Wolverines refuse to roll over for Indiana

Not after Thursday's loss to Michigan State, when the Wolverines decided that NCAA basketball games should be limited to 35 minutes and didn't bother trying in the last five.

Not as the the season from hell is winding down and the Wolverines are getting their beer arms and remote control fingers ready for the excitement of March Madness.

No, you couldn't have expected Michigan to do much of anything against No. 19 Indiana. And that's what made yesterday's 73-71 loss great.

Forget the fact that Louis Bullock's last-second shot bounced off the side of the rim, costing Michigan a chance to take the game to overtime, and maybe even win it. Forget the fact that Michigan lost this game at all. Yesterday afternoon, in front

JOSH KLEINBAUM Apocalypse Now

of a national television audience, the Wolverines shined brighter than they have all season.

"I'm very proud of my basketball team, to have enough character to compete the way they did," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said after the game.

And he should be.

The Wolverines fought a tough Indiana team, tough officiating, a tough home crowd - and nearly pulled off the upset.

When three players were sitting on the bench with five fouls, two of them starters, the Wolverines didn't flinch.

Luke Recker goes to the the line for the umpteenth time of the game and sinks two free throws.

Michigan's response? Bullock hits a 3-pointer from the right baseline.

Recker gets to the line and sinks some more freebies, this time three of 'em. So Bullock takes the ball to the right of the basket, draws four defenders, and dishes to a wide-open Robbie Reid for three. Swish.

Every time Recker got the line - that's 21 points in the second half, if you're keeping score at home - Michigan countered.

And the contributions came from everywhere.

Bullock scored an unassuming 22 points, center Pete Vignier added 13 and Reid had 10. The bench came up big, too, throwing in 10 points of its own.

Most importantly, the Wolverines showed some fight in them. When the Hoosiers went up 12 early in the second half, and the 17,147 fans in Assembly Hall were waiting for the Hoosiers to turn the game into a rout, Michigan gave its three fans sitting in Section three, Maize Rage T-Shirts and all, something to cheer about.

The Wolverines rallied. They clawed, chewed, bit and scrapped their way back into the game.

Brandon Smith scored five points in a two-minute span. Bullock hits a couple shots, Vignier hit two free throws, and presto!

Michigan was within three.

"We didn't want to go out there and give up," Michigan forward Josh Asselin said. "We've got pride."

And if they didn't have pride in Thursday's loss to the Spartans, Ellerbe made sure to instill it in them in practice since.

Practices were tougher, more intense. They focused on defense. They ran more, determined not to get tired at the end of a game, as it appeared they were against Michigan State.

"He was tough, but we deserved it," Bullock said. "He believes in us, but said we had to step up and play."

And it paid off.

The Wolverines held the Hoosiers to just one field goal in the last 14 minutes - an A.J. Guyton 3-pointer over Ron Oliver's tight defense with 2:17 to play, which would be the game-winner. Indiana's field goal percentage plummetted from 52 in the first half to 30 in the second. And if the officials didn't confuse Recker with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Wolverines likely would have pulled out their first road victory of the season.

But at the same time, you can't overlook the fact that they didn't pull it out. With the Big Ten Tournament looming just a week and a half away, the Wolverines have yet to beat a conference team away from Crisler Arena. But for the first time this season, they've shown signs that they could do it.

"Get us on a neutral court, and it's a different game," Bullock said. "I'm confident was can beat any Big Ten team."

- Josh Kleinbaum can be reached via e-mail at jkbaum@umich.edu

02-22-99