2. Michigan almost rested on its laurels too much
Juwan Howard’s crew was up 11 with 17 minutes to play and appeared ready to throw the knockout punch. It never happened as the Wildcats closed the gap in seven-game minutes. They took the lead at the eight-minute media timeout and extended it to seven with five minutes remaining.
Michigan looked dead to rights and all of its momentum from the Indiana victory on Sunday was all but gone.
The Wolverines reverted back to how they were playing at the beginning of the year. They missed shots, free throws, turned it over, and committed fouls. Northwestern was on the verge of giving Michigan a loss that they may have never recovered from.
Michigan: Two of our best players are going to foul out. We are going to forget how to play offense. We are going to try our best to lose this game.
— Zach Pereles (@zach_pereles) January 27, 2022
Northwestern: Hold my beer.
Fortunately, Michigan basketball regrouped starting with a timeout with 5:03 to go. They went on a 7-0 run to tie it up at 62 and outscored the Cats 10-8 to save the season. It was the wake-up call that they so sorely needed to keep their head above water when it comes to being on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.