The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 11, 2000 - 3B
Marquette closes game
on 9-0 run to win 67-58
DAVID
DEN HERDER
I
By Benjamin Singer
)aily Sports Writer
Crazies and The Pit
The past three games, the Michigan
omen's basketball team used the
lockerroom at halftime like Clark
Kent used a phone booth. When they
came out for the second half, the
Wolverines played like superheroes.
Michigan's second-half magic
came in the form of a disappearing
at yesterday - especially in the final
two minutes. Marquette (4-4) broke a
58-58 tie with a 9-0 run to close out
the game to win 67-58 at the Bradley
Center in Milwaukee.
The win broke Marquette's two-
game losing streak and Michigan's
five-game winning streak.
"They played a lot hungrier than
4s," Michigan coach Sue Guevara
said.
Michigan (6-3) led at the half, 33-
31, but could not muster enough bas-
kets to pull away as it has become
accustomed to after the break.
With just over two minutes left, the
core tied at 58, Marquette's Heidi
3owman turned an Alayne Ingram
turnover into a 3-point basket for part
of her game-high 26 points. After two
missed Michigan layups, Bowman hit
a jump shot at the other end to go up
63-58.
Michigan then came out of its time-
out looking for a three if it was there
or would settle for a quick two. But at
(:07, it had another turnover and was
forced to start fouling as Marquette
geld off a comeback.
Michigan (58)
MIN M-A MA OT A F PTS
Goodlow 20 3-7 0-0 0-2 1 1 6
Gandy 23 1-2 2-2 2-3 1 2 4
Smith 34 6-6 1-2 3-6 1 3 13
Thorius 37 3-9 22 1-2 4 1 9
Ingram 35 2-13 0-0 1-5 4 3 S
'Oesterle 13 4-7 0-0 2-3 2 2 9
Robinson 12 1-6 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
Bies 26 2-9 6-9 5-10 0 1 10
Totals 200 22-59 11-1516-35 13 13 58
FG%: .373. FTWo: .733. 3-point FG: 3-11,.273. (Ingram
1-6,Oesterie 1-3,Thorius 1-1, Robinson 0-1). Blocks: 4
(Smith 2, Ingram, Bies) Steals: 7 (Thorius 2, Ingram 2.
Goodlow, Gandy, Bies). Turnovers: 12 (In ram 3,
Oesterle 3, Smith 2, Thorius 2, Gandy). Technical fouls:
none.
MARQUETTE (67)
FG FT REB
MIN M-A M-A OT A F PTS
Bowman 31 10-20 3-4 2-4 3 3 26
Settfern 30 0-4 0-2 4-7 2 0 0
Zawodny 31 7-11 0-0 3-9 0 0 14
Johnson 33 37 22 1.5 6 1 10
Schwerman 19 1-5 1-2 1-2 1 3 4
Gales 5 1-3 0-0 1-2 1 0 2
O'Grady 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Kiu 13 2-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 4
Stir 8 1-2 1-2 0-1 1 0 3
Williams 8 1-3 0-0 2-3 1 2 2
Weaver 18 1-5 0-0 2-2 3 1 2
Totals 200 27-65 7-12 20-44 19 12 67
FG%: .415. FTl: .583. 3-point FG: 6-17, 353.
(Bowman 3-7 Johnson 2-6, Schwerman 1-2, Weaver 0-
1). Blocks: 2 (Bowman, Schwermnan). Steals; 6
(Zawodny 2, Setfern, Johnson, Williams, Weaver).
Turnovers: 14 Schwerran 4, Zawodny 3, Kug 2,
Bowman, Setffem, Gales, Stieber, Williams). Technmeal
fouls: none.
Michigan-... .....33 25 - 58
Marquette-........31 36 - 67
At: Bradley Center
Attendance: 1,098
With no consistent jump-shooting
from the Wolverines, Marquette con-
centrated on defending the post,
squeezing off the only offensive suc-
cess Michigan knows.
"If you don't have an outside game --
they were double-teaming in the post."
Guevara said. "Marquette did a nice job
of defending our penetration."
The Wolverines couldn't tap its
strength underneath the basket with
a.-
ALYSSA WOOD/U0 y
Alayne Ingram (40), here against Syracuse, shot 2-of-13 from the field and 1-of-6
from 3-point land in Michigan's 67-58 loss to Marquette.
the tight defense. Center Jennifer
Smith was perfect from the field, fin-
ishing 6-of-6. But she managed just
two second-half shots despite playing
the entire 20 minutes. Michian's
leading scorer, junior Raina Goodlow,
saw just five minutes in the second
half in which time she shot 1-fIor-I
from the floor. Guevara said she sat
her down because of her inability to
play well defensively. Sophomore
LeeAnn Bies pulled down 10
rebounds, but struggled shooting, tin-
ishing 2-for-9.
Only Smith and Heather Oesterlc
were able to hit more than one basket
in the second half with two each.
The other six who played combined
for 5-of-22 in the final 20 minutes.
Forward Stephanie Gandy didn't even
have an attempt in her 14 second-half
minutes.
Sweet homecoming for Michigan grapplers
-r ZYZEWSKVILLE, N.C. -- If
you ask the residents here where
The Pit is, those who don't give
you blank stares will tell you it's down
the road in Chapel Hill. More specifical-
ly, they say, it's on the hated campus of
the inferior University of North Carolina.
And they're right. North Carolina cer-
tainly seems inerior to Duke (for one
thing), and The Pit is a recessed com-
mons area next to the student union
where Tar I ]eels convene for public ral-
lies, performances and the like. It is a
place, I imagine, not unlike Michigan's
Diag - though a quiet Saturday morn-
ing before finals didn't do it justice.
But there are 12 seniors at Michigan
who will tell you a different story about
where The Pit is. Or where it was.
They are, coincidentally, my class-
mates --Grand Haven Senior High,
1997 And they can tell you about the
greatest basketball venue in the country.
The Pirates' Pit -The Pit for short -
harbors some of my best youthful memo-
ries. It was the home of the Grand Haven
Buccaneers, and Friday nights on the
frigid Lake Michigan shore, it was the
hottest ticket in town.
Long before the Fab Five, before
Rumeal Robinson's free throws, even
before Coach Krzyzewski's days at Duke,
something special was happening at 900
S. Cutler.
Surrounded on three sides by old
wooden bleachers that nearly covered the
foot-wide sideline, I couldn't imagine a
place altogether more intimidating, more
joyous and more adrenalized all at once.
Then again, I didn't have the benefit of
knowing any different.
The Pit gave you that feeling that .
comes at the climax o your favorite rock
and roll song, or the instant after you step
off a roller coaster. Except it lasted two
hours.
After a while, you started to pick up
themes. The smell of theater popcorn
mixed with the scent of sweat. The slight-
ly yellow lighting scheme. The truly
deafening pep band, whose rallying cry
was a fast-paced "Tequila."
The student section never missed its
que for that song's only lyric (Tequila!).
The students didn't see the Bucs lose
at The Pit very often, either. Claps and
chants that most fans learn from arena
PA systems I was taught by 1,500 high
schoolers who screamed and stomped in
unison. I'll never forget my fiiend stick-
ing the wide end of a megaphone (deco-
rated like a shaggy dog) two inches from
an opposing player's head as he tried to
inbound from the baseline.
My fiend, a trombonist wearing an A-
shirt, bow tie and a Santa hat, was nearly
given a technical foul. But he was part of
the reason the opposing team used ampli-
fiers all week in practice to try to simu-
late The Pit.
We, of course, knew T'he Pit could
never be simulated. Which is why it was
so sad to see it go.
As my class prepared to graduate and
move on to bigger things, Grand Haven
Senior High was doing likewise. After
the 1997 season, the Bucs moved to a
new gymnasium in a newly constructed
high school, and The Pit forever closed
its doors to high school basketball.
Every year since, I've tried to some-
how recapture the atmosphere that
embodied those games. Watching "The
Pit Crew" at the school's new fieldhous'
just isn't the same, and naturally I have
turned to collegiate athletics for a substi-
tute. As time passed rudely by and my
final semester approached, I had all but
concluded that Michigan hockey at Yost
Ice Arena -- a near-perfect way to spend
a Saturday evening -- was the next best
thing to The Pit. The students were intel-
ligently crazy, the band knew nothing but
fortissimo and the nachos were pretty -
darn good.
But Saturday night, everything
changed. Saturday, I came across
Krzyzewskiville, N.C.
No, there is no zip code, no area code
here. It is essentially a patch of grass
several thousand square feet ---on the
campus of Duke University. But every
winter, four or five times a year, it is resi-
dential. Because at Duke's Cameron
Indoor Stadium, there is no charge for
student admission, but there is no
reserved seating in the student section,
either. So for a sure spot at the season'
biggest games, students camp out.
Sometimes, they camp out for days.
The first settlers before the Michigan
game this year arrived at I a.m. the day
of the contest. But bring on a rival like'
North Carolina, and up go the tents. -;
There are rules in Krzyzewskiville
Only 12 students to a tent, for example,
and at least eight must sleep there.
Officials check each campsite throughou
the night to miake sure the students ar
complying. Ber is smiled upon, as i
touch football to pass the time, and
overnight visits from the coach himself,
bearing a truckload of pizza, are not
uncommon. A top 10 university, Duke
has even installed Ethemet ports in th
lamp posts of Krzyzewskiville so camp-
ing students can keep up on their stulies
But why'? Why are these high-brow
students - the academic creme de la
creme - sitting in the cold, sleeping on
the ground, just for a chance to get into
the building across the sidewalk'?
Some say all you need to do is see a
game at Cameron, and you'll understand;
But I knew the instant I walked in the
front door.
Because there it was. The unique sme
of theater popcorn and sweat. The sound
of brass. The sight of old wooden bleach
ers. These people understood something
feared every day was slipping more and
more from my memory.
To many, the "first game" at Cameror
is an adventure. For me, just setting foot
in the arena was like a homecoming,
The Pit Crew, the Cameron Crazies -
this was on a different level, but in many:
ways, so was I.
And it all made perfect sense. Becaus
ifthat were innteam on the floor again,
mif'iends in the student section and Ern'
school painted at center court, I would si
out here forever to be a part of it one
more time.
The residents of Krzyzewskiville havo
the benefit of knowing they are sur-
rounded by reality. And they're willing t
do most anything for a stay.
- David Den Herder can be reached 4t
dden(urnmch.ecdu.
By Job Singer
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan State 125-pounder Chris
Williams proved Friday night that
cocky displays in front of wrestling
opponents during the introduction of
starting lineups are not a good idea.
"You are supposed to shake hands in
the middle of the mat," Michigan 125-
pounder A.J. Grant said. "He walked to
my side. He waved to his crowd he
stuck up his fingers blah, blah, blah."
Though the sixth-ranked Grant
received a questionable unsportsman-
ike penalty early in the match for
shoving Williams out of bounds, the
14th-ranked Williams' antics did not
stop Grant from nabbing a 3-2 victory.
"He was asking for it," Grant said.
"And then he got it."
The experiences of Grant and
Williams are quite common for ath-
letes in this rivalry. In their younger
days, the two used to drill together,
restle together and sleep over at each
other's houses prior to tournaments.
But as they grew older, Grant has
grown less fond of Williams, and his
spite has a way of increasing once the
whistle blows.
"I hate him on the mat," Grant said.
"Off the mat I don't really hate him --
we just don't click too well anymore."
Much like their lightest wrestler
Grant, Andy 1 Hrovat, Charles Martelli
and Otto Olson all had a bit of extra
ncentive in this past weekend's victo-
Wre stung
almost
.perfect
WRESTLING
Continued from Page 1B
"We were tied nine-nine and we
needed to get back and get a win,"
McFarland said. "I told Mike he need-
ed to get us back on track." Kulczycki
did not disappoint.
In a show of mastery convincing
*nough to have taken place on
Saturday, Kulczycki destroyed
Charlie Sageman 15-6, recording a
momentum-swinging major decision
and giving Michigan a four-point
lead.
"I think it was pretty big because it
would have sucked to lose three in a
row," Kulczycki said. "I wanted to
win at the beginning, no matter what
happened in the match before."
0 Charles Martelli all but cemented a
Michigan triumph with a hard-fought
overtime victory.
Returning from a shoulder injury
suffered last week and competing in
his first dual meet since a season-end-
ing knee injury last season, captain
Otto Olson erased any hones of a
ries over Central Michigan and
Michigan State.
Hrovat did not think he would be in
the starting lineup this season. He
expected to redshirt. McFarland want-
ed his All-America starting at 184
against the ninth-ranked Spartans.
Though he looked somewhat flat in
a 9-5 victory over Michigan State's
John Wechter, Hrovat was thrilled to
wrestle in front of the home crowd at
Cliff Keen Arena.
"I love this place," Hrovat said. "I'll
come here to watch volleyball games
and I'll get goosebumps just seeing the
floor and the crowd and everything. I
love it."
After filling in for Olson at 174
pounds last year, Martelli returned to
his natural weight of 165. To celebrate.
Martelli went 2-0 on the weekend
including a double-overtime stand-up
win that allhbut clinched the team vic-
tory over Michigan State. Martelli
exemplified Michigan's sizable condi-
tioning advantage.
"They're visiting at our house and
our whole team just got out there and
got after them," Martelli said. "In that
double OT you plan to feel like you're
just starting off the match."
After not wrestling in front of the
home crowd for two years, Olson was
extremely anxious to finish his match
against Michigan State freshman Nick
Mesyn. After hurting his shoulder in a
car accident two weeks ago, Olson
wanted to get an early pin in order to
DANNY MLOSHOK1UP, Y
All-America Andy Hrovat controls Michigan State's John Wechter en route to a 9-5
victory. Hrovat withdrew from redshirt to compete for the Wolverines.
avoid more wear on his shoulder. Any
questions as to whether or not Olson
should have wrestled were answered as
soon as the whistle blew and Olson
came out intense and aggressive.
"We wanted to give Otto a little
more time on that shoulder;' coach Joe
McFarland said. "But he's had a pretty
good week of practice. and he was
ready to go-it's hard to keep him off
the mat.'
Mesvn's challenge was to keep his
back off the mat. he was able to sus-
tain Olson's attack for 4:58 before the
pin was called vith two seconds left in
the second period. As the crowd of
1.469 erupted, it was evident that the
heart of the Michigan wrestling team
had just added another story to his
legacv.
"I've pictured that moment for more
than a year, Olson said. "I'd picked
the song out I was goin to listen to, I'd
seen it in my head a thousand times in
the weight room, in the practice room.
and I finally had a chance to do it, and
it was against Michigan State, so it was
fun. I kind of like to end the match
with a pin, to send the people home
happy.
Fast Turnaround Quality Control
Copyright Compliant Expanded Production Center
Free Pick-up and Delivery Over 5 Years Experience
DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily
Wrestling coach Joe McFarland directed his team to two dual-meet victories to
open the season. Michigan will not compete again until after winter break.
Weekend warriors
New Location " Same Great Service
Now Above National City Bank
Grad A .110 - 6 ww. -.,c C0CE
The Michigan wrestling team won their "state champi-
onship" this weekend with wins over Michigan State
and Central Michigan. Stars of the weekend:
AJ. Grant, 125 pounds:
Grant avenged one of his two losses this season, han-
dling Ahmed Sanders of Central Michigan, 16-6. "
Matt Brink, Heavyweight:
Brink (right, on top of Matt Lamb) scored a 3-1 deci- DANNY MYosOHOaw
sion over 11th-ranked Lamb of Michigan State, who defeated Brink in the Big
.;
66