Wednesday night in Evanston could have been a disaster of epic proportions. Instead, it was a 28-point turnaround. A losing Northwestern program had the college basketball world on its heels until Michigan basketball flipped the switch. These are three of the takeaways from Michigan's reawakening win in the windy city, which will soon be their home away from home.
Kicking someone in the groin is much worse then what Aday Mara did to Nick Martinelli
To the Michigan State people who cannot let it go because Jeremy Fears is one of the dirtiest players in college, Aday Mara's flagrant on Nick Martinelli is nowhere near in the same realm of equivalency. Fears and several Michigan State players have a history of this. Martinelli's temper got the best of him because his team squandered a 16-point lead to the likely No. 1 team in the country by the end of the week.
Michigan is 4-0 when trailing at halftime this season
For three different occurrences this year, Michigan basketball has trailed before the second half. TCU, Oregon and Nebraska were all ahead of the Wolverines at the intermission, but they all suffered the same fate. With 14:22 remaining, Northwestern was up by 16 and had a 86% chance to win. Things looked dim, until they cut it to a deuce in under three minutes of gametime. Around the seven minute mark, Trey McKinney splashed in a three for the lead and the comeback was inevitable.
Just an absolute coaching masterclass by Dusty May. Michigan couldn’t get anything going for 3 quarters and was down 16. Then he decides to ride LJ Cason and Trey Mckenney off the bench for a majority of the final 14 minutes of the game. The pair of bench guards and the 3 bigs…
— Wolverine Chronicle (@WolverineChron) February 12, 2026
Winning five games in March in Chicago will result in a tournament championship and Final Four berth
Assuming Michigan basketball is awarded with a triple bye in the Big Ten tournament, and they win their round of 64 and 32 games in the NCAA tournament, Michigan will play with the advantage of a heavy, pro-Wolverine crowd cheering them on to the final destination in Indianapolis. 1998 was the inaugural tournament held in Chicago, which was the only time that the Wolverines won the postseason event in the United Center. Michigan State has the most championships when Chicago is the host city.