Michigan 72, Indiana 69
Wow. Michigan wins. pic.twitter.com/GNZLREzdyL
— Simon Kaufman (@sjkauf) March 11, 2016
Wow doesn't even begin to cover it.
Michigan played for their tournament lives against Big Ten champions Indiana, a team that ran them off their home court just over a month ago, in front of a heavily pro-Hoosiers crowd in Indianapolis. Heading into the final minute, the perimeter-oriented Wolverines had made only 4/19 three-pointers. Somehow, they were only down three.
Zak Irvin found Duncan Robinson open in the corner; after missing his first five attempts from beyond the arc, Robinson calmly tied the game with 46 seconds left.
Then Kam Chatman stripped IU's OG Anunoby on Indiana's ensuing possession. Irvin secured the ball with 20 seconds left, and as Derrick Walton took the ball up the court, John Beilein allowed the game to play out instead of calling a timeout.
I doubt Beilein imagined Walton would dish the ball off to Chatman in the corner; it's certainly not what he would've drawn up in the huddle. But Chatman—much-maligned, bust-in-the-making, 27%-career-three-point-shooter Kam Chatman—hesitated a moment, then hoisted a picture-perfect shot over Nick Zeisloft that caught nothing but net, beating the buzzer by 0.2 seconds.
With that most unlikely play, Michigan went from very much out of the NCAA Tournament to, at worst, very much in the conversation for an at-large bid; they'll have the opportunity to cement their place in the field when they play the winner of Purdue/Illinois in tomorrow afternoon's semifinal.
Much like the final play, nobody could've guessed how the Wolverines would upset Indiana. Mark Donnal and Moe Wagner combined for 21 points on 9/9 FGs while frustrating talented Hoosier big man Thomas Bryant into going 3/8 from the field with two turnovers; Wagner hadn't tallied a point in over a month. For the second straight game, Derrick Walton didn't make a field goal and didn't score at all until the final minutes, but he dished out a Big Ten Tournament record 12 assists. Muhammad-Ali Adbur-Rahkman scored 15 points on 14 shots before fouling out late; Irvin and Robinson combined to go 9/25 from the field in uneven performances for each.
While Yogi Ferrell (14 points, 8 assists) was his usual stellar self, Michigan kept Indiana from their standard perimeter dominance; they went just 4/17 from beyond the arc, and the Wolverines scored 22 points off 15 IU turnovers.
The last of those points may have secured an NCAA bid for Michigan a day after Northwestern pushed them to the brink of the NIT. It's been difficult to guess how this Michigan squad will play on any given day. Today, when it mattered most, they surprised in the best possible fashion.
Go Blue!
Such a weak site run by little nerdy pussies
Honestly, I didn't think we had a chance to win this game before it started. But as the game went on, I felt Michigan's chances improved the longer we hung with them. What an awesome shot by Kam Chatman. I REALLY hope this is the kind of game that can enable him to turn the corner on his career. Great start to the weekend! Go Blue!
Wow is right ! Outstanding grit by the team again today. Go Blue !!
Such a weak site run by little nerdy pussies. So soft and sensitive
I saw none of the game, being stuck at work (thanks Big Ten for that convenient tipoff time), but wow! Great to hear that a lot of bench guys stepped up. (I didn't quite understand why Wagner got so lost in the shuffle for awhile there.)
This has to punch our ticket. 22 wins (21 if you don't count the D-II game), 12 in league play, four against the top 25, and not one loss to a 100+ team all year. If we're snubbed it's because a couple of our non-conference cupcakes happened to be very low-ranked, which would be ridiculous. The RPI should be reformed to make all teams with 200+ RPI equal.
Something is in the air at the end of games here. Irvin opts for a contested jumper instead of a wide-open post layup and beats Northwestern anyway. A 40% three-point shooter passes on an open shot in favor of a 26% three-point shooter, and beats Indiana anyway. Tomorrow the plan is to inexplicably pass to Ricky Doyle to get fouled and win the game with two straight makes from the stripe.
College basketball seems determined to destroy itself, but exuberant kids, stunning surprises, and bench warmers nailing game-winning 3s is simply too much fun!
Thrilled for our team and our coach - Go Blue!!!
I really hate Indiana. I despise Creen and I wasn't going to watch the IU players pound their chests after beating us by 3. So I missed it. And I suck. Joke was on me.
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I didn't believe they had it in them either. It's great to be wrong!
Don't worry I will let all of you guys who insisted we had no chance back on the bandwagon.
Well, they still looked pretty shitty...so you weren't so wrong about that haha. But they toughed out a win. I hope they can carry some of this fire and momentum into tomorrow and hopefully next week!
Nice response after your posts yesterday. Thanks.
Anybody know what the Peppers out for season thread was about? Deleted now, but just curious
I got to a bar to eat lunch and catch the second half, in time for the last 12 minutes. I was actually kind of excited to see Wagner and Chatman on the floor- different guys not only getting some run but contributing in an important game.
For a while I was like 'hey they're playing something resembling defense'. Indiana was out of sorts and Michigan seemed to actually be playing well.
But the last 6 minutes was rough. When they went down 5 I was like 'Shiiiyit'. Can't believe they pulled it off...Glad they beat those punk-ass Hoosiers. Let's go Illini!
I was getting really discouraged by that last IU run as well as it felt like we were watching that same movie we all hate so much coming on again, but the team never let it get out of contol and methodically closed the gap. That last defensive possession before Chatman's 3 was great.
Audio only on an aging computer (good excuse; no lectures please), having the audio stream and Gametracker on at the same time. Only two earlier crashes... Then of course right at the end, when Indiana had finally stretched their tiny lead.
Knowing how surprisingly well the M guys had played and how close it had been, I somehow didn't mind not listening to them not quite making up the 5-6 point difference. When I got the Gametracker back it had what it called a final score. Excuse me? Fortunately the audio is always a bit behind, so it came back on with the broadcast's "Are you kidding me!?!?!!!!" (And someone giggling maniacly in the background.)
Great listen. Great game.
But oh, baby, oh, that crescendo in Matt Shepard's voice when Kam released the ball. Just knew it was going in.
If you watch the video of the shot and celebration at the very end Crean shows up slunk over seemingly in denial of what just transpired. beautiful.
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Looks like we're going to get Purdue.
We finally showed up on the defensive side again. I bet that was one of the lower offensivly efficient games for IU this season. We were fast, active, smart, and disciplined.
Great coaching, but better execution. The players showed up today, and proved we can hang with the big boys.
SPORTS!
Just Great!!!!!
That's all I got.
They seem to have forgotten to edit a prewritten bit of their game recap.
UP NEXT
Wolverines: Must await postseason tournament fate.
Hoosiers: Face winner of Illinois-Purdue game in Saturday's first semifinal game.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400870778
Wait, but fire Belein, right? We still doing this?
/s
This team hasn't been very good, but I suppose we can hope that Irvin, Walton, and Robinson get hot. They all have the potential to shoot the lights out and spring another upset or two. It would be oh so satisfying to beat Spartans in Big Ten tourney final. A man can dream, can't he?
March 11th, 2016 at 10:18 PM ^
This is the stuff of my dreams.
Want.
Bad.
All around great game from start to finish! I couldn't ask for a more entertaining way to waste a few hours at work. I love college sports ( aside from the obvious corruption, etc).
Hopefully it's enough to go dancing! GO BLUE!
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I have been a critic this year, but am very willing to eat humble pie. To do this without the two seniors, one who is a legit start....come on. 22 wins with this team is actually pretty amazing.
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When Donnal traveled and IU went up five I thought it was over. Really great composure to get back and win the game.
My faith wavered . . . I was not optimistic today. I am very, very happy to be wrong. GO BLUE!
GO BLUE BABY
We got 9 points the last 3 possessions with an and-1 and 2 3s, all while limiting IU to going 1-2 from the line and then turning it over. What a great, great way to finish after it looked like it was the same old story again.
by the coaching staff today. Indiana's offense depends heavily on playing fast/transition ball. They look much different when they have to grind it out. Michigan got back quickly and prevented a lot of that today. Beilein out-coached Crean today.
I wonder if part of the plan was to go against form and foul a lot. The announcers mentioned it, but more as a joke "we're gonna be here awhile" when both teams got into the bonus with something like 11 mins left in the game.
That totally chopped up the flow of the game, and I'd submit that was to M's advantage.
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