2015-16 indiana

Wow. Michigan wins. pic.twitter.com/GNZLREzdyL

— Simon Kaufman (@sjkauf) March 11, 2016

Wow doesn't even begin to cover it.

Michigan played for their tournament lives against Big Ten champions Indiana, a team that ran them off their home court just over a month ago, in front of a heavily pro-Hoosiers crowd in Indianapolis. Heading into the final minute, the perimeter-oriented Wolverines had made only 4/19 three-pointers. Somehow, they were only down three.

Zak Irvin found Duncan Robinson open in the corner; after missing his first five attempts from beyond the arc, Robinson calmly tied the game with 46 seconds left.

Then Kam Chatman stripped IU's OG Anunoby on Indiana's ensuing possession. Irvin secured the ball with 20 seconds left, and as Derrick Walton took the ball up the court, John Beilein allowed the game to play out instead of calling a timeout.

I doubt Beilein imagined Walton would dish the ball off to Chatman in the corner; it's certainly not what he would've drawn up in the huddle. But Chatman—much-maligned, bust-in-the-making, 27%-career-three-point-shooter Kam Chatman—hesitated a moment, then hoisted a picture-perfect shot over Nick Zeisloft that caught nothing but net, beating the buzzer by 0.2 seconds.

With that most unlikely play, Michigan went from very much out of the NCAA Tournament to, at worst, very much in the conversation for an at-large bid; they'll have the opportunity to cement their place in the field when they play the winner of Purdue/Illinois in tomorrow afternoon's semifinal.

Much like the final play, nobody could've guessed how the Wolverines would upset Indiana. Mark Donnal and Moe Wagner combined for 21 points on 9/9 FGs while frustrating talented Hoosier big man Thomas Bryant into going 3/8 from the field with two turnovers; Wagner hadn't tallied a point in over a month. For the second straight game, Derrick Walton didn't make a field goal and didn't score at all until the final minutes, but he dished out a Big Ten Tournament record 12 assists. Muhammad-Ali Adbur-Rahkman scored 15 points on 14 shots before fouling out late; Irvin and Robinson combined to go 9/25 from the field in uneven performances for each.

While Yogi Ferrell (14 points, 8 assists) was his usual stellar self, Michigan kept Indiana from their standard perimeter dominance; they went just 4/17 from beyond the arc, and the Wolverines scored 22 points off 15 IU turnovers.

The last of those points may have secured an NCAA bid for Michigan a day after Northwestern pushed them to the brink of the NIT. It's been difficult to guess how this Michigan squad will play on any given day. Today, when it mattered most, they surprised in the best possible fashion.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Obligatory. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]

THE STAKES

A win and Michigan likely secures an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. A loss almost certainly relegates Michigan to the NIT. The stakes don't get much higher.

THE LAST TIME

Let's not talk about the last time.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos.	#	Name	Yr.	Ht./Wt.	%Min	%Poss	SIBMIHHAT
G	11	Yogi Ferrell	Sr.	6'0, 180	86	25	No
One of the best PGs in the country. Great outside shooter, distributor.
G	4	Robert Johnson (inj.)*	So.	6'3, 195	57	18	No
Excellent three-point shooter. Inefficient inside arc. Turnover-prone.
F	30	Collin Hartman	Jr.	6'7, 215	55	13	No
Low-usage, Just A Shooter™ type making 38% of threes.
F	5	Troy Williams	Jr.	6'7, 215	64	26	Not really
Great athlete and finisher, impactful defender, improved shooter, TO-prone.
C	31	Thomas Bryant	Fr.	6'10, 245	56	22	Not really
Top-flight post scorer also boasts strong rebounding and block rates.
G	2	Nick Zeisloft	Sr.	6'4, 210	49	13	No
Has attempted 139 threes and 14 twos this season. 43% 3P shooter.
F	0	Max Bielfeldt	Gr.	6'8, 240	43	22	No
Rebounding and scoring well, third-best steal rate in B1G. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
F	3	OG Anunoby	Fr.	6'8, 215	31	18	No
Efficient inside-outside scorer, good offensive rebounder, turnover-prone.

*Robert Johnson has missed IU's last three games with a high ankle sprain; while there hasn't been a definitive update on his status, there's a decent chance he's available to play. Forward Juwan Morgan's status is also up in the air after he appeared to aggravate a shoulder injury on Sunday against Maryland.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the preview.]

This was nearly the entire recap. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]

I can't fully capture the noise this fan made. A guttural wail, as if Chewbacca had been stabbed in the heart, or a baby elephant had suffered a collapsed lung. It was the sound of a soul forcefully leaving a man's body.

Michigan had a 10:29 scoreless drought in this game, Indiana went on a 28-0 run, and that noise emanated from the seats behind press row. Let's try this sports thing again tomorrow.