Michigan
10-7,4-3Big Ten
Northwestern
9-9,2-7Big Ten
Late Rally Pushes Michigan Past Northwestern for Third Straight Win
1/26/2022 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Caleb Houstan scored a game-high 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field, including going 3-for5 from long range.
» Devante Jones added 15 points, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
» Eli Brooks went 3-for-4 from three-point range as part of a 12-point night.
Site: Ann Arbor, Michigan (Crisler Center)
Score: Michigan 72, Northwestern 70
Records: U-M (10-7, 4-3 B1G), NW (9-9, 2-7 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 29 -- at Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.), 12:30 p.m. (TV: CBS)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan's men's basketball team completed a late comeback against Northwestern, rallying to defeat Northwestern 72-70 on Wednesday night (Jan. 26) at Crisler Center in its annual Pink Game.
Coming off their best shooting game all season against Indiana on Sunday (Jan. 23), Michigan continued to find success at the three-point line against the Wildcats, shooting 66.7 percent (8-for-12).
Freshman Caleb Houstan led Michigan with s game-high 18 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 beyond the arc. The performance was his third consecutive game with 15 points or more. Graduate student DeVante' Jones finished with 15 points, which included a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Graduate student Eli Brooks added three three-pointers and a steal.
Houstan began the game with a hot hand, draining a jumper and a corner three in the first four minutes to help give Michigan (9-7, 3-3 Big Ten) an 9-7 lead going into the first media timeout at the 15:40 mark.
The Maize and Blue trailed for the first time, 17-16, after a deep three from Northwestern's Ryan Young, heading to the second media timeout with a little over 11 minutes left in the half. The Wolverines bounced back with a quick 4-0 run to reclaim a 20-17 lead midway through the first half.
Coming off the bench, Jaron Faulds made an immediate impact, securing a steal and firing an outlet pass to Kobe Bufkin, who ran the floor for a fastbreak layup to extend the U-M lead to 22-19. The Wolverines and Wildcats exchanged fouls for over a minute, sending Jones and Houstan to the line twice. NU was able to cut U-M's lead back to three, but Brooks responded with a triple to make it a 28-22 game and give Michigan their largest lead of the game with 4:31 left in the first.
The Wolverines were put on ice for nearly three minutes until Jones finally broke the dry spell with a layup at the 1:24 mark to give Michigan a 31-26 advantage. At the half, U-M hels a 34-31 lead as both squads headed into the locker room.
Northwestern (9-8, 2-6 Big Ten) cut the Michigan lead to one in the first minute of the second half, but after a pair of Moussa Diabate free throws, Brooks scored six straight points with a three-pointer, swiping the ball and finishing for an and-one play to give Michigan a 42-35 advantage at the 18:16 mark. U-M went on another 6-0 run soon after with back-to-back threes from Houstan and Brooks that pushed the lead to 48-37 and brought the Crisler crowd to its feet with 17:10 left to play.
Despite leading by as many as 10, the Wildcats responded with a five-minute 11-1 run to tie the game at 51 halfway through the second half. After exchanging buckets, Northwestern reclaimed a 56-55 lead with 7:57 remaining in regulation.
With five minutes left to play, U-M found itself down by as many as seven, 62-55, after being iced for almost four minutes. The Wolverines emerged from a critical timeout to put themselves within two after a clutch three-pointer from Jones. Diabate followed with a wide-open dunk to tie the game at 62 with 3:24 left.
Terrence Williams II scored his first points of the game came via a triple to give the Wolverines a 65-64 lead with 2:08 remaining.
Michigan kept firing from three-point range, with Houstan connecting on his third triple to give the Wolverines a 68-65 lead with 1:38 left. Jones sank a pair of free throws to push the lead to five, but Northwestern's Boo Buie answered with a triple of his own to cut Michigan's advantage to 70-68 with :52 left in the game.
Jones sank a pair of free throws to give U-M a 72-68 lead with :27 on the clock. Northwestern earned a trip to the charity stripe with 17 seconds left, made the first but missed the second.
The Wildcats went to the free-throw line again with four seconds on the clock and again made the first and missed the second. After grabbing the rebound, a last-second three went astray as time expired.
The Wolverines travel to East Lansing on Saturday (Jan. 26) to take on No. 10 Michigan State in their first matchup of the season at the Breslin Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on CBS.
