INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan was seconds away from another Final Four.
In seconds, it slipped away.
A game that felt like it had been won or lost multiple times over the previous 39 minutes had been more enthralling than any optimist could anticipate, the action so riveting it ensured a disappointing loss would soon turn devastating for one side.
When Aaron Harrison’s last-second 3-pointer fell, it sealed countless sleepless nights in Michigan. But not for John Beilein.
“Give them credit, tip your hat, it was a long ways away,” said the Michigan coach. “We were going to make sure they did not get downhill. They’ve been shooting at 33 percent all year. You’re going to make them score over you. I thought [Caris LeVert] got his hand up. They did a good job on it, but he made a shot from deep.”
A season of unexpected success had ended even more cruelly than the previous spring, when the Wolverines lost in the national title game.
They’d done it without Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. — both gone to the NBA. They’d done it without Mitch McGary — gone to season-ending back surgery in January. They’d done more than anyone outside of Ann Arbor had thought was possible.
Senior Jordan Morgan could hardly process it all at the press conference podium, his tears falling so fast and so hard, they could be seen from far away.
“I mean, just this year, has been the most fun time I’ve had probably playing basketball ever,” said Morgan.
The captain’s career was over. The teammates by his side — sophomores Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III — were uncertain if removing their uniforms meant taking them off for the last time.
Stauskas, the Big Ten Player of the Year who scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and Robinson, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the final 13 minutes, could both be headed to the NBA Draft, along with McGary.
“We’re all pretty sad about this loss right now,” Stauskas said. “We’ll address that later on with our families, but right now, just tough going through this.”
It will only get easier.
“I went up to everyone individually and I just reminded them how great of a season we had,” said junior forward Jon Horford. “Focus on all the good things we accomplished this year and when you think that way, I feel like it’s hard to be upset.”