The Indiana Hoosiers and Michigan Wolverines came into Tuesday night’s matchup both looking for a statement win in the Big Ten along with getting a big win for their respective tournament resumes.
It didn’t look like it early, but the Hoosiers left Ann Arbor with one of their best road wins in quite sometime against a worthy opponent in the Wolverines.
Not The Start Indiana Wanted
The Hoosiers scored the first bucket of the game, which Michigan then answered by scoring the next 10 points. It wasn’t the start that the Hoosiers wanted, but that start had no bearing on the outcome of the game.
The Michigan lead eventually got out to 15-4, but the Hoosiers were quick to answer with an 8-2 run to get them back in the game and keep it close early on. Indiana fended off the initial Michigan burst and were ready to hunker down and play a tight game... or so we thought.
Indiana cut it down to a 24-20 deficit following a Duncan Robinson three pointer with 9:05 left in the first half, and that is where the game completely got out of control for the Wolverines.
Hoosiers Go On Massive Run
It started with a Thomas Bryant layup, a Collin Hartman jumper, and then a Robert Johnson layup. All of a sudden Indiana had a two-point lead at 26-24 and what looked like early on could be a Michigan rout, was suddenly thrown out the window, but Indiana wasn’t done.
30-24, 32-24, 34-24, 36-24. The Hoosiers just wouldn’t let off the accelerator while the Wolverines just couldn’t hit the wide side of a barn. To close the half, Hartman, Yogi Ferrell, and Nick Zeisloft hit back-to-back-to-back three pointers to end the first half on a 25-0 run.
Michigan was completely “stunned” by what had just hit them, as Zak Irvin expressed after the game, while Tom Crean and Indiana were headed to the locker room with nothing but smiles on their faces and a 45-24 lead.
For good measure, Indiana came out of the half and hit another three, this time by OG Anunoby, to cap a 28-0 run that spanned 10:29 of game time.
Trading Second Half Baskets
The only thing John Beilein and the Wolverines could really hang their hat on while at halftime was the mantra of “if they can do it, so can we.” Well, that requires going on a run like Indiana did, and in the second half, there wasn’t much to separate the two teams.
The two sides basically traded baskets throughout the second half and any hope of a Michigan comeback fizzled out fairly quickly.
Michigan looked like they were ready to play in this one at the start, but once Indiana caught fire and went on their run, the Wolverines seemed to be so shocked that they had no answer.
They did finish the game on a 9-0 to make the score look more respectable, but that was with the backups in the game.
Sweet Homecoming For Bielfeldt
One of the biggest storylines leading up to this game was the return of former Michigan man, Max Bielfeldt who had played for the Wolverines from 2012-2015. He transferred to Indiana for his final season much to the chagrin of Beilein, however.
Bielfeldt came out before the game and reunited a bit with some of his former teammates, but once the game started, he was all business.
He came out to a nice applause when he checked in for the first time and promptly hit his first shot of the game, which just so happened to be a three pointer. He ended the game with just five points, but the win is what he has to feel most proud of.
Players of Note
Ferrell, who had a game high 17 points, led the Hoosiers while Robert Johnson, 16 points, and OG Anunoby, 11 points, also scored in double figures.
For Michigan, there wasn’t much to hang their hat on, but Zak Irvin finished with 16 while Duncan Robinson had 14.
What’s Next?
Indiana will travel to State College for a matchup with Penn State on Saturday night while Michigan will welcome in their in-state rival, Michigan State, on Saturday afternoon as well.