Michigan has new life thanks to Hunter Dickinsons buzzer-beater

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With Hunter Dickinson, the invisible scale is always teetering.

On one side are the attributes that make Dickinson a great college basketball player. On the other side is everything else: the tweets, the celebrations, the podcast comments, the larger-than-life persona that makes Dickinson one of the Big Ten’s most polarizing players.

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Every time Dickinson touches the ball, there’s a chance he could tip the scale in one direction or the other. Just when it seems the antics are starting to outweigh the accomplishments, Dickinson does something to remind everyone why he carries himself with such bravado.

Sunday brought another one of those moments. Two seconds on the clock, Michigan trailing Wisconsin by three. Michigan’s fragile NCAA Tournament hopes hanging in the balance. Terrance Williams II looking frantically for an open man on an inbounds play, finding Dickinson 30 feet from the basket.

It speaks to the chaos of college basketball that Dickinson’s 3-pointer to force overtime wasn’t the wildest finish of the weekend. It barely cracked the top five. But if the Wolverines end up in the NCAA Tournament, they will look back on that shot as the play that put them there.

“If we lost that game,” Dickinson said, “it would have been really tough for us.”

Sunday’s 87-79 victory against Wisconsin put Michigan (17-12, 11-7 Big Ten) squarely in the bubble conversation with one week remaining in the regular season. For all the times it seemed the Wolverines were cooked, they’ve won six of their past eight games to join a four-way tie for second place in the Big Ten.

THIS IS FEBRUARY!
WE’RE GOING TO OVERTIME. pic.twitter.com/Lvqq1Bd7WI

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 26, 2023

Is it happening again? Is this going to be another Michigan team that slouches through the regular season and pulls a Sweet 16 run out of the air?

It’s starting to look that way. The Wolverines have won three games in a row, and they’ve done it with star freshman Jett Howard sidelined for the past week with an ankle injury. It’s not always clear how the Wolverines are doing it, as they’re basically playing two guards and barely maintaining a seven-man rotation.

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Kobe Bufkin and Dug McDaniel each played 42 minutes Sunday. Bufkin scored 28 points and showed why his name has been shooting up draft boards the past month. He made a tough shot with 33 seconds remaining in regulation to give Michigan the lead and drew contact on another potential go-ahead shot inside the final 10 seconds.

Either of those shots could have been a game-winner, but Michigan couldn’t get the stop and Bufkin couldn’t get the call. Bufkin got another look at a corner 3 to tie the game, but the Badgers’ Max Klesmit blocked it. That’s how Michigan ended up inbounding with 2.1 seconds on the clock, hoping for an answered prayer.

Joey Baker was the first option, but Wisconsin denied him the ball. Williams had to lob the inbounds pass over Jordan Davis, who went for the deflection but couldn’t keep his balance. Once he gathered the ball, Dickinson had a clear look at the basket and calmly swished the shot.

“They guarded it really well,” said Dickinson, who finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. “I knew I was the outlet guy. I thought there was a really good chance I was going to come out and get that one.”

Dickinson was in the eighth grade the last time he hit a shot like that one. Most teams aren’t drawing up 30-footers at the buzzer for their 7-foot-1 centers, but when Dickinson got his chance, the 40.4 percent 3-point shooter didn’t miss.

When Dickinson released that ball, he released a whole season’s worth of late-game frustrations. Ten of Michigan’s 12 losses have been decided by single digits. In losses to Virginia, Central Michigan, Iowa and Indiana, the Wolverines had the final shot of regulation with a chance to win outright or force overtime. Admit it: When that inbounds pass was in the air, didn’t it look like the Wolverines were about to lose another one?

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“We were owed that,” coach Juwan Howard said. “We’ve been through a lot of pain down the stretch.”

Of course, it had to be Dickinson who hit the shot that crushed Wisconsin’s spirit. These teams have a history that includes last season’s postgame melee in the handshake line, resulting in Howard’s five-game suspension. When Michigan played in Madison two weeks ago, Dickinson showed up in a ski mask, the kind of heel turn that makes him an easy target for opposing fans.

Dickinson said he gave up Twitter for Lent, but this being a Sunday, he made an exception to post the photo of his pregame entrance in Madison.

“I couldn’t let them use that ski mask picture against me again,” he said.

Once again, Dickinson couldn’t resist putting his thumb on the scale. Maybe it seems impulsive, but according to the people who know Dickinson best, his tactics are calculated. When he’s in character, opposing fans are focusing their ire on him and not on his teammates. Beneath the bravado, Howard said, Dickinson is a lovable guy who’s anything but a villain.

“He wants that attention,” Howard said. “He wants that attention to be away from his teammates and his coaches. Give it to him so he can be the bad guy.”

The emotion in Howard’s voice didn’t lie. He and Dickinson have been through a lot in three years at Michigan: a Big Ten championship Dickinson’s freshman year, a surprise run to the Sweet 16 last season, now a frustrating season that’s finally trending in the right direction.

Many times this year, it was tempting to write off the Wolverines as a lost cause. But Hunter Dickinson is still here, still doing Hunter Dickinson things. Which means Michigan still has a shot.

“We’re not done yet,” Dickinson said. “Not done yet.”

(Photo of Hunter Dickinson: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)

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