Brian Spurlock-USA Today Sports
With the Big Ten regular season title on the line, a battle in Ann Arbor, Michigan came down to the wire.
The Indiana Hoosiers faced the possibility of locking up their first outright conference crown since 1993, but in order to do so they needed to go on the road and win at Michigan.
Well, late in the ball game it appeared as if the Hoosiers were in trouble and that the Wolverines were going to deny Indiana of that outright opportunity. Some missed free throws and empty possessions quickly changed the course of things down the stretch however, while Indiana sophomore Cody Zeller simply made some crucial plays for the Hoosiers.
In the final segment however, Indiana scored inside to take a 71-70 lead with only a few seconds remaining. Michigan’s response, well if you haven’t seen the video, you probably should. The Wolverines shot attempt sat on the rim and rolled out, as the Hoosiers celebrated an outright Big Ten regular season title.
Take a look at the final segment below:
While the game itself can certainly be categorized as crazy, what happened after the game may be just as good.
Indiana head coach Tom Crean was seen screaming at Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer after the contest, virtually having to be restrained from running after him.
Why?
Well, Meyer was a former Indiana assistant coach under Kelvin Sampson, and a reminder of a dark era within Indiana history. Sampson and his staff were booted from the program for NCAA violations which basically sent the Hoosiers into a rebuilding mode that Crean has worked so hard to dig them out of.
Crean can be heard yelling to Meyer, “you know what you did, you wrecked our program!”
Is it a lack of sportsmanship?
Eh, it seems pretty legit considering what Indiana has gone through since the days of Sampson and his staff.
Credit Crean for the job he has done at Indiana. We have known all year that the Hoosiers are back, but an outright Big Ten crown, well that’s just a sweet, sweet enjoyment for Indiana and its fans.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
