Juwan Howard walks through final moments of Michigan's tight win over Northwestern

Just when Northwestern appeared to take control of Wednesday night’s game against Michigan, the Wolverines clawed back to get a much-needed win. Juwan Howard talked about those final moments in his postgame press conference, and you could sense the feeling of relief.

The game came down to the wire and Northwestern had a chance to win it. Boo Buie missed a free throw, but Pete Nance got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Julian Roper. He air-balled the attempt, and Nance didn’t get the putback off in time. Michigan survived.

After the game, Howard talked about his group’s effort to battle back and what his message was in a pivotal timeout with 5:03 left.

“Very proud of how our team … fought really hard to figure out a way how to dig deep and get a victory,” Howard said. “Each possession mattered to this group. We talked about it in the timeout. When we looked up at the scoreboard and saw down seven, I asked them all to breathe. Take some deep breaths, there’s a lot of emotions probably going on in your head. Just dial in … and have trust in one another. Trust that we’ll get this first stop. Then after the first stop, we’ll get the second stop.

“From there, we made some really good decisions on the offensive end. Give credit to Terrance [Williams] hitting that three in front of the bench. [Devante Jones] hit the floater, also getting to the foul line a couple times as he was coming off a ball screen. And also Jaron Faulds. Jaron Faulds come in down the stretch, getting the key rebound. It was well-played, well done by all those men.”

Michigan avoids near disaster against Northwestern

Michigan led by 10 points at one point in the second half on Wednesday. Then, it didn’t.

Northwestern started to take control and had a seven-point lead with 5:03 to play. The Wolverines managed to claw back into the game and came out on top — but barely.

Northwestern guard Boo Buie made the first free throw with four seconds to play, but missed the second one. Pete Nance got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Julian Roper. He air-balled a three, and Nance once again got the rebound and put it back up.

He made the shot, but it was too late. The final buzzer went off before he took the shot. Michigan survived with a 72-70 win at the Crisler Center — and Juwan Howard breathed a sigh of relief.

It was as crazy as it sounds.

The crazy part is Michigan went the last two minutes without Hunter Dickinson and Moussa Diabate, who both fouled out. When Diabate fouled out, the Wolverines led 65-64 with 1:51 to play. They held on to improve to 10-7 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten play.