Lost in the Maize

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Even after 34 missed shots, including 15 missed 3-pointers, IU still had a chance. \nWith five seconds to play, IU freshman guard Armon Bassett launched a long 3-pointer. The ball clanged off the back of the rim and into the hands of junior forward Lance Stemler, who had just more than one second left in the game to hoist a 3-pointer. \nUnder pressure, Stemler passed the ball instead, and the Hoosiers passed up another opportunity to win a Big Ten game on the road, losing their second straight game Saturday at Michigan, 58-55. \n“We tried to get Lance on a pick and pop,” IU coach Kelvin Sampson said after the game. “But sometimes the hardest thing in the world to do is get a 3 when you need a 3.”\nThe loss was IU’s third in its last four games. It also moved IU’s road record to 2-7, including a 1-5 mark in the Big Ten. \nThe Hoosiers (17-8, 7-5) were 19 of 53 from the field Saturday, including a 6-for-21 mark from behind the arc.\n“We missed too many shots,” Sampson said. “We didn’t make any shots today.”\nThe Hoosiers held Michigan to 42 percent shooting from the floor, but their own shooting woes – IU shot 35.8 percent from the field – kept the Hoosiers from building or sustaining a lead. \nIU fell behind 11-2 early, but caught up to the Wolverines late in the second half and took their first lead of the game with five minutes remaining.\nMichigan recaptured the lead late with a four-point advantage against the No. 24 Hoosiers with less than a minute remaining.\nBut IU caught a pair of breaks late – the first coming from Wolverine Lester Abrams, who fouled IU senior guard Rod Wilmont before the IU inbound; the second an open court turnover from Michigan’s Jerret Smith. Those Michigan miscues and an IU foul cut the lead to three points, but Bassett and Stemler couldn’t convert the final play. \nThe loss notches IU, at 7-5, firmly into third place in the Big Ten. With just four games remaining in the conference season, the Hoosiers trail first-place Wisconsin by five games and second place Ohio State by four. IU is a half game ahead of fourth-place Iowa and one game ahead of fifth-placers Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan and Illinois.\n“After a game like this, you just have to focus again,” senior guard Errek Suhr said. “It’s tough. But sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t.”\nFirmly back in the game in the second half, sophomore guard A.J. Ratliff hit two 3-pointers – and junior forward Mike White on a screen and roll for an easy post two – to cut the deficit to one with seven minutes left in the second half.\nMike White later tied and overcame that lead at the free-throw line, giving the Hoosiers their first lead of the day with 5:01 remaining. \nWhite followed that up with a series of buckets. The first came via a tough post layup and foul. The next time down the court, Suhr – who started and played 26 minutes in place of injured senior guard Earl Calloway – flung up a desperation layup. White rebounded the heave and scored on a short hook, tying the game at 51.\nThe Hoosiers weathered a stretch of nine consecutive points from Michigan forward Courtney Sims, as well as a long 3-pointer from Dion Harris. Harris led Michigan with 16 points. An offensive foul by Mike White and a driving basket by Smith put the Hoosiers behind permanently. \n“For the last 24 minutes, I thought our kids played with big hearts,” Sampson said. “Sometimes making shots is contagious just like missing shots. It’s like the last time we played Michigan. I don’t know if there’s any difference in the shots we took – the first game, they were going in. Tonight, they didn’t go in. That’s a tough loss.”