Whistle disparity fouls up 'M'

BLOOMINGTON - The whistles of Big Ten officials are probably beginning to sound like a broken record to Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe. In Assembly Hall yesterday, they sounded virtually every time Michigan was on defense.

The result? A mammoth 41 trips to the line for Indiana, of which the Hoosiers converted 32. With nearly half of their points coming from the line, the Hoosiers were able to rely solely on free throws to hold off Michigan's late comeback. Indiana scored just one field goal in the final 14 minutes of the game, a drought usually indicative of a team on the bad side of a blowout.

But during that stretch, Indiana made 20 of 25 free throws, and never trailed Michigan despite not hitting a basket from the floor.

Indiana wasn't in a shooting slump. Michigan was just being whistled for fouls before the Hoosiers could get a shot off.

Luke Recker led the free-throw shooting contest for Indiana, taking 25 - 10 more than the entire Michigan team. And this free-throw practice proved simple for Recker, who nailed 22 of his attempts from the charity stripe. During one stretch in the second half, Recker scored 12 of 13 Indiana points from the stripe.

"We knew some of their guys were in foul trouble, and I just tried to penetrate and pick up fouls on them," Recker said. "We got them in foul trouble and got easy shots from the line."

Ellerbe wouldn't have been bothered by the Hoosiers' trips to the line if his team made a comparable number of visits. But the numbers weren't even close.

By the eleven-minute mark of the second half, Indiana was already in the bonus. Michigan, on the other hand, didn't enter the bonus until three minutes remained in the game.

And this isn't the first time his team has been on the short end of a gross discrepancy in fouls.

Almost exactly a month ago, against Minnesota, Michigan was called for 24 fouls - compared to 17 for Minnesota. The Gophers made 35 of 39 free throws, with Quincy Lewis going a Recker-like 15 of 16 from the line.

Michigan made 10-of-14 attempts in that game. Coincidentally, that game was on the road, too.

Ellerbe, handcuffed by stringent league rules that prohibit criticizing officiating, was reserved after the game

"How many field goals did Recker have?" Ellerbe asked. When told that the sophomore had scored just two points of his 24 points from the field, the coach simply looked away.

As for the Hoosiers going to the line almost three times as often as Michigan?

"That's got to be some kind of record," was all Ellerbe could say.

Even though Ellerbe couldn't say anything about the foul situation, he didn't have to. The numbers said enough.

Indiana's Luke Recker was the beneficiary of many whistles yesterday,

getting to the line for 25 free throws in a 73-71 victory over Michigan.

AP PHOTO

02-22-99