When senior guard Voshon Lenard decided to return to school this year -- passing up the chance to play in the NBA -- Minnesota was expected to contend for the Big Ten title. And Minnesota is, because of Lenard's presence.

Before the Milwaukee Bucks drafted him 46th overall, Lenard decided to take advantage of the new NCAA rule allowing players to enter the NBA draft without losing their college eligibility.

Although Lenard's numbers are down slightly from last year, he is currently fifth in the league with 17.2 points per game while hitting 2.55 three-pointers per game. But what counts is the record (14-6, 5-3 Big Ten) Lenard has helped Minnesota strut around.

"He's getting the same kind of defensive attention that (Spartan) Shawn (Respert) is getting," Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote said. "So he's not getting the same kind of shots (as he did last year). Everyone goes in thinking you have to stop Voshon. The star players get tremendous defensive attention."

Indiana's consecutive home winning streak ended last Tuesday when Michigan upended the Hoosiers, 65-52, to terminate the streak at 50 games. The loss marks the first time the Hoosiers have fallen in Assembly Hall since Feb. 21, 1991, when Iowa downed Indiana, 80-79. The Hoosiers currently hold a 293-36 advantage over opponents at Assembly Hall under Coach Bob Knight.

Name the only Lion chosen to participate on the Big Ten's all-star team that toured Argentina last summer (answer below).

Iowa at Penn State (1 p.m. Saturday). The contest features good guard match ups with Iowa's Chris Kingsbury and Jim Bartels against Penn State's Dan Earl. But both teams will have to handle the excitement of playing in front of a nationally televised audience in Rec Hall.

"I think there's something to that," Lion Coach Bruce Parkhill said, "as far as it's nice that you can win on national TV."

Earl, a sophomore point guard, was chosen by Parkhill to represent Penn State in the summer tournament.