Blue looks to bounce back By Chris Burke Daily Sports Editor If you said before the Big Ten conference season began that Northwestern would finish ahead of Michigan, you probably would have been shot some very strange looks. But that's exactly the situation heading into tomorrow's regular season finale in Evanston. Michi- gan (7-8 Big Ten, 16-10 overall) has struggled through an unex- pectedly tough Big Ten campaign, and as a result of the Wolverines' loss at Indiana on Wednesday, ThM.ORROW Michigan at Northwestern Tme: 2:34 p~m Weish..Ryan Atena S E INE their NCAA Tournament hopes are quickly fading. Northwestern, meanwhile, has been one of the Big Ten's most pleasant surprises. In a year when the conference as a whole has struggled, the Wildcats (8-7, 13-13) have taken advantage. A win over Michigan would guarantee Northwest- ern a record no worse than .500 and quite possibly award it an National Invitational Tournament bid. The Wildcats have been to the postseason just three times in their history - the last being a trip to the NIT in 1999 - and have never been to the NCAA Tournament. Working in Northwestern's favor tomorrow is the fact that Michigan has had an incredibly difficult time on the road this season. Wednesday's 61-56 loss to the Hoosiers dropped the Wolverines to 1-6 away from Crisler Arena in conference play. "Every game that we lost this year, I felt like it was up to us," Michigan senior Bernard Robinson said. "It was up to us to determine how that ballgame comes out" Back on Jan. 7, the Wolverines started their Big Ten season on a positive note, routing the Wildcats 78-54 at Crisler Arena. In that game, Michigan exploited its athletic advantage over Northwestern, running the floor early and often. Guard Lester Abram posted 27 points, and Robinson added 18 as the Wolverines were consistently able to create open looks. But offensive success has often been hard to come by for the Wolverines on the road, and such problems definitely sur- faced in Bloomington. Robinson was the poster boy for Michigan's struggles in Assembly Hall as he hit for a mere two points on 1-for-9 shooting. "We're going to need (Robinson) and it wasn't there Michigan senior Bernard Robinson and the Wolverines will look to keep their slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive tomorrow. (Wednesday)," Amaker said. "We couldn't find a way through it without him, and I thought that it really showed. I'm not blaming him - please don't take that the wrong way. I'm just saying that he's been our most consistent and our best player and certainly, when we're on the road in a tough game, we're going to need Bernard Robinson." Northwestern might not be the best team for Michigan to rediscover its offense against. The Wildcats have given their opponents fits this season with their slow-paced, "Princeton" offense and solid defense. Northwestern has also been successful in establishing itself inside and out. On the perimeter, the Wildcats are led by unsung senior Jitim Young, who posts nearly 18 points a game. On the interior, forward Vedran Vukusic has found his stroke en route to averaging 14 points a contest. So while the Wildcats are brimming with confidence com- ing off a win over Iowa on Wednesday, the Wolverines will desperately need to find their edge if they are to keep their slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive. "I'm not down," Abram said after Michigan's loss to Indi- ana. "I'm going to still keep playing and try to win the game on Saturday." Outdoor season comes a step closer By Matt Venegoni Daily Sports Writer Spring is in the air, even if the Michigan weather does not always show it. For the Michigan women's track team, spring means that the outdoor season is just around the corner. With a second-place finish in the Big Ten Championships this year, the Wolverines look as if they will have all the pieces needed to capture their fourth straight Big Ten outdoor title. But, before that challenge begins, the team has some indoor-season ends to tie up. Those ends include the non-scoring Alex Wilson Invita- tional. Competing this weekend is a decision that is left up to the athletes, but many will participate. This is the last chance to qualify individually for the NCAA Champi- onships or to obtain personal records. For some, this week- end will be a nice rest before the NCAAs, March 12 and 13. "We're sending a few girls to a meet at Notre Dame, but basically we're training through it," junior Lindsey Gallo said. Although some team members will not compete this weekend, it is still an important weekend for the eight ath- letes who are going to the Invitational. "Overall the Invitational is optional to the girls, but we are allowing those who are close to qualifying to compete," Michigan coach James Henry said. One group that will not be running is the distance medley relay of Gallo, sophomore Katie Erdman, senior Carly Knazze and junior Theresa Feldkamp. The group already qualified for the NCAA championships held in Fayetteville, Ark., and holds the fifth-fastest national time in the distance medley relay, as well as the fastest time in the conference. In 2003 NCAA meet, Gallo and Erdman ran the same event and placed 10th. "Last year it was disappointing to only come in 10th and miss being All-American," Gallo said. "So this year we are focused on improving our place and being All-American in the (distance medley relay). I think we all feel very confident." The quartet seems to be peaking at the right time as it took first in the Big Ten championships. Erdman and Gallo will run individually at the NCAA meet. This is a testament to the relay's wide-ranging talents. However, the group thinks it has much more room to improve. "None of us have really been pushed to our max yet, so we have a lot more room to improve," Feldkamp said. "It will be exciting to see who comes out on top." The experience Erdman and Gallo gained at last year's NCAA meet could be an advantage for the medley relay, as two of its runners won't be as surprised and distracted by participating for the first time. "It's so difficult to even qualify for the nationals that just being there shows that you are an elite athlete," Henry said. "But I do think that the distance medley relay has a great shot at medaling." After the Alex Wilson Invitational and the NCAA meet, spring will have officially sprung, and the outdoor season will begin. RYAN WINE/Daily Junior Lindsey Gallo and her distance medley team have already qualified for the NCAA Championships. 0 WATER POLO 'M' ready to take on rival Indiana By Harold Fogel Daily Sports Writer Like most of the student body, the Michigan women's water polo team spent its Spring Break in the sunshine. But, instead of relaxing on the beaches of Mexico, the squad was hard at work in the pools out West, taking on some of the best teams in the country. As has been the case in past visits to California, the road trip proved to be another learning experience for the Wolverines. Even though the team dropped four of six games, several positives came out of the visit. Michigan faced great teams, including No. 1 Southern Cal. So while the losses may have hurt Michigan's overall record, they should prove to be extremely valu- able in the long run. "We have to keep playing teams that make us play better," coach Matt Anderson said. "It is one thing to win a game you should win, and another thing to play a team that will make you better. That is how you learn. "We played very well, just not quite well enough. We had a really good showing, except for the losses. To lose three games by a total of five goals shows we can be competitive with the best teams in the country." Michigan looks to take this learning experience with it in a trip to Bloom- ington tomorrow for the first Colle- giate Water Polo Association Divisional Weekend of the season. Not only is this weekend's tournament a chance for the Wolverines to get back on the winning track, but the results of this tournament will deter- mine the seeding for the Divisional Championship in April. Michigan will also be putting its perfect conference record on the line. The team is 24-0 in divisional play since the program began in 2001. The featured matchup of the tourna- ment is Michigan's showdown against Despite the fact that the Hoosiers have not beaten Michigan in 14 contests, the games are always close and intense. Of those 14 games, five have gone into overtime and 10 have been decided by two goals or fewer. At the season-opening Michigan Invite, the Wolverines won 4-2. As always, the game was fierce and physical, display- ing the intense rivalry. "(Indiana coach) Barry (King) and I remain good friends," Anderson said. "Before the game, we wish each other good luck and we are good friends after the game, too. However, during the game we are not friends." The Wolverines will also face Slippery Rock tomorrow. Michigan's all-time record is 6-0 against Slip- pery Rock, including an 18-3 victory in last season's Divisional Champi- onship. The Wolverines will then meet a similar-looking foe in the Grove City Lady Wolverines. Michigan is also undefeated against Grove City. its biggest rival, No. 9 Indiana. GRAPPLERS Continued from Page 8 contenders to take the crown. For heavyweight Greg Wagner (29-6 overall), a No. 2 seed, this weekend is a chance for him to conquer his toughest nhela .n r.I a cn hie ~t. .far that notion to bed. "No way," the coach said. "Not with how competitive the Big Ten is and with the NCAAs coming up. Regardless of what happens this weekend, we are going to keep our heads up and go into the NCAAs strong." Wagner agreed: "It would be a big disappointment to have