The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - March 11,1991 - Page 5
Andy Gottesman
Gotta Love It
Now Is the Time for
AD ' '
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wild student support
There's a picture in the Athletic Administration Building - kind of
hidden above the stairwell that leads to the basement where Sports In-
formation is located - that depicts Michigan's 1984 post-season Na-
tional Invitation Tournament champion men's basketball team.
The photograph is probably placed in such a non-visible position
because the NIT, in the minds of Michigan fans, doesn't compare to
the 1989 NCAA Tournament. Incidentally, pictures from that heroic
tournament grace walls from the offices of James Duderstadt to Steve
Fisher.
That NIT picture used to seem pretty distant; after all, this is
Michigan and its teams are supposed to go to the best post-season
events (although fans should have learned their lesson after spending
Christmas in Gainesville instead of Pasadena).
But now it seems the NIT isn't so bad. As a matter of fact, this
tournament has a lot of positive aspects.
First of all, the Wolverines could actually win this thing. Although
their 14-14 overall record doesn't compare to most of the teams in the
draw, most of the teams in the draw simply don't compare to Michi-
gan. Let's face it, NIT-bound second- and third-place teams from con-
ferences like the MAC, Big Sky and WAC don't have any advantage
over the eighth- and ninth-place teams from the Big Ten.
Losing by 97 points to UNLV in the first round of the NCAAs will
not be nearly as satisfying as beating somebody like 17-game-winner
Providence in Madison Square Garden.
That is, if Michigan fans are really as crazy as they say they are.
For years, people have cried about how Crisler Arena is so quiet
because the Athletic Department sticks spirited students in the rafters
while they put at courtside alumni who have seemingly taken a vow
of silence.
But with the privilege of better seating also comes a responsibility
to support the team through good times and bad. Students may get a
chance to show they deserve those courtside seats later this week,
when the Athletic Department has promised they can buy any tickets
for NIT games held at Crisler on a first-come, first-served basis.
Even if Michigan does not host a tournament game, the fans should
be sure to show their support. Whether you're a die-hard or a just a
big-game fan, television ratings should go through the roof in Ann Ar-
bor Thursday night when Michigan takes on Colorado in Boulder.
And if students are fortunate enough to be able to purchase tickets
for a future NIT game at Crisler, they must make the most of the
opportunity.
In 1985 and 1986, the years immediately after Michigan's NIT
championship, the Wolverines won the Big Ten. Perhaps their brief
demotion this season will result in championship photographs of the
four-letter variety in the coming seasons. And that is a better possibil-
ity - since fan support can be crucial to success - if students decide
the NIT is a big enough event to warrant their attention this year.
Big Ten Through Mar. 10, 1991
Final Men's Basketball Standings
Iowa tops Buckeyes,
denies OSU sole title
At Iowa City, Iowa, Rodell
Davis scored 19 points and Kevin
Smith, a 37 percent free throw
shooter, hit three foul shots down
the stretch as Iowa (20-10) denied
Ohio State an outright Big Ten ti-
tle, 80-69.
Ohio State (25-3) fell to 15-3 in
the league, the same as Indiana,
but Ohio State beat Indiana twice
this season for the league's auto-
matic NCAA berth.
No. 3 Indiana 70, Illinois 58
At Champaign, Ill., Eric Ander-
son scored 20 points for the
Hoosiers. The Hoosiers (27-4)
raced to a 16-2 lead, then held on
as Illinois (21-10) tried to come
back several times. Illinois was led
by Andy Kaufmann with 21 points.
Purdue 77 Northwestern 48
Northwestern (5-23, 0-18)
became the first Big Ten team to
lose all its conference games in a
season when Purdue (17-11, 9-9)
handed the Wildcats their 19th
straight loss.
Northwestern has lost 22
straight in the Big Ten dating to
last season and 46 consecutive
Davis
road games. The overall losing
streak is the longest in Wildcat
history.
Minnesota 80 Wisconsin 70
Rob Metcalf sparked a 27-7
second-half run with two three-
point shots and a three-point play
as Minnesota (12-16, 5-13), ended
its season with a victory over
Wisconsin (14-14, 8-10).
KE.NNETH II MOLLER/DUl
Michigan State's Dwayne Stephens blocks an Eric Riley shot in the
second half. Stephens helped lead a stifling Spartan defense in MSU's
66-59 victory.
Conference tournaments conclude
a
AssociatedPress
BIG EIGHT
Missouri won the Big Eight
tournament Sunday but not the
conference's automatic bid to the
NCAA tournament.
The Tigers, who are on NCAA!
probation, got 31 points from Doug
Smith and beat No. 13 Nebraska
90-82. In Saturday's semifinals, the
Tigers (20-10) beat another NCAA+
tournament team, No. 14 Okla-
homa State.
Nebraska (26-7) was making its
first appearance in the Big Eight's
championship game. Every other
conference team has appeared at
least once.
BIG EAST
No. 21 Seton Hall 74, George-
town 62
At New York, Seton Hall won
its first Big East championship and
ended the Hoyas' longshot run at
the title. The Pirates, who won
their first two games in the tour-
nament on buzzer-beaters by
Oliver Taylor, took control early in
the second half at Madison Square
Garden and led by as many as 11.
The Hoyas (18-12) took their
only lead of the game at 32-31 on
Alonzo Mourning's jumper 53 sec-
onds into the second half. Seton
Hall (22-8) was the fourth seed in
the Big East, the lowest-ranked
team ever to win the tournament.
ATLANTIC COAST '
No. 7 North Carolina 96, No. 6
Duke 74
At Charlotte, N.C., Rick Fox
guided North Carolina to its 12th
ACC championship, scoring 25
points in the most lopsided confer-
ence tournament final since the
Tar Heels beat North Carolina
State 87-50 in 1968.
The Blue Devils (26-7) were
assessed two technicals, one on
coach Mike Krzyzewski and an-
other on Christian Laettner.
North Carolina (25-5) was look-
ing for payback after taking an 83-
77 beating from Duke in its regu-
lar-season finale at Chapel Hill.
BIG WEST
No. 1 UNLV 98, Fresno St. 74
At Long Beach, Calif.,' top-
ranked UNLV heads into the de-
fense of its NCAA title with its
winning streak at 41 after beating
Fresno State 98-74 in the Big
West title game.
Anderson Hunt scored 23 points
and Larry Johnson had 22 for
UNLV (30-0), which will try to
become the first team to repeat as
national ,champion since UCLA
ended its run of seven straight ti-
tles in 1973.
MID-AMERICAN
E. Michigan 67, Toledo 66
At Detroit, Marcus Kennedy
scored 21 points, including the
game-clinching free throw with 6
seconds left, as Eastern Michigan
held off Toledo and won the Mid-
American Conference tournament.
Eastern (24-6) led by 4 points
at halftime and by as many as 8
before Toledo (17-7) came back.
Toledo cut the deficit to 51-50
with 8:09 to play and trailed 64-63
on a 3-pointer by Keith Wade.
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Conference Games
All Games
TEAM
Ohio State
Indiana
Illinois
Michigan State
Iowa
Purdue
Wisconsin
Michigan
Minnesota
Northwestern
W L PCT.
15 3 .833
15 3 .833
11 7 .611
11 7 .611
9 9 .500
9 9 .500
8 10 .444
7 11 .389
5 13 .278
0 18 .000
W L
25 3
27 4
21 9
18 10
20 10
17 11
14 14
14 14
12 16
5 23
PCT.
.893
.871
.700
.643
.667
.607
.500
.500
.429
.179
.: . " ":{o,}:""::";"" ".".*'r"."ti":."":".*}.*.:"':"Y.*. . . . . . .::".. ."."'r..v.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . : i:.;
MICHIGAN (59)
Player TFG FT R A PF TP
Hunter 1-1 2-2 3 0 4 4
Voskuil 3-6 0-0 5 0 5 6
Riley 3-7 5-6 5 1 4 11
Calip 7-18 6-6 3 4 2 21
Talley 4-11 3-6 1 3 2 11
Taylor 2-7 1-2 5 2 1 6
Mitchell 0-4 0-1 1 0 2 0
Pelinka 0-2 0-0 1 0 0 0
Mclver 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0
Totals 20-56 17-23 28 10 20 59
3-pt. goals: 2-12 (Calip 1-4. Taylor
11-22. Voskuil 0-2. Talley 0-3. Pelinka
0-1). FG%- .357 3-pt. FG%- .167 FT%-
.739 Blocks: 0 Turnovers: 10 (Calip 4.
Voskuil 2. Riley 1, Hunter 1, MccIver
1.. Taylor 1). Steals: 3 ( Voskuil 1,
Calip 1, Taylor 1.)
MICHIGAN STATE (66)
Player TFG FT R A PF TP
Stephens 2-3 2-2 2 1 1 6
Steginga 2-3 0-0 7 1 5 4
Peplowski 3-4 1-4 7 1 5 7
Smith 10-21 2-2 10 ' 5 3 24
Montgmry 6-6 4-5 3 4 2 17
Zulaf 0-1 0-0 3 0 1 0
Hickman 3-7 2-5 5 0 2 8
Penick 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0
Weshinsky 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0
Total 26-48 11-18 37 12 20 66
3-pt. goals: 3-6 (Smith 2-5,
Montgomery 1-1). FG%- .542, 3-pt.
FG%- .500. FT%- .611. Blocks: 0.
Turnovers: 21 (Hickman 5, Steginga 5,
Stepphens 4, Smith 3, Peplowski 2,
Montgomery 2. Steals: 1
(Montgomery).
SPARTANS
Continued from page 1
draws players away from the
outside shooters. We didn't do that
this time."
Michigan led for much of the
first half, until Parish Hickman's
free throw gave Michigan State a
17-16 lead at 4:48. The Spartans
led at halftime, 25-21, and owned
its biggest lead, 43-31, at 13:10 of
the second half.
But the Wolverines regrouped
and tied the score, 48-48, when
Smith
U
center Eric Riley hit a free throw
with 8:06 remaining in the game'.
However, Michigan never re-
gained the lead. After a Mike Pep-
lowski layup, Smith sank a running
three-pointer to give Michigan
State a 53-48 lead.
The Wolverines threatened one
final comeback at 1:51, when
guard Michael Talley drove the
right wing. Spartan forward Matt
Steigenga blocked Talley's laynp
ball against the glass, drawings a
goaltending call and his fifth foul.
The MichiganEnsian Yearbook
is currently accepting applications
for the position of
Editor-in-Chief
for the 1992 MichiganEnsian.
Anyone interested is encouraged to apply.
Applications may be picked up at our office,-
located in the Student Publications Building,
420 Maynard St.
Applications must be returned to the office
by Friday, March 15, 1991.
K\NNEITHSMULLER/lLiy
Michael Talley shoots in the second half of Michigan State's victory.
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