Michigan Storms Back From 20 to Beat Indiana: The Fallout

If you want a game recap, you can check one out. Here, we focus on more than that. The one thing I will say that is left out of the recap is the six missed free throws in overtime by the Hoosiers. Those all came before a few tack-on free throws by the Wolverines. Simply put, IU still should have won, if they could just hit their damn charity shots.

What is the fallout for each team?

Indiana

This game showed that the Hoosiers, no matter how hard they play, are simply not in the same league as the rest of the Big Ten this season in terms of talent. When you have a 20 point lead at home with only 18:46 left in the game, it should be in the bag.

The problem is that Indiana doesn't have the type of player who can take over and ensure the lead doesn't get blown -- like D.J. White could have. The leadership is lacking because no one who played significant minutes last year is back -- with all due respect to my boy, Kyle Taber. The talent is lacking because Tom Crean has basically had to start over.

Devan Dumes would be the closest thing at this point, but he was playing at Vincennes JuCo last year. Nick Williams and Verdell Jones could get there, but they are only freshman. Some freshman can learn to take on the load early in their careers, but those are dynamic NBA-type talents playing on teams who know how to win. Indiana's just not there yet.

This isn't like the last blown 20 point lead at home -- yes, it just happened in the last home game to Lipscomb. The young Hoosiers should take confidence away from this game in the fact that they were able to build a 20-point lead against a team as talented as Michigan.

As I've said before, hopefully the team can keep themselves into things mentally as the season progresses -- and the beat-downs add up -- because next year's recruiting class is an elite one. By this time next year the worm will have started to turn and by the 2010-2011 season, this will be a distant memory. Williams, Jones, Tom Pritchard, and others need to keep this in mind and keep chugging along.

Michigan

Simply put, you can't get down 20 points to Indiana if you want to remain in the thick of the Big Ten race. That would have been a devastating loss. That being said, they showed a will to win and battled back through the adversity of an awful first half. Now they'll get what should be a sure win at home against Iowa, and take a 3-1 league record into Illinois next week.

This is actually quite a significant movement for the young Wolverines. They are in year two of the John Beilein regime, and still growing. This game should be a stepping stone for them. Anytime they find themselves down on the road in the upcoming weeks, they'll remember this comeback and think they have a shot to comeback. Don't discount the mentality of a team, especially one still finding its way. With the talented DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris leading the way, a swagger could make this team very intriguing in late February and March.

Overall

As long as both teams focus on the positive, while trying to learn from the negative, this is one of those games where both teams should come away feeling better about themselves. They can look to build upon the effort. That means something different for both teams, obviously, but the message is the same.