IU, Minnesota both in must-win situations

I am pretty certain that Mike Davis must be using "Just for Men" these days. There is no other way to explain how he has managed to keep his hair from turning gray over the course of this season -- or just over the course of Saturday's 91-88 victory over Iowa.\nFortunately the NCAA Tournament selection committee does not look at the number of gray hairs on a coach's head. Nor does it award style points for the manner in which a win was achieved. So even though IU nearly squandered a 15-point lead and their tournament hopes in the same evening, in the end a win was still a win in the committee's eyes.\nNot only that, but it was probably the most exciting game that IU has played since their victory over Maryland. Finally we were able to witness two Big Ten teams that conspired to score more than 65 points in a game.\nOf course it displayed some glaring weaknesses in IU's game. The most obvious was that when Jeff Newton and George Leach are on the bench, IU plays what my eighth grade basketball coach would describe as the "Swiss Cheese defense." It was full of holes.\nWith 6-feet-9-inches Mike Roberts as the tallest man on the floor for IU, 6-11 Iowa center Jared Reiner was able to absolutely dominate the game on the inside, scoring 25 points and pulling down 17 rebounds in a Herculean effort.\nFortunately for IU, Newton was able to dominate when he was on the floor. And that's what he'll have to do again tonight for his final game at Assembly Hall.\nIt just so happens that the Big Ten schedule makers saved what could be the most entertaining game of the season for last. The Hoosiers will meet a Minnesota team in the same position as IU -- desperately needing a win to keep their tournament hopes alive.\nThe Golden Gophers could have taken care of business on Sunday with a home win over Wisconsin. Instead they trailed the entire game and lost 69-61, dropping their conference record to 8-6. Now they are dealt with the difficult task of coming on the road and beating either IU or Illinois. My guess is that they figure this is their best chance of winning.\nOne reason that Minnesota can be confident is that they have something that the Hoosiers don't have a whole lot of -- height. The Gophers boast of three players over 6-10 in Rick Rickert, Jerry Holman and Jeff Hagen.\nSo if Newton and Leach get into foul trouble early, things could take an ugly turn for the Hoosiers.\nFortunately Minnesota is one of the only teams on the tournament bubble that has been as bad as IU on the road this season. The only teams they have beaten away from Williams Arena are Penn State and Northwestern. They lost to Nebraska (11-16) by 20 when they went to Lincoln.\nNewton and Tom Coverdale have been through a lot in their four years as Hoosiers. But if they want tonight to be their final home game (i.e. avoid hosting a NIT game), they will have to play smart and tough basketball against an equally hungry Minnesota squad. \nIn the end, it will be the team that shows the most heart that will come out on top in this battle.