NIT trivia Q: Who was the first team Michigan ever faced in the post-season NIT tournament? luaweUwnol VVJN Oall UW04 Ue 4gzIA P $2eulwll s~adojpj qjutoseas Isel 'TL61 T qoeWj uo 6-09Astpnwua UasaM leq sau'ajeoM ~ . - , I Pagei10 Fr ay;, November 17, 1995 I Wildcats up next for cagers in NIT Nanooks of the - ~,-- /north come south By Barry Sollenberger Daily Sports Editor Weber State? It certainly isn't as well known as the Dukes and the North Carolinas of the college basketball world. But you can bet the Michigan Wol- verines know about the Wildcats, con- sidering what they did to intrastate rival Michigan State last season. Last spring, Weber State rudely ended the Spartans' season in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats (1-0) are looking for their second straight upset over a Michi- gan school tonight when they face the Wolverines (1-0) at Crisler Arena in second-round Preseason NIT action. ESPN2 will televise the game starting at 7:30 p.m. Both teams advanced to tonight's game with wins Wednesday night. Seventeenth- ranked Michiganbeat DePaul, 73-65, and Weer State spoiled coach Jerry Tarkanian's debut at Fresno State, 102- 86. Much of the talk of the preseason had Tarkanian, a.k.a. the Shark, leading his Bulldogs past the Wildcats and into Ann Arbor for a date with the Wolverines. But that turned out to be a bigger joke than Milli Vanilli as the Shark's boys - even at home - were no match for We- ber State. The Wildcats raced off to an early 23- 9 lead and cruised to the blowoutvictory. Jimnmy DeGraffenried torched Fresno State for 30 points and Justyn Tebbs and Alex Fisher added 21 and 20, respec- tively, for the Wildcats. Weber State's shooters present some problems for Michigan. DeGraffenried, a senior forward, bombed away against the Bulldogs and finished 13 of 17 from the field and three of four from long range. "He is big and strong, but his shooting touch from 20-27 feet is extraordinary," Abegglen said. As a team, the Wildcats, shot.581 from the field and .524 (11 of 21) from three- point land against Fresno State. That's not what the doctor ordered, as far as the Wolverines are concerned. Michigan was anything but a blanket on DePaul guard Jermaine Watts Wednes- day. He went for 30 against the Wolverines' trio of guards - Dugan Fife, Travis Conlan and Louis Bullock. While Weber State figures to bother Michigan from the outside, the Wolver- ines have a definite height advantage down low. Michigan pounded DePaul on thee boards Wednesday and could do the same to the Wildcats tonight. Abegglen starts just three players over 6-4, includingthe 6-6 DeGraffenried. Six- foot-nine Maceo Baston, 6-9 Maurice Taylor and 6-8 Robert Traylor should control the glass at the defensive end and give the Wolverines' some extra chances with offensive boards. Tonight's winner advances to the Pre- season NIT semifinals next Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York to meet the survivor of tonight's Arizona- Arkansas contest. IfMichigan getsbytheWildcats,itwill be looking for revenge against whomever it faces. The Wolverines lost to the No. 16 Razorbacks in the NCAA tournament two years ago and haven't come within 20 points of Arizona the last two times they've faced coach Lute Olson's squad. Michigan lost to Arizona, 119-95, in 1993 and, 78-57, last season. By John Leroi Daily Sports Writer You might say Dave Laurion keeps Alaska Airlines in business. While most travelers will never board a plane owned by Alaska's most famous air- line, Laurion's Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team does it almost every other week. This will bethe case whenthe Nanooks (2-3-0 CCHA, 2-4-1 overall) visit Ann Arbor for a weekend series beginning tonight at 7 p.m. at Yost Ice Arena. When Fairbanks is at home, opponents stay for a three-game set because of the long trip. And when the Nanooks hit the road - or the air - travel time is often longer than game time. "We leave late Wednesday night for away games," Laurion said. "We catch the red-eye flight so our players can get some sleep. There are usually two orthree layovers and that makes the trip longer." Because it's the weekend before Thanksgiving and people are flying the friendly skies more than usual, the Nanooks will have an even longer itiner- ary than usual. They will stop in Anchor- age, Seattle, Cincinnati and Detroit be- fore arriving in Ann Arbor. With 2,464 miles in one trip, seniors have enough frequent-flyer miles to send entire vil- lages to away games. "Every time we've travel, it's been a long trip," Laurion said. And he's not just talking about the mileage. Fairbanks was 3-11-1 last year on the road and hasn't earned a victory outside its 4,591-seat Carlson Center this season. The Nanooks are in their first year as an official member of the CCHA. In 1994- 95, Fairbanks was an affiliate member, playing all of the CCHA teams but not participating in the conference tourna- ment. Fairbanks' players must deal with miss- ing two days ofelass every two weeks and Laurion insists they bring their books on the plane. He also holds study tgbles whenever possible. Laurion said that after a while, the players get used to the long road trips., However, with all the expenses incurred with 5,000-mileround-trip tickets forplay- ers, coaches and support staff, the. Nanooks' Athletic Department budget is, stretched to its limit. "Most of our budget goes to travel ," Laurion said. "We'll spend $750 per per-. son just for an airline ticket each roadytrip. I don't know how our budget compares to Michigan's, but we lose a lot of ground., because of travel expenses. "Michigan is in a class by themselves - there are a lot of things that they have that we would like to have, but don't." One of these things is a strong recruit- ing base. Laurion goes after older players from Western Canada who have spent time playing junior hockey. Most of Alaska's hottest high school talent jumps right into junior hockey, giving Laurion little -to work with. However, Laurion, who skated for Notre Dame in his college days, prides himself on picking up some excellent players. Center Cody Brotwell was the Nanooks leading scorer last season. This season, thejunior, thejunior from Wainwright, Alberta has scored a goal in six of seven games this year and ranks second on the CCHA scoring list with 11 points. Michigan (5-1-0, 7-1-0) will have to play without two of its top guns tonight. Left wing Jason Botterill and right wing Warren Luhning won't be in action be- cause of game disqualifications they re- ceived last Saturday at Miami (Ohio). SARA STILLMAN/Daily The Michigan basketball team will play Weber State tonight at 7:30 at Crisier Arena in the second round of the Preseason NIT Tournament. The Match s: In ba weather, Nittany Lions' big plays will be the difference By Scott Burton team makes the biggest plays-a famil- will against a conference chock full of Soundslikeanobscuretalentbutitcannot Penn State rushingoffensevs.Michi- Penn Statepassingoffens evs.Michi- Daily Sports Writer The general differences between the Outback bowl and the Alamo Bowl really aren't that significant. Neither bowl re- wards standout excellence, neither bowl determines the national champion and neither bowl is likely to capture the foot- ball worlds' collective imagination. But for Michigan and Penn State, the technical difference between the two bowls is significant. The Outback Bowl is for the Big Ten's third-place team, which likely will be the winner ofthis weekend's contest. The Alamo Bowl is for the Big Ten's fourth-place team, an option for this weekend's loser. To repeat, one bowl is for the winner, the other bowl is for the loser. Now that's something to get riled up about. And likely this high level of intensity will marginalize any talent advantage one team might enjoy Saturday. Instead, the winner could be determined by which iar summary of the last two matchups between these teams. Michigan rushing offense vs. Penn State rushing defense: When it comes time for Michigan to produce first downs, forget all those for- ward passing shenanigans. Nope, the Wol- verines' offense is all about rushing the ball 'til your opponents cry uncle'. A big part of whether Penn State sub- mitstothiscruel treatment revolves around Tshimanga Biakabutuka's status. Michi- gan coach Lloyd Carr said the hobbled star is available this weekend, but did not indicate whether he would start. And here is where the problem lies - none of Biakabutuka's replacements pos- sess his consistent ability to bust routine three-yard runs into first-down jaunts. And such breakout ability is paramount for the Wolverines' to move the ball, given Michigan's struggles in the air,. The Nittany Lions have tested their tailback goodness and sport the Big Ten's third-bestrushingdefense. Yet, Penn State has only slowed rather than contained the Big Ten's best, allowing Wildcat Darnell Autry 139 yards and Buckeye Eddie George 105 yards. Should Biakabutukabe healthy enough to carry the ball 20 or so times, give the advantage to Michigan. Otherwise, chalk up a category for Penn State. Advantage: even Michigan passing offense vs. Penn State passing defense: If anything worthwhile came out of Michigan's unusual 5-0 victory over Purdue last weekend, is was that quarter- back Brian Griese learned how to move the ball under the iciest of conditions. be underestimated when you consider that the weather conditions in Penn State this weekend are even more extreme. And what exactly did Griese learn? Make safe, smart plays and think in terms of first downs not touchdowns. Griese needs to excel at that game plan tomor- row. Penn State's passing defense probably won't play a prominent role tomorrow, other than containing Michigan's receiv- ers. If Griese wants a five-yard gain, give it to him. Just don't allow substantive downfield plays. Under a similar guise, the Nittany Lions allowed only 96 pass- ing yards against the run-oriented North- western attack Nov. 4. Advantage: even gan rushing defense: As publicized as Ki-Jana Carter's de- parture was, one thing hasn't changed in Happy Valley - a monstrous collection of offensive lineman. Their unquestion- able ability is why Mike Archie, Curtis Enis and Stephen Pitts have been able to take over the running game without an embarrassing drop in production. Nonetheless, it would have been an interesting curiosity to see whethereven the likes of Carter could move the ball against Michigan's rushing defense. Probably not particularly well, which isn't a vote of confidence for Penn State's second-tier running backs to- morrow. Advantage: Michigan gan passing defense: Michigan's scorecard against scram- bling quarterbacks in the mold of Penn State's Wally Richardson is mixed. The Wolverines abused the marginally tal- ented Johnny Johnson of Illinois, but were constantly one step behind the ex- ceptionally gifted Tony Banks of Michi- gan State. Richardson's effectiveness necessar- ily will be a reflection of the weathr conditions tomorrow. Banks ofsnow tend to inhibitthe progress offleet-footedtypes, meaning that the pressure could be on Richardson to deliver in the pocket. But in the absence of natural obstacles, Richardson has the ability to terrorize Michigan's defense. Advantage: Penn State Special teams: When the weather gets rough andfoot- ball games are decided by field position, special teams can play a fundamental role in the outcome of a contest. Thus, the pressure is on for the punters and the punt returners alike to make things happen for their respective teams tomorrow. To that end, give the advantage here to Penn State. Michigan has an inability to punt the ball with any sort of depth or hang time and establish good field posi- tion via punt returns. 5 Advantage: Penn State " Lecture Notes " Course Packets " Resume Services Copy & Bindery * Fax Services MOOKSTORE Grade A Note Takers are Seniors and Grad Students. They attend class and take accurate and complete lecture notes. These notes can make great supplemental study guides. Anthro 110 Astron 103 Bio Sci 101 Bio Sci 112 Bio Sci 241 Bio Sci 312 Chem 251 Crim Just 101 Econ 321 Geog 140 History 101 Mngmt 475 Nutr 151 Poli Sci 100 Fin/Econ 365 YELLOW CAB, 2050 Commerse U Ann Arbxr, M48103 663-3355 M Largest and newest fleet 0 4 can share the fare Service to metro airport * Night Ride service * 663-3888 24 Hour Taxi Service OUT OF BUSINESS SALE! Action SportsWear EVERYTHING MUST GO! 663-6771 419 E.Liberty 2 Blocks off of State Stop by and check them out! Grade A Notes at Ulrich's Bookstore Second Floor " 549 E. 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