Hoosiers find their winning ways

The five-game losing streak was not going to reach six.\nThe Hoosiers made that apparent early in Wednesday's game that the disheartening past three weeks were not going to stretch to four. The team also put an end to accusations that the Hoosier bench provided little inspiration and that the overall attitude of the team was lackadaisical.\nThe Hoosiers outrebounded, outhustled and overall outplayed the Michigan Wolverines on their way to a 63-49 victory. This win puts IU back at .500 in the Big Ten with a 5-5 conference record and a 15-8 overall record. Michigan's record drops to 14-9, 7-3 in the Big Ten.\n"It's great. It's a good feeling (to win), but it's great to see our guys playing hard," IU coach Mike Davis said. "That's the best part of it. I thought we played OK Saturday (against Michigan State); we just didn't finish the game and get good stops and rebounds. Tonight we got 40 rebounds; I couldn't tell you the last time we got 40 rebounds."\nThe attitude adjustment was arguably undeniable throughout the entire game. The Hoosiers went into the locker room with a 14-point advantage after an energy-filled first half. IU wasted no time jumping back on the board in the second, beginning with a Bracey Wright jump shot. \nThe freshman guard, who finished with a team-high 21 points, followed that by sinking a three-point jump shot to give IU a 19-point lead, the largest in the game to that point. The Wolverines helped the Hoosiers get the win, by hitting just 21 field goals out of 56 attempts in the game. Michigan also had nine less rebounds than the Hoosiers with 31.\nFollowing Wright's back-to-back jump shots, the Wolverines answered with a drive to the basket. But senior forward Jeff Newton, who picked up his 18th double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, added two more from under the basket, his shot of choice against the Wolverines.\n"Jeff really came out to play tonight," Wright said. "He's been a little inconsistent like the rest of us, but he really stepped up big tonight."\nMichigan closed the gap to eight with 10:24 left in the game after freshman guard Daniel Horton, who finished with a Wolverine team-high of 16 points, found nothing but net from beyond the arc. With the IU bench on its feet, as it had been throughout the game, the Hoosiers denied Michigan a chance at the basket for almost three minutes, while extending the lead to 14. The Wolverines missed the last eight of their nine shots and didn't hit until a jump shot connected with 14 seconds left in the game.\nPrior to the game, Davis decided to switch the starting line-up around once again. Freshman guard Marshall Strickland started at the point guard position, replacing senior guard Tom Coverdale, who was at the out-guard spot. Junior guard A.J. Moye got the start at the forward position, replacing junior center George Leach, who along with senior guard Kyle Hornsby came off the bench.\n"We knew coming they were going to be very confident about beating us," Wright said. "Everybody had to find out what they do best, and what they had to do to help this team. We got all that established, and we are heading in the right way."\nCoverdale, who finished with seven points, was the first to display the renewed sense of energy at a mere two and a half minutes into the game. He missed a shot under the basket but after Moye bobbled the ball, Coverdale snatched it back and reversed under the basket for two points.\nIt was just one of the many times throughout the first half that the Hoosiers showed a ferocious intensity which had been absent.\nAfter Coverdale's shot, IU enjoyed a 15-5 scoring run that gave the Hoosiers its first double-digit lead of the game. The offensive end was clicking for IU, and for the first time in recent memory, the Hoosiers enjoyed a defensive advantage as well, with six blocks and 23 rebounds in the first half.\n"We had a do-or-die attitude coming into tonight," Newton said. "We had to get this one. Now our plan is to win out, plain and simple"