If Big Ten tournament was IU basketball's last stand, Hoosiers stood tall, make NCAA case

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana rallied back from a 17-point second-half deficit for a stunning 74-69 victory over No. 8 seed Michigan on Thursday in the Big Ten tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, keeping the Hoosiers' NCAA tournament hopes alive.

The No. 9 seed Hoosiers advance to play No. 1 seed Illinois 11:30 a.m., Friday. Their record improves to 19-12. Michigan falls to 17-14.

Here are three reasons it happened.

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Xavier Johnson's second half

Indiana point guard Xavier Johnson seemed to be the only IU player with any direction on offense early in the first half, hitting 3-of-5 field goals for eight points, but he picked up his second foul with 11:16 to go and spent the rest of the first half on the bench. The Hoosiers were already falling behind when he left and it only got worse as the Hoosiers had nowhere to get offensive firepower. They started the game 4-of-16 from the field with Johnson responsible for three of the four made buckets. They found some rhythm late in the first half, but they were shooting 11-of-29 at the break and down 41-28.

The Hoosiers were down by as many as 17 points early in the second half, but that's when Johnson seemed to turn it on on both ends. His 3-pointer with 11:02 cut Michigan's lead from 17 to 14 and keyed a 9-0 run that became a 20-2 spurt that turned the game around. He got rolling with All-Big Ten center Trayce Jackson-Davis in the pick and roll and was also excellent on defense with one steal but even more deflections.

He finished with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 3-pointers. He also had seven assists and eight rebounds and turned the ball over just three times.

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Trayce Jackson-Davis woke up

Jackson-Davis was clearly getting the worst of the matchup with Michigan's Hunter Dickinson early. He seemed timid with the ball in his hand and missed his first four shots. Meanwhile, Dickinson was taking it to him on the other end with 13 first-half points on 6-of-9 shooting. As a team, Michigan was finding it way too easy to score at the rim in the first half and had 22 points in the paint at the break.

Jackson-Davis was taken off the floor for senior Michael Durr with 11:16 to go in the first half and brought back with 7:04 to go. He hit his last two shots of the half, but then really got going in the second half, especially when playing in tandem with Johnson. He made eight of 11 second-half field goals for 19 points to finish with 24 in the game. He finished with eight rebounds but also blocked four shots.

Indiana's defense came up big late

Michigan was cooking Indiana inside in the first half and was also burning them outside in the second half. The Wolverines went up 17 points on a driving layup by guard Eli Brooks with 12:52 to go and they were 20-of-41 from the field at that point.

The Wolverines went on to miss their next 14 shots and made just two field goals the rest of the way. The Hoosiers outscored them 31-9 from that point on. The Wolverines turned the ball over 10 times in the second half, with four of those being Indiana steals, and gave away a game they had controlled.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU basketball stunning comeback beats Michigan in Big Ten tournament