After Ot Win, Michigan Gets Booed Off The Court -- Underdog Pepperdine Turns Fans Against Wolverines

WICHITA, Kan. - After Day One, it was not hard to tell who the villain of this melodrama was.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan took turns looking great, struggling and then inciting the crowd into starting the Wave - all in the same game.

But nowhere along the way did Michigan ever think about losing.

"We thrive on adversity," Jalen Rose said.

"We didn't ever fall," Juwan Howard said.

No, but it was close. Michigan held its breath on a couple of Pepperdine's last-second three-pointers, breaking through in overtime to beat the Waves 78-74 in a first-round game of the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Kansas Coliseum.

And the Wolverines, now 22-7, were booed off the court by many in the crowd of 10,100.

"I don't know why the crowd was booing us," Rose said. "Maybe they weren't necessarily booing us, they just wanted to see Pepperdine win."

Especially after the Waves' second-half comeback, when they hit eight three-pointers to stay in the game.

Especially when it's a No. 14 seed trying to make a comeback on a No. 3, which has been to the past two national championship games.

And especially after Howard, at 6-foot-9, towered over Pepperdine's 5-foot-9 Damin Lopez after a foul call.

"Actually, there was really nothing said," Lopez said. "I had never actually seen Juwan Howard up close. He's a big fella."

The foul incited the Coliseum crowd, which had watched the underdog cut the lead to six by the 4:54 mark.

They howled at Howard as he went to the bench. When Michigan called a time-out with 4:42 to go - and after Lopez had been bumped while chasing a loose ball into the Michigan bench - a "Let's go, Waves!" chant rocked the arena.

Fans did the wave - maybe the only time it should be allowed in college basketball.

Then, after two Waves free throws, Pepperdine guard Bryan Parker got a steal on the press and fed Lopez for a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 61-60 and likely set a new noise record for the Coliseum.

"By the looks on everybody's faces," Pepperdine's Dana Jones said, "I don't think there was one person who didn't think we could do it."

The Waves even had the lead twice near the end of regulation, but Michigan tied it with 20 seconds to play. Pepperdine brought it up court, but Lopez's running shot was blocked by Rose, forcing overtime.

Pepperdine stayed close through the overtime and was down only 74-72 when the Waves got the ball back with 24 seconds to go. Lopez, who made seven of 17 three-pointers, came off a pick and let it fly from 23 feet.

But it was short and Michigan got the rebound. Game over, except for one more chorus of boos.

Ask Rose, or any other Wolverine, if they care now. The Wolverines were threatened and disliked, but they didn't fall.