NEW YORK - In the arena where players become legends, where performers become stars, Michigan basketball had a chance for someone to add his name into the Madison Square Garden lore.
The Wolverines led Arkansas by 15 in the first half Tuesday night, only to fall behind by 18 in the second half, before they scratched, clawed and fought their way back within four in the final two minutes of play.
A Tre Donaldson missed free throw was ruled out of bounds off U-M, but video review overturned the call and gave the ball back to Michigan. That was key, as on the ensuing possession Roddy Gayle Jr. was fouled. He too made the first free throw, then missed the second, but this time Danny Wolf got the offensive rebound and eventually finished the possession with a left-handed scoop to get within one with 1:28 to play.
After Michigan came up with a stop on defense, Donaldson turned the ball over by stepping on the baseline with 35 seconds to play. But the Wolverines were given a reprieve when Arkansas' Trevon Brazile was intentionally fouled and he missed both tries from the stripe.
That gave U-M another chance, but Brazile got the last laugh when he stuffed Vlad Goldin on a hook-shot in front of the rim with less than 20 seconds to play.
"I said to Vlad's old teammate 'I didn't ever think Vlad was going to get blocked like that,'" Wolf said. "I wouldn't want (us to get) any other shot.
"I don't think the game came down to that (stop)."
Brazile came away with the rebound and was fouled, this time he split from the stripe on the other end to set up U-M, down two, with one final possession. May called a timeout with 3.7 seconds to play, U-M in-bounded the ball to Wolf, who threw a backdoor bounce pass to Gayle Jr. along the baseline.
The ball caromed to the ground, Gayle got his hands on it and threw up one last heave but it clanged off the front iron, snapping Michigan's seven-game winning streak, an 89-87 loss.
"He was beat," Arkansas coach John Calipari of U-M's final play. "But getting down 15, you're never out of the game. You're up 18, they're never out of the game. You've got to finish it off. You've got to make plays. You can't think this thing is over.
"(Brazile) misses two free throws. What's he come back and do down on the other end? He blocked the shot. ... (Davis) got beat on that backdoor. And what did he do? Instead of stopping, he fought, he dove on the floor and tipped it with his right hand. We win the game because of a play where he got beat, but it was an effort play."
As Wolf said, the game wasn't lost on the final two possessions.
If there were a time it was lost, it was from the 6:06 mark in the first half to when there was 9:45 left in the game. That's when a 36-21 Michigan lead turned on its head into a 78-60 Arkansas advantage, a 58-25 run by the Hogs.
"We got off to a good start, then got a little bit complacent," Wolf said. "In the first half, we got our butts kicked on the glass, especially me ... it's easy to to get behind when you're playing a team that's that quick and that talented."
The snowball rolling down hill turned into an avalanche as Michigan had yet another one of its turnover-prone stretches, which have frequently cropped up this season, even during the winning streak. In the first 9:45 of the second half, Michigan had more turnovers (10), than shot attempts (9) as the Hogs blitzed the Wolverines with a 33-11 push.
It was an uphill climb from there as U-M found itself down 18 -- its largest deficit of the season -- but quickly cut it to 12 when a Wolf and-1 preceded a Sam Walters long ball.
Walters was 2 of 2 from deep and because, in part, because it was hard for May to get Will Tschetter on the floor.
U-M's longest tenured player had a heater in the first half, he scored 13 points in less than three minutes of play as U-M built a 15-point advantage but he played just seven minutes in the second half and didn't shoot as he turned the ball over twice.
"Danny Wolf, 14, 9 and 9; Vlad Goldin, 17 and 9; Sam Walters, 2 for 2 (on 3's)," May said of why Tschetter didn't play more late. "Hard to stroll four of those guys out there together... But yeah, Vlad and Danny are the biggest reason."
A 12-0 run in less than three minutes of play got U-M back within six, before it got to four on three separate occasions. The first two times came after put-back slams by Gayle Jr, who scored 13, and Nimari Burnett, who added 10.
Michigan had a handful of chances in the final two minutes with the game within one possession, and never could complete the comeback. There were a number of little areas where U-M lost the game - Arkansas won the battle of second-chance points (12-9), points off turnovers (21-17), fast-break points (10-4).
"The crowd was great," May said. "Every possession felt like it was extremely important, like a conference game, like an NCAA Tournament game. And obviously when you're in the Garden, the energy and intensity is just different.
"We need to control the things -- the turnovers, the defensive glass -- much better if we're going to be able to win these championship-type, NCAA Tournament-type games."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. You can send him an email at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.