Michigan implodes in second half, out of Big Ten Tourney

Well that sucked. The Michigan Wolverines held a 17-point second half lead before imploding and losing to the Indiana Hoosiers. The game looked like it was over, but the Hoosiers battled back and got the 74-69 win.

First Half

The first half was a strong one for the Wolverines. Many wondered if Michigan would be able to string together a strong performance for the second game in a row, but the first 20 minutes were certainly strong.

It didn’t take long for Michigan to pull away in this one. An early run got Michigan’s lead into double digits, and Indiana wasn’t able to make things close before the break. The Hoosiers got into foul trouble, which led to some of their struggles.

Hunter Dickinson had 13 points in the first half and sat the final five minutes after picking up his second foul, a technical being called when he was upset about a no-call. Michigan went into the break up 41-28.

Second Half

Well... I don’t know what just happened. Things were low-stress at around the 12-minute mark when Michigan was up 60-43. Then everything changed with the flip of a switch.

Indiana was scoring with ease and Michigan couldn’t get anything going offensively, going more than 10 minutes without a bucket. Indiana took the 17-point deficit and turned it into a seven-point lead with just under two minutes left. The Wolverines got it back down to two and got a rebound with 10 seconds left with a chance to go for the tie or win, but an errant pass by Moussa Diabate forced a turnover and sunk any chance of a comeback.

Nothing left to do now but wait for Selection Sunday. Michigan should still be in, but you never know.