The No. 13 Michigan Wolverines had a chance to stick with their cross-state rivals atop the Big Ten standings, but failed to close the gap against the No. 12 Indiana Hoosiers, falling 73-71 in the two teams' first match up as Top 15 teams since 1994.
Michigan ended the first half hitting eight of their final ten shots and carried that momentum into the second half, hitting five of their first six shots and knotting up what was once a 14-point game at 46-46.
Indiana responded, though, with a 19-9 run over the next seven minutes, during which Michigan shot just 3-of-10.
Michigan made a last ditch effort, hitting 50-percent of their next 12 shots, to close within one with just under three seconds left in the game, but after Christian Watford split a pair of free throws, Zack Novak's desperation heave from 75 feet was no good.
Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Wolverines with 19 points, but was an inefficient 7-of-19 shooting and took some bad shots at bad times. After starting slow, Michigan wound up hitting 10-of-24 three-pointers.
Michigan will have to shake this one off quickly because they take on the No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday on national television again.
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