With their NCAA Tournament lives on the line, Indiana rallied from a 17-point second half hole to defeat Michigan on Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis by a final score of 74-69.
Michigan led at halftime 41-28. The Hoosiers were led in the game by Trayce Jackson-Davis with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Xavier Johnson had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Indiana (19-12) will face No. 1 seed Illinois on Friday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern.
This breaking story will be updated with highlights and expanded stats.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. A dominant second half run. Indiana seemed to be buried, down 60-43 with 12:52 left in the game before they proceeded to go on an unimaginable 28-4 run. The Hoosiers made 10-of-17 shots to close the game and forced Michigan to make just 2-of-16. IU has given away several games this season late after having the lead, but they never gave it up again after taking a 65-64 edge with 4:27 left.
2. The defensive trio. The game flipped when Indiana went with its best defensive trio on the perimeter — Trey Galloway, Rob Phinisee and Xavier Johnson. Jordan Geronimo also subbed in for Race Thompson for the critical late stretch. To that point Michigan had 60 points in 27 minutes and had scored more than 1.3 points per possession. That guard group had been IU’s late-game closing threesome, but hadn’t been seen since Galloway went down with an injury at home against Wisconsin. IU forced 10 second half turnovers, and Michigan went more than 10 minutes without a field goal. Geronimo had a couple second half blocks and IU had 7 swats after the break. Indiana was +22 with Geronimo in the game as he provided a better athletic matchup for Michigan’s forwards.
3. Jackson-Davis and Johnson get it going. Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis struggled offensively early in the game but he was 8-of-11 with 19 points after the break. He missed his first four shots of the game and had two early turnovers, but made 10-of-13 with no turnovers to close things out. Jackson-Davis also blocked four shots in the second half and had a steal. Johnson had 9 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds in the second half alone as he fought through foul trouble that limited him in the first half.
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