The Big Ten -- the best basketball conference in the country this year -- featured a doozy of a final regular season game earlier today. #2 Indiana, seeking its first outright Big Ten title since 1993, visited #7 Michigan on its Senior Day. A Michigan win would cement a three-way tie for the conference title.
The game featured three likely First Team All-Americans -- Michigan guard Trey Burke, IU center Cody Zeller, and IU guard Victor Oladipo -- and they were all intimately involved with the last minute of the game.
1:03: Michigan 70, Indiana 66 - Cody Zeller pump-fakes, drives hard to his left under pressure, and is whistled for traveling. Michigan ball with a four-point lead.
57.5: Will Sheehey fouls Tim Hardaway, Jr. to stop the clock, but Michigan isn't in the bonus yet and will inbound.
53.5: Oladipo fouls Burke off the inbound play. Michigan still isn't in the bonus.
52.0: Off a clever inbound play, Glenn Robinson III gets a breakaway off the inbound and Christian Watford fouls him hard on the arm in pursuit. Analyst Clark Kellogg lobbies for an intentional foul, but the refs huddle and call it a simple foul. Robinson misses the front-end but hits the second. Michigan up 71-66.
39.0: Zeller drives hard from the elbow, misses a lay-in, but grabs his miss and puts it in. Michigan up 71-68.
38.0: Tim Hardaway, Jr. is quickly fouled and misses the front-end of the one-and-one.
29.1: Cody Zeller is fouled while shooting and cans both. Michigan up 71-70.
27.7: Oladipo fouls Michigan All-American Trey Burke on the inbound. Burke misses the front-end.
13.7: Indiana point guard Yogi Ferrell finds a cutting Zeller alone and he cans a lay-in.
0.0: Burke misses a tough left-handed layup, the put-back is a skosh too strong... and Indiana recovers. Game over, Indiana clinches the Big Ten Championship, 72-71.
Related: Anatomy of a Play: Michigan's final possession. Image: @MattKryger.
Michigan Players- "Gag! Gag! Choke! I tripped on a shoelace! Blame RichRod!"
ReplyDeleteActually, IU has come back and won close games at the end several times, so they're just a good clutch team with two great players. Still, UM needs to get mentally and physically tough if they want to be a Final Four team.
Don't tell me this is what lays behind your 'blue' theme, Doug- I'm a lifelong Buckeyes fan!
ReplyDeleteAnd you seemed like such a cool guy lol