Michigan basketball drops another heartbreaker at Indiana in regular season finale

Michigan basketball’s (17-14, 11-9 Big Ten) regular season is now in the books after a 75-73 overtime loss at Indiana on Sunday afternoon.

Junior center Hunter Dickinson led the team with 24 points, while sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin had 19 points. Michigan had a 12-point lead in the second half, but was able to close out another close game and is now on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

With the regular season now completed, Michigan is heading to Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament. It will be the No. 5 seed with a Rutgers win over Northwestern, while a Northwestern win would place them in the 8/9 game. The event begins Wednesday night and runs through Sunday afternoon. NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday follows the conclusion of the Big Ten Tournament championship game.

First half

Michigan started the lineup of Dug McDaniel, Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard, Will Tschetter and Hunter Dickinson for the second-straight game. Tschetter’s start was his sixth consecutive at the starting four spot.

The Wolverines got the scoring started on their first trip down the court thanks to a three-pointer from Jett Howard. Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis answered with a pair of baskets, giving Indiana a quick 4-3 lead at the 18:41 mark. IU’s Race Thompson extended the lead to 7-3 after a three-point basket of his own. Dickinson stopped the brief Indiana scoring run with a layup at the 16:04 mark to narrow the deficit to 7-5. Indiana held a 9-5 lead at the first media timeout (14:12 to go).

Howard would split one of his two free throw attempts after the break, but the Hoosiers would extend their lead to 13-6. Jumpers from Dickinson and McDaniel helped Michigan claw back to within 13-10 at the under-12 media timeout (11:47).

The Hoosiers went on a tear in the later stages of the half, going up by as many as 14 points at 27-13 at the 4:32 mark. But Michigan had an answer for them in one of the biggest stretches of the season, going on a 14-2 run of its own to head into the locker room down 29-27.

Second half

The Wolverines’ offensive run continued into the second half, going on a 15-5 run to start the half to take a 42-34 lead before IU’s Jalen Hood-Schifino hit a pair of free throws. Michigan’s lead would sit at 42-36 with 15:51 to go.

Jackson-Davis hit a pair of free throws to trim Michigan’s lead to 42-38, but the Wolverines went on a 7-0 spurt thanks to a Dickinson layup, a Howard three-pointer and a pair of Bufkin free throws. Hood-Schifino hit another pair of free throws, but a McDaniel three-pointer extended U-M’s lead to 52-40. IU hit a Jackson-Davis layup, trimming Michigan’s lead to 10 points at the 12:56 mark.

Indiana would make a push over the next stretch, hitting a few threes in a stretch that helped them cut Michigan’s lead in half. At the under-8 media timeout, the Wolverines would lead 60-54. The Hoosiers kept pushing during an 8-0 run, getting Michigan’s lead down to 1 at 60-59 with 6:42 to go. Dickinson got three points back on a layup and and-1 opportunity, pushing U-M’s lead to 63-59. Tamar Bates answered with a three-pointer before Tarris Reed answered with a layup at the other end. Michigan led 65-62 with 3:55 to go and the final media timeout.

Indiana re-took the lead on a pair of baskets from Jackson-Davis before Bufkin hit a pair of free throws and a Dickinson basket. Michigan led 69-66 with 1:15 to go. Hood-Schifino tied the game on a three-pointer with 59 seconds left. U-M’s three-point attempt at the buzzer from Dickinson went awry, sending the game to overtime.

The Hoosiers went on a 6-0 run to start the overtime before a three from Dickinson with less than 2 minutes to go. All the Wolverines would muster late is a McDaniel free throw. Indiana won the game 75-73.

Michigan at Indiana final box score