Rubber match

IU coach Mike Davis and Minnesota coach Dan Monson are the managers. Bracey Wright and Vincent Grier are the teams' aces. D.J. White and Jeff Hagan are the big clean-up batters. Minnesota has beaten IU once. IU has beaten Minnesota once.\nIn baseball terms, today's game in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament is the rubber match of a three-game series. The winner of the pennant chase possibly makes claim to an NCAA Tournament berth, an opportunity that gives teams the chance to make basketball's version of the World Series -- the Final Four.\nThe commissioner -- or the NCAA Selection Committee -- will be watching. \n"Anytime you've beaten a team, there's always a thought in the back of your mind that you should win," Davis said. "And when they beat you, there's always a thought in their mind that they should beat you."\nMinnesota gained confidence by winning the first game of the series with a 70-65 win Jan. 26. IU returned the favor, minus Wright, with a 71-56 victory Feb. 12 in Assembly Hall to even the series.\nThese games set the stage for the rubber match -- this time on neutral territory, at Chicago's United Center. This time, Davis has Wright back in the lineup, hoping to shoot the Hoosiers past the Gophers and their main hurler, Grier.\nWright leads the Big Ten in scoring. Grier is third. The two will sneer across the diamond, or court, at each other Friday. Grier averaged 18 points in the two games against IU.\nWright, who said he isn't sure if he will start guarding Grier but is sure Grier would guard him at some point, said the Hoosiers know what Grier wants to do. The question is just how to stop him.\n"We know he wants to drive left," Wright said. "I played against him in the AAU circuit a couple of years ago, and I know how he can play. He's a big guy, 6-(foot)-5, really athletic. He came up here and did really well up here and put on a show."\nWhen the clean-up spot in the order comes up, the match-up will center on White and Hagan. Both specialize in driving in points close to the basket. \nHagan also averaged 18 points per game against IU, barely outshining White by two points in head-to-head match-ups.\nWhite weighs 230 pounds, whereas Hagan swings a bigger bat by tipping the scales at 270. White said he knows he's giving up a lot of weight.\n"He's hurt us every time we've played him," Davis said.\nPerhaps Davis will try to pitch around Grier and Hagan, as the pair are the only two Gophers averaging double-digits in points.\nIf the Hoosiers win the rubber match, they'll play the winner of Illinois and Michigan (could be Northwestern). They'll also be one game closer to winning the pennant by making the NCAA Tournament.\n"Our goal is to win the Big Ten Tournament," White said. "If we get a couple of wins, the NCAA Tournament will take care of itself."\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Rodgers at jprodger@indiana.edu.