Michigan finds mojo, overcomes Louisville to win another thriller

INDIANAPOLIS – They did it again.

Unbelievable.

Derrick Walton Jr. cut through the lane, in the biggest moment of this game for the Michigan Wolverines, a guy who had struggled early, but he put the ball up high off the glass and it fell through.

Pure sweetness.

Then, D.J. Wilson hit a free throw.

High fives all around.

U-M coach John Beilein was pacing the sideline.

And then Wilson made another. And another. And another. Four straight.

Pure sweetness.

And when it was over, Moe Wagner put out both arms, and grimaced and grabbed his eyes.

Unbelievable.

On to the Sweet 16.

No. 7 seed Michigan just did it again, pulling off a 73-69 victory over No. 2 seed Louisville in the rematch of the 2013 national championship game. Michigan advances to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in Kansas City, Mo., and will play Thursday against the winner of Sunday's game involving No. 11 seed Rhode Island and No. 3 seed Oregon (7:10 PM on TBS).

The Wolverines shook hands and then walked over to the scorer's table and looked up at their fans. Screaming. Smiling. Screaming.

Once again, this team battled back. It refused to lose. It found a way when everything seemed lost.

Pure sweetness.

Unbelievable.

Especially when you consider how this game started.

Everything flipped early in the second half when Beilein walked out onto the court with both hands wide.

“Why?” he asked. “What are we running?”

Well, nothing.

Nothing that was working.

Wilson had tried to drive through the paint, but he turned the ball over early in the second half.

At that stage, Louisville held a 45-36 lead. The Wolverines had shot 3-for-11 from three-point range.

Why?

Why do anything but give the ball to Wagner?

Wagner was money nearly every time he touched the ball. At that stage, he was shooting 9-for-11, while the rest of the team was 8-for-27.

“Why? What are we running?”

On the next play, Walton hit Wagner driving to the hoop for an easy lay-up.

Then, Wagner stole the ball, pushed his own fast break and dished to Zak Irvin for a lay-up, as Michigan cut it to 47-42. Wagner was waving his arms. “Let’s go!” he screamed to the crowd.

Michigan was back.

Suddenly, the Wolverines had life.

They had energy and emotion, and everything that had gone wrong in the first half – getting crushed on the offensive glass and a disastrous final minute, disappeared.

Suddenly, they had their confidence back.

There was Irvin rising up and swishing a jumper in the lane, slapping his chest. “Come on!”

There was  Wilson hitting a three, cutting it to 50-49.

Ten minutes left.

This was a new game. The Wolverines had their mojo back.

Wagner broke free on a fast break. He missed the lay-up but Muhammad-Al Abdur-Rahkman followed up. Michigan leads. Walton had his chest puffed out, full of confidence.

Suddenly, everything had flipped.

Wagner hit a three-pointer and was waving his tongue

Walton, who was ice cold in the first half, swished a three. He was smiling and basking in confidence.

And Michigan was rolling.

This was not the case in the first half.

Louisville was killing Michigan on the offensive glass. The Wolverines tried to box out. They just weren't very good at it. Both Wagner and Mark Donnal picked up fouls, shoving the Cardinals in the paint.

Walton took eight shots in the first half but made only one.

The even bigger problem was how Louisville dominated in the paint, grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring at will down low.

The last 2½ minutes of the first half were disastrous for Michigan. The Wolverines had pulled to within one point, 27-26, after Walton hit his first three.

Suddenly, Michigan’s defense picked up. The Wolverines had more energy and effort.

In the final 70 seconds, Louisville hit a pair of three-pointers and took a 36-28 halftime lead.

“You can’t let that affect you,” Beilein said. “That’s one minute.”

And they didn't.

They did it again.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

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