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No. 12 Indiana edges No. 16 Michigan

Jan 6, 2012 - 6:04 AM Bloomington, IN (Sports Network) - Victories over ranked opponents are becoming commonplace for the Indiana Hoosiers.

Christian Watford scored a game-high 25 points and Cody Zeller added 18, as the 12th-ranked Hoosiers edged No. 16 Michigan, 73-71, at Assembly Hall.

Indiana (14-1, 2-1 Big Ten) downed its third ranked team in a season for the first time since 2005-2006 with other victories against the nation's top two teams at the time (No. 1 Kentucky and second-ranked Ohio State).

"Watching players develop and watching them play to a level that they have not played at before against the highest level of competition which is what we face and will face the rest of the season, that's a big time thing," said Indiana head coach Tom Crean.

Tim Hardaway, Jr. scored 19 points, Jordan Morgan added 12 and Trey Burke chipped in with 10 for the Wolverines (12-3, 2-1), who saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end.

"I thought it was a very good basketball (game). One, that if you are watching games right now especially in the Big Ten, a lot of them seem to be ending this way," Michigan head coach John Beilein said.

Hardaway, Jr.'s slam with 3:05 left tied the game at 68, but Verdell Jones made two free throws and a clutch contested jumper from the left elbow with 23.9 seconds left to open a 72-68 edge. Zack Novak then traveled, Michigan's first turnover in nine minutes, but Jones missed the front end of a one-and- one.

Stu Douglass drained a three with 2.9 ticks to play, and an off-ball foul put Watford at the foul line. He made the first and missed the second, but Novak's three-quarter-court heave at the horn didn't draw iron.

Indiana got off to a fast, making five straight shots to open a 12-6 edge then pushing that edge to 17-6 as Matt Roth's jumper closed seven straight points for the home team.

Zeller's three-point play and Derek Elston's three-pointer moments later made the score 26-14, but the Wolverines didn't go away. Trailing 33-18, Michigan scored 12 of the next 14 points, as Douglass drained two of his three treys in succession for a 35-30 game.

Indiana held a 39-32 edge at the half, but Michigan finally climbed all of the way back to square the contest at 46-46 on Evan Smotrycz's trey off a Douglass pass with just under 15 minutes on the clock.

The Hoosiers regained a lead as large as 10, 65-55, on Victor Oladipo's slam with just under 7 1/2 minutes on the clock, but again the Wolverines fought back, tying the game at 68-68 in the closing minutes.

Game Notes

The Hoosiers now have two more wins than they had all of last season...Indiana made 55 percent of its shots for the game, including a 7-of-11 effort from long range...Michigan shot 46.6 percent from the floor in defeat...Douglass tallied 11 points for the Wolverines...Watford grabbed seven rebounds, while Jones finished with eight points and six assists...Indiana leads the all-time series, 101-55.