Iowa and Michigan both harbored hopes of an NCAA Tournament bid entering their Friday quarterfinal in the Big Ten tournament.
Now they can only hope that the television was broken in the selection committee’s room so its members couldn’t see the game they played.
Michigan won 79-70 at Conseco Fieldhouse to gain a Saturday semifinal with Illinois. But even as they surely doomed the Hawkeyes (16-12) to the NIT, the Wolverines (18-10) didn’t distinguish themselves or prove themselves particularly fit for the big postseason stage.
“Certainly, coming into this game, both teams recognized the importance of it and I think both teams played that way,” Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. “I thought both teams were very desperate in their approach and then we had to hold on obviously for dear life to hold off their late charge.”
His Wolverines did have enough to fend off the Hawkeyes, who closed from 15 down with 5 minutes 11 seconds remaining to trail by only four at 2:42. But during that stretch, Michigan frittered away its lead while bereft of basketball sense.
Michigan had taken over the game at the start of the second half when Iowa settled into a packed zone to protect its foul-plagued front line, daring the Wolverines to shoot from the outside. And that is just what they did with Dion Harris (23 points) and Lester Abram (19 points) serving as triggermen.
Harris hit a three-pointer at 17:41 and then another at 17:13. Then Abram hit a three at 16:06 and another at 15:11. Harris hit another at 12:44 and one more at 12:06 to put Michigan up a comfortable 21 points.
“We probably had to play too much zone,” Hawkeyes coach Steve Alford later admitted.
But even after he switched back to man, his team couldn’t catch the Wolverines and still trailed by 15 with just more than five minutes remaining.
Then the Wolverines exposed their warts for all to see.
Michigan wavered in the face of Iowa’s zone press and turned the ball over. It rushed its offense when caution and patience were needed. And, most importantly, it lost sight of Hawkeyes guard Pierre Pierce.
Pierce, who finished with 28 points, threw his team onto his shoulders and brought Iowa back to within four with a free throw with just less than three minutes left.
“I thought we were tentative, which is something you don’t want to be when you’re trying to close a game out,” Amaker said.
Nor is it what you want to be when trying to earn an NCAA tournament invitation.
The Wolverines made nine of their 10 free throws in the last 1:22 (and 28 of 35 for the game) to seal the win but still guaranteed themselves nothing.
“We want to win tomorrow,” Harris said, clearly recognizing this. “Then we’ll let the rest take care of itself.”
