Wednesday March 17,2004 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 11 Put out o their Cagers fend off late rally, secure one-point win By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Writer Though last night was Michigan's first postsea- son game in four years, its play in the contest's first 30 minutes did little to distinguish itself from the other 29 games the Wolverines have played this season. But the last 10 minutes did. The Wolverines came from behind to defeat Missouri last night 65-64 in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament, overcoming an MiCHIGAN 65 eight-point second-half s 64 deficit and an eight-minute offensive drought. Michigan will play the winner of tonight's Sugar Bowl rematch between Okla- homa and Louisiana State. The official date and time have yet to be determined. "They showed maturity, they showed tough- ness, they grew a tremendous amount tonight," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "When you get a chance to battle back and fight through some adversity and win a game like that, that speaks volumes of what this team is capable of doing." After falling down 48-40 with 10 minutes remaining, the Wolverines (9-9 Big Ten, 19-11 overall) uncharacteristically fought back to take a four-point lead with 3:28 remaining. Missouri senior center Arthur Johnson scored to tie the game at 59, but Michigan sophomore center Chris Hunter got two offensive rebounds off free throws to set up the game's winning baskets. Hunter pulled down his first following sopho- more forward Graham Brown's second consecu- tive miss and laid the ball back in to give Michigan a 61-59 lead. Following a defensive stop, Bernard Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Hunter pulled down another board. This allowed freshman guard Dion Harris to extend the advantage to 63-59 after being fouled away from theball. Former Detroit Renaissance guard Rickey Paulding hit a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left to bring the game to 63-62. But Daniel Horton drove down the lane through three Tiger defend- ers to extend the score to 65-62 with 11 seconds Miss ouri * With gutsy NIT victory, Blue proves me wrong DAN ROSEN Days of Thunder I'll admit it. I didn't believe them. At least in my mind, playing in the NIT was like going to the prom with Britney Spears' cousin. It's nice. But it really doesn't come close to the real thing. So when I went down to Crisler Arena on Monday and listened to player after player tell me that they were excit- ed to play in college basketball's sec- ond-best postseason tournament (out of two), I was skeptical. Sure, they had to say that, I thought. But it's only the NIT. I thought back to when Georgetown declined its invite to the 2002 NIT so that its players could go to class. I found it hard to believe that the Wolverines were as motivated to win the thing as they made it seem. But Michigan proved me wrong. It pulled out a gutsy win last night. And everyone from rows one through three whose drink was spilled by one of the many diving Wolverines knows how badly the team wanted it. Just watching the game, you would- n't have known that Sunday night the players gathered on campus with a hope of getting into the NCAA Tour- nament, only to learn that they weren't going to reach their season-long goal. The NIT was the team's first postsea- son appearance since 1999-00. But it wasn't what the Wolverines were shooting for. Yet they stepped out onto the floor last night and played like everything was still on the line. "We had to play right away,"said Michigan coach Tommy Amaker of the team's quick turnaround between games. "So we didn't have time to think about it or feel sorry for ourselves about the other tournament." Daniel Horton was the poster boy for that effort. With less than 30 sec- onds remaining, the sophomore guard laid the ball in to put his team up three and came down in pain. He struggled up the floor, stumbling once or twice on his injured leg, and then he actually jumped into the pile under the Missouri rim at the other end of the floor to tip a loose ball to senior Bernard Robinson. He could barely walk off the court during the ensuing dead ball. But the pain didn't stop him from putting him- self on the line when his team needed a rebound. Even if it was just the NIT. "We pride ourselves on getting loose balls," forward Brent Petway said. "We know that those can lead to big plays." Yeah, the Wolverines did give up a 20-3 run in the second half and allowed a nine-point lead to become an eight- point deficit. I couldn't help but think about some of the other second-half lapses that have doomed the Wolverines this year (see Minnesota, Michigan State, to name a few). But Michigan hustled its way back in the last 10 minutes, when it could have just as easily have rolled over and let things get out of hand. "There's a lot of teams that aren't playing right now, so it's not that hard to get motivated," Petway said. Playing at home didn't hurt either. The crowd at Crisler Arena wasn't huge, but it was loud. Michigan has always seemed much more comfortable at home this year, anyway. If the team keeps playing as hard as it did last night, it could go deep into this thing. In the end, I guess I was wrong. Maybe when you haven't been to a prom in a number of years, it doesn't really matter who you go with. Dan Rosen can be reached at danielsr@umich.edu Point guard Daniel Horton reacts to his game-winning shot in last night's victory. Horton had a team-high 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting. remaining. Then Missouri guard Tommy McKin- ney missed a 3-pointer, forcing Johnson to score a layup with just a tenth of a second left. That completed the comeback win for a Michigan team that has collapsed in the second half numer- ous times this season. "In the second half, we've let a lot of leads go and have not been able to come back from them," Robinson said. "It showed our courage today when we were able to come back and get the victory." Although the Wolverines couldn't handle Johnson's size and strength inside, as he finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, they amassed a nine-point lead early in the second half via hot shooting by Horton and Harris. But, like many times this season, the duo went cold, and so did the Wolverines. While neither Horton nor Harris could score, Missouri went on a second-half 20- 3 run with Michigan's only field goal coming from a Brent Petway putback dunk. But the Wolverines rallied behind one of the loudest, albeit small, crowds at Crisler Arena this season. Crisler will most likely host Michigan's second-round game if Louisiana State wins, because Baton Rouge hosts NCAA Women's Tournament games starting this weekend. "I didn't expect the crowd to be like that," Hunter said. "We have to thank our fans for coming out, and the student section was tremendous." I I What Do These Leaders Have in Common? Gwendolyn Chivers, Chief Pharmacist, University of Michigan Health Service Gayle Crick, Manager, Global Marketing, Eli Lilly & Co. Cynthia Kirman, National Managed Program, General M The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy has been developing leaders for positions in business, health care, education, biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry, engineering, publishing, law, and many other careers for 127 years. Manager, It's one reason our Pharmacy . [otors Corp. College 1s always ranked among the world's best. 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