drunk, devoid of all body hair from
the neck down and completely naked
outside his Mary Markley dormitory.
"It's supposed to make you feel like
part of the team, like one of the guys,"
an anonymous member of the Michigan
hockey team told The Michigan Daily
in 1980. "It's a tradition for hockey
teams to have initiations like these."
But not anymore.
Since the incident, the Wolverines
See VERMONT, Page 13A
By Ryan C. Moloney
Daily Sports Writer
Imagine you are the owner of a
souped-up, dual-exhaust, maize and blue
muscle car.
You're primed and THIS WE
pumped-up to race your
arch-nemesis - a green- Who:Midigan
,-white big-block that Northwesten ai
've beaten before. Only State
some purple and black 'hera: liff KO
Diag Diahatsu has a race When:Friday,
with you two days before Sunday 1 p.m.
the big showdown.
If you can imagine that, you under-
stand why the element of fear creeps into
the Michigan wrestling team's Friday
match against Northwestern - en route
to their Sunday battle with Michigan
State also in Cliff Keen Arena.
, win over the 3-5-1 Wildcats is such
A ormality, it would behoove the
Wolverines to fall asleep at the wheel, so
to speak.
Northwestern is threadbare in half of
its respective lineup - the other half is
considerable, if not only slightly under
par in comparison to Michigan.I
E
in
tF
4
7
Mark Bybee and Scott Schatzman
make up the ranked contirgent for
Northwestern while Steve Cordova and
Drew Pariano offer viable experience at
125 and 157 pounds.
Bybee is No. 9 in the
EKEND nation at 174 and
vs. Schatzman, perhaps the
nd Midigan team's best talent, is No. 5
at 141.
een Arena Sure, maybe the
7 pm., Wildcats are a bit of a
tune-up for what is bound
to be a rock 'em sock 'em
match with Michigan State, but you
won't catch any of the Wolverines speak-
ing that way.
"These guys (Northwestern) have
been around - everyone around the
country (on the collegiate level) has
potential:' Damian Logan said. "I've
been focused on all of my matches, they
effect seeds in the Big Tens.
"There are no friends until after the
matches."
Joe Warren shares that warrior mental-
lity but has been unable to use it on the
mat in recent weeks because of a nagging
knee injury. It appears that the 133-pound
spar<plug for the Wolverines will get the
green light against the Wildcats.
"Joe's been keeping up on his condi-
tioning and he's definitely hungry to get
back in there," coach Joe McFarland
said. "He's going to give us a boost."
Michigan State features a No. I and a
No. 3 - Nick Muzashvili at 197 and Pat
McNamara at 133 and a No. 7, Gray
Maynard at 157. The rest of the lineup is
formidable and includes Greg DeGrand
- formerly No. 7 at 165 before Jason
Rawls knocked him off during the
teams' prior season meeting in
December.
Fortuntately, a 'W' against lighter fare
like Northwestern enables Michigan to
give a little more attention to the injuries
that have made this season just a little
more trying and intense.
"We have some bumps and bruises,
sometimes you just gotta go," Logan
said. "It's great to be at home for these,
the fans are really enjoying the style of
our team."
If you're going to race with the big
boys, might as well do it in style.
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