BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Michigan basketball looked well on its way to the win it so desperately needed.
The Wolverines were down by as many as 14 points in the first half, before they mounted a 39-13 run to get out to a 12-point lead midway through the second half. Assembly Hall was silent.
Then, Trayce Jackson-Davis happened.
The No. 3 all-time scorer in Indiana history and the program’s all-time leader in rebounds put up 27 points and nine rebounds in his final home game and led the Hoosiers to a 75-73 overtime win.
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Jalen Hood-Schifino hit a 3-pointer with 1:00 left in regulation to tie the game at 69. Hunter Dickinson missed a 3-pointer in the final second for UM and Jackson-Davis missed a half-court heave for the Hoosiers as time expired before overtime.
Indiana scored the first six points of the extra frame and got out to a 75-69 lead when Miller Kopp hit a shot from the corner with 2:21 remaining. Dickinson responded with a long ball of his own and Jackson-Davis missed a turnaround with 30 seconds left giving Michigan another offensive set.
Bufkin threw the ball into Dickinson in the post for the quick two, but the Hoosiers swiped it. Thompson missed two free throws to give Michigan one last gasp, when the Hoosiers elected to foul Dug McDaniel rather than let him get off a 3.
The freshman made the first free throw then intentionally missed the second, but Thompson came away with the rebound. However, the senior, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, again missed both free throws and gave Michigan one last hope.
The Wolverines brought the ball up court and Bufkin tried to pass to Dickinson who wasn’t ready for the ball and it rolled away as time expired.
Dickinson finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds, Bufkin added 19 points, six rebounds and four assists and Jett Howard scored 16.
With the loss, Michigan (17-14, 11-9 Big Ten) will finish in a tie for fifth in the Big Ten Conference and depending on the outcome of Northwestern at Rutgers, will either be the 5-seed or the 8-seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
If Rutgers wins, UM is fifth and will play the winner of the Wisconsin and Ohio State game the day before, at approximately 2:30 pm EST on Thursday. If Northwestern wins, UM is eighth and will play Rutgers at Noon.
An inauspicious start
Jett Howard hit a 3-pointer on the game’s first possession and then Michigan went cold from the field.
The Wolverines made just one of their next eight shots, when Dickinson finished a turnaround over Jackson-Davis to end a 7-0 Indiana spurt to make it 7-5. After the Hoosiers extended their lead to 13-6 on consecutive buckets by Jalen Hood-Schifino, Dickinson and Dug McDaniel made back-to-back floaters for UM to get within 13-10.
They wouldn’t score from the field for the next seven minutes, as the Hoosiers mounted a 10-0 run.
Malik Reneau hit a floater, Jackson-Davis and Thompson made consecutive buckets and Jackson-Davis made a turnaround over Dickinson and then a scooping layup underneath him to get the lead to 12. A Bufkin jumper stopped the bleeding momentarily, but IU scored four straight to get out to a 27-13 lead with 4:32 left in the half.
An impressive close to the half
The game flipped when Tarris Reed got an offensive rebound with 4:07 to play which led to a Bufkin slam dunk.
It started a 14-2 run to close the half for the Wolverines where they hit their final six shots of the half. Bufkin followed with a mid-range jumper on the next possession and the ensuing trip down, Dickinson hit a floater in the lane, his first points (and shot attempt) in more than 10 minutes.
The junior big man buried a 3-pointer on the next trip down and then made an and-1 layup and cashed in the free throw to score eight straight points. The Hoosiers tried to hold the ball for the final shot of the half, but committed a turnover just over 10 seconds to play and Dickinson found Howard streaking down the court for a breakaway slam dunk to make it 29-27 at the break.
Picking up where they left off
A quick trip to the locker room didn’t cool Michigan down in the slightest.
Bufkin hit a contested mid-range jumper to tie the game on UM’s first possession of the half. The next trip down, McDaniel flicked a pass up-court to Howard for a transition 3-pointer. After TJD tied the game on an And-1 layup, Bufkin and Howard sandwiched another pair of three-pointers around a Race Thompson bucket to make it 38-34.
Bufkin missed a long ball on the next possession, ending a stretch of 10 straight made field goals for UM, but Will Tschetter got the offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback attempt. He made both free throws before Dickinson added a slam dunk with 16:37 to play to put Michigan up 42-34.
After a Howard miss, Dickinson connected on a layup before Howard and McDaniel made consecutive 3-pointers to give Michigan a 52-40 lead, its largest of the game, with 13:42 left.
In total, Michigan went on a 39-13 run over 10:50 of play. The Wolverines made 14 of 16 shots during the run and scored at least two points on 15 of the possessions.
The HOosiers would respond from there. Jackson-Davis scored six of the next eight for the team to get back within seven. After a McDaniel 3 put UM up 59-49, Indiana went on a 10-1 push to get within one.
It took its first lead since halftime when Jackson-Davis hit a turnaround with less than two minutes left.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball loses in overtime at Indiana, 75-73