ANN ARBOR, Mich. —
Michigan had a chance to earn a share of the Big Ten title and give two rivals a piece of it, too.
The Wolverines, though, wilted with a five-point lead in the final minute.
Cody Zeller made a go-ahead layup with 13 seconds left and altered Trey Burke's shot at the other end, lifting No. 2 Indiana to a 72-71 victory over No. 7 Michigan on Sunday that gave the Hoosiers their first outright Big Ten title in two decades.
"This really hurts," Burke said. "This was for a championship."
The Hoosiers (26-5, 14-4) trailed 71-66 with 52 seconds remaining but took advantage when the Wolverines (25-6, 12-6) were unable to seal it at the foul line.
Jordan Morgan also had a fairly easy tip-in attempt of Burke's miss that could have won it for Michigan, but the ball rolled tantalizingly around the rim and off.
"It just hung there," Burke said.
Christian Watford got to the final rebound - Indiana had 23 more boards than Michigan - with 4 seconds left and threw it back in bounds to Zeller, ending the game.
"I'm glad that didn't end up being the last game of our season because it would have been a tough one to take," Wolverines coach John Beilein said. "We play on Thursday, and it would be special if we can win the Big Ten tournament, but if we can get a few games in, it will make us better. And then comes the granddaddy of them all. That's when you have to be at your best."
Michigan had other opportunities to win Sunday, and two other teams surely wish the Wolverines had.
Ohio State, which beat Illinois on Sunday, needed an Indiana loss to earn a share of the conference championship as did Michigan State, which beat Northwestern later in the night.
When the Hoosiers finished off Michigan and the teams shook hands along the sideline, Indiana coach Tom Crean and Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer, a former Hoosiers assistant, had a heated exchange.
"I'm not talking about any of that," Crean said. "Ask him."
A message seeking comment from Meyer was left with a Michigan spokesman.
The Wolverines will be the fifth-seeded team in this week's Big Ten tournament, opening against 12th-seeded Penn State in the opening round. If Michigan avoids losing to the Nittany Lions again, it will face fourth-seeded Wisconsin in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The Wolverines were a minute away from winning back-to-back Big Ten titles for the first time since the 1985 and 1986 seasons.
Morgan made a tiebreaking putback with 1:35 left, teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. followed with a layup on Michigan's next possession and Glen Robinson III made the first of two free throws with 52 seconds to go, giving the Wolverines a 71-66 lead.
After Zeller made a shot on the ensuing possession, Hardaway missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Zeller then connected on two free throws and Burke couldn't convert at the line, missing the front end of another haunting 1-and-1.
"This game wasn't blown on the free throw line," Beilein insisted. "Those two are our leaders, and they've won a lot of games for us. We're never going to put this on them."
Zeller hit another big shot down low, the one that counted most in a game Indiana might have needed to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers will be the top-seeded team at this week's Big Ten tournament in Chicago.
Burke and Indiana's Victor Oladipo, both of whom are Big Ten and national player of the year candidates, struggled to make shots all game at Crisler Center.
Zeller, meanwhile, made sure no one forgot about him with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Oladipo had 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting and a career-high 13 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
"We gave up 24 offensive rebounds," Hardaway said. "That's a disgrace."
Burke finished with 20 points on 7-of-20 shooting after scoring just four points by halftime.
"I was trying to make plays that weren't there," he said.
Robinson had 13 points, Nik Stauskas scored 10 of his 12 in the first half and Hardaway had 11. The Wolverines were 7 of 13 at the foul line.
Indiana, looking as though it didn't want to give any other team a piece of the Big Ten championship, got off to a strong start and led 10-3 when Yogi Ferrell's field goal followed a pair of 3-pointers from Jordan Hulls.
The Wolverines took control in the first half with a 12-0 run, but faded toward halftime and led 33-30 after 20 minutes.
Michigan was ahead by as many as 11 points - matching the biggest lead any team has had against the Hoosiers - and looked as though it was going to be on the winning end of a closely contested game until it simply could not make key free throws or stop Zeller.
"There was a strong belief (in a comeback), but obviously they had to miss some shots with the free throws to make that happen and they did," Crean said.
The "Z" Watch
No. 7 Michigan loses to No. 2 Indiana, 72-71
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IU still working towards sixth banner
Monday night in Atlanta, Louisville won the school’s first National Championship since the year I was born - 1986. This accomplishment is significant to Indiana basketball fans, because the last two times the Cardinals cut down the nets (1980, 1986), the Hoosiers did it the following year. The stat, of course means nothing, other than both schools had strong programs in the 1980s.
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Zeller declares for NBA
Indiana’s Cody Zeller turned down one chance to play in the NBA. He couldn’t say no twice.
The 7-foot sophomore center who returned to school last fall for one more shot at a national championship announced Wednesday he is leaving college early to enter the NBA draft. The reason was simple. -
Washington shows support for Zeller
Washington residents don’t get to see Tyler Zeller much these days, but for one night, he was back in Indiana.
Zeller, along with his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates played the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, much to the enjoyment of more than a hundred Washington residents that made the two-hour trip to Indianapolis. -
Zeller scores 18, but Pacers beat Cavs 99-94
For the first 43 minutes Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, it looked like a great homecoming for former Washington Hatchet - now Cleveland Cavalier - Tyler Zeller. The final five belonged to the Indiana Pacers.
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Oladipo, Zeller named All-Americans
Statistics through March 17
First Team
Trey Burke, Michigan, 6-0, 190, sophomore, Columbus, Ohio, 19.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 6.7 apg, 40.1 3-pt fg pct, 1.6 steals, 35.2 minutes (62 first-team votes, 319 total points)
Otto Porter Jr., Georgetown, 6-8, 205, sophomore, Morley, Mo., 16.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 42.7 3 pt-fg pct, 1.9 steals, 35.3 minutes (62, 319)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana, 6-5, 214, junior, Upper Marlboro, Md., 13.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 59.9 fg pct, 44.3 3-pt fg pct, 2.2 steals (58, 306)
Doug McDermott, Creighton, 6-8, 225, junior, Ames, Iowa, 23.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 56.1 fg pct, 49.7 3-pt fg pct, 86.0 ft pct (44, 279)
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga, 7-0, 238, junior, Kamloops, British Columbia, 17.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 65.2 fg pct (47, 278) -
Hoosiers look ahead after disappointing finish
Indiana left Washington in a dour mood.
Tom Crean knows his team can't afford to let it linger if it intends to continue chasing another national championship banner. -
Turnovers spell disaster for No. 1 Indiana
Nineteen turnovers. Sixteen baskets. A season-low 50 points.
Top-seed Indiana had no answer for the 2-3 zone of Syracuse, and now the Hoosiers are heading home after a 61-50 loss Thursday night bounced them from the NCAA tournament. -
Indiana can't solve Syracuse zone in Sweet 16
It took winning a national title for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim to get over a late-shot loss to Indiana the last time the schools faced off in the NCAA tournament.
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Top four seeds left in East Region
Yelps of support and echoing applause greeted the voice booming over the loudspeakers Wednesday at the scheduled start of practice for the East Regional's fourth seed: "Coached by Jim Boeheim, please welcome the Syracuse Orange!"
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Basketball is a king's sport in Indiana
Indiana athletic director Fred Glass must be ready for the game each time he goes out.
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