The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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"It showed up," the head coach said. "You had situations in the games we absolutely had to win — the Northwestern games, the Min- nesota games … and I know we're playing for an NCAA berth. Those wins are huge. "Do you go to your bench, knowing it could possibly cost you the game because they are still young and de- veloping talent? Do you go to your bench at that time, with the chance that you'll not go to the NCAA Tour- nament, or do you play tired players that give you a better chance to win? "We chose the latter, and it worked. It got us in the tournament. At the same time, it probably led to the de- fensive numbers we had in the post- season and the shooting numbers we had in the postseason, which were both down." In Michigan's Big Ten Tournament opener against Northwestern, the sit- uation couldn't have been more des- perate. After the Wolverines lost four of their final five regular-season Big Ten games, some were saying they needed at least two tournament victo- ries to make the NCAA Tournament. They almost didn't get one. The Wildcats forced them to go to over- time before Beilein's crew pulled it out on a late Irvin jumper, 72-70. Irvin played 42 minutes in that game, while Walton and sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rah- kman each logged 41. The next day, in the titanic tussle against Indiana behind a crowd wildly supportive of the Big Ten champions, Walton played 36 minutes, while Irvin, Ab- dur-Rahkman and redshirt sopho- more wing Duncan Robinson all per- formed for at least 34. The Wolverines won it on soph- omore forward Kam Chatman's unlikely, buzzer-beating baseline bomb in a 72-69 thriller. That proved enough to set off the celebration two days later at Crisler Center, when the Wolverines received their Big Dance invitation. But it arrived with an extra as- Head coach John Beilein was pleased that the Wolverines made the NCAA Tournament despite the adversity they faced this year but admits, "I have a bad taste in my mouth about the last game." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL