The Colleges : Occidental Plans to Ride the Wagon to Victory

Tonight, the cups of the Occidental men’s basketball team will runneth over--with Gatorade. Elbows, not confetti, will be thrown.

The Tigers (5-1 as of Thursday) will play host to Glassboro State of Glassboro, N.J.

Occidental center Chris Anderson hopes that the Glassboro players plan to party.

“We think of it as an advantage,” he said. “Here they are in Los Angeles, it’s New Year’s Eve and they won’t be thinking of the game.”

Anderson added that many of his teammates are committed to a dry season and don’t mind forgoing the festivities.

“Most of the guys weren’t going to do anything anyway,” he said. “If you’re drinking and you’ve got a game or practice the next day and it affects your play in any way, you are going to sit--you’re screwing up.”

Still earning stripes: Occidental Coach Brian Newhall says that the team has not come close to hitting its stride.

Good thing. The Tigers had a combined 50 turnovers in the past 2 games.

“We want to cut that down to 12 a game,” Newhall said. “We have to cut it in half to be good.”

Coming home: Ken Sollom could play a vital, though often overlooked, role for Michigan in the Rose Bowl against USC on Monday.

Sollom, the former All-Southern Section quarterback from Canyon High, is the holder on field-goal and extra-point attempts.

“It feels good to finally contribute to the team,” Sollom said.

A redshirt freshman, Sollom is the Wolverines’ No. 2 quarterback behind Demetrius Brown. He acknowledges that he will remain in a holding pattern next season.

“My first two years have been a learning process,” said Sollom, who has completed 2 of 3 passes for 13 yards this season. “Because Demetrius and Michael Taylor will be seniors next year, I’ll be watching again next year and learning more, and then I’ll be battling for the starting job.”

Hail, Yale: Former Crespi High soccer player Peter Zenobi, who plays sweeper at Yale, was named first-team All-Ivy League and All-New England. Zenobi, a junior from Westlake Village, also was voted team MVP after leading the Elis to a 7-5-3 record.

Times Staff writers Sam Farmer and Gary Klein contributed to this notebook.