This must have felt familiar for Michigan.
Just last week in the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan trailed Northwestern and Indiana in the final minutes in back-to-back games. In both of them, Michigan needed clutch shots in big moments to keep its season alive, and Michigan delivered both times. Zak Irvin came off a screen and nailed an elbow jumper in the waning seconds of OT to beat the Wildcats, and Kam Chatman dropped in a buzzer-beating three to upset the Hoosiers.
On Wednesday, Irvin kept Michigan's season alive a second time.
As the game clock crept under one minute, the Wolverines trailed fellow #11 seed Tulsa, 60-59, and were in need of another clutch shot. Early in the shot clock, Irvin dribbled around a screen on the perimeter and realized he had room to fire from the top of the key. Without any hesitation, Irvin pulled up, rose in the air, and let it go. Result? Splash:
Irvin buries the clutch three: https://t.co/f0DbZ2knjT
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) March 17, 2016
Tulsa couldn't hit a big shot of its own. They missed their next two jumpers -- both were rebounded by none other than Irvin, of course -- and Michigan (23-12, 10-8 Big Ten) held on for a 67-62 win over Tulsa (20-12, 12-6 AAC) in the NCAA Tournament's First Four.
Michigan finished with four Wolverines in double figures. Irvin and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman tied for a team-high 16 points, Duncan Robinson posted his first double-double at Michigan with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Derrick Walton Jr. tallied 12 points. Moritz Wagner may not have scored in double figures, but he had a big impact off the bench (4 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks) as Mark Donnal and Ricky Doyle struggled.
Tulsa was led by Shaquille Harrison's 23 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Though Michigan won, this was not a satisfying performance. Michigan could not buy a bucket for much of this game. They made just four of their first 20 shots and ended the first half with 4-of-18 shooting from downtown. Yet Michigan had a 28-20 lead at half because Michigan shut down Tulsa's transition offense and was a force on the glass.
However, in the second half, Michigan continued to brick shot after shot from the outside, while Tulsa took the floor with new-found energy as the Golden Hurricane began to beat up Michigan on the offensive glass. Before anyone could blink their eyes, it was all tied up at 34 apiece with 17 minutes remaining. From there, Michigan and Tulsa went back and forth, with neither team able to string together enough made shots to pull away. It was going to come down to who could make the the big shot at the very end.
And, yet again for the second time in less than a week, it was Irvin.
With the win, Michigan will quickly travel from Dayton to Brooklyn to prepare for its NCAA Tournament first round matchup with #6 seed Notre Dame. The game will be at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET on Friday on CBS. Warning: there could be fireworks.