The Michigan Wolverines entered this weekend with everything on the line. An NCAA Tournament berth and potentially the third seed in the Big Ten Tournament were all up for grabs. Their opponent, Minnesota, entered the final weekend of the regular season riding a seven-game home-winning steak. The Gophers were the only Big Ten team the Wolverines had not beaten this season and Michigan was eager to change that.
Unfortunately, that change was going to have to wait until Saturday.
Michigan got on the board first in game one when Rutger McGroarty used a Minnesota defender for a bank shot to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.