IOWA CITY - Michigan knew it had its hands full with Iowa's Dean Oliver, Jacob Jaacks and Rob Griffin of Iowa.
The Wolverines shut down the slasher Oliver - check. They blanked big man Jaacks in the first half - check. But Griffin, who
scored 29 points against Minnesota and only six the next game at Penn State, re-discovered his shooting touch, leading Iowa to
an 83-78 victory over Michigan Saturday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Griffin netted 20 points, and shot 4-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc to break the Hawkeyes' four-game losing streak. Unusual
suspects Duez Henderson and Ryan Luerhsmann added 14 points to offset Michigan's shutdown of Oliver and Jaacks.
COLUMBUS - A chippy Ohio State squad and an NCAA-record crowd of 17,343 fans proved to be an aggravating
combination for the Michigan hockey team on Friday here in Value City Arena.
The Wolverines' 6-4 victory over the Buckeyes was overshadowed by poor sportsmanship and an obnoxiously rowdy crowd.
The Wolverines did not disappoint the 778 fans who braved the frigid Ann Arbor night to witness the defending national champions dominate the first three events and post seven personal bests.
Cliff Keen Arena reached higher levels of tension and anticipation yesterday with each passing match in the dual wrestling meet between No. 9 Michigan and No. 11 Michigan State.
Michigan women's basketball coach Sue Guevara compared yesterday's 82-78 victory over Iowa at Crisler Arena to the film, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."
The Michigan men's tennis team got off to a shaky start against Western Michigan, but dropped only one match in its first dual
meet of the season,
The single blemish in the meet came when senior John Long fell to Fernando Garcia in No. 2 singles. A distraught Long could
not find a rhythm during the match.
The Michigan women's track and field team entered Saturday's Red Simmons Invitational with a sense of purpose. One week
earlier, the team suffered a disappointing defeat to Indiana. A trip to Michigan State was only a week away.
The team responded with an improved performance, and now looks prepared to take on the Spartans.
"Last week we didn't compete as well as we could have," Michigan coach James Henry said. "We were a little timid, a little
tense."
The Michigan men's track and field team tuned up for the Big Ten Championship meet with an impressive showing this past Saturday at the Red Simmons Invitational.
After an upset victory over Stanford last week, nothing seems very difficult for the Michigan men's swimming team.
A trip to No. 23 Purdue, even with four Wolverines unable to swim due to illness, certainly was not a challenge. Michigan (2-0
Big Ten, 5-2 overall) defeated the Boilermakers (2-2, 4-2), 138-103, for the 48th time last Saturday.
Canham Natatorium turned into a wok on Saturday as the Michigan women's swimming and diving teams fried Rice 153-119.
It was senior day for the Wolverines, and despite another week of intensive practices and training for the upcoming Big Ten
Championships, the Wolverines still had enough steam left to cook their opponents, winning all of the first 10 events.
COLUMBUS - Ohio State, like virtually every other team the Wolverines have played this season, made it a point on Friday night to key on and abuse Michigan standout center Mike Comrie.
COLUMBUS - They stood virtually alone near the Ohio State net, their arms bulging with the bundle they'd collected.
As officials sorted out the details of Friday's third period fight, the captains sorted out the treasure trove of equipment that
littered the ice.
COLUMBUS - When it was all said and done, exhaustion was all that lingered.
As they strolled out of the visiting lockerroom at Ohio State, all the Michigan hockey players wanted was to go home. The
Wolverines had just come out on top, 6-4, over the Buckeyes in the longest, possibly most brutal contest they had played all
year.
IOWA CITY - If the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd was eager to catch a glimpse of Jamal Crawford, this highly-touted
freshman, then all 15,500 of them must have been sorely disappointed - because they sure didn't see much of him.
Crawford was limited to 24 minutes, including just over four minutes of play in the first half. When he did play, he was tentative
and inconsistent, missing the intangible do-anything part of his game - all because of early whistles.
NEW YORK - Even Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien thought St. John's had this one locked up.
With his 13th-ranked Buckeyes trailing No. 19 St. John's by 10 points with 2:48 to play, O'Brien was thinking just what the
rest of the crowd of 15,164 at Madison Square Garden was.
"Privately, I didn't think we could do it," he said. "I thought it was one of those games where we just couldn't get anything
done."
IOWA CITY - Ask anyone the difference in Saturday's Michigan-Iowa game, and the response will undoubtedly be the
bounce-back second-half efforts of Jacob Jaacks and Dean Oliver, or the defensive intensity of Iowa, which held the
Wolverines to just 33 points after halftime.
It may not have been the most exciting win of the year, but the Michigan wrestling team did enough to capture a 24-15 victory over an outmatched Northwestern team Friday.
In the beginning, it was difficult to tell exactly which side had the crowd's favor in yesterday's wrestling match between Michigan and Michigan State at Cliff Keen Arena.
Michigan coach Sue Guevara said yesterday that sophomore forward Ruth Kipping is "done here at Michigan," as she has been indefinitely suspended from the Michigan women's basketball team.
