ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan was 50 seconds away from winning a share of back-to-back Big Ten titles. Then the Wolverines couldn’t hit a free throw.
Indiana rallied back from a five point deficit with :52 left and Cody Zeller scored the final six points to beat Michigan 72-71 in Ann Arbor. With the victory, the Hoosiers won the outright Big Ten regular season title.
Michigan was up 71-66 after Glenn Robinson III made one of two free throws, but both Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke missed the front ends of one-and-one free throws on subsequent Wolverine possessions.
A Cody Zeller tip shot made it 71-68. Then Zeller made two free throws on the Hoosiers next possession with :30 left. After Burke missed his free throw, Zeller completed the comeback with a layup to put Indiana up 72-71 with 14 seconds left. Michigan had no timeouts, but the Wolverines got two good looks at a game-winning basket. Trey Burke drove down to the basket and just missed a layup, but Jordan Morgan got the offensive rebound and quickly put up another shot from just under the basket and missed as well.
Zeller finished with a game-high 25 points and added 10 rebounds. Victor Oladipo had 14 points and 13 boards for the Hoosiers, too. Michigan was led by Trey Burke, who had 20 points and 4 assists but also had 4 turnovers and was 1-3 from the free throw-line.
Indiana is now the top seed in the upcoming Big Ten tournament and will have a bye in the second round. Michigan will be the fifth-seed and will play Penn State on Thursday in Chicago.
