10- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 21, 2001
Fives on the couch! Bear down for college basketball crunch-time *
By Dan Williams and Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Writers
Nothing gets a sports junky's juices secreting
like the climax of college basketball. The event
buildup - from the exciting conclusion of con-
ference seasons to tournament week to the Big
Dance - is orgasmic. Over the next week and a
half, there will be plenty of time to get three
sheets to the wind drunk and dance "La
Cucaracha" in your skivvies in foreign
nations...or for freshmen, to dine with your
folks. You owe it to yourself to pencil-in several
hours for roundball viewin' (in Mexico, Hooters
gets ESPN via satellite).
TOMORROW, 7 P.M. NO. 4 ILLINOIS AT OHIO
STATE: This appears to be Illinois' last hurdle on
-the way to sole possession of the Big Ten title.
The Fighting Illini should breeze through their
other two depleted opponents -- Iowa at home
and Minnesota away. The Buckeyes, however,
have been pesky homecourt defenders. They've
already upset Wisconsin and Michigan State in
Value City Arena.
Illinois has topped the Big Ten by having
superior size, balance and depth, which is why it
should win this game and make a run at the
Final Four.
It's easy for Michigan fans to root for Illinois
- not because they haven't tasted success in
Champaign or because Lucas Johnson is a fine
young man - but because it means those damn
Spartans fall to second best. And if you aren't
the winner, there's really no difference between
second and 10th ... right?
Illinois 75, Ohio State 65
SATURDAY, MAR. 3, 4 P.M. No. 1 STANFORD
AT No. 15 UCLA: After a shaky start, UCLA
has come on strong to secure a top position in
the Pac-10 and a position for its head coach,
Steve Lavin - whose pants are melted to his
butt from being on the hot seat for so long.
The Bruins have had Stanford's number as of
late, defeating the Cardinal in their past two
meetings, both of which were in Palo Alto.
Stanford has benefited from a somewhat mild
schedule this season and will have something to
prove to the nation as it once again finds itself
ranked No. I and atop the Pac-10. The Cardinal
defeated No. 3 Duke at home with a miracle,
comeback and defeated a slumping Arizona
team that was without coach Lute Olsen.
Both the Cardinal and the Bruins are led by
young California natives in Casey Jacobsen
and Jason Kapono, respectively. With their
white-boy moxy - these two could have done
Patrick Dempsey's stunts in "Can't Buy Me
Love" - both draw a needless comparison to
Larry Bird with each national television
appearance. Their outside shot is as good as
their attire is hideous.
With Jacobsen and Kapono negating each
other, the deciding factor in this game comes
down to whose over-hyped talent will produce.
Feisty point guard Earl Watson stepped up for
the Bruins in the first meeting while the Collins
twins were shut down offensively, scoring a
combined 18 points.
Stanford will likely come away with this one as
UCLA has become complacent with its position.
Stanford 75, UCLA 69
SUNDAY, MAR. 4, 3:30 P.M. No. 3 DUKE AT
No. 4 NORTH CAROLINA: The teams you hate
- the game you've gotta watch. Between ESPN
and ESPN Classic, Duke and North Carolina are
on TV every night. If you don't know the back-
ground information on these two lineups, you
probably would rather study or paint your toenails
on a Sunday afternoon anyway.
If you are familiar with the rivalry, then you're
probably like most Michigan fans and root for the
Dean Dome to explode rather than choose a side.
But since that's unlikely, here's a guide for which
one to root against.
Against Duke: One player embodies the reason
why Michigan fans should root against Duke:
Shane Battier. After the Country Day star spurned
the Wolverines five years ago, Battier has seen far
too much success. Every time a charge is called
his way or every time he sinks a 3-pointer, it is a
dagger to the heart of the Michigan faithful.
Battier is truly part of the Duke family. Dick
Vitale sings his praises and he is a model citizen
in Coach K's four-year plan.
That plan is another reason disgruntled fans
root against Duke. As other programs are deplet-
ed by early-draft entrees and ineligibilities, Duke
puts four-year players in the limelight that have
no business being there (read: Chris Carawell).
Sometimes Kryzyewski can even bring these
leaders back home to work for the family busi-
ness. A quick scan of the bench reveals Steve
Wojciechowski,. Johnny Dawkins and Chris
Collins dressed in suits like they have real coach-
ing gigs.
They are too good arid need to be put down,
even if it is by the second most hated team for
Michigan fans.
Against Carolina: The greatest reason to abhor
any team is because it has really ugly players. As
always, North Carolina excels in unsightliness.
Even though Dean Smith retired four years
ago, the Old Smokestack continues to build
Carolina players in his basement. In the tradition
of Kevin Salvadori, Henrik Rodl and Serge
Zwikker, Kris Lang is the latest monster-creation
from Dr. Dean. As Lang fights for rebounds and
interior position, his grotesque facial contortions
and oversized mouthpiece make the nation
queasy. While not man-made, Jason Capel is also
an eyesore.
Furthermore, if you don't know much about
the Tar Hole's fans, they lead the country in dirty
old men. If you ever see a cigar-toting 70-year old
proposition an 18-year old waitress, the former is
probably a Carolina grad.
Neither, The Dean Dome explodes
0
Spartans get last
laugh, beat Indiana
0
EAST LANSING (AP) -- Andre
Hutson scored 15 points and Zach
Randolph added 14 and nine rebounds
as No. 5 Michigan State beat Indiana
66-57 last night and tied a Big Ten
record with 108 wins over a four-year
period.
The Spartans (21-3, 10-3) extended
the nation's longest home winning
streak to 43 games and beat Indiana
(16-11, 7-6) for the eighth consecutive
time in the Breslin Center.
The 108th win for Michigan State's
senior class tied the Big Ten record set
by Indiana teams from 1972-76 and
1990-94.
David Thomas had 1I points and
eight rebounds for Michigan State.
Indiana's Kirk Haston, who hit a -
pointer as time expired to snap Michigan
State's 23-game winning streak on Jan. 7,
had 18 points and fouled out Jared
Jeffries scored nine points on 4-of-15
shooting for the Hoosiers, who had won
four of five games.
Indiana led after the first basket, but
the Spartans controlled the game
The Hoosiers trailed by double digits
for much of the first half and were
behind by as many as 14 points in the
second half, but they cut the deficit to
four three times.
Michigan State scored on the ensu-
ing possession each time after Indiana
cut the deficit to four. It put the game
away for good with a 7-0 run to take a
58-46 lead with five minutes left.
BIG T1N STANDINGS
Conference Overall
ream W L W L $
Illinois 11 2 21 5
Michigan State 10 3 21 3
Ohio State 8 5 17 9
Wisconsin 7 5 16 7
Irdiana 7 6 16 11
Iowa 6 6 17 8
Penn State 6 6 16 7
Minnesota 5 8 17 9
Purdue 5 8 13 11
Michigan 4 9 10 14
Northwestern 1 12 9 17
Knight votes self off
Rhode Island list
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP)
-- Rhode Island's long list of possible
successors for basketball coach Jerry
DeGregorio has lost two of its biggest
names.
On Monday. Rhode Island president
Robert Carothers said former Boston
Celtics coach Rick Pitino told the
school he wasn't interested in the posi-
tion. Yesterday, ESPN.com reported
former Indiana University coach Bob
Knight did the same.
School officials issued a release
Monday saying a five-member search
committee had compiled a list of more
than 50 names. Since Pitino's and
Knight's names surfaced, athletic
director Ron Petro has declined to
comment, saying the school will not
reveal any more names.
NCAA men's basketball
Yestenday's results
No. 5 MICHIGAN STATE 66, Indiana 57
No. 20 MARYLAND 95, No. Carolina St. 66
WEsT VIRaIA 107, Villanova 100 (20T)
PROMDENCE 96, Virginia Tech 56
DUQUEsNE 60, La Salle 55
Arkansas 69, SouTH CAROUNA 67
MAS cHUs1s 82, Rhode Island 67
NBA
Yesterday's results
ToRONTo113, Cleveland 102
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