Hunter Dickinson could see the finish line. In improbable fashion, Michigan had seized a seven-point lead in overtime over Illinois; a win that the Wolverines so desperately coveted rested firmly in their grasp. Dickinson waved his arms in the air, beckoning a once-hostile crowd.
“Up seven in overtime,” Dickinson said later, “you can’t ask for a better position to be in.”
No, you really can’t. Not on the road, not against a team like Illinois, not after erasing a seven-point deficit late in regulation to force overtime in the first place. This was where Michigan wanted to be.
And yet the Wolverines fumbled away their lead anyway, eventually falling in an excruciating 91-87 double-overtime loss.
“It’s pretty demoralizing,” Dickinson said. “Just seeing how well we played, we put ourselves in a position to win. … We just didn’t make the plays down the stretch.”