March Madness always produces memorable moments in various different forms. Some of the best come from games when a team that looks like toast comes back to win in spectacular fashion. That is exactly what happened during the 2013 Sweet 16 when the South Region’s four-seed Michigan pulled off a miraculous win against top seed Kansas in Arlington. The Jayhawks dominated most of this game, and after being up by 14 with seven minutes left, KU held on to a 10-point lead with 2:52 to play. However, the resilient Wolverines were able to trim the lead to 5 with 21 seconds to go before a Glenn Robinson Jr. layup for Michigan followed by a missed free throw by KU’s Elijah Johnson led to this from Michigan guard Trey Burke…
Burke’s shot forced overtime and will go down as one of the most memorable plays in Michigan basketball history. The Wolverines pulled away during the extra frame for an eventual 87-85 win.
The celebration was sweet that night for Michigan. However, long before Burke’s legendary shot, almost everyone thought Michigan’s season was over. Here are some of the tweets from before the last three minutes of regulation…
Kansas an Louisville are head an shoulders above everyone else in the tourney..
— Cody Hoffman™ (@Cody_Hoffman2) March 30, 2013
Another Michigan beat down inside Cowboys stadium. Cool.
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) March 30, 2013
https://twitter.com/garyridley/status/317805684110544896
Wow this Michigan team kind of blows. #ncaa #marchmadness
— 𝙰𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊 𝙿𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚘 (@amandapalumbo) March 30, 2013
Gabe DeArmond, a Rivals publisher for Missouri site PowerMizzou, either successfully executed a “reverse jinx” on hated rival Kansas, or was particularly confident in a Jayhawks’ win:
https://twitter.com/gabedearmond/status/317803634442256384
https://twitter.com/gabedearmond/status/317808771088936960
But plenty of other notable figures shared the “Michigan is done” take:
Michigan one big man away tonight. Crushed on the glass.
— George Atallah (@GeorgeAtallah) March 30, 2013
https://twitter.com/jakebrownradio/status/317809282676563969
What she said…RT @naeashlan: hurry up and lose MICHIGAN so we can watch MSU/DUKE
— Jay Scott Smith (@JayScottSmith) March 30, 2013
Surprised that Michigan's defense was non existent tonight. Thought they would give KU a good game, but the JayHawks have had their way.
— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) March 30, 2013
Goodbye Michigan. Great season. Ran into a very good Kansas team with alot of experience.
— Mark Cavitt (@MarkCavitt) March 30, 2013
Is Michigan a horrible team now for losing to Kansas, or does that only apply to UNC?
— Woody Cain (@WYcain) March 30, 2013
Well now that Michigan is done I can reserve all of my bitching on twitter for Tiger baseball. You're all welcome in advance. #heartastrack
— Jordan Strack (@JordanStrack) March 30, 2013
A lot of that Michigan comeback was thanks to Burke, named National Player of the Year that season. He went scoreless in the first half, but scored 23 points in the second frame and overtime to help pull the Wolverines back into the game. The whole team came together down the stretch, though, finding ways to force turnovers and capitalize on their own opportunities, and they built on this comeback. Michigan would go on to beat Florida 79-59 in the Elite Eight and Syracuse 61-56 in the Final Four before losing 82-76 to Louisville in the title game. But many figured their season was doomed long before that when they fell behind against Kansas.
Plenty of college basketball fans shared the “Michigan is done” sentiment during the game as well:
Well, Burke did show up, Michigan didn’t fire John Beilein mid-game, and it all worked out in the end. As for the twitter gallery? They probably just moved on to commenting about the next game.
