The Big Ten has something of a logjam behind top dog Purdue. While there are about eight different things that could happen entering the Big Ten Tournament, if Michigan basketball manages to beat No. 15 Indiana in Bloomington in the regular-season finale, it would secure a double-bye for the Wolverines in the tournament and likely ensure the maize and blue will be dancing in the NCAA Tournament.
The Hoosiers won the first contest in Ann Arbor when Michigan couldn’t close the game despite a late lead. Now the Wolverines seek revenge.
Michigan gained an opening 3 thanks to Jett Howard, but the Hoosiers went on a 7-0 run from there, mostly settling for 3s at the game’s outset. It took nearly four minutes before the Wolverines got the ball into Hunter Dickinson’s hands, but his first basket stopped the three-plus minute scoring drought. But the offense remained stagnant, despite the break.
The defense did a good enough job, even as IU started extending the lead, but the maize and blue remained in striking distance. What was a 13-5 deficit soon was cut to a 13-10 deficit. That, too, was short-lived, as the Wolverines found themselves down 10 minutes later.
After another five-plus minute field goal drought, Kobe Bufkin finally got the Wolverines on the board again. He went from scoreless to having six points in short order, cutting the deficit to 10 after being down 14. Then Dickinson got going with a 3 and a layup with an and-1, and suddenly the Wolverines were down by just four. A Jett Howard dunk with seconds left allowed Michigan to go into the locker room down just two at halftime — it was a 14-2 run in the final 4:02 of the first half.
Michigan quickly retook the lead in the outset of the second half, scoring five to start the period. Before even the under-16 media timeout, the Wolverines had asserted themselves, ballooning the lead up to eight.
After some foul shots, IU found itself down only four, but Michigan reasserted itself, pushing the lead to 11. The Hoosiers wouldn’t go away, though, hovering around a 7- to 12-point deficit.
A 3 by IU’s Kopp helped the Hoosiers cut it to a six-point deficit with just over eight minutes remaining. Tarris Reed missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, and IU capitalized with a bucket on the other end, cutting it to four. A heldball with possession to Indiana, a basket on the other end, and suddenly, it was a two-point game again. A Bufkin foul put IU on the line for an and-one, and it was a one-point game.
Tarris Reed gave Michigan its first bench points with a clutch putback to extend the lead back to three. The Wolverines took the three-point lead into the under-four media timeout.
Some miscues led to IU taking the lead back, 66-65 with just under three minutes left. Bufkin tied it back up on a free throw, and then the lead on the second. Trayce Jackson-Davis missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, and Dickinson responded by hitting on the other end. However, IU hit a 3 to tie the game with 59 seconds left.
Michigan had the ball with a 20-second shot clock differential. IU gained a steal, but missed the layup. Dickinson came away with it with 25 seconds left. He missed the 3-point attempt, so the game went to overtime.
Michigan got nothing going in OT, and ending up losing, 75-73. Here are our five takeaways.