Michigan
Wisconsin
Furious Finish Gives Michigan Victory in Big Ten Opener
1/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| | Horton's game-winning shot and subsequent block capped his 25-point performance. |
Michigan gained the momentum early as Horton connected hit a triple on U-M's first possession. Following the basket, junior wing Bernard Robinson Jr. (Washington, D.C./New Hampton Prep, N.H.) swiped a Badger pass and took it the length of the floor for a high-flying dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. Robinson was also fouled on the play and converted the free throw to give the Wolverines a six-point cushion in the opening minute of play.
Wisconsin responded with four unanswered points to cut U-M's lead to two points before Robinson hit a short turnaround in the lane to increase the Wolverine lead to four. After Penney scored his first points of the game, Blanchard got on the board with a bucket on the wing to keep Michigan ahead by four with 15:15 remaining in the first half.
Wisconsin came out after the first media timeout and scored four straight points to even the score at 10 apiece. Robinson hit another basket on Michigan's next trip down the floor and Blanchard split a pair of free throws to put Michigan back up by three points. The Badgers then went on another 4-0 run to claim their first lead of the contest, 14-13, with 11:53 remaining in the first frame.
After another Wisconsin basket out of a timeout, Horton broke a three-minute Michigan scoring drought with four straight points, but the Badgers responded with four of their own to hold a three-point edge. Freshman center Graham Brown's (Mio, Mich./Mio-AuSable HS) basket down low sparked a 7-2 U-M run, including a conventional three-point play by freshman guard Lester Abram (Pontiac, Mich./Northern HS) and a turnaround jumper in the post by freshman center Chris Hunter (Gary, Ind./West Side HS) to put the Wolverines within one point.
Following another basket from Penney put U-W ahead 27-24 with 4:37 left in the first half, Horton found a cutting Blanchard for an alley-oop dunk to trim the deficit back to one. The two teams exchanged baskets on the next two possessions before Horton nailed another basket from behind the arc to knot the score at 31-31 with half a minute left. Wisconsin guard Freddie Owens let the clock tick down to three seconds before hitting a triple of his own to put the Badgers ahead 34-31 heading into the locker room.
Horton led Michigan with 10 first-half points, while Robinson contributed nine. Owens and Alando Tucker netted nine points apiece to lead Wisconsin in the first stanza.
Penney opened the scoring for Wisconsin in the second half and Brown scored four straight points to keep U-M within reach. The Badgers answered with a triple from Penney and a basket from Tucker to go ahead by nine points. Michigan came back with five points from Horton and another bucket from Robinson to cut the Wisconsin lead to 48-42 with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately, Robinson's basket would be Michigan's last field goal for over nine minutes as the Badgers went on a 13-2 run to increase their lead to 59-44 with under six minutes to go.
The Maize and Blue got back on track after Horton stole a pass a fed it to Blanchard for his first three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 12 points, 59-47. The play sparked an 22-6 Wolverine run that featured four triples from Blanchard and two from Horton. The Michigan defense held Wisconsin without a field goal for over four minutes as the Wolverines pulled within one point, 65-64, with 1:08 remaining.
After a timeout following a Wisconsin miss and turnover, Michigan inbounded the pass to Horton, who drove and hit a driving layup in traffic to give Michigan a 66-65 advantage, its first since it led 13-12 early in the first half. Following another Wisconsin timeout, Owens went the length of the court and quickly drove inside toward the basket. As he went up, Horton got his hand on the ball for Michigan's first and only block of the game, preserving the win. As the horn sounded, the Wolverine fans rushed the court and celebrated the victory.
The Wolverines will next be in action against Penn State on Saturday (Jan. 11) at 4 p.m. at Crisler Arena.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
