XtUitUn Tomorrow in Daily Sports ..
Check out a wrap-up of the Michigan volleyball team's season. The
Wolverines (19-15) qualified for postseason play for the first time in 14
years, but losses to Butler and San Diego prevented Michigan from
Y° advancing.
Blue looks for Cajun treat
Wolverines venture down to Louisiana to face LSU ,
By Barry Sollenberger
Daily Sports Editor
'Steve Fisher had some good news
for Michigan fans after Saturday's
game-at Detroit.
When asked how his team was go-
ingft defend Louisiana State's star
guard' Randy Livingston tonight, the
Wolverine basketball coach displayed
his ense of humor.
And we all know how he can make
people forget about Eddie Murphy
when+e wants to.
"Wo're going to do a great job on
Rindy Livingston because he's not
going'to play," Fisher said.
While Fisher is relieved that the
spR ore guard won't give him cold
s gtonight, he is in no way happy
abni't-the fate that has befallen
Livingston - two major knee inju-
ries in -18 months.
The highly touted sophomore con-
tinues to suffer from a fractured knee-
cap sustained in a game Jan. 31. He
has yet to see action this year for the
Tigersnd won't play tonight against
No. 2Michigan (5-2).
*4 ,ontest is scheduled to start at
76 m. Eastern Standard Time and
ikl betelevised by ESPN at the Pete
14avich Assembly Center in Baton
ge, La. Tonight's matchup is the
first-ever meeting between the two
Livingston was one of the top re-
criits in the nation coming out of high
sbhool. and signed with the Tigers
before tearing his anterior cruciate
liganint July 4, 1993.
He missed the entire 1993-94 sea-
son, but returned to average 14.0
&I ints and 9.4 assists per game a year
ago as a redshirt freshman, before re-
Sthe knee in the Tigers' 17th
All I want is some gumbo.
- Maurice Taylor
Michigan forward
game.
When Livingston fractured his
kneecap, it devastated the Tigers' sea-
son.
LSU was 10-7 before the injury and
2-8 after it. Livingston was so im-
pressive, though, that he was the lead-
ing vote getter for the Southeastern
Conference Freshman team despite
playing in just 16 games. Without
Livingston in the lineup this season,
the Tigers are 2-2 with losses to Saint
Louis and Dayton.
Livingston's impact on the team is
clear.
But it doesn't entirely account for
why LSU hasn't been able to stop
anyone this year. Through four games,
the Tigers have given up an average
of 83.8 points per game, compared
with 75.0 for the Wolverines (seven
games).
Opponents have drilled LSU in the
second half for awhopping 205 points,
a 51.3 average.
But tonight's game is not likely to
be a walkover for Michigan. The days
of St. Francis/Ball State/Detroit are
gone.
And LSU is LSU.
Over the years, some of college
basketball's best have called Baton
Rouge home, including Shaquille
O'Neal and Chris Jackson (a.k.a.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf).
And while Tiger junior Ronnie
Henderson does not emulate O'Neal
or Abdul-Rauf, the SEC's leading
scorer a year ago is doing just fine.
The 6-4 junior guard's quickness
and 20.8 points per game could pose
problems for Michigan's Three Amigo
back court of Louis Bullock, Travis
Conlan and Dugan Fife.
Freshman Gene Nabors joins
Henderson at guard for LSU, and
coach Dale Brown starts a couple of
seniors (Roman Rubchenko and Misha
M utavdzic -two candidates for Dick
Vitale's All-Name team) and a fresh-
man (Rogers Washington) down low.
The three big men average a com-
bined 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds
per game.
By comparison, the Wolverines'
probable starting frontcourt of Maceo
Baston, Willie Mitchell and Maurice
Taylor contribute a combined 10.0
points and 5.2 boards per contest.
Michigan also will face a hostile
crowd at the PMAC (capacity 14,164)
or, as it is known in Baton Rouge, the
Deaf Dome.
Uh-oh. Bring those ear plugs.
"The LSU game is a TV game and
we wanted another one of those,"
Fisher said. "We were looking for-
ward to playing a good opponent and
I think we've got a chance to go to
LSU and win."
Taylor is wary of the Tigers' tal-
ents, but doesn't want to come back
home without experiencing a south-
ern specialty.
"All I want is some gumbo," he
said.
Page %
Tuesday
December 5, 199
A'
Maurice Taylor
will lead the
Wolverines in
their first-ever.
game against
LSU tonight.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Dajiy
'M' knocks Bowling Green out of top 10
By Danielle Rumore
Daily Sports Writer
Bowling Green was the No. 10
hockey team in the country before
Saturday's game
against Michigan.
The Falcons fell
to No. 4 Michigan
and then fell out of
the polls. The Wol-
verines, who were
coming off a two-
game losing streak,
trounced Bowling
Green, 8-1, at
BGSU Ice Arena.
lockey
Notebook:
not have lost at all. Bowling Green
was 6-1 at home thus far this season,
and has won 15 of its last 16 home
contests.
In addition, Bowling Green had
outshot its opponents by 167 shots
and had tallied 23 more goals than its
opponents prior to Saturday's con-
test.
"They've got great players. You've
got to give them credit," Bowling
Green coach Buddy Powers said. "We
made a couple of ridiculous plays and
they come at us real hard.
"They have the complete package.
When they're in the game, you've got
to have your A-game going to be in it
with them because ifyou don't you're
going to get crushed."
According to its statistics, Bowling
Green wasn't supposed to lose by
seven goals. In fact, it probably should
And that's exactly what happened
to Powers' squad.
Michigan reversed the tables on
Bowling Green, outshooting the Fal-
cons, 50-23. The Wolverines drilled a
total of eight goals past goalies Bob
Petrie and Mike Savard.
The Falcons were riding a 20-game
home unbeaten streak before they fell
to Western Michigan Nov. 18. Before
that, the Falcons last loss at home was
at the hands of Michigan, Nov. 12,
1994.
AN EMPTY HALL: Falcon seniorcen-
ter Mike Hall did not have a single
point in Saturday's contest.
This is extremely unusual for a
player who leads his team in points
(22), goals (12), power-play goals
(seven) and game-winning goals
(four).
Hall set a school-record consecu-
tive game goal-scoring streak of 11
goals Nov. 10 at Ferris State. He col-
lected 15 points, including 13 mark-
ers, that weekend.
He also notched a point in 16 of his
last 17 contests prior to the Michigan
game dating back to last season.
Last week, Bowling Green visited
Alaska Fairbanks in what proved to
be one of its most productive week-
ends. Hall, and his line of Mike
Johnson and Jason Clark, accounted
for 11 of Bowling Green's 17 goals
scored. The three also netted all eight
of the Falcons' goals in game one of
that series.
TiE wHITE-BEARDED MAN: Yost Ice
Arena will hold its annual "Skate with
Santa" Dec. 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:50
p.m.
Santa Claus will sport his skates
and take the ice with the other skaters.
Santa will also be available for pic-
tures.
Yost Ice Arena will play holiday
music and give candy canes to all of
the skaters. Admission is $3 for stu-
dents and youths, $4 for adults and
$3.50 for Michigan faculty and staff.
YES, MICHIGAN!: Hollywood, Ca-
lif., may be a hotbead for film stars.
New Orleans produces quite a few
good jazz musicians. But the state of
Michigan? How about good college
hockey programs?
A glance at the most recent WMEB
media poll reveals that four teams
from Michigan are ranked in the top
10. 4
The Wolverines hold steady at No.
4, while Western Michigan, Lake Su-
perior State and Michigan State fill
the No. 8 through 10 slots, respec-
tively.
The four Michigan teams also oc-
cupy the top four spots in the CCHA;
standings. Ferris State - another
Michigan school -trails only Bowl-
ing Green and Notre Dame in a race
for fifth place.
Michigan hockey statistics
Top 10 scorers
7W
WALKER VANDYKE/Daily
Michigan forward Brendan Morrison pulls away from the Bowling Green defense
during the Wolverines' 8-1 win over the Falcons Saturday. Morrison and the
Wolverines ended their two-game losing skid with the victory.
Biakabutuka named
Wolverines' MVP
Player
Kevin Hilton
Jason Botterill
Bill Muckalt
John Madden
Brendan Morrison
Warren Luhning
Greg Crozier
Mike Legg
Blake Sloan
Harold Schock
Goals
6
10
6
6
6
6
8
3
4
3
Assists
17
8
11
11
9
9
4
8
6
5
Points
23
18
17
17
15
15
12
11
10
8
Penalty Minutes
2
67
8
22
19
51
14
6
18
22
READ DAILY SPORTS
Frbm Staff Reports
Tailback Thsimanga Biakabutuka
was named team MVP at Michigan's
annual Football Bust at Laurel Manor
in: Livonia yesterday.
:Biakabutuka set a school record for
mpst rushing yards in a season with
1,724, eclipsing Jamie Morris' mark
of 1,703 set in 1987.
:His 313 yards on the ground against
Ohio State is the second-highest in
Michigan history and the sixth-best
by a Big Ten back in conference his-
tory.
:The 6-1, 205-pound junior moved
into eighth place on the Wolverines'
career rushing list. He needs only 599
more rushing yards to move into fourth
place all-time.
A preseason All-American,
Biakabutuka ran for over 200 yards
three times this season. He also topped
the 190-yard mark an additional two
times.
For the second time in three sea-
sons, offensive tackle Joe Marinaro
won the Hugh H. Rader Jr. Memorial
Award as Michigan's top offensive
lineman.
Juniorlinebacker Jarrett Irons, who
led the Wolverines in tackles for the
second time in his career, received
the Roger Zatkoff Award as
Michigan's top linebacker.
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