Michigan Wolverines Basketball

Michigan Wolverines junior guard Charles Matthews helped seal Big Blue's Final Four victory over the No. 11 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Saturday with an emphatic dunk.

Matthews was all alone on a fast break with just over 1:30 remaining in the game, and he slammed one home to extend No. 3 Michigan's lead to 63-53.

The Wolverines went on to prevail 69-57.

Michigan overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to advance to Monday's national championship game against either Villanova or Kansas.

Matthews was Michigan's second-leading scorer in the game with 17 points, and he added five rebounds and three steals.

Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Duncan Robinson helped spur a comeback by the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines against the No. 11 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers with a clutch three-pointer in the second half of Saturday's Final Four clash at the Alamodome.

As seen in the following video, Robinson drained a trifecta that helped Michigan pull to within three points of Loyola near the midway point of the second half:

Michigan went on to complete the comeback, as it thoroughly outplayed the Ramblers down the stretch and prevailed 69-57.

Robinson finished with nine points off the bench, and Michigan remained undefeated in games in which he scores at least six points, according to the CBS broadcast.

Michigan will play the winner of Villanova vs. Kansas in Monday's National Championship Game.

LOS ANGELES — As the seconds wane toward another Michigan win, Jordan Poole jumps with each tick of the clock. When the buzzer sounds, he bounces across the court, accosting every teammate he encounters with a high-five or a hug. Against Houston in the round of 32, Poole's buzzer-beater was the reason Michigan survived to play in the second weekend of the 2018 NCAA tournament. In the Wolverines' Elite Eight victory over Florida State, he spent all but two minutes on the bench. But the way he streaks around the floor, you'd think he's the team's MVP.

In some ways, he is. The boundless energy on display in this celebration is matched only by the tireless work ethic of a player who has climbed from the last spot in the rotation to become one of Michigan's first guards off the bench, coaches and teammates say. The confidence he carries with him onto the court is contagious, and it means far more than the minutes and points he provides. "He's always happy," assistant coach DeAndre Haynes says. "He's always making people laugh. He helps us play loose. He's the life of this team."

Michigan is a program powered primarily by upperclassmen, and it's rare for a freshman to have this kind of impact. Even rarer when that freshman's path to this point has been so fraught. A top-100 recruit, Poole arrived in Ann Arbor expecting to see the court right away. Instead, he found himself on the scout team for the first few months of the season. At times, his outspoken nature put him on a collision course with his coaches. But as the season wore on, Poole and his coaches worked together to find his perfect place.

As the Wolverines gather on the dais to receive the West Regional trophy, Poole places himself right next to John Beilein, throwing his left arm around his head coach. On the bus to the airport a few hours later, he and Beilein meet in the aisle for a dance battle. With smartphones behind them serving as spotlights, the 18-year-old Poole and the 65-year-old Beilein shimmy their shoulders and throw their hands up to the tune of "I Bet You Won't" by Mouse On Tha Track for about 15 seconds. Then the two meet in the middle, high-fiving and smiling.

Must see footage of Coach Beilein and Jordan Poole with the Bus dance off! #GoBlue @umichbball #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/Iu9YpUnAVs

— Jon Sanderson (@CampSanderson) March 25, 2018

Beilein knows moments like these can matter as much as an instruction about defensive hand placement in practice. And he knows how important this freshman will be for the Wolverines' chances in the Final Four, no matter how many minutes he played Saturday against Florida State.

"Obviously," Beilein says, "we wouldn't be here without him."

---

"I was pissed," Poole says. Before Michigan's formal practices began, a group of Wolverines players would gather for open-gym scrimmages in early summer. In open gym, rules are relaxed and players call their own fouls. During one early game, junior center Moe Wagner had flagged Poole on consecutive possessions for a pair of infractions that the freshman would later describe as "little baby fouls." On the next trip down the floor, Poole jockeyed with junior forward Brent Hibbitts for a rebound. When Hibbitts leapt to gather the miss, Poole pushed him in midair. And when Hibbitts called the obvious foul, Poole collected the ball and hurled it at his teammate.

Hibbitts got in Poole's face. Poole pushed him. Hibbitts pushed back. As they were about to come to blows, teammates pulled them apart. The game continued, but the message was sent. Poole didn't even know all of his teammates' names yet, but he had communicated clearly to each of them that no matter the place or the opponent, he would be fearless.

Poole was raised that way. His father, Anthony, was a multisport athlete at Chicago's famous Simeon Career Academy, and he went on to play football at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. When Anthony and his wife, Monet, settled in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, he started running Sunday afternoon pickup hoops games at the local Lutheran church. He'd bring Jordan with him and insist that his son, starting in first grade, shoot with an NBA ball on a regulation 10-foot rim.

Jordan's first basketball memories are frustrations, but his father soon enough formed a nationally recognized AAU team, Wisconsin Playground Warriors, around him. And Jordan was consistently swishing three-pointers before middle school.

Although Anthony was his coach, Jordan never got a pass. Once, on the drive home from a tournament in middle school, Anthony was especially harsh with his son. "You played terrible," he recalls telling Jordan. "If you want to just be like every other kid and just have fun, that's fine. But if you want to play in the NBA, you won't make it playing like you did this weekend. You'd be lucky to play overseas."

When they got home, Jordan jumped out of the car, ran into his room and slammed the door. The next day, Anthony found a note pinned to the frame. It read: "You have talent and you MIGHT be able to go OVERSEAS. Not the NBA. Overseas." For a few weeks, that was his only communication with his dad. Anthony didn't mind. He and Monet had raised their son to be respectful but to challenge everything. If he thought he deserved a better grade than he received on a paper, they'd encourage him to meet with the teacher. If he was called for a foul he didn't think he deserved, they encouraged him to ask for an explanation from the official. When his private middle school insisted its students wear pants as part of their uniforms, Jordan rolled his pant legs up so he would be in full compliance but still stand out. "I looked at him like, Why?" Anthony says. "But that's the way we raised him. Jordan is not afraid to be himself."

At Rufus King International High School in Milwaukee, Poole broke the mold in basketball in a number of ways. First, he made varsity as a freshman, something only two other first-year players had achieved under longtime head coach Jim Gosz. And second, he started to roll his shorts up—the signature look he rocks to this day at Michigan. "My first pair looked like parachute pants," he says. "They were awful. But by my junior year, I'd started a little short-shorts revolution, and almost everyone locked into the look."

Before the start of his junior year, he committed to Michigan in front of a crowd of a few hundred at his high school. Beilein had extended Poole the Wolverines' first offer in the class of 2017 after a summer workout Gosz hosted. The high school coach loved Beilein's offense and thought his pupil would be a perfect fit. After advising the Pooles to accept the offer, they canceled workouts scheduled for other college coaches.

When Poole jumped to La Lumiere School in Indiana for his senior season, playing alongside highly coveted recruits like Michigan State big man Jaren Jackson Jr., high-major offers continued to roll in. But Poole never wavered. In fact, he began to offer previews of what Michigan fans could expect from him. In an interview, he promised to make Michigan known for "savagery" in his freshman season—a thinly veiled clap back at Illinois forward Maverick Morgan's remark that Michigan was "white collar." And on the court, he accepted a role coming off the bench to help lead La Lumiere to a Dick's high school national championship.

"He can start pretty much anywhere in the country, and he probably should be starting for us," his head coach, Shane Heirman (who's now an assistant at DePaul), said at the time. "But for him to accept that role for us coming off the bench is an incredible testament to his character."

Poole brought the same level of self-assurance to Ann Arbor, which prompted that initial scuffle with Hibbitts and Wagner.

In the locker room after that incident, Hibbitts approached Poole, and the two shook hands and exchanged phone numbers. Soon after, they discovered they shared a lot of the same interests, and now they talk all the time and play Fortnite together. And a few weeks later, before the start of the season, they started a team of their own: the drip boys.

---

During intrasquad scrimmages, Michigan's players are often divided into Blue (the starters) and Maize (the backups). But after practice, they're organized by whether or not they're members of the drip boys. The club consists of Poole, Hibbitts, freshman guard Eli Brooks, freshman forward Isaiah Livers and sophomore wing Ibi Watson.

The drip club was born one day after practice when Poole and Watson walked out of the showers at the same time and noticed how their haircuts—buzzed sides with big afros above—dripped water in the same way. Drip is also another word for swag, so they knew the club's membership had to be exclusive.

"We told Isaiah to join us," Poole says. "We were like, 'We're about to start a movement.' And then we all looked and saw that Eli looks like us, too. We got the same hairstyle. So we said, 'We're the drip boys.' But then we thought: 'Oh, we have to add a little diversity to the team. Who's got swag in their own little way?' We had a couple applications, but we looked at [Hibbitts] and thought it'd be best to bring him."

About a month ago, before Michigan's final road game of the regular season at Maryland, Beilein was leading the team through a film session when he paused on a shot of Hibbitts. He asked how the drip boys were doing. As the team laughed, some of the drip boys also realized that Coach B, as they affectionately call him, might be more aware than he regularly reveals.

At first, Poole and Beilein butted heads. Like most other highly touted recruits, Poole expected playing time right away. But he totaled just 13 minutes during the Wolverines' first six games. "Not playing after you've worked so hard all the way up to this point, it's one of the most awful feelings I've ever gone through," Poole says. "I would wish that on nobody."

To cope, he'd talk to his father, his former coaches and Michigan's coaches, hunting for ways to improve and earn more minutes. He became particularly close with Haynes, a first-year assistant with the Wolverines. Haynes would regularly remind Poole that the only thing he could control was his effort level in practice. And he promised Poole that he could work his way up from the end of the bench to becoming the team's sixth man.

Early on, Haynes worried the lack of playing time would shake the freshman's confidence. But he quickly came to the same realization that every coach who's ever worked with Poole has had: It's impossible to shake him.

"He drove you crazy sometimes," Gosz says. "But you could chew his ass out in a timeout, and he'd be fine with you by the time you broke the huddle. He's really resilient. Nothing bothers him. Whenever he steps on the court, he always feels like he's the best player."

He also makes every situation a little more entertaining. When he's in the layup line, he'll shoot his shot and then roll on the floor like he's been fouled and bounce up like he's demanding an and-1. After he makes a three-pointer, which he's doing at a 38.8 percent clip this season, he'll shake his shoulders. When music is playing in the locker room—whether it's Quavo or Chris Stapleton—he's the first to start shuffling his feet. And in games, he's made the most of every minute he's on the court.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to #WhyJumpWednesday. 😱@umichbball freshman @JordanPoole_2 snatches a defender's soul on this slam, and it's a #BTNStandout Presented by @Discover: pic.twitter.com/GVB64H6GbU

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 22, 2018

As the season has worn on, he has endeared himself to teammates who might not have gotten the best first impression. "He's like everyone's little brother," Hibbitts says. Adds sophomore guard Zavier Simpson, "Everybody needs a dude like him on their team." Says Livers, his roommate and frequent Snapchat documentarian, "Jordan is the kind of guy you want on your side when you're going to war."

By the last dozen games of the regular season, Poole was averaging almost 16 minutes a game—a signal that he'd started to win over his coaches, too. "He's got a lot of confidence, and he'll tell you about it, too," Beilein says. "He's not afraid to speak his mind. And he's a wonderful young man who's growing every day. It really can be fun to watch his growth over his time at Michigan."

For his part, Poole says this season has helped him mature in a way that nothing in his life ever has. But through it all, he never lost the element of his game that has always mattered most. "I never doubted myself," Poole says. "No matter what the situation was, I was going to keep working. I knew if it wasn't for this year, then it'd be for next year. And I was always going to find a way to get better. If you ever lack confidence, that's when things go downhill. If you keep your confidence, good things come."

---

When Poole was a freshman at Rufus King, he played hardly any minutes. But in a state sectional final playoff game, Gosz put him in with 11 seconds to go and his team down by three. Poole hit a game-tying three from the right wing, and King went on to win.

When Poole was a senior at La Lumiere, he hit a game-winning shot from the same spot against national powerhouse Montverde (Florida) Academy.

In the weeklong break between the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament, Michigan's players competed against one another in an intrasquad scrimmage to stay fresh. Poole was on the Maize team, and they were trailing by a wide margin in the closing minutes of the first half. But before the period ended, Poole hit a half-court shot. And on the final play of the game, Poole sunk another three from the same spot to defeat the starters.

"Hitting big shots isn't just what he does," Haynes says. "It's who he is."

A few moments before his fateful shot against Houston, the Cougars had appeared poised to seal the game. With a two-point lead, senior forward Devin Davis was preparing for a pair of free throws when his teammate, Rob Gray, locked eyes with Poole and asked Michigan's freshman where he was from. Poole replied, "Milwaukee."

"You're about to go back there," Gray told him.

Seconds later, Davis' free throws both clanked out, and Poole was splaying his legs and arching his arms, launching the game-winner and sending Gray back home. And more than a week later, Poole and his teammates are still riding the wave of joy they felt then, which sent them sprinting and smiling across the court.

But Poole would prefer that his shot not be remembered in isolation. He'd rather it be remembered for helping the Wolverines avoid elimination en route to their second national championship.

For his legacy at Michigan to be more than just one shining moment.

LOS ANGELES — Over and over again Saturday night, a Michigan player would square up for an open three-point look, and the Wolverines faithful would rise to their feet with an early cheer. And over and over again, as the ball clanked off the rim, the fans would slink back into their seats with a sigh. In its Sweet 16 matchup against Texas A&M, Michigan had seemed almost incapable of missing. But against Florida State in the Elite Eight, the Wolverines weren't as fortunate. And yet, when the final buzzer sounded, the Wolverines were winners of the West Regional, with tickets booked for San Antonio.

Through two games at the Staples Center, Michigan showed not just why it belongs in the Final Four, but also why it is such a threat to cut down another set of nets: These Wolverines can win in so many different ways.

Against Texas A&M on Thursday night, Michigan scored 52 first-half points en route to a 27-point thrashing of the Aggies. The Wolverines shot 61.9 percent from the floor and an astonishing 58.3 percent from the three, and the 99-72 win was the most potent offensive performance of any team in this NCAA men's tournament outside of No. 1 seed Xavier's 102-83 win against No. 16 seed Texas Southern in the opening round. Five players—including senior guard Duncan Robinson off the bench—scored in double figures. The story Saturday night was quite a bit different.

Against the Seminoles, the Wolverines went the final five minutes and 46 seconds of the opening period without a made field goal, and they managed just 27 first-half points. But they held Florida State to 26 and went to the locker room with a similar level of confidence as they'd had against the Aggies.

In the second half, they built leads as large as 10 points, but the Seminoles stuck around. It wasn't until Robinson's dagger at the 2:26 mark that Michigan was able to get enough breathing room to knock off the Noles, 58-54. 

"I've never seen a team work so hard and be so connected on both ends of the floor, even when things do not go right on the offensive end," Michigan coach John Beilein told reporters after the game. "They were exceptional on defense. We had that string of plays where Moe [Wagner] was wide open, Charles [Matthews] is wide open, Duncan [Robinson] was wide open, and they didn't go down and sulk at the other end. They ended up just playing better defense so that we could win the game."

Michigan held the Seminoles to 32.0 percent shooting from the floor and 23.5 percent shooting from three. The Wolverines forced 15 turnovers and netted 12 points off them. "We have a bunch of talented defensive players that really care," said assistant coach Luke Yaklich. "And when you care and have talent and have grit, that'll take you where we are right now."

Beilein has been at the helm for Michigan since 2007, but he has never been known as a defensive coach. Before this season, his best defensive team was the 2013 squad that finished 37th in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com, and wound up the national runner-up. This year's team is No. 3 in efficiency, making it the stingiest defense remaining in this NCAA tournament.

And Yaklich is the main reason for the improvement. Two years ago, Beilein lost two assistants to head coaching vacancies, and he decided to hire a defensive-minded coach in Billy Donlon. When Donlon left this offseason for Northwestern, Beilein spent six weeks evaluating Yaklich, whose background was as a high school basketball coach and teacher, and who had been working at Illinois State. And when Beilein finally brought Yaklich on board, he handed his new assistant the keys to the defense.

"I said, you know what, we had gotten to the NCAA tournament, but our defense was not terrific," Beilein said. "We made it by outshooting people, that's when I said, you know what, I know what I know, and I know what I don't know. I want to hire somebody that thinks differently than me and prioritizes defense."

No Michigan players are spouting cliches like "defense wins championships," but there's a palpable sense of confidence in the locker room that comes from knowing they can excel at one aspect of the game every night, as long as they give enough effort. "We can't control if shots go in or not, but we got to control our energy and effort," said junior guard Charles Matthews, who finished with a game-high 17 points. "And we did that on the defensive end."

At the beginning of the season, the Wolverines were quite literally an afterthought: In the preseason poll, they were relegated to the "others receiving votes" section. But now they are riding a 13-game winning streak and will be the heavy favorites in Saturday night's national semifinal matchup with the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers. Over and over again, this team has found has found ways to win. And now it's two games away from giving the Wolverine faithful something to celebrate for years.

The third-seeded Michigan Wolverines are moving on to the Elite Eight of the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament following a 99-72 victory over the seventh-seeded Texas A&M Aggies on Thursday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

It's the third time in John Beilein's 11 seasons as the head coach the Wolverines have reached the regional final.

Michigan will meet either the No. 4 Gonzaga Bulldogs or No. 9 Florida State Seminoles in the next round.

Moritz Wagner had the hot hand, scoring 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting and making all three of his three-pointers. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored a game-high 24 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Zavier Simpson was a nightmare for Texas A&M, finishing with six steals and five assists. 

Michigan took control right from start, opening the game with a 22-8 run before taking a 52-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The first half couldn't have gone much worse for Texas A&M. The Aggies turned the ball over 10 times and allowed the Wolverines to shoot 57.1 percent from the field. Michigan was also 10-of-16 from beyond the arc.

Those 10 turnovers played a big role in Texas A&M's poor defense. The Wolverines hammered the Aggies in transition and scored 15 points off turnovers through the first half.

It's exactly what Michigan needed to find its shooting stroke after the team made just 39.7 percent of its field-goal attempts and 28.3 percent of its three-point attempts in their first two games of the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines came into the game 99th in the country in three-point percentage (36.4) this season.

Both CBSSports.com's Tom Fornelli and the Detroit Free Press' Nick Baumgardner thought Texas A&M offered a helping hand with its lack of effort on the defensive end:

A&M’s defensive strategy of “just give them more wide open looks they’ll miss eventually” is sketchy at best.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) March 23, 2018

Michigan couldn't be more open if it tried. Just burying everything.

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) March 23, 2018

While some Wolverines fans were likely content to see Michigan up 24 points at the half, New York Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. wanted to see his alma mater put the Aggies to the sword:

RUN THEM OUT THE GYM

— Tim Hardaway Jr (@T_HardJR) March 23, 2018

Texas A&M started off the second half well offensively, hitting seven of its first 10 shots. Despite that, the Aggies were unable to significantly eat into their deficit. By the time Tonny Trocha-Morelos connected on a three-pointer with 14:35 left in the game, Texas A&M still trailed 66-44.

For all intents and purposes, the game was over at halftime. Michigan cooled off a bit but not to the extent it opened a door for the Aggies to come back. In general, Texas A&M wasn't built to score a high volume of points in a short amount of time, either.

The Aggies came into the game tied for 133rd in scoring (75.3 points per game) and 110th in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.com.

A&M fans will be underwhelmed by the way the season ended, but two trips to the Sweet 16 in three seasons is a sign head coach Billy Kennedy has the program going in the right direction. Texas A&M only loses two players to graduation, so the Aggies are positioned well in 2018-19.

Entering the NCAA tournament, many identified the Wolverines as a team that could make a deep run based on their nine-game winning streak—Michigan was peaking at the right time. 

Texas A&M, however, illustrated how all of that momentum can be undone in one game. The Aggies had won five of their previous six games before Thursday, a stretch that included an 86-65 demolition of the second-seeded defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels. But things quickly went off the rails for A&M against Michigan, and there was no coming back.

Michigan looked great Thursday, but the Wolverines could have their hands full with Gonzaga or Florida State, especially if their shooting regresses to where it was for the bulk of this season.

Comedian and director Jordan Peele is fresh off winning the best original screenplay Oscar for Get Out at the 90th Academy Awards. But he's also receiving plaudits for hitting a game-winning shot for Michigan at the NCAA Men's Division I tournament:

https://twitter.com/JordanPeele/status/975491332595580928

That credit, of course, should be going to Jordan Poole, Michigan's freshman guard, whose buzzer-beater sent the No. 3 Wolverines to the Sweet 16 over the No. 6 Houston Cougars on Saturday. Poole doesn't seem too bothered by people confusing him with Peele, however:

https://twitter.com/JordanPoole_2/status/975515267773206528

It's just the latest surreal moment for Poole.

"After the shot went in, I didn't know it went in," he told Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com. "I looked at the bench. I was always thinking if I hit a shot like that, I didn't want to get tackled. So I was kind of trying to avoid everybody, but I gave up and they tackled me, and it was an amazing experience."    

For Jordan Poole, Saturday's buzzer-beater against the Houston Cougars was a case of deja vu.

As Overtime noted on Twitter, the Michigan Wolverines freshman hit an identical game-winner at La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. Not only did Poole call for the ball on the right wing just as he did in Saturday's 64-63 win, but he kicked his legs out in the same fashion before falling to the floor:

Michigan's Jordan Poole has been hitting game winners since HIGH SCHOOL 🚨 @JordanPoole_2 @umichbball @LaLuBasketball pic.twitter.com/QiXQuOBRb0

— Overtime (@overtime) March 18, 2018

The only difference this time around? Poole's clutch bucket was accompanied by a celebration for the ages:

The Wolverines will now set out for Los Angeles as they prepare for a Sweet 16 showdown in the West Regional against either No. 2 North Carolina or No. 7 Texas A&M.

Jordan Poole wanted the ball with a chance to send the Michigan Wolverines to the Sweet 16, and he got his wish Saturday night. 

With the Wolverines trailing by two and time winding down, Poole received a pass from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman on the right wing and drilled a long three-pointer as time expired to hand the Wolverines a stunning 64-63 win over the Houston Cougars at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas: 

Speaking to reporters after the thrilling finish, Poole said he had complete confidence in his ability to convert the game-winning look. 

"I was thirsty. Definitely thirsty," the freshman told reporters, according to the Detroit Free Press. "I've been hitting shots like that in practice all year. I just feel like I always want to take it in a situation like that at the end of the game. My teammates are constantly telling me I got ice in my veins, so I definitely was thirsty." 

Thanks to Poole's heroics, the third-seeded Wolverines will make their way to Los Angeles for a West Regional semifinal. They'll square off against either No. 2 North Carolina or No. 7 Texas A&M with a spot in the Elite Eight up for grabs. 

Freshman Jordan Poole hit a game-winning three-pointer with no time left as the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines came back to defeat the No. 6 Houston Cougars 64-63 in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in Wichita, Kansas.

Holding a 63-61 lead with 3.9 seconds remaining, Houston forward Devin Davis went to the free-throw line for two shots, but he missed both. Michigan rebounded the ball and called timeout, leading to the final play:

MICHIGAN IS DOING MARCH RIGHT.#MarchMadness https://t.co/VHC9TNfDiT

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 18, 2018

Mike Hall of the Big Ten Network summed up the moment (and the entire tournament to this point) rather well:

Poole!!!!! THIS TOURNAMENT IS OUT OF ITS FREAKIN MIND

— Mike Hall (@MikeHallHere) March 18, 2018

It was a remarkable moment for Poole, who had made just three of 14 field goals in his last four games prior to the Houston matchup. The 6'4" guard played 11 minutes on the night and scored eight points.

In a postgame interview, Michigan head coach John Beilein said Poole has "an overdose of swag." That confidence undoubtedly helped Poole on his deep attempt, which sent the Wolverines to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year. Four Wolverines scored in double digits, led by 12 from Moritz Wagner and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Houston Cougars, who finished their season with a 27-8 record. While Davis missed two free throws at the end, UH would not have gotten to that point without his strong performance, as the senior posted 17 points and seven rebounds. Rob Gray led the Cougars with 23 points and 10 boards.

Chris Herring of ESPN/FiveThirtyEight even argued that Houston was the better team on this night:

Houston deserved to win that game, by the way. They outplayed Michigan the entire game, and proved to be just as good if not better. Free throws, tho.

— Chris Herring (@Herring_NBA) March 18, 2018

Neither school led by more than six points throughout the game, and the lead changed hands five times in the last four minutes. As Seth Davis of CBS Sports noted, the game featured a back-and-forth theme for its entirety:

Game had 12 ties and 17 lead changes. Besides that .... ZZZzzzz

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 18, 2018

A three-point play from Davis gave UH a 60-59 lead with 2:07 left, but Wagner hit a layup to steal the lead back for Michigan with 1:41 remaining.

Davis hit three free throws down the stretch, leading to a game-tying layup attempt from Abdur-Rahkman with 10 seconds left. That shot rimmed out, Houston was fouled, and the rest is history.

Michigan advances to the Sweet 16 and will play the winner of No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Texas A&M on Thursday, March 22, in Los Angeles, California.

          

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NEW YORK — A few seconds before the final scheduled media timeout in the Big Ten tournament title game, a few specks of maize-colored confetti began drifting down from the ceiling to the court. With four minutes left to play, the party was premature. But not by much.

From start to finish Sunday afternoon, Michigan dominated Purdue, finishing with a resounding 75-66 win and a second consecutive conference tournament crown.

By the middle of the first half, it seemed Michigan was in full control. The Wolverines went to the locker room with just a single-digit lead but with the feeling it would have been much larger if not for some uncharacteristically poor outside shooting. "We were lucky to be down five at halftime," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said after the game.

In the second half, the Boilermakers weren't as fortunate, as the Wolverines improved their three-point percentage from 27.3 percent to 41.7 percent and led by as many as 18 points.

There was no dagger, but instead a death by dozens of cuts. There were the back-to-back threes by junior star Moritz Wagner with 13 and 12 minutes left, respectively. The second was a twisting, fadeaway swish that brought the Wolverines faithful to their feet.

Then there was the Jon Teske poster. The sophomore 7-footer had come into the game averaging 3.3 points but finished with 14, including the dunk over Isaac Haas that will no doubt loop repeatedly through the Wolverines' NCAA tournament run.

The result was so certain by the closing minutes of the second half that, at the under-four-minute media timeout, Painter sent his squad back out on to the floor 30 seconds early rather than remain in a perfunctory huddle.

After the game, Michigan players were able to do something no Big Ten tournament champion has been able to in 20 years: celebrate and savor the accomplishment.

As they slipped into their ceremonial T-shirts and hats and stepped on to the ladder to cut the net, there was a sense of satisfaction that would in any other year have been overshadowed by anticipation for the NCAA tournament selection show.

From a ratings and media coverage perspective, commissioner Jim Delany's decision to move the tournament up a week and into Madison Square Garden seemed to be a success. But the reaction of fans, coaches and players was mixed.

When Delany walked to the dais to hand the trophy to Michigan head coach John Beilein, he was greeted by overwhelming boos from the fans still in attendance. And when Beilein was asked about the moves, he expressed mixed emotions.

"In a perfect world it would be great [to be playing in the NCAA tournament this week]," he said. "But to play in this arena and in front of that crowd, which I feel was very pro-Michigan, that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We'll take it."

It's no wonder Beilein would prefer to keep playing right away. His team is among the hottest and most confident in the country. After beating the Boilermakers, the Wolverines became the only team in the Big Ten to beat each of its conferences foes. And overall, they are in the midst of a nine-game winning streak that has lasted three full weeks.

After an overtime win against Iowa on Thursday, the Wolverines easily vanquished their remaining three opponents, including archrival Michigan State in the semifinals Saturday.

"Playing four games in four days, you kind of establish a certain rhythm with how you prepare for games," Wagner said. "That'll be helpful going into the NCAA weekend."

Another thing that will be helpful is the Wolverines' vastly improved defense. Beilein has never been renowned for that side of the ball. Before this season, the best defensive side in his 11-year tenure had been the 2013 Final Four team, which finished 37th in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com. This year's squad is No. 6 and almost guaranteed to rise after this result against Purdue.

On offense, they're beautifully balanced, with a star in Wagner but another six rotations players behind him who each boast an offensive rating over 100.

After the game, Beilein talked a little about the future—he said he planned to give his players some rest before getting on the practice court.

He reminded them, and the media, many great NCAA tournament teams—such as Gonzaga, Butler and Wichita State—have started runs toward the Final Four after more than a week of rest. But mostly, he tried to stay rooted in the present and in the win, which proved not to be much of a challenge because he was drenched and shivering from a postgame Gatorade shower.

"It's just about today," he said. "We'll take tomorrow like tomorrow. There won't be any thoughts about what's next. The NCAA will put us in a good bracket. We'll do everything we can to win one practice at a time to win one game at a time. If we're still around in San Antonio, we'll be delighted."

For once, for a Big Ten team, all that's left to do is wait.