Monday afternoon, Michigan coach Steve Fisher all but begged Michigan fans to come out with their best performance of the season for last night's home affair with Minnesota.
He used last week's game in Iowa City as a basis for comparison. The home crowd came out in full support of the Hawkeyes, previous losers of three straight, and spurred them to an 80-75 victory over the Wolverines.
Fisher had hoped that his fans were just as capable as Iowa coach Tom Davis'.
He asked the Michigan faithful to be "energized, supportive and helpful," for last night's game.
That translated to screaming, taunting and cheering from the opening tip to the final buzzer. It also meant trying to rattle the opponent.
In addition, since this was the final game on the student ticket package, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for the Crisler fans to end the season with a bang.
And Michigan's faithful didn't disappoint Fisher, despite the game's unfavorable outcome.
Even though they were far from giving Duke's Cameron Crazies or Indiana's die-hards a run for their money, they were still impressive.
The fans "did a real good job tonight," Michigan co-captain Travis Conlan said. "Right from the get-go, we knew we were going to have a good crowd. We came out, and they were loud and cheered all game."
Conlan was right on the money. The fans' performance was strong throughout, which is rather surprising considering they hadn't put forth such an effort all season.
The students maintained their exuberance - including standing up behind the basket and waving their arms when Minnesota was at the free-throw line, taunting the Golden Gophers after a turnover, or getting on the backs of the referees, whose officiating was interpreted as being inconsistent at times.
"The fans were really intense throughout the game," LSA sophomore Mike Abramson said. "They seemed to help the players, and at times, Michigan seemed to feed off it."
Conlan concurred. But only half of Fisher's goal was achieved. Michigan still couldn't quite ride the momentum to victory.
"We have to take our hats off to them , because they helped us stay in the game," Conlan said. "But we let them down, because we didn't win the game."
The Crisler staff pulled out all the stops to keep the crowd involved, even during timeouts.
The public address announcer did his best Michael Buffer (of "Let's-Get-Ready-To-Rumble" fame) impersonation during the starting lineup introductions.
The band was as energetic as it had been all season, playing tunes conducive to crowd involvement. It also spread itself out over the southwest corner of the arena during the pre-game warmups in an attempt to get the more laid-back fans into the action.
Students could see from the other side of the arena that it was working.
"There was definitely more excitement in the arena tonight than there has been all year," LSA junior Craig Cuccinella said. "This was the first time as a Michigan student that I've seen alumni stand up."
It didn't stop there. At halftime, the cheerleaders put on their first "halftime show" of the year. It included a performance filled with backflips and pyramids as well as introductions of the outgoing senior members of the team.
But in the end, it's still the players who score the points and the fans who sit back and watch.
"There's only so much the fans can do," Abramson said. "In the end, the good teams usually come out on top and tonight, that was Minnesota."
And its back to coaching the Wolverines and not the fans for Fisher.
But Michigan students may not have to worry about not being able to see their Wolverines on the Crisler hardwood again this season.
First-round NIT sites are on campus.
Nothing was pretty in last night's game between Michigan and Minnesota, including this battle for a loose ball between Minnesota's Quincy Lewis and Michigan's Robert Traylor. Traylor's 11 rebounds were a huge asset, but his 2-of-5 free throw shooting proved to be a costly liability as the Wolverines shot just 38.9 percent from the free throw line.
SARA STILLMAN/Daily