Wolverines top Wildcats in OT

Michigan's Trey Burke, right, drives around Northwestern's JerShon Cobb, left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Evanston, Ill., Tuesday. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Trey Burke, Zack Novak, and Stu Douglass hit 3-pointers to start overtime Tuesday night, and No. 11 Michigan beat Northwestern 67-55 for its fourth straight victory.

Burke scored 19 to lead the Wolverines (21-7, 11-4 Big Ten), who made 14 3-pointers and kept their Big Ten title hopes alive with a well-earned road win.

Northwestern (16-11, 6-9), whose chances of getting to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history were dealt another blow, got 14 points from John Shurna, six below his Big Ten-leading average.

Shurna became the school's career scoring leader Saturday, but had only four points after halftime Tuesday.

Burke sank a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound by Novak to give the Wolverines the early lead in overtime. And then two more 3s gave the Wolverines a nine-point lead.

Tim Hardaway, Jr.'s 3-pointer with about a minute and a half left in regulation tied the game at 49. Both teams had a chance to go ahead in closing seconds but couldn't.

Northwestern missed two shots and Burke rebounded the second one and called a timeout with 24.3 seconds to go. The Wolverines moved the ball around before Northwestern's Alex Marcotullio fouled with 4.7 seconds to go.

After both teams used timeouts, Burke put up a contested shot from deep that was well short, forcing the second overtime game of the season between the teams.

Reggie Hearn, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer as Northwestern regrouped after three rapid-fire turnovers to give the Wildcats a 45-43 lead. Shurna then made a spin move in the lane and dropped the ball in to make it a four-point lead.

But Burke and Hardaway hit 3-pointers for Michigan on either side of a basket Shurna made while falling down making it a 49-49 tie with 1:25 left.

Michigan clamped down on defense in the second half and the Wolverines took their first lead of the second half when Matt Vogrich sank a 3-pointer from the corner.