The Michigan Wolverines had to overcome a lot just to physically arrive at the Big Ten tournament. They're not letting their efforts go to waste.
Michigan — the No. 8 seed in the conference — upset No. 1 Purdue on Friday in the quarterfinals, a physical overtime slugfest that came just about 48 hours after the Wolverines' plane slid off the runway on what was supposed to be their flight to Washington, D.C. for the event.
In a rough-and-tumble game full of questionable whistles, Michigan hung with the Big Ten regular-season champions every step of the way. Purdue led by as many as nine early on, but Michigan closed the first half on a 15-5 run to take the lead. The lead went back and forth in the second half, with neither team leading by more than four at any point.
Things looked bleak for the Wolverines late. A foul sent Purdue's P.J. Thompson to the free-throw line with just 18 seconds to go and Purdue up 66-64. But Thompson missed the front end of the 1-and-1, and the Wolverines got a game-tying layup from Zak Irvin with five seconds left.
The Boilermakers then tried to hurry up and inbound the ball and appeared to turn it over to Michigan, but the referees had blown the whistle just a split second before. The clock didn't stop after the made layup.
With their golden opportunity to win the game negated, the Wolverines didn't relent. They scored the first basket of an ugly overtime session and never trailed, hanging on for a 72-70 win to reach the semifinals. And they did it all without playing very well — one of the nation's most prolific 3-point shooting teams, they went just 6 of 25 from behind the arc.
Just two days earlier, Michigan players sat in the cabin of a wrecked plane that had come to a stop alongside a road adjacent to Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, some with bumps, bruises, and/or cuts after the pilot was forced to slam the brakes to avoid taking off in dangerous wind conditions. One player needed stitches. Head coach John Beilein gave the team a choice: travel to Washington for their opening-round game against Illinois on Thursday, or forfeit if the thought of another plane trip was too much to bear.
The Wolverines went, even though their uniforms didn't. No matter. Wearing practice jerseys, Michigan mopped the floor with Illinois, making 12 of its first 18 shots to jump out to a 20-point lead in less than 13 minutes. The Wolverines never trailed en route to a 75-55 win.
A nice story up to that point, but then along came Friday, and a win over the tournament's top team that was not so easy. Now, in an already wide-open Big Ten tournament, Michigan has opened up the entire bracket for itself even more. It's the kind of run that gives you the confidence to a sign a sweatshirt that supports your arch rival:
https://twitter.com/WLNSJaySarkar/status/840282811529605120
"It was something our kids will always remember, but I want them to always remember how they responded," Beilein said of the plane wreck after the win over Illinois. "Because this is really important. This is the way life goes sometimes, and you've got to respond positively to whatever comes your way. And, boy, did they."
And they did again on Friday.
Michigan will next face the winner of Friday's Michigan State-Minnesota quarterfinal. This morning, the Wolverines were projected as a No. 8 seed for the NCAA Tournament in Stewart Mandel's latest bracket, but that stock is now trending up. It's the time of year where you're only as hot as your last game, but Michigan is playing loose and playing together in the wake of a truly terrifying incident. They're not a team any title contender will want to face in the next couple weeks.
