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.”

Even after losing all of their momentum by squandering a 20-point cushion, Indiana had their chances to win in overtime.

But the Hoosiers (5-9, 0-2 Big Ten) hit only 3-of-9 free throws and 2-of-8 from the field in OT for their third straight home loss.

“It’s a unbelievably tough pill to swallow right now,” Crean said. “But they’ve gotta learn real quick that you just gotta turn right back around. Get right back at it and learn from the film.”

Laval Lucas-Perry paced the Wolverines (12-3, 2-1) with 18 points and Manny Harris added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Michigan shot just 39 percent, including 12 of 40 from behind the three-point arc.

Devan Dumes led Indiana with 17 points, Nick Williams scored 14 and Jones scored 13. Tom Pritchard just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

• Box score

Up next: Indiana travels to Champaign Saturday afternoon for a 3:00 meeting with Illinois. That game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

Even a 20-point lead isn’t safe: For the second straight home game, Indiana squandered a 20-point lead.

Indiana natives struggle: Freshman Zack Novak, from Chesteron, scored just six points in 42 minutes and Carmel’s Stu Douglass managed just two points in 18 minutes.

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.

Besides Harris and Sims, three other guards are seeing significant clock for Beilein’s club and two have Indiana ties. Laval Lucas-Perry, a transfer from Arizona, started for the first time in Sunday’s win over Illinois and is the third leading scorer at 11.6 ppg.

Zack Novak, a freshman guard from Chesterton, is one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten. Beilein inserted Novak into the starting lineup prior to the Big Ten opener against Wisconsin and he responded with 20 points. Novak leads Michigan with in three-pointers made with 23.

“He’s got great confidence in shooting the ball,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “And the other thing that I think he does as well as anybody is this league right now is cut. His cuts are always fast, they’re hard, they’re definitive.”

Stu Douglass, a freshman from Carmel and former teammate of Daniel Moore, has started 13 of 14 games and is scoring 4.8 ppg in 19.3 minutes.

“They are a very good team and there are not a lot of weaknesses to their team,” Crean said. “They know exactly what they want to do and they know exactly who they are”

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.

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)

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.

- E’Twaun Moore, 6′3″, guard, Purdue

Under the tutelage of former East Chicago Central coach Pete Trgovich, Moore developed into an all-around leader on the floor. It all came together in March when he led his team to the 4A state championship, knocking off Gordon and Indianapolis North Central. An intelligent player who has a genuine feel for the game, Moore can bury the three, defend and handle the ball. Expect him to be the top contributor amongst the stacked recruiting class coach Matt Painter is bringing to West Lafayette.

- Kalin Lucas, 6′0″, guard, Michigan State

As quick as they come in the class of 2007, Lucas loves to penetrate and get others involved. And even better for Lucas, he’ll have plenty of weapons to choose from. Look for him to immediately battle incumbent point guard Travis Walton for playing time. He’ll fit in perfectly with Tom Izzo’s desire to push the ball up the floor and should be a four-year standout for the Spartans.

- Kosta Koufos, 7′0″, center, Ohio State

The departure of Greg Oden to the NBA opens immediate minutes for Koufos and he’ll take full advantage of the opportunity. Not your prototypical 7-footer, Koufos can run the floor and hit the mid-range jump shot. Possessing an array of offensive moves, Koufos is said to be nearly unstoppable from 15 feet in. He’s an unselfish player who prides himself on positioning while playing defense and excellent footwork on offense.

10 others to watch:

Indiana: Jamarcus Ellis

Illinois: Demetri McCamey

Michigan State: Chris Allen and Durrell Summers

Ohio State: Evan Turner and Jon Diebler

Purdue: Jajuan Johnson and Scott Martin

Penn State: Talor Battle

Wisconsin: Jon Leuer