TUE -N11I1T N- DAILY M' Cagrers Stake Claim To Title With Three Big Wirn Upsets of Illini, Badgers Brighten Michigani Hopes M , By BOB LENT While U. of M. students sweated and tussled with their final exams, Michigan's basketball team tookand passed-its test for the position of top contender in the Big Nine title race. Since The DLily last went to press, the Wolverines not only won three out of four ball games, but knocked off two of its chief challengers (Wisconsin, Illinois) to move into the driver's seat of the Western Conference hard - count chase. Michigan plays five of its re- maining six gamnes with second division outfits and four ofz these (including its all imipor- tanit get-together with Iowa) are at home. Wisconsin. the current pacesetter, on the other hand has three of its remaining four games on foreign courts, while second place Iowa has the toughl Job of tilts with Wiscon- sin, and Michigan to hurdle. Just what this means can be gleaned from the fact that 34 of the 40 victories in the Big Nine this year have come on home courts. ' Strangely enough, it has been its ability to break through this road jinx in important gamnes, which has rocketed the Wolver- BIG NINE BASKETBALL Team WV L Pct. Pts. Op. Wisconsin. ...6 2 .750 421 208 Iowa ........6 2 .750 444 422 MICHIGAN .4 2 .667 319 295 Purdue..... ,.4 3 .571 358 355 Illinois.,.....4 4 .500 432 433 Minnesota ..3 4 ,,,428 384 382 -:Iaiana.......4 .333 336 3,20 Ohio State . .2 6 .250 451 491 Northwestern 2 6 .250 399 439 Last Night's Results Iowa 70, Illinois 61. Purdue 53, Minnesota 51. Northwestern 47, Ohio State 45. Wisconsin 51, Mich. State 39. ine into a spot for its firat bas- ketball title since 1927. Th ey (lid it against Wisconsin January 17 when they surprised everyone but themselves by halt- ing the Badger express which had threatened to make a run-away of the conference race with five straight wins. The Wolverines limped in to town after a humiliating defeat 51 -48 by lowly Northwestern and spilled the high flying Cardinal club 43-38. Bob Har- rison andIDoi). McIntosh were the boys who paced the scoring attack with 16 and 12 points respectively. h 11 DON McINTO811. whose Pro- lific ;scoring has kept Michiga n in the Big Nine race, has aver- aged over 12 points it game. La~st Monday, 0Ohio State ulln-1 cerecninioUSl ly dinp~ed the Mair'eI andi Blue when Bob Doudiarn ran' wild with :19 points to lance the Buckeyes to a 70-66 upset w in atf Columbus. Then when everyone was count- ing them out of the race, theyl rebounded last Saturday to walkI aill over' Powerful Illinois, 66-57. D~ike Edldlemn got 26 points for the fighting Illini, but it wasn't i olnough to offset the McIntosh- Harrison s oi'ifltr ) mcii t f17 sly 15.%I Sextet. Wins Six, Draws Close to Tourney Berth L I_ TIhings broke loose on the New YRork Stock Exchange last week but so did Michigan's hockey team as it swept aside all opposition inI a mid-season surge towards na- tional recognition that netted six gamnes won against no losses. Three higly - touted' sextets bowed to the Wolverines in pairs of games, two sets on enemy ice. Minnesota, Michigan Tech, and Yale were set down ibncorder in the three-week period that saw Michi- gan ride to the crest of a seven- game winning streak. Michigan In Lead Especially significant were the two triumphs each over the Tech- men and the Gophers, which sent the Wolverines into a comfortable lead in the race for mid-western representation in the NCAA hoc- key championship tournament to be held next month in Colorado Springs, Coo. Minnesota continues in the run- ning for the coveted slot by vir'- tue of its two wins over Michigan Tech and the final outcome could very well be decided this weekend when the Maize play host to the Northinen. in a brace of gamnes. McMillan Sets Record Hero of the current' winning streak that has carried, the Wol- verines to a 10-1-1 nid-season mark is Gordie McMillan who has turned the hat. trick in each of the three series played for a sea- son's total of four, Thp red-hair- ed scoring ace picked up 13 goals and eight assists to set a new Michigan point record. Coach Vie Hleyliger was the possessor of the old record with 116 points in three years of play. McMillan now has 130 points with hialf the 1948 sea- son remaining before him,. Coach Vic Heyliger and his pow - erhouse opened the latest spree against Minnesota, trouncing their only Big Nine opponents, 3-2 and 5-1 on Successive nights in Min- neapolis. McMillan scored two goals in the opener and roared back with three more in the second game. Michigan Tech was the next to feel the brunt of Michigan's high- ly -geared scoring attack as it fell 9-8 and 4-0, Goalie Jack McDon- ald registering his first shutout of the current campaign. McMil- lan scored four times in the first con test. Wiffenpoofs Whiffed Yale University, which had been previously' victorious in all of the four gamnes with the Wolverines in past years. proved to be the easiest of the three teams faced as it dropped two uninterestintg matches, 6-1 and 7-3. McMillan picked uip his fourth hiat trick of the season i the second game. Al Renfrew became the second member of this year's sextet to pass the century mark in points scored. In his two and one half years of play the fast-skating wingman has garnered 105 points, thirteen of them coming in the last sLx games on six goals and seven assists. Michigan's chancyes b iav e been aided greatly by the return of Wally Grant anid 0Cml Cossalter, form-er 'Wolverine stars. Neil Cel- icy, who has just finished playing in the winter Olympic games at St. Moritz, Switzerland, is expect- ed to return in time for this week- end's important contests with Minnesota. "KEEP A-HEAD OF YOUR HAIR$" We specialize in: CREW CUTS FLAT TOPS PERSONALITY HAIR STYLING They 'ie SUAVE... ,SMART INDIVIDUALISTIC "At Your Service-"' 9i Barbers . . . No waiting The DASCOLA BARBERS Liaberty ouff State FOR Yo, 11 and SUPPLIES I Win her heart forever with a tempting boxt of taste=satisfying chocolates from our candy department. Our entire selection of candy is kept fresh and delicious in a temperature-right refrigerated case. As on cadded service we will wrap and mail your sweets for you.. So corn in today and choose ; "The world's most fain- ous box of candy" Whitman's Sampler 2.00 .. 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