The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/653976
Big Ten slugfest, before surviving against Northwestern and the Hoo- siers in the conference tournament. Despite their detractors, the Wol- verines saw their concerns over getting to the tournament melt away March 13. Their attention quickly turned to the task at hand. Tulsa boasted a 20-11 re- cord that included a split with top-25 outfit SMU (which was ineligi- ble for postseason play), losing 81-69 at home before notching an 82-77 road win. SMU t h u m p e d t h e Wolverines 82-58 in a game in Dal- las Dec. 8. T h e G o l d e n H u r r i c a n e a l s o lost 60-51 at home to UConn in mid- January, another common opponent with the Wolverines. UConn beat Michigan 74-60 in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in November. Beilein promised his team would be well prepared to jump into the first four, but expressed one more time the storm the Wol- verines already weathered. "We were dealt blows here that just don't happen to teams," he said. "You just don't lose your starting backcourt, or three of four starters, two years in a row. Where does that happen? "I'm hearing, 'Spike will be good as new.' I'm thinking Spike might be Duncan this year, and he can't move. Double hip sur- gery is different. "You can feel sorry for yourself, or you can look at the direction we're going." ❏ Sophomore wing Kam Chatman's buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat regular-season champion Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals helped the Wolverines sneak into the Big Dance. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL