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. I 1 ' I U I