Heading into Saturday, Michigan's NCAA Tournament resume looked pretty decent, save for two key spots: the Wolverines were under .500 in the Big Ten, and had no big road victories.Consider both problems taken care of. Claiming what was arguably its most clutch win in more than a decade, Michigan stormed back from a 12-point deficit at Minnesota and stunned the Gophers 67-64. The two teams basically swap spots in the Big Dance picture -- Michigan now looks like a pretty safe bet to get in, while Minnesota finds itself right on the border.
Michigan, 9-9 in the conference, will need at least one win at the Big Ten Tournament to feel totally secure -- especially given that the Wolverines could open with Iowa or Indiana, either one capable of delivering a "bad loss" to their case. Minnesota, also 9-9 but with two losses to Michigan, likely needs to find a way to get to the conference semifinals to make a strong case.
There's no use tap dancing around the fact that this was just a gigantic victory for Michigan, not only in the scheme of things this season, but for the program as a whole. Since last making the tournament in 1998 (a trip later vacated due to internal sanctions), Michigan has traversed just about every possible landmine in an attempt to revive itself. Time and time again, the Wolverines came up shy when they most needed a victory, but they finally broke through in Minneapolis.
It wasn't easy. Minnesota led 35-32 at halftime, and given that Tubby Smith had been 33-1 with the Gophers when leading at the break, the deck looked stacked in their favor. An early second-half run pushed the edge out to 51-39, and Minnesota looked on the verge of blowing Michigan out.
The Wolverines settled down, though, paced by huge performances from Lavel Lucas-Perry and DeShawn Sims, who scored 19 and 24 points, respectively. Michigan clawed back within 56-52, then took over the game when Minnesota's Damian Johnson headed to the bench with four fouls at the 8:14 mark.
Michigan took the lead at 59-58 with 5:02 left, then extended it to 67-62 in the game's final minute. Minnesota actually came within a split-second of tying things back up at 67 -- with Minnesota down 67-64, guard Lawrence Westbrook hit a three with four seconds left, but the make came right after Smith called for a timeout.
The Wolverines finished the regular season 19-12; Minnesota closed out at 21-9.
