Michigan basketball: Five favorite moments from the 2012-13 season

Michigan basketball will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its national runner-up squad from the 2012-13 season on Saturday night at halftime of the rivalry tilt with MSU. Former head coach John Beilein along with Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas and others will be on hand to celebrate one of the great seasons in program history.

Michigan spent the entirety of the 2012-13 season ranked in the top-10 and finished with a 31-8 record, entering the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed and losing to Louisville in the national championship game. It was the first of two Final Fours and national title games the program would make under Beilein.

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With Saturday’s celebration coming, here is a look at five of the best moments from the memorable campaign.

Wolverines get revenge against the Buckeyes

Michigan started the season 16-0 before a loss in Columbus to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Jan. 13. A few short weeks later, we were treated to an all-time matchup between the two teams, a 76-74 overtime victory for Michigan. Burke and OSU guard Aaron Craft headlined the matchup of the day, but Hardaway stole the show with 23 points and hitting six threes on the day. Craft tried to drive the lane in overtime at the buzzer, but physical Wolverine defense denied the Buckeyes a chance to send it to double overtime.

It also gave us one heck of a screengrab after the game.

Burke steals the show in Michigan vs. MSU

Michigan played two of its most classic rivalry games ever during the 2012-13 season, both in revenge situations. The Wolverines were blown out by Michigan State in mid-February up in East Lansing. The March 3 rematch was a defensive slugfest, but U-M came out with a 58-57 win thanks to a steal by Burke and a fast break dunk that led to the victory.

At the time, it was Burke’s most iconic play in a Michigan uniform and one that still plays during the team hype video at Crisler. He would later outdo himself, which will come up on this list later.

The shot of all shots and arguably the most iconic moment in Michigan basketball history.

Michigan’s NCAA Tournament run

Michigan finished the regular season 28-7 and entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed. The Wolverines first handled their business in the first round with a 71-56 win over No. 13-seed South Dakota State. This set up a matchup with VCU in the Round of 32 where several pundits put U-M on upset alert due to Shaka Smart’s patented “Havoc” press defense. Michigan shredded it, winning 78-53 and advancing to the Sweet 16 in Dallas.

Heroics took place in the Sweet 16 matchup with Kansas – more on that shortly – allowing Michigan to come back from a 14-point deficit and defeat No. 1 seed Kansas 87-85 in overtime. They would go on to blowout Florida 79-59 in the Elite Eight, setting up a Final Four matchup with Syracuse. In its first defensive rock fight of the tournament, Michigan prevailed 61-56 thanks to a late charge taken from center Jordan Morgan.

The victory set up a national title showdown with Louisville that ultimately went the other way. The Cardinals would win 82-76 with their fair share of controversy both during the game and in the years after. Louisville would later be forced to vacate the title due to a sex scandal.

Trey Burke’s 3-pointer vs. Kansas

Michigan’s furious comeback against Kansas was impressive in its own right, but made Burke a folk hero in Ann Arbor to this day. Down 76-73 with seconds remaining, Burke hoisted a 30-footer at AT&T Stadium in Dallas to help complete a 14-point comeback, force overtime and ultimately win against the top-seeded Jayhawks. All 23 of Burke’s points came in the second half and overtime.

Center Mitch McGary also shined in a matchup against Kansas star Jeff Withey. McGary put up 25 points and 14 rebounds in the winning effort.

Spike Albrecht goes off in national title game

Michigan may have lost the title game to Louisville, but it also gave us one of the most out-of-left field moments in program history. With Burke in foul trouble in the first half, backup point guard Spike Albrecht was called into action and to give Michigan some good minutes off the bench.

Albrecht was unconscious on the offensive end of the floor with all 17 of his points in the game coming in the first half. To this day, he still is a folk hero in his own right when he walks through the streets of Ann Arbor.

“I play with a lot of energy,” Albrecht told our Clayton Sayfie this week. “I was super confident in myself, but the emotions were definitely at an all-time high, and I was probably saying some crazy things.”