The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 22, 2004 - 3B

Whose season ends Sooner?
After willing its way to a three-point victory over Missouri last week, Michigan will try to repeat the feat against the
Tigers' Big 12 rival, Oklahoma. There are still tickets left for tonight's game, but not many - 6,000 were sold in the
first 24 hours after this matchup was announced.

To bracketville and back:

iiii::ii":!:i?.

Dion Harris - Since taking over for Lester Abram in the
starting lineup, Harris has flourished. The freshman seemed to
hit the wall at the end of the Big Ten season - with the low
point coming in his scoreless performance against Indiana .
But Harris has rebounded to score 23, 11 and 12 in his three
postseason games.

Shooting
guard
Even:

Jason Detrick- Detrick and De'Angelo Alexander are inter-
changeable at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
As the lone Sooner senior, Detrick averaged 11.5 points this
year, but has struggled from the outside, shooting just 25 per-
cent from beyond the arc.

Graham Brown - Brown has scored just four points over
Michigan's last three games. The sophomore's biggest contri-
bution against Oklahoma will likely come on the boards,
where he has grabbed seven, four and five rebounds over
Michigan's last three contests. His 6-foot-9, 255 pound frame
will also give him a size advantage over Oklahoma's smaller
front line, but his lack of quickness could be a problem.

Power
Forward

Edge:

Brandon Foust - His stats won't scare anyone, but Foust's
play as of late has him clicking at the right time. After scoring
just under four points a game during the season, Foust has
exploded for 15 points and six boards a game in the Sooners'
last two games. He was 8-for-12 with 19 points in Oklahoma's
win over LSU last week, and his quick shooting ability could
be a problem for Graham Brown.

One man's
st
BASKETBALL HEAVEN - Shati
ets everywhere. The carnage is de
It's like an explosion scene from,
Bruckheimer film, but do I care that my
uglier than Wisconsin's No. 44 who rem
the ogre from "Shrek"? Nope.
DISCLAIMER: Ifyou watched less than.
basketball the past four days or opened
since Thursday at noon,
you should stop reading
this column right now.
The chance ofyou under-
standing my warped
mind is slim to none.
Please flip to page 8B
and check out a Daily
diaper-dandy's first fea- J. BR
ture instead. It's awe- MCCOLI
some, baby!
THURSDAY, 5 P.M.: I The S ort
don't know which is
more startling - Syracuse guard Gerry
ra's 43 points or coach Jimmy Boeheim
wonder Carmelo Anthony went to co
least one year.
THURSDAY, 7:20 P.M.: My friends and
realized that subscribers to Comcast d
get to see all four games on at any giv
channels 185-187 plus CBS Detroit. A
became complete - and we don't ha
Damon's.
THURSDAY, 8:30 P.M.: Every year,1
Princeton freshman Luke Owings (No.;
denly introduced to the world. Did hec
well against Texas? No, but he caug
enough to make us perform a Google
son of Jeff and Maria Owings, Luke wa
rian in high school, loves country musi
kick all our asses in chess.
THURSDAY, 9:30 P.M.: Michigan S
Davis always looks like he's been c
onions, and while it didn't help the Bi
utation, there's nothing better than
Sparties cry.
THURSDAY, 10:45 P.M.: The reason
Nantz chose to cover the Denver re
chance to refer to Air Force as "The A
much as possible. Don't get me wron
Nantz's poetry and could never thank P
for his endorsement of a Michigan tot
last weekend in Indy. It's just too bac
work with Billy Packer. I wish CBS
The Masters' theme music after every
speaks so that we wouldn't have to liste.
FRIDAY, 12:30 A.M.: What would Lel
have done to teams as horrible as D
DePaul? Even though the game wen
overtime, it was quite possibly the wors
game I've ever seen in the tourney. Th
college hoops is diminishing each year.
FRIDAY, 1 A.M.: Must figure out way
Comcast's brilliance with some kind of
Friday night's games. My friends and I
a four-room progressive would do the
ing at 7 p.m., the Orlando region gan
screwdrivers (gotta love Florida ore
Kansas City games supply boxed wi
[Calif.] is playing there), the games
Columbus will "serve Jack and Coke (Kc
East Tennessee State are playing the
Milwaukee games give us a chance t
Beast. The e-mail is sent, and I'm spent

NCAA experience
ered brack- FRIDAY, 3 A.M.: I get an e-mail informing me that
evastating. Friday's games are not included in Comcast's pack--
a Jerry age. Damn, I feel dumb. I send the "boy who cried
bracket is NCAA progressive" e-mail to deliver the bad
inds me of news.
FRIDAY, 5 P.M.: Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt
30 hours of hits a 3-pointer to end East Tennessee State's upset.
i up a book bid. Leave it to a guy named Bobbitt to cut off a,
team's manhood.
FRIDAY, 8:30 P.M.: Nothing better than getting.
your girlfriends together to watch sports. I crack up.
when my friend, Molly, asks of Wisconsin's Clay-
ton Hansen, "Is he the walk-in?" Molly, this is bas-'
ketball - not a hair salon or LSA advising.
FRIDAY, 10 P.M.: Everybody at Scorekeepers-
knows I'm the king. Wisconsin (my surprise finale
ADY four pick) gets over its arachnophobia and steps on
LOUGH the Spiders. I go nuts, and declare, despite Xavier's.
early deficit against Louisville, that Xavier will still
sMonday win for no other reason other than that I picked-
imn them.
McNama- SATURDAY, 7:30 P.M.: My brackets are beginning.
i's wife. No to unravel after a pristine first round. I can't stand
llege for at Bobby Knight, yet because I picked Texas Tech to-
upset St. Joe's, I find myself begging for Knight's
dI have just happiness. St. Joe's wins, I feel bad for a minute;;_
ligital cable but then I remember that my basketball coach in
ven time on high school, who made my junior year unbearable,
My life just was a Knight disciple. I smile at the thought of him
ve to go to sitting in his mom's house (yes, he lived with his
mom) doing his best Paul Davis impression.
players like SATURDAY, 8 P.m.: As a Boston Red Sox fan, I'm
20) are sud- disgusted at the lack of a "DARRYL! DARRYL!"
do anything chant as Darryl Strawberry Jr. misses the final two
;ht our eye shots of Maryland's last-second loss to Syracuse:
search. The Mrs. Boeheim, will you marry me?
s valedicto- SATURDAY, 9 P.M.: Welcome back to DePaul's
c and could LaVar Seals! After serving his one-game suspen-'
sion for taking a shot at Bobbitt's groin in last
tate's Paul week's C-USA tourney, it was great to see Seals
utting raw back in action. What is the deal with below-the-belt
g Ten's rep- shots these days? A Seton Hall player blatantly
watching kicked Duke guard Sean Dockery (Michigan wide,
receiver Jason Avant's best friend) in the junk earli-
CBS's Jim er in the day. Have some respect.
egion? The YESTERDAY, 3:30 P.M.: There are 40 sports writ
cademy" as ers on the Daily staff, most of whom will go pro in,
g - I love something other than sports writing.
him enough YESTERDAY, 4:45 P.M.: I start counting up the-
urney berth Sweet 16 teams I picked correctly and include N.C;-
d he has to State who was up by about eight points over Van-
would play derbilt late in the game. Looks like Kentucky and
time Nantz Alabama will be the only SEC teams to make it. u
n to Packer. YESTERDAY, 5 P.M.: Teams in this tournament do,
Bron James not know how to finish games. N.C. State was by fare
)ayton and the worst, committing stupid fouls and getting off a
t to double horrendous 3-point attempt down two points. It hon-
t basketball estly looked like something Michigan would do:
e quality of Call timeout and at least try to get off a quality shot! .
YESTERDAY, 7 P.M.: In the span of 20 minutes, the
to combine entire left side of my bracket is a wash, my Ken:
shindig for tucky-Wisconsin final four matchup is erased and.
decide that there is still one afro alive in the tourney. My"
trick. Start- friend, a diehard Kentucky fan - he would root for'
ies provide Kentucky over Michigan - leaves Scorekeepers in,
anges), the silence. The University of Alabama-Birmingham?
ne (Pacific YESTERDAY, 9:12 P.M.: This column is over.
s played in What a weekend. See you tonight at the NIT baby!

Michigan Bench - If leading scorer Lester Abram can play
for Michigan after being sidelined for two straight games after
suffering an injury against Iowa, the Wolverines have a huge
edge. But if Abram - who began light shooting again on Fri-
day - cannot go, sophomore Sherrod Harrell will have to step
in and pick up the slack. Sophomore Chris Hunter and fresh-
man Brent Petway will also be keys off the bench.

Bench
Edge:

Oklahoma Bench - The Sooners' bench was thinned consider-
ably by the losses of Bookout and Brown. But 6-foot-11 Larry
Turner has improved and could be slipped into the starting lineup
to match up with Sims. Guards Lawrence McKenzie and Jaison
Williams, who averages eight and six points a game, respectively,
can provide a spark on the offensive end. The problem for Okla-
homa comes if Michigan gets Gilbert and Turner in foul trouble.

Prediction,

In a game between two evenly-matched teams, the ultimate edge will
come from Michigan's home-court advantage. Crisler was as loud as
its ever been last Tuesday against Missouri, and thie arena was just
half full. Michigan will take advantage of its size in the middle and
its deeper bench to advance to the NIT quarterfinals.

entucky and
re) and the
o serve the

AS

Michigan, 73-67

J Brady McCollough can be reached at
bradymcc@umich.edu...

I

BIG TENS
Continued from Page 11
her career.
"Elise usually hits her routines,
but she really nailed her routines at
this meet," Plocki said. "She
brought her performance to a new
*, level. This is the kind of form I saw
Elise in her freshman year when she
won the national all-around title."
Calli Ryals, who usually com-
petes with Ray for all-around hon-
ors, was restrained to just one event,
the uneven bars, because of nagging
calf and heel injuries. But Ryals
made the most of her opportunity,
earning a 9.950 in her best bars per-
formance of the season so far.
"It doesn't matter if you're com-
peting in one or two or three events,
or nothing," Plocki said. "You have
to put everything into your one
event, and when you're done with
your event you have to take the rest
of what you have and put that into
supporting your teammates."
Plocki said that the emotional
support was there for Michigan and
was a major factor in the victory.
"That's something else I think we
did a good job of; there was a lot of
energy and a lot of emotion," Plocki
said. "Even the kids that didn't
compete at all were exhausted.
That's exactly the way it should be."
Plocki hopes Michigan will repli-
cate or better its Big Ten perform-
ance when the Wolverines head to
the NCAA regional competition at
State College on April 3.
"I look back at this Big Ten meet
that we just had, and I see that we
hit every handstand on bars, we
stuck every dismount," Plocki said.
"We had a very limited number of
minor bobbles on balance beam.
One event we would like to
improve on between now and next
week is vault."
But you won't see the Wolverines
back in the gym right away. After
their struggles over the past month,
such a sweet victory needs to be

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$10 Rush Tickets on sale 9 am-5 pm
the day of the performance or the
Friday before a weekend event at
the UMS Ticket Office, located in the
Michigan League.

50% Rush Tickets on sale for 50%
off the publiched ticket price
beginning 90 minutes before the
event at the performance hall
Ticket Office.

The Tallis Scholars
Thu 3/25 8 pm
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
Heralded by the Boston Globe as "one of the great live musical
experiences of our time," the Tallis Scholars have developed an
almost cult-like following in their 30-year career. Easily distinguish-
able by their clarity of sound, the ensemble has become the leading
interpreter of Renaissance sacred music.

Jazz at Lincoln Center's
Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
Sat 3/27 8 pm