MICHIGAN BASKETBALL
framed jerseys for them to remem-
ber. They'd have swapped them in
a heartbeat for the chance to play
that night, and beyond into one last
NCAA Tournament, but they discov-
ered life and college basketball don't
always work that way.
MICHIGAN STELLAR
IN CLOSE GAMES
Finding one trait Michigan could
thump its chest about this year was
a chore. The Wolverines weren't
very good defensively, streaky at
best shooting the ball (38.4 percent
from long range entering the NCAA
Tournament, theoretically the team's
forte) and weren't great in transition
on either end.
But when they were able to get to
crunch time within striking distance,
they usually delivered. They did
again in a 72-70 overtime win over
Northwestern in Big Ten Tournament
play, and they followed up with a
72-69 victory over Indiana on a last-
second shot by sophomore Kameron
Chatman.
Wins over Texas (78-72), Mary-
land (70-67), at Nebraska (81-68), at
Madison Square Garden versus Penn
State (79-72), at Minnesota (82-74),
Purdue (61-56) and Northwestern
(72-63) were all within five points
or less with less than four minutes
remaining. The Wolverines made big
plays down the stretch in all of them
to win, and head coach John Beilein
had a feeling the Northwestern game
would be just as tight.
"These basketball games with
Northwestern, don't expect it to
change very much," Beilein said.
"[Northwestern coach] Chris [Col-
