WOLVERINES’ SWEET UPSET
Michigan’s D.J. Wilson, left, and Moe Wagner celebrate Sunday during the Wolverines’ 73-69 upset of second-seeded Louisville in a secondround game of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. Michigan, a seven seed, advances to the tournament’
The mission was top secret. “It was a little bit of a clandestine operation,” Michigan coach John Beilein said after the No. 7 seed Wolverines’ stunning 73-69 victory against No. 2 seed Louisville.
Beilein’s wife, Kathleen, came up with the idea. “She had it under surveillance,” Beilein said.
“I was armed and ready to go,” he said. “I went into this game that I was going to be using it after the end of this game.”
After Michigan won this game and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, everybody in the Michigan locker room was told to take a seat. But none did. Normally, they do what the coaches say. Normally. But not this time. The players were ready, armed with water bottles. They had been spraying Beilein after every win, since this team began its thrilling run a week ago in the Big Ten tournament in Washington. Since then, the Wolverines have won six postseason games in a row, each time finding a new way. And this postgame celebration has turned into something of a tradition. But this? Beilein was taking it to another level, which has become the theme of this team.
The Wolverines have taken it a level that didn’t seem possible a few weeks ago.
Beilein crouched down and burst into the locker room, armed with a green-and-yellow Super Soaker, cocked and ready to squirt. He started shooting, spraying and smiling. He went crazy, spraying anything that moved in this small, cramped locker room.
The players were jumping up and down in a tight, circle. Screaming. Spraying. Tossing. Pushing. Smiling. Grabbing.
It was wonderful. Pure joy. A group of basketball players that have grown so close together.
“Coach B thought he would surprise us with a water gun,” said Zak Irvin, a senior captain who grew up on the outskirts of Indianapolis. “Yeah, he did. So we had water bottles ready for him.” Water went everywhere. “Everybody was drenched,” Irvin said. “It was a great experience.”
If nothing else, this team is fun.
“It’s memories like this that you will never forget,” Irvin said.
Indeed. Nobody will ever forget this team. Because this is a story that keeps getting better. And now the Wolverines are headed to the Sweet 16.
This team is full of confidence and drive and grit and toughness and desire and belief. That belief might be the biggest factor.
“Why not us?” Irvin asked after the Wolverines had fought back, climbing out of a 36-28 hole at halftime to win.
“Why not us?” Moritz Wagner asked after taking over this game and scoring 26 points.
“Why not us?” asked just about everybody in that cramped, wet locker room.
The Wolverines have goals that are bigger than this game.
They are dreaming of winning Thursday against Oregon in Kansas City, Mo.
They are dreaming of getting to the Final Four.
They are dreaming of winning the whole thing.
“Somebody is going to win this tournament,” Beilein said. Why not Michigan? “I think we showed everybody that we can play with anybody,” D.J. Wilson said.
Because when the Wolverines look at the Sweet 16, some of the other teams look awfully familiar, especially Wisconsin and Purdue. Two teams they beat just two weeks ago.
When the Wolverines see those other Big Ten teams succeed in this tournament, it gives them even more confidence.
“We are dangerous,” D.J. Wilson said, “and we can beat anybody.”
This team became a national story when its plane went off the runway at Willow Run Airport during takeoff on the way to the Big Ten tournament. But the magic was already brewing. The Wolverines have won 12 of their last 14 games.
“Regardless of what happened on that day (of the plane incident), we would have gone on a run,” Wilson said. “We are more than just that story. We are more than just a Cinderella story. I mean, we are Michigan. Michigan has never been seen as a Cinderella team.”
Can Michigan get to the Final Four? You know what? It doesn’t seem so absurd right now.
It seems pretty dang possible because this team keeps getting better. It has so many weapons. It can win in so many ways. From the three-point line. From the paint. From everywhere. And it has a secret weapon.
A green-and-yellow Super Soaker.
Seidel writes for the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.