Michigan Basketball still alive for Big Ten title, a baseball sweep and more Wolverines news

The Michigan basketball team is still alive for the Big Ten title, the baseball team sweeps in California, and more Michigan Wolverines news.

If you are still reveling in the incredible shot by Hunter Dickinson and the overtime win by the Michigan basketball team on Sunday, you aren’t alone.

It was a huge win for the Michigan Wolverines and one that kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Incredibly, Michigan basketball is still alive for the Big Ten championship too.

Michigan is part of a four-way tie for second place at 11-7 and if the Wolverines win their two games this week against Illinois and Indiana (both on the road), plus Purdue loses (at Wisconsin, home vs Illinois), U-M would be co Big-Ten champs.

It’s wild that the Wolverines are still alive for the Big Ten title but aren’t locked into an NCAA tournament berth yet. But the loss to Central Michigan and other missed opportunities loom large.

A double-bye is still on the table too and if the Wolverines win two more games, whether it’s one this week and one in the Big Ten tournament, they should be in the field of 68.

Michigan Wolverines sweep in baseball

Michigan baseball was supposed to play on Friday and Saturday but had games pushed back due to the weather. Finally, the Michigan Wolverines took the field on Sunday for a doubleheader against Cal-State Fullerton and swept the Titans by scores of 9-5 and 7-3.

Connor O’Halloran got his second win of the season after allowing two runs on four hits in just over six innings. He also struck out six. Greg Pace Jr. would give Michigan baseball a 4-1 advantage in the fourth inning with a three-run homer. Ted Burton went 4-for-4 in the win. He also drove in a run in the eighth and scored twice.

In the second game, the Titans grabbed an early 2-0 lead but Chase Allen battled and went eight innings for the Michigan Wolverines, allowing just two runs on eight hits. He also struck out 10.

Eventually, Michigan baseball got enough offense to get him the win. Cody Jefferis, Gabe Sotres, and Jake Marti all notched two hits each. All three batters also drove in runs in the fifth inning as Michigan took a tie game and grabbed a 5-2 lead.

The Wolverines will play the Titans again on Monday at 5:30 PM PST. UC-Irvine will await Michigan baseball on Tuesday before a game against 13th-ranked UCLA on Wednesday.

Michigan Wolverines suffer key women’s basketball loss

We talked earlier this week about how important it was for the Michigan women’s basketball team to beat Rutgers and Wisconsin — two teams with losing records — to close out the regular season.

Michigan women’s basketball was able to beat Rutgers in the final home game but suffered a costly road defeat 78-70 on Sunday without Leigha Brown and Lalia Phelia.

Maddie Nolan led the way for the Michigan Wolverines with 14 points. Emily Kiser, who had 34 against Rutgers, managed just eight. Michigan is the fifth seed in the Big Ten tournament, but this loss would likely drop them out of the top 16 overall seeds for the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines were No. 16 according to the committee just earlier this week before the loss.

That means Michigan unless it puts together a nice run in the Big Ten tournament, won’t host the first and second-round regional as it did a year ago.