New York City, New York – The scrappy team we thought we’d see week in and week out this season appears to have surfaced just in time for, well, for the season to be over. The Hawks lead #15 Michigan 42-35 at halftime. The Wolverines came out with a punch in the second half and regained the lead, btu the Hawkeyes found a way to claw back in it late. In the end the Hawks would fall short in overtime 77-71.
Late in the game, after a huge three pointer by Nicholas Baer cut the lead to three, the Wolverines missed the front end of a one and one. Jordan Bohannon had a chance to tie the game and missed, and the ball was called out of bounds off the Hawks. The officials reviewed the replay, overturned the call on the court, and the Hawks would retain possession. Still trailing by three, Bohannon stepped up and knocked down a deep trey to tie it all up.
The Hawks held Michigan scoreless on their final possession forcing overtime.
Both teams would go back and forth in overtime before Michigan’s Duncan Robinson knocked down a deep shot and gave the Wolverines a three point lead with 1:26 left on the clock. Iowa wasn’t able to convert on the offensive end, and were forced to foul. Xavier Simpson stepped up and knocked down one of two free throws for the Wolverines and extended their lead to four. On the next possession Tyler Cook would be fouled. He stepped up to the line and knocked down one of two free throws making it a three point game once again.
The Hawks got another huge stop with just 32 seconds to go and Coach Fran called a timeout to set the stage for what he hoped would be the game tying field goal. Following the timeout the Hawkeyes ran a screen to free up Bohannon who would drop it off for Garza from behind the arc. It was a well drawn up play, but Garza couldn’t get the shot to fall.
Michigan moves on to face Nebraska on Friday. TheHawks Big 10 tournament title hopes have come to an end, and so has their season. One can’t help but wonder where this type of effort was all year long. Regardless, Hawkeye fans have to be proud of the fight this team has shown the last couple days. We’ll see what the off-season brings, but this is a young team with a very bright future.
