Jeff Seidel

Detroit Free Press Columnist

INDIANAPOLIS — Here are 16 reasons the Michigan Wolverines can get to the Final Four.

1. This team has all kinds of momentum and belief, and it’s showing all kinds of grit and mental toughness. “I had no doubt in my mind, if it came down to the way it did, in the second half, that we would be able to pull it out,” D.J. Wilson said after Michigan’s 73-69 victory over Louisville on Sunday. “The grit and toughness down the stretch.”

2. This team knows what it is. The Wolverines might get killed on the boards, but they take care of the basketball. Michigan had just six turnovers against Louisville. As Michigan coach John Beilein says, there is more than one way to win a basketball game.

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3. This team can score from the three-point line and it can score inside. What do you want to try to take away? "I think it just shows the versatility of this team," D.J. Wilson said. "Our offense, it's kind of like pick your poison. Today, we didn't knock down the three. We worked, and we did other things to put the ball in the hole, and it was effective."

4. The Wolverines are battle-tested and have won 12 of their last 14 games. "They were just a better team down the stretch, a little more experience," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.

5. This team has so many weapons, so many ways to beat you. Moe Wagner scored 26 points on Sunday. "That's been our identity in the last month and a half, finding different ways to win," Derrick Walton Jr. said. "Whether it's the three-ball or not, it's finding multiple different ways to win and taking what the game gives us."

6. This team can handle adversity. The last 2½ minutes of the first half were disastrous for Michigan. The Wolverines had pulled to within one point, 27-26, after Walton hit his first three. Suddenly, Michigan’s defense picked up. The Wolverines had more energy and effort. But in the final 70 seconds, Louisville hit a pair of three-pointers and took a 36-28 halftime lead. At that stage, Michigan could have folded. But it didn’t. It chipped away at the lead, trying to do it one possession at a time. That showed all kinds of composure. "So proud of these guys," Beilein said. "The end of the first half, I thought was a defining moment for our team in this particular game."

7. What Wagner does on the court. Enough said.

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8. How Wagner gives this team energy. "He's got the mentality where he wants to make the play," Walton said. "We feed off him so much because he plays with so much energy. He just makes the right play at all times. He has the calls to make the big plays, so we feed off him because he's not afraid of anything. So that's pretty much his mentality."

9. How Wagner is never afraid. "Moe just has the mentality of he's not scared in the moment, and I think you definitely saw that today," Wilson said. "Down the stretch, when he got the ball, he knew he was going to make a play, and we watched him. He executed well down the stretch. That was big, a big confidence boost."

10. This team just believes it can win. It believes it will make every shot. And it believes it can bounce back from any adversity.

11. The Wolverines are coming out of the Big Ten. Yes, that conference that is a wee bit better than people thought. "I don't know how they'd judge how teams were, but we're all going to be judged a lot on what happens in November, December," Beilein said. "We had a tremendous league last year with a lot of turnover. Guys going pro, great seniors in the league. There's always going to be a lot of hype about what teams are getting most hype early, and it just doesn't go away. And so as a result, I just told everybody, just wait. The level of coaching in this league, the resources in this league, the level of talent in this league, it will come to the top at the end of the year."

12. Beilein is a tremendous coach. He has these players loose and confident and they keep getting better.

13. This team learned a valuable lesson when it was involved in a plane crash at Willow Run Airport before the Big Ten tournament. “It’s a remarkable story,” assistant coach Jeff Meyer said. “It’s 12 days now. I remind them every day, that life is precious. We were seconds away from not having the opportunities to do what we love to do. I mean, seconds… We were very very fortunate.”

14. This team is clutch at the end. Wilson hit four straight free throws at the end. "Everybody is confident in my ability knocking down free throws down the stretch," Wilson said. "I'm confident in myself. So that's really all I need. I think yesterday when we played Oklahoma State, I think that really helped me. So when I went to the line, I just had to have confidence."

15. Even on a day when Louisville took away Walton, he found a way to contribute. He scored only 10 points, but he had seven rebounds and six assists. “He’s a tremendous leader,” Meyer said. “He has grown into a captain. I just told him, Captain Walton. He wouldn’t let the ship go down.”

16. Why not Michigan?

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel. Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!