Indiana head coach Tom Crean couldn’t have drawn it up any better.

After a head scratching home loss to Lipscomb to close out 2008 and a road loss to Iowa in the Big Ten opener, the Hoosiers returned to Assembly Hall for a meeting with Michigan, who hadn’t won in Bloomington since 1995.

And with a 44-24 lead with 18:26 remaining, it appeared Indiana was on its way to a win over a team that was ranked in the top 25 as recently as last week with wins over UCLA and Duke.

But in this season of rebuilding, the upset wasn’t in the cards. Michigan closed the second half by outscoring the Hoosiers 35-15 to send the game into overtime and won 72-66 in front of 11,044 fans.

“There are no moral victories,” Indiana freshman guard Verdell Jones said. “We are all competitors and a loss is a loss whether you lose by 30 or you lose by one. We don’t want to feel like this again.”

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After six seasons under Tommy Amaker with no NCAA Tournament appearances, the early results this season suggest the John Beilein era is progressing well in Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines finished just 10-22 a year ago, but are 11-3 this season and own wins over a pair of top ten teams in UCLA and Duke.

The key to the turnaround: a balanced attack with 10 guys playing over 14 minutes per game and the play of sophomore guard Manny Harris and junior forward DeShawn Sims.

Harris is leading the Big Ten in scoring at 18.8 ppg and is making a living from the foul line. He’s connected on 83 of 95 free throw attempts (87%). The key to stopping Harris may be letting him shoot the three as he’s hitting just 30 percent.

Sims ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring with 16.6 ppg and is the conference leader with 8.8 rebounds per game.

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The All-Big Ten preview is ITH’s look at our picks for the top players in the Big Ten this season. Today: Manny Harris of Michigan.

If second year coach John Beilein hopes to improve on his debut season in Ann Arbor, much of his success will be a direct result of the maturation process of sophomore guard Manny Harris.

The Detroit native averaged 16.1 points last season and was a second team All-Big Ten selection for a Wolverine club that managed just ten wins. If Michigan hopes to reverse the trend, they’ll need leadership out of their go-to-guy.

“The biggest thing that I slacked on last year that I can do better this year is being a vocal leader, making sure that I get through to the team with what we need to do,” Harris said at Michigan’s media day. “How I’m going to do that is by working hard myself everyday and in every practice so that it will be easier for them to listen to me.”

With the offensive freedom afforded by Beilein to his back court players, Harris should have no problem building on last year’s scoring totals. If he can cut down the turnovers (3.6 per game) and improve on his three-point shooting (31 percent), he’ll find himself on the All-Big Ten team.

While he might not show up on the countless lists of the best freshmen in the country, Michigan freshman Manny Harris is quietly establishing himself as one of the Big Ten’s best players on perhaps the league’s worst team.

The 6-5 freshman guard from Redford High in Detroit enters tonight’s game against the Hoosiers averaging 16.5 ppg, good for fifth in the conference. He’s also among the league leaders in free throw percentage (83.2 percent, 4th), steals (1.57, 7th) and minutes played (31.7, 9th).

Harris scored 25 points in Saturday’s 65-58 loss to Purdue and was able to find a few positives from as the Wolverines fell to 4-10.

“Our best is still to come, and we’re still getting better,” Harris told Jeff Arnold of the Ann Arbor News. “You can pull a lot of positives out of this game, but it’s still a negative because we lost. We’re trying to learn what it takes to win every game we play. We just still have to get over the hump.”

While there are sure to be comparisons with Hoosier freshman Eric Gordon tonight by the ESPN announcing crew of Brent Musberger, Steve Lavin and Erin Andrews, Michigan coach John Beilein is not interested in comparing Harris with anyone.

“I don’t get into those things at all. That’s my biggest beef with the announcers, how they make such a big deal about the outstanding freshmen in the country,” Beilein said. There won’t be any talk of how they stack up against each other. Both of them are just trying to get better and play. They are good, but over four years there are going to be a lot of good players if they’re patient.”

(Photo credit: Rise Magazine)

Even with the realization that we’re around 80 days from Midnight Madness tipping off across the Big 10, it’s never too early to start talking about the year to come.

As the countdown to October 12 (yes, I’m already counting) continues, Inside the Hall will break down the conference piece-by-piece each week.

Our first stop on the countdown to October is breaking down the top five newcomers to watch in 2007-2008. Here are the names, in no particular order:

- Corperryale “Manny” Harris, 6′4″, guard, Michigan

Harris is the type of player who will thrive under new head coach John Beilein’s style of play. An aggressive offensive player who loves to make things happen, Harris can score the ball with the best of them. He’s got a knack for making tough shots when they count the most. He was Mr. Basketball in the state of Michigan this past season, beating out the likes of Durrell Summers, Darquavis Tucker and Kalin Lucas. If the Wolverines are to find themselves back in the NCAA tournament, Harris will be front and center in leading the charge.

- Eric Gordon, 6′4″, guard, Indiana

Gordon is a scoring machine who can attack the basket and get to the foul line or burn you from beyond the three-point arc. His range is truly unlimited. Ranked by some analysts as the top player nationally in the class of 2007, Gordon was both a McDonald’s All-American and a Jordan Brand All-Star. Projected to slot in immediately as a do-it-all guard for the Hoosiers, Gordon will likely be a frontrunner for Big 10 Player of the Year.

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