MEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(1) Cincinnati 77,
(7) N. CAROLINA, 68
(15) TENNESSEE 94,
West Virginia 54
(18) TEMPLE 64,
Gonzaga 48
(24) ILLINOIS 98,
tex. Pan American 61
WOMEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(1) Connecticut 88,
SETON HALL 45
(16) PURDUE 71,
(6) Notre Dame 61
DRAKE 90,
Iowa State 86
(10) Texas Tech 66,
New Mexico 59
(12) Penn State 78
LA SALLE 64
(13) RUTGERS 58,
Pittsburgh 52
(18) Duke. 70,
(24) VA. TECH 61
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Tracking M' All-Americans
Senior nose tackle Rob Renes earned two first team
All-America honors. Renes became the third Wolverine
ever to be named first team AllAmerica on the field as
well as in academics.
Thursday
December 9, 1999
9A
*Win would be
Butte-iful for'M'
By Dan Williams
Daily Sports Writer
Butte, Montana - home of the World Museum of Mining,
Montana Tech University, and citizens with little invested in the
ichigan-Michigan State wrestling rivalry.
Michigan wrestler Kyle Smith can be forgiven if tomorrow
he entertains thoughts of transporting himself back to his home-
town of Butte, far away from the state of Michigan. Smith, a
redshirt freshman, is scheduled to face Michigan State's top
wrestler, Nick Muzashvilli, in the first of two dual meets
between the schools this season.
Muzashvilli is a fifth-year senior and the No. I wrestler in
the 197-pound weight class. He was named the Outstanding
Wrestler at the Penn State Open last weekend, winning his
weight class with a 5-0 record.
In contrast, Smith will be competing in his first-ever colle-
giate dual match this weekend.
Oddly enough, the Montana native will easily be the local
boy in the matchup. Muzashvilli hails from the city of Tibilisa
in the Georgian Republic. Compared to Muzashvilli, Smith
grew up in the heart of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry.
It hasn't taken either out-of-stater long to learn.
"Nick has had time to learn about the rivalry,' Michigan State
coach Tom Minkel said. "He doesn't wear much blue these days"
Muzashvilli learned the European style of wrestling from his
father, who was a wrestler for the former Soviet Union. It has
helped him become one of the best collegiate wrestlers in the
*untry, and a staunch challenge for Smith.
(Kyle) gets a chance to go out and wrestle against the best,"
Ntchigan coach Joe McFarland said. "It's a great opportunity
am~there's no pressure on him."
But Minkel foresees an uphill battle for Smith.
"Experience usually wins out in cases like that;' Minkel said.
:The competition should be filled with interesting storylines
fpm top to bottom, but no matchups will be more intense than
vlen Saline native Greg Degrand squares off against
Michigan's Jason Rawls in the 165-pound weight class.
+Degrand grew up with Spartan ties in the heart of Wolverine
Wuntry, and his disdain for Michigan has been cultivated since
berth. This made his college choice easy.
"I liked the Michigan State coaches a lot better," Degrand
said. "Plus I've been brought up as a Spartan fan by my dad and
my brother, and I learned to hate Michigan."
Degrand is licking his chops against a familiar opponent in
Jason Rawls.
"I've usually beat him," Degrand said. "I expect to beat him
on Friday. The coaches will probably be expecting some bonus
points out of me, and I expect that out of myself."
And after watching Michigan State lose twice last year
*inst Michigan, Degrand expects this year's competition to
be a different story.
'If we were to lose, it would be a huge disappointment with
the way we line up," Degrand said. "But sometimes funny
things happen in these kinds of meets."
Michigan 75, Kent 73
U nefeated
for
Duke
i
t
Kent's ast chance goes
awry; 'M' still perfect
By Chris Duprey tial game-winning 3-pointer on Kent's ensuing
Daily Sports Editor possession, drawing a foul in the process. But
Andrew Mitchell's shot to send the game into then he failed to convert the front end of a one-
overtime last night had every right to go in. and-one, and the Golden Flashes had their final
Various Kent players had hit similar 10-footers at chance.
will throughout the evening, and this one was no Michigan always had an answer for Kent. Even
different. when the Golden Flashes were slapping hands,
Maybe Mitchell would have liked to set his feet congratulating themselves on their eight-point
better, but with time about to expire, he didn't lead with under eight minutes to play, the
have that luxury. So Mitchell squared and fired, Wolverines knew they had not yet made their
and when his fadeaway effort bricked harmlessly closing argument.
from the rim of Crisler Arena's south end, Kent's With Kevin Gaines rendered ineffective due to
visions of a road victory bounced away as well. foul trouble, Crawford finished Kent off with his
Just another chapter in this soap-opera season, soft shooting touch off the dribble.
but a 75-73 Michigan victory nonetheless. 6-0. Down the stretch or with the shot clock in sin-
Unranked, maybe still unknown, but most impor- gle digits, it didn't seem to matter to Crawford.
tantly unbeaten - with Duke next. Time and again, he'd weave around a screen, roll
"When we executed, we got exactly what we through the lane and flip in a leaning 12-footer.
wanted. When we didn't, it was a disaster," When all was said and done, Crawford had 27
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "But it was a points, the best scoring performance by a
win. We showed resiliency down the line." Wolverine this season.
The Wolverines seemed to trail by four, six, If Duke watches any film at all, then the
or eight most of the night. Finally, Leon Jones secret's out. The man wearing the headband can
gave Michigan a 73-71 lead - its first advan- play.
tage of the second half - on a putback with inside: Crawford the difference in victory.
1:37 to play. Page 10A.
'n- an hrnirn ..Y ntc rnrr T.Tr i~nr tn'
Two tree throws by Kent's Irevor Hufiman tiedl
the game at 73. On Michigan's next possession,
Jamal Crawford capped a 27-point evening with
the game-winner, a jumper to finish the scoring
with 53 seconds left.
"We just don't give up. We always feel that
we're in the game no matter what," said Jones,
who finished with 16 points. "I can't really
explain it. It's just that teams have to play a full
game to beat us"
Somehow yesterday night, Michigan always
found the resiliency to overcome its mistakes.
Josh Asselin, fresh out of a timeout with just 17
seconds left in the game, ran up the end line try-
ing to inbound the ball and was whistled for trav-
el ing.
Shortly thereafter, Asselin blocked the poten-
Saturday
Duke at Michigan,
Crisler Arena, 4 p.m
Michigan's main nonconference rival
ry, one that needs no introduction.
If you don't have tickets by now,
CBS (channel 13) is your best bet.
Pick up the Daily tomorrow for a
full-page feature on this rivalry's
GREATEST MOMENTS
KMITSU YOGACHI/Day
LaVell Blanchard tries to wrestle away the ball from Kent's Geoffrey Vaughn.
Blanchard had four points and seven rebounds in Michigan's 75-73 victory.
i
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