New-life Hoosiers to test sluggish Blue at Crisler

By Dan Williams

Daily Sports Writer

While Michigan enters tonight's Big Ten home opener against Indiana with four wins in its last five games, there is a pervasive sense that the team has not recovered from its early season doldrums.

Most recently, Michigan (0-1 Big Ten, 6-6 overall) fell to Purdue 80-60 in its conference opener. The Wolverines are 0-5 against major conference opponents, having lost all five games by double figures.

Having last weekend off gave Michigan a chance to reassert itself towards damning the flood.

The Indiana game "is definitely a must win," Michigan sophomore and Indiana native Gavin Groninger said. "Hopefully with our backs against the wall, that will wake us up a little bit because we do need this win."

Until last Sunday, Indiana was in a comparable condition. The Hoosiers (1-1, 10-6) suffered a number of sobering defeats, including losses to unranked Kentucky and Indiana State. The loss to the Wildcats caused Indiana coach Mike Davis to publicly question his ability to coach the Hoosiers.

"I was down and disappointed with the lack of effort," Davis said in yesterday's Big Ten teleconference. "I got a little too emotional."

But Sunday, Kirk Haston's 3-point buzzer-beater retired then-No. 1 Michigan State and seemingly the Indiana slump in one fell swoop.

The magnitude of the game winner sent Assembly Hall into hysteria as fans rushed the floor and piled onto Haston. Davis, whose future with Indiana is uncertain, fell to his knees.

"The players responded by going out and laying it on the line," Davis said yesterday.

Michigan looks to turn the tables and make Indiana the victim of its first notable victory. Despite the colossal home win over the Spartans, the Hoosiers are still unproven on the road with a 1-3 record.

"They've got some new guys in their lineup too," Groninger said. "They've been going through the same type of things, finding out what their identity is. That's the same thing we need to do."

Following the Purdue loss, Michigan coaches and players both questioned the team's effort.

"We've gotten guys to play hard - it just hasn't been sustained over 40 minutes," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "That irks you to a strong degree. You can only point to youth and inexperience so many times. At some point you've got to grab the bull by the horns and say 'enough is enough.'"

The team feels confident after stringing together intense practices leading up to tonight's contest.

"We asked some things of them, and they responded. They're the ones that should really get the credit for turning it up a notch," Ellerbe said. "We expect to play well tomorrow."

To beat the Hoosiers, Michigan will have to stop Indiana's fundamentally sound offense. Haston, a 6-10 post-player, is the team's first option and leading scorer, averaging 17.3 points per game.

"After watching him play yesterday, we know (Haston) can shoot the 3, so we've got to step out and cover him on the perimeter," Michigan junior Chris Young said. "He can shoot the ball out to 17 feet or so if he's not shooting the threes."

Indiana also features versatile freshman Jared Jeffries and Michigan native Dane Fife. Fife has struggled this year, shooting just 31 percent from the floor.

He has found a guilelessly adversarial crowd in his previous Michigan homecomings.

Marjorie Marshall/Daily

Michigan freshman Avery Queen, who had a career-high 17 points against Purdue last Thursday, will be a key if the Wolverines hope to knock off a hot Indiana squad.