By John Leroi
Michigan basketball coach Steve Fisher has seen the devil, and his name is A.J. Guyton.
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Michigan | 81 |
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Indiana | 84 |
Guyton, who nailed seven of 12 attempts from 3-point range, scored eight points in the final three minutes of regulation to force the extra session. With 50 seconds left and the Hoosiers trailing, 75-69, Travis Conlan sagged just a little too far off Guyton, who hit a 23-foot trey to bring Indiana within three.
After Louis Bullock missed a running jumper on the Wolverines' next possession, Guyton got Conlan to fall for a ball fake at the top of the key, took a step to his left and drained another three to tie the game at 75 with 2.1 seconds left in regulation.
Guyton then broke an 81-81 tie with 26 seconds left in overtime with a 13-foot jumper in the lane. Bullock missed a three the next trip down the court. Andrae Patterson grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Conlan. He hit one of two free throws with five seconds left.
Jerod Ward's 24-foot three at the buzzer was off. After holding the Hoosiers to just 23 points in the first half, Michigan let Indiana score 59 in the next 25 minutes.
"This is loss that is hard to accept and may be hard to understand," Fisher said. "This is a game we should have won, but didn't. It's devastating."
What's really devastating is that as poorly as the Wolverines (7-5 Big Ten, 17-6 overall) played in the second half, they beat the hell out of Indiana (7-6, 19-8) in the first. Michigan led by 18 at the break, thanks mostly to superb defense and excellent free-throw shooting.
Michigan shot just 40 percent in the first half but went to the line 13 times and made all but one of them, while sending the Hoosiers to the stripe just three times. The Wolverines held Indiana to 34-percent shooting and forced 11 first-half turnovers.
The Hoosiers had no luck getting the ball into the low post. Seven-footers Jason Collier and Richard Mandeville had only two points apiece. Guyton wasn't even very good, missing five of his seven attempts.
The Wolverines went on a 15-0 run midway through the first, turning a 14-14 tie into a 31-15 Michigan lead with six minutes before halftime. After that, Indiana got no closer than 12.
Hughes found Baston for an slam with five seconds left in the half to increase Michigan's lead to 16. Bullock stole the inbounds pass and drained an 11-footer at the buzzer for a 43-25 halftime lead.
Robert Traylor's dunk 1 1/2 minutes into the second half gave the Wolverines a 20-point lead in what looked to be a Michigan blowout. But the Hoosiers reeled of a 15-3 run over the next three minutes, capped by two 3-pointers from Guyton.
Michigan's lead was still 10 following a Baston dunk with 10 minutes left. But Guyton hit two more threes on Indiana's next two possessions. Patterson's two free throws with 8:19 left drew the Hoosiers to within two.
But the Wolverines never let Indiana have a chance to take the lead, getting baskets or points from the line after every Indiana basket, until Guyton went to work in the final minute.
"Guyton was obviously sensational in the second half," Fisher said. "He made some huge, huge baskets down the stretch."
He missed just four shots after the break, sinking six 3-pointers in the second half alone.
Michigan's only counter was Baston, who scored a season-high 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 10-of-12 accuracy from the free throw line. He was one of three Wolverines to foul out, taking a seat with 1:22 left in overtime trying to stuff Patterson's put back in the paint.
Traylor played just 15 minutes before fouling out for the fourth time in seven games.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan forward Maceo Baston shoots over Indiana's Richard Mandeville (left) and Jason Collier in yesterday's 84-81 overtime loss to the Hoosiers.