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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

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Davis calls for production from guards

Interim head coach Mike Davis said his guards need to step up their play, a sentiment shared by starting guard Dane Fife.\n"It seems like we've scored only about eight points in the last three games," said Fife, a junior. "We've got to help out these big guys on the offensive end."\nIt's more than eight, but not much. IU guards have scored only 29 points in IU's three Big Ten games. That's only 17 percent of the Hoosier offense.\n"I need a guard to step up and do something," Davis said. "I need a guard to make a basket. I need one to step up and get double figures."\nFreshman guard Andre Owens is the only guard to have scored double figures in a Big Ten game. He came off the bench at Michigan to score 10 on four-of-eight shooting Jan. 9.\nFife and sophomore guard Tom Coverdale said the problem lies in IU's execution.\n"We aren't getting shots because we're not working hard enough to get open, and we may not be getting good enough screens to get the looks," Fife said. "Most of us don't have the quickness to create our own shots, and maybe we're not creative (enough) to get our own shots."\nAfter Coverdale, IU's starting point guard, scored 30 points Dec. 5 at Notre Dame, opponents have defended him differently than before his offensive explosion. Teams are denying him the ball, which prevents him from starting the offense and limits his scoring. \n"Tom has got to step up and play better for us," Davis said. "It's been tough for him because teams are really getting into him and taking the ball out of his hands."\nCoverdale said it all goes back to execution.\n"We just have to find our open man," Coverdale said. "If they keep the ball out of my hands, Dane is going to have to step up and start the offense. But that wasn't the problem at Michigan. We didn't execute even when we got into the half-court (offense)."\nAgainst Michigan, IU made only three-of-18 attempts from behind the three-point line, and made three-of-10 against Michigan State, three-of-nine at Wisconsin. That's 24 percent. Before the Big Ten season, IU was making 41 percent of its three-point shots.\n"They're basketball players; they practice every day," Davis said. "And it's time that they play a good game"

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