NCAA Basketball Tournament: The Final Four : The Final Nobody Expected : Higgins’ Shot at Two Seconds Gives Michigan a Shot at First

Spotting a hole Saturday in the Illinois defense, Sean Higgins of Michigan streaked to the basket and rose high for a spectacular dunk in the face of the Illini’s Lowell Hamilton.

Take that, Illinois.

And take this, too, Illini:

Michigan, twice a loser to Illinois in the regular season, will play Seton Hall on Monday night for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship.

The Wolverines beat the Illini, 83-81, in front of 39,187 Saturday at the Kingdome on a follow shot by Higgins, a former All-City forward from Fairfax High School who rebounded a shot by Terry Mills and put the ball into the basket with two seconds left.

Higgins was in the right place at the right time.

As Steve Fisher, Michigan’s interim coach, said later: “Thank goodness Sean was there and Terry missed it just the right way.”

As Mills tried a three-point attempt from the right corner, Higgins was in an unfortunate position, boxed out by Nick Anderson on the weak side.

“I was on his backside,” Higgins said.

Higgins, though, turned out to be a pain in the Illini’s backside when Mills’ shot bounced long off the rim.

Higgins jumped over Anderson for the rebound and fired a six-foot shot from the baseline that nestled into the net, providing the winning points in an entertaining game that featured 33 lead changes and sent the Wolverines into the championship game.

The shot also kept Fisher unbeaten as a college coach.

Fisher was appointed by Athletic Director Bo Schembechler on March 15, when Bill Frieder accepted an offer to coach at Arizona State, and has guided the Wolverines to within one victory of their first NCAA championship.

Asked for the umpteenth time if it felt like he was living a dream, the long-time assistant coach told reporters: “Once again, it sure does. And don’t wake me up until Tuesday morning.”

Kenny Battle, who led Illinois with 29 points, scored on a turnaround jumper in the lane with 50 seconds left to pull the Illini even at 81-81.

Point guard Rumeal Robinson, who had 14 points and 12 assists, brought the ball quickly up the floor for Michigan, which had hoped to set up a last-second shot for Glen Rice, who led the Wolverines with 28 points.

“We were going to run a little play we call high,” where Robinson comes off a screen for the ball and the Wolverines set a double-screen for Rice, Fisher said.

But, “We got a little helter-skelter,” Fisher said.

Mills took a pass in the corner with less than 10 seconds left.

“They doubled on Higgins and they doubled on Rice,” Mills said. “They were unable to get open, so somebody had to take the shot.

“Time was running down and there wasn’t no more than, like, five seconds left. We were in a (can’t-lose) situation. Whether I made it or not, we were (at least) going into overtime.”

Said Fisher: “We wanted to do something different, but with five seconds to go, you don’t have a lot of time for decision-making.”

So Mills, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward who had attempted only two three-point shots all season, fired it up from the corner.

And everything worked out.

Higgins was there for the rebound and follow shot.

When a desperation, last-second pass by Illinois’ Stephen Bardo was intercepted by Rice, “a chill rushed through my body,” Rice said.

And a feeling of despair engulfed Illinois, which had won its previous 10 games, including an 89-73 rout of Michigan only three weeks at Ann Arbor, Mich., in the Big Ten Conference finale for both teams.

“If we get a rebound there at the end, we could win the game,” said Illinois Coach Lou Henson, whose team ended the season with a record of 31-5. “We couldn’t get the ball off the boards. We defensed them, but we couldn’t get the ball off the boards.”

Rice said he felt especially good to reach the final with a victory over the Illini, who also beat the Wolverines in January, 96-84.

Fisher disagreed.

“I would have felt exactly the same way had it been Duke or (North) Carolina or St. Mary’s Grade School, or whomever else we might have played today to get a chance at a national championship,” he said.

Michigan outrebounded the Illini, 45-39, getting 16 rebounds from Loy Vaught, who had set a goal of 15 before the game.

“I’m very proud of myself,” Vaught said.

Illinois said Michigan looked like a different team.

“I saw a change,” Bardo said. “They played a lot harder. They were on top of their game and they controlled the boards.”

Michigan overcame an early eight-point deficit to lead at halftime, 39-38, and opened a 51-44 advantage, its biggest of the game, with 15:34 left, but the Wolverines couldn’t shake the determined Illini, which got 18 points from Battle in the second half. “I was getting good position down low and my teammates were getting me the ball,” Battle said. “And everytime I got it, I was able to score.”

Battle’s three-point shot from the right corner pulled the Illini to within 78-77 with 2:28 left, and a shot from the left corner by Hamilton with 1:55 remaining gave Illinois a 79-78 lead.

Reserve Mark Hughes then put Michigan ahead, 81-79, with 1:09 left, getting fouled by Hamilton as he scored on a follow shot and adding a free throw for a three-point play.

Illinois never led again.