INDIANAPOLIS — The 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left Friday lost the game for the Hoosiers, but it was the 3-pointer with 26 seconds left that hurt the most, IU Coach Tom Crean said.
They were both corner 3-pointers. The first tied the game, and after IU's 15th turnover, the second won the game for Michigan.
It was Michigan's Duncan Robinson's and Kameron Chatman's 3-pointers that turned a 3-point IU lead in the final minute into a 72-69 Hoosier loss in the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday, leaving the Hoosiers waiting until Sunday to see how their NCAA Tournament seed changes.
“Two threes in two possessions can get you,” senior guard Nick Zeisloft said. “That’s what happened, obviously. That was big swing for them and that was obviously what put the game over the hump for them.”
Freshman center Thomas Bryant described the game, which had its lead change nine times, as a dog fight. The last time these two teams played in the regular season, IU went on a 28-0 run to pull away from Michigan.
On Friday, that run never happened. The Hoosiers started slow offensively, in large part because the ball wasn’t moving.
“There were times throughout the whole game, not even just the first half, where we weren’t moving the ball as well as we should have,” Zeislfot said. “We weren’t pushing the pace as well as we should have.”
It was really three things the Hoosiers weren’t doing, and they were all related: IU couldn’t stop Michigan consistently on defense, meaning it couldn’t run the fast-break. And because the Hoosiers couldn’t play in transition, their ball movement stagnated in the half-court offense.
When the Hoosiers did manage to get out in transition, they looked much like the team that won the Big Ten.
There was junior forward’s Troy Williams layup while drawing a foul with under three minutes to play for two of his team-high 16 points. There was Bryant’s dunk from near the free-throw line off one of senior guard Yogi Ferrell’s eight assists.
Freshman forward OG Anunoby also came off the bench to do almost everything for the Hoosiers. In a two minute span late in the second half, he stole the ball and laid it in twice to tie the game.
Anunoby finished with 13 points, two rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists in a career-high 27 minutes. He also spent time defending both Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton Jr, who finished with a Big Ten Tournament record 12 assists.
But aside from those few moments, IU’s offense often looked stalled against Michigan on Friday.
“I think we just didn’t play our game,” junior forward Collin Hartman said. “Credit to them because they came out very aggressive, active hands and they were playing aggressive. We just had to keep moving the ball and get some stops to get our offense going.”
The Hoosiers also couldn’t seem to make 3-pointers consistently. They finished the game shooting 23 percent from behind the arc.
Crean said the week of practice leading up to Friday was excellent. The execution just didn’t match the preparation.
Ultimately, the Hoosiers aren’t worried about what Friday’s loss might mean for their future performance in the NCAA Tournament.
“We didn’t play like we’re capable of which is a simple fix,” Hartman said. “We’ve been able to adjust and make changes all year and the last few months. We’ve been 20-3 since whenever so we just need to go in and prepare like we normally do.”
