Wildcats Down (and out?), "Boiler Up" Coming to Town
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I'm praying too John. I'm not certain how the calculation works, or if it even translates properly from baseball to basketball....but I think the Wolverines magic number is 4.
For the duration of the time that John Beilein has been our fearless leader, I've quipped that Michigan could beat anyone in the country if they got hot from behind the three-point arc. I waited five long years for it to happen. On Tuesday night, in overtime against a medium-grade opponent, away from the friendly confines of Crisler center, in front of an NCAA-bid-starved 8,117 fans in Evanston, it finally happened. Michigan went 3-5 from three, with the three makes coming in three straight trips down the floor, as part of an 18-6 run in the extra period, putting a dent in the post-season hopes of Wildcat fans, and possibly saving a NCAA tournament watching national audience from having to witness Shurna's weird wrist flip jumpers. Sure, they didn't use this three-point arsenal (they shot 38 of them, making 14) to down a Goliath, but they did use it to save themselves from themselves, to save themselves from the deep bench use due to foul trouble, and to save themselves from a huge letdown with a regular season Big Ten title on the line.
Other NW stuff:
- Wilbon couldn't watch...I know the feeling.
- Northwestern is down, but not out, says ESPN's Scott Powers.
- The reaction in Chicago from the Sun-Times and the Tribune.
- UMHoops's masterful game recap lives here.
Up next for the cagers is a Purdue team that is still scratching and clawing its way through the Big Ten. They are at .500 with four games to play, including two road games against ranked opponents (one being us). So, while it's likely they will be NCAA bound going 2-2 in those last 4, they could play their way into the tournament and off of the bubble by holding serve at home and knocking us off. Teams on the ropes scare me, so does the pressure on our boys for a perfect home season. Add in the emotional aspect as we say goodbye to Zack and Stew and, well, I get nervous. Me of little faith. The good news is, a couple of Purdue players just went all Sparty and got in some trouble at a bar, and Kelsey Barlow got himself booted from the team. Hopefully his 24 minutes and 8.3 ppg will be missed. The other culprit, DJ Byrd, was suspended, and he is deadly off the bench from three, so there's that.
Anyway, we've got a UMTailgate.com crew coming to town for the game for Winter Reunion Part 2 (of 3?), so hopefully we'll have some new pictures so you can see how much older The Godfather looks. He's been drinking a lot.
