6 le ialImIguU &d PO)cRTS michigandaily.com/s ports sport diesk@umich. edu WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31, 2001 8 New York, New York! MJ scores 19 in MSG return Walker a threat to Spartans' injured secondary By Jeff Phillips and Jon Schwartz Daily Sports Editors Michigan at Michigan State NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Jordan wasn't exactly No. 23 of old and he missed his biggest shot of the night in his return to the NBA. Looking more like a promising play- maker than one of the game's greats, Jor- dan spent the majority of his minutes at point guard in his regular-season debut for the Washington Wizards after a 3 /2- year retirement. He scored 19 points and passed the ball as much as he shot it, getting six assists but making a few key mistakes that the old Jordan might not have made in a 93-91 loss last night to the New York Knicks. Jordan had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer from in front of the Knicks' bench with 18 seconds left, but missed the shot - one of 14 misses in 21 attempts. He also had two turnovers late in the fourth. and an airball and a missed layup in the first quarter that diminished a final stat line that included five rebounds and four steals in 37 minutes. The Knicks took an 87-86 lead into the final two minutes, and after Latrell Sprewell hit a turnaround, Jordan answered with a 21-footer -- his first field goal of the quarter - to cut New York's lead to 89-88. The 38-year-old Jordan missed his next shot, also a jumper, and then failed to outjump Kurt Thomas, allowing him to grab an offensive rebound. That led to a pair of foul shots by Othella Harrington with 34 seconds left to give New York a three-point lead. Jordan threw an ill-advised pass that was stolen on Washington's next posses- sion, but Christian Laettner stole the ball back. After Jordan missed the 3-point attempt, Thomas was fouled on the Stopping Marquise Walker, Michigan's star wide receiver, is a heady task for any team to undertake. Especially one that has already lost three players from its secondary. Michigan State is searching everywhere to find replacements for the three defensive backs that are currently injured. Saturday, Michigan State will be without corner- backs Tyrell Dortch, Jason Harmon and DeMario Suggs. "We've lost quite a few guys since the beginning of the season," Michigan State coach Bobby Williams said yesterday.-"Four really good players. These guys were legitimate starters and really making their head- way." In the past few weeks, Walker has jumped into the Heisman Trophy race. After spending his first three seasons in other receivers' shadows, he has made a name for himself in this season's first seven games. And after a circus catch in Saturday's win over Iowa, Williams understands the task that lays ahead for his Spartans. "They're going to be a huge challenge for us, he said. "We're down to people playing different posi- tions, true freshmen playing and moving players from the offensive side to the defensive side so we're kind of caught here. "(Walker's) a guy that definitely you have to be concerned with and he's a good football player." ALL YOURS, JOE: After weeks of waiting and wonder- ing when Penn State coach Joe Paterno would break Bear Bryant's all-time wins record, he finally did it last Saturday in a 29-27 win over Ohio State. Now that the monkey is off his back, Paterno is finally glad to be receiving questions other than those about the record. "That is the best thing about getting the record, now they can ask Bobby (Bowden)," Paterno said. Paterno attained his 324 wins all as head coach of AP PHOTO Jordan was not his old self, finishing with only 19 points. rebound and made both shots for a 93-88 lead that all but ended it. As bad as his teammates looked for three quarters, they managed to open the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run and take a 71-69 lead before Jordan checked in with 8:57 left. Jordan hit his next shot and got an assist on his next pass, helping the Wizards maintain a slim lead. The game stayed close the rest of the way, setting up an ending that could have been dramatic if Jordan had been a little more accurate with his shot. He ended up missing four of his final five attempts and showed no emotion when the game ended. I Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Spartan Stadium the same team - something no other coach in the top five of the all-time wins list can say. His staying power is unheard of. Paterno believes it would be nearly impossible to break the record with the pressure to win caused by today's fans and administrators. "The way the game is now with the universities and other people, the media, the talk shows and the boost- er clubs and everybody is really impatient" Paterno said. "He just has one bad year and everybody is on his back.It is going tobe 4 tough for somebody to have the kind of durabili- ty in the situations as a college head coach like Bobby (Bowden), Bryant and I have." Behind Paterno, Flori- da State's Bowden has the most wins with 320. With the recent success of the Seminoles, Paterno knows that his stay at the top may be limited. "Bobby Bowden is right around the corner and Bobby is a great coach and a guy," Paterno said. "Whether some- body can beat out Bobby when he breaks the record, that is debatable, because I think it is going to be tough." Although depleted by injur Now at 2-4 (2-3 Big Michigan's stud rteceiver, Ten), a bowl game is not out of the question as the Nittany Lions end the season against Southern Missis- sippi, at Illinois, home against Indiana, at Michigan State and a game from Sept. 13 against Virginia that was postponed. ToP RECRUITS CoMMrr: One of Michigan's top tar- gets finally committed Monday, but not to the Wolver- ines. Gerald Riggs, Jr., son of former Pro Bowl running back Gerald Riggs, chose Tennessee over the Wolver- ines. Riggs will have to battle with an already crowd- ed backfield at Tennessee, which landed top prospects Cedric Houston and Jabari Davis last year. Also on Monday, quarterback Ben Olsen commit- ted to Brigham Young. Olsen is considered the top pro-style quarterback by most analysts. DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily y, Michgan State's secondary hopes to be all over Marquise Walker, this weekend. More of the same: Stanford to knock off Huskies Yanks win, cut lead to 2-1 GAME THREE NEw YORK 2, ARIZONA 1 NEW YORK (AP) - Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera showed the Arizona Diamondbacks they know a little bit about pitching in the World Series, too. The Rocket won when the New York Yankees couldn't afford to lose, shut- ting down the Diamondbacks over seven innings for a 2-1 win yesterday night that cut Arizona's lead to two games-to-one. Pumped and psyched, Clemens allowed only three hits and struck out nine. Rivera threw two perfect innings in relief, and that was it for Game 3. "I knew it was a game that we had to have," Clemens said. "It was exciting to be part of every- thing. It was something I'll always have with me," he said. The Yankees, who hit only .102 in losing to Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson at Bank One Ballpark, are still struggling at the plate. They'll see Schilling again tonight in Game 4. There was a chance Miguel Batista would pitch, but Arizona man- ager Bob Brenly said he would bring back Schilling on three days' rest. "He's the right guy," Brenly said. "He said all along he's prepared to pitch." Orlando Hernandez is set to start for New York tonight. An early home run by Jorge Posada and a tiebreaking single by Scott Bro- sius in the sixth were enough to win for the Yankees yesterday. Especially when Arizona managed three hits, the same total Schilling and Johnson served up. No baseball team has ever rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a postseason series. Thanks to Clemens' win and Rivera's save, the Yankees won't have to try to do it, either. The win, before President Bush and a quieter-than-usual crowd of 55,820 bundled up against the cold and wind at Yankee Stadium, also ensured some- thing new: Baseball will have a Mr. November, with Game 5 scheduled for tomorrow. By David Oxfeld For the Daily After a week of upsets and dramatic shakeups in the polls, college football will likely return to normalcy this weekend. The Pac-10 is on center-stage this week as four of the top teams in the conference, each with one loss, bat- tle. No. 13 STANFORD AT No. 10 WAS- INGTON, 3:30 P.M, SATURDAY: Stanford comes into Husky Stadium buoyed by the news of its lat-_ est position in the AROUND BCS poll. Now ranked sixth. the the Nation largest jump this week, moving up eight spots after upsetting previously unbeaten UCLA 38-28 in Palo Alto. This week the Cardinal hits the road, still led by backup quarterback Chris Lewis. Lewis, replacing the injured Randy Fasani, threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns against'UCLA. The win gave Stanford its best start since 1992. Washington heads into the contest with the familiar feeling of narrowly escaping its second loss of the season, having beaten Arizona State on a John Anderson field goal as time expired. It was the Huskies' fifth, fourth- quarter comeback this season. In the win at Arizona State, running back Willie Hearst ran for 185 yards. This weekend Hearst meets a steadily improving Stanford defense that held leading Heisman Trophy candidate DeShaun Foster to 77 yards last week- end. The Washington defense has been declining all year. Stanford can score points on anyone and will need to score early and often to take the crowd out of the game. The bet here is that the Car- dinal pull this one out. Stanford 37, Washington 26 No. 11 UCLA AT No. 19 WASHING- TON STATE, 5:00 P.M., SATURDAY: Last week, UCLA's dream season came crashing down, as the Bruin's fell behind Stanford and could not catch up. Now ranked ninth in the BCS, the Bruins travel to Washington State with- out starting quarterback Cory Paus, who is nursing a sore thumb. Redshirt senior Scott McEwan, who led three second-half scoring drives at Stanford last weekend, will make his first start. Washington State is 12 in the BCS this week, having fallen from the ranks of the unbeaten, after a 24-17 loss to Oregon last week. The Cougars' high- powered offense - which was averag- ing 492 yards per game - came up short against the Ducks, gaining just 392 yards against a weak Oregon defense. Quarterback Jason Gesser threw for 249 yards, but had only 50 yards at halftime. This week Washington State will need to score, which should be difficult against UCLA's staunch defense. But that defense was embarrassed last week. Washington State will also have to try and contain Foster, who is still leading the nation with 144 yards per game. Foster should be determined to get his Heisman candidacy back on track, and UCLA will show they are still one the nation's premiere teams. UCLA 28, Washington State 17 No. 14 FLORIDA STATE AT No. 24 CLEMSON, 3:30 P.M., SATURDAY: Flori- da State rebounded from a tough start to its season by dominating surprising Maryland last weekend, 52-31. Quar- terback Chris Rix silenced his critics, at least f6r a week, by throwing for 350 yards and five touchdowns. Even more amazing was Rix's average of 23 yards per pass, and an average of one touch- down every third pass. Similarly dominating was Woodrow Dantzler of Clemson, who rebounded from the worst game of his career two weeks ago against North Carolina to lead his team past Wake Forest 21-14. Dantzler accounted for 320 of his team's 391 yards, throwing for 211 and rushing for 119. Without much hype, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is four wins short of Penn State's Joe Paterno's new all-time victories record. With his Seminoles back on track, Bowden might very well catch Paterno in the same year Paterno set the benchmark. Florida State 42, Clemson 21 No. 7 TENNESSEE AT NOTRE DAME, 2:30 P.M., SATURDAY, NBC: Two of college football's most storied pro- grams meet Saturday in.South Bend. Tennessee comes into the contest No. 7 in the BCS after a 17-10 win over South Carolina. The win put the Volun- teers into a tie with Florida in the SEC's eastern division. Carlyle Holiday will start at quarter- back for the Irish, despite missing the' final drive of last week's 21-17 loss at Boston College. Even with Holiday, the Irish should not be very competitive. The Volunteers are 3-2 all-time against Notre Dame, one of four major college programs to have a winning record against the Irish., When the dust settles on this one, another win can be added to Ten- nessee's ledger. Tennessee 35, Notre Dame 7 After regressive start, 'M' icers needs to grow AP PHO Savior Mariano Rivera again made playing the Bombers a seven inning affair. By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Writer Just over three weeks ago, 74,000 people filed into Spartan Stadium. to watch what many thought to be two of the top five teams in college hockey. There was certainly no doubt in anyone's mind that Michigan and Michigan State were to be the top two teams in the CCHA once again. HOCKEY But judging from the per- TO formances of both teams since C the "Cold War" it seems more likely that the world-record crowd was watching two middle-tier squads. Perhaps the 3-3 stalemate in East Lansing was just a product of two mediocre teams canceling each other out. For the moment at least, the balance of power has shifted in the CCHA. The Wolverines find them- selves in a tie for eighth place with a conference record of 1-3-1. Most recently, Michigan was out- played at home by an upstart Northern Michigan team. The home team fell by counts of 1-0 on Fri- day night, and 5-3 on Saturday night. The Wolver- ines haven't had a start this slow since 1986 - even Michigan coach Red Berenson has admitted that his team is not the dominant force it was in the 1990s. And don't let the Spartans' 3-2-1 record fool you - they're in the same boat as the Wolverines. Pre- viously unbeaten and top-ranked Michigan State was shown a thing or two by Nebraska-Omaha this past weekend in Omaha, falling to the Mavericks 4- 3 on Friday night and 5-1 on Saturday night. So what will it take for Michigan to reverse its sluggish start and propel itself back to the top of the conference? The Wolverines need to find their identity fast - and stick with it. One minute Michigan blames its early troubles on being a young and inexperienced team, and the next minute players are declaring that youth doesn't factor into their performance. "We're a young team," sophomore Andy Burnes said. "We've still got 10 freshmen that are trying to get a feel for things. It's just going to take some time." "Youth doesn't factor in for us," junior assistant captain Mike Cammalleri said. "We're tired of being called a young team. The freshmen are sick of being called young players. They don't play like it out there, so it's not something we look at." Whether youth is a factor or not, Michigan has to accept that there are 12 freshmen on its roster, and move on. Former standouts Mike Comrie, Andy Hilbert and Jeff Jillson are not on this roster, and that is not going to change. Eric Nystrom, Dwight Helminen and Jason Ryz- nar, however, are on this roster. So are Brandon Rogers, Eric Werner and Milan Gajic. These play- ers and the other six freshmen are the ones that make up this eighth-place Michigan team, and without a surge on the road in the next three weeks, could be making up a cellar-dwelling Michigan hockey team. Cellar-dwelling and Michigan hockey in the same phrase? It could happen. The Wolverines need to dig deeper than they've had to in years, and push themselves back into the CCHA race. That means desperation. That means forgetting about age and experience, and remembering what that 'M' on the sweater is a symbol of - hard work and determi- nation. "We have to separate ourselves as a team and as a program like we have in the past, and we plan on doing that," Cammalleri said. "We all need to take a look in the mirror and check our egos at the door." It's gut check time for the Wolverines. That's no secret. With a long road trip to Alaska-Fairbanks ahead this weekend, Michigan needs to come away with two victories -- especially with a trip to Nebraska-Omaha on the slate after the Nanooks. Michigan must start playing to its full potential soon, or it may be watching the NCAA West Regional at Yost Ice Arena from the stands, instead of playing in front of its home crowd for a bid to the Frozen Four. "We all know that through crisis for our team, true character comes out," Cammalleri said. "We'll show that as a team. We'll get.tighter this week. Things might be said about us, but we know what kind of team we are, and what type of team we can be." In this current "crisis" for Michigan, the team must bond together and rally around its upperclass- men. The captains and leaders of this team are the only people who can show the Wolverines' talented freshman class how to translate its immense talent into victories. And what could be a better chance for that than a voyage across the continent to help a team find its identity and turn its season around. "It'll be tough, but I hope it also will bring our team together," Berenson said. I 4 m m m Abd