Michigan's Zack Novak, right, dives to try and steel the ball from Northern Michigan University's Raymont McElroy during Michigan's season-opener.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

He's been trying everything to get his shot on track, from extra practice to analyzing his mechanics. If this sounds familiar, it should. It's been a lengthy search for answers. Except this isn't sophomore guard Stu Douglass.

It's his apartment-mate, fellow Michigan sophomore Zack Novak.

Before Tuesday’s game, Novak missed 11 straight three-pointers over 3 games. Then, against Coppin State, he missed his first 6 in a row before one finally fell at the end with the 76-46 Michigan win well in hand.

“It’s not a working-on-my-shot issue. I’ve got shots over the summer, all the off-season. It’s just a slump, I guess. To have the one go down at the end felt really good,” Novak said. “Just overall (Tuesday), they felt a lot better than they’ve felt. Even if they aren’t going in they are in-and-out, back rim, so I know I’m close.”

It didn’t mean that finally making one wasn’t met with some sort of embarrassment.

Even though Novak was happy, the most interesting part of Tuesday evening was when the shot fell, all of the people left in Crisler Arena erupted on one of the largest cheers of the evening.

Novak heard it, shook his head and then slapped his roommate/teammate Douglass for a low-5.

“The crowd kind of went crazy. We’re up by 20 and the crowd goes nuts,” Novak
said. “That was kind of pathetic, I thought, on my part. But it felt good and it’s behind me.”

It gave Novak a chance to at least attempt to erase negative shot thoughts entering Michigan’s nine-day break before Big Ten play opens at Indiana on Dec. 31 (noon, ESPN2). He’s still struggling with his shot throughout the season, only connecting on 23.3 percent of his attempts. That’s down over 11 percent from his rookie year.

“They just need to make these shots in games over and over and over again just to get used to it again,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “It’s almost like you forget a lot of the summer. Novak, 16 in a row or 17 in a row that he missed and his first three or four were in-and-out, in-and-out, in-and-out.

“So for all of us, making game, if you can make them in a game had to happen.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.