by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Ann Arbor, MI

Claiming it was just a "professional misunderstanding", Indiana coach Tom Crean has apologized to Michigan assistant coach Jeff Meyer for a heated exchange after the Hoosiers' 72-71 triumph over the Wolverines to clinch the Big Ten regular-season title.

"On the way to the plane, I talked to him on the telephone. We discussed a couple of things and I apologized," Crean said during a conference call

"In retrospect, I wish I had never addressed anything after the heat of battle in a game, but I did and we move on. End of story," he added

Crean had to be restrained during his shouting match with Meyer, who was an Indiana assistant on Kelvin Sampson's staff from 2006 to 2008.

In the heat of the exchange with Meyer, Crean was overheard on video saying "you know what you did. You helped wreck our program."

Crean was hired in 2008 to replace Sampson, who left the Hoosiers with several NCAA sanctions as result of violations under his watch. Meyer, however, was cleared by the NCAA of wrongdoing with regard to major violations.

Crean had three losing seasons before leading Indiana to a 27-9 mark last season, This year,, he helped Indiana (26-5) achieve the No. 1 ranking and its first outright Big Ten regular-season title in two decades.

Michigan head coach John Beilein said he did not witness the actual incident but watched the video after "it became an issue."

"Jeff and I discussed it afterwards. I'm not going to comment on another coach or another university. I will say Michigan is always going to win with class and lose with class," Beilein said. "I am really proud of the way Jeff showed great poise in the aftermath of that loss."

Cody Zeller leads Indiana past Michigan for solo Big Ten crown

Ann Arbor, MI

Cody Zeller made a go-ahead layup with 14 seconds left and altered Trey Burke's shot at the other end to lift the Indiana Hoosiers 72-71 over the Michigan Wolverines.

Zeller had 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Oladipo had 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting and a career-high 13 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end to lead the No. 2 Hoosiers. Will Sheehey added 10 points, six of which came on key 3-pointers, for the Hoosiers.

Indiana (26-5, 14-4) outrebounded Michigan (25-6, 12-6) 47-26.

The No. 7 Wolverines took control in the first half with a 12-0 run, but faded toward halftime and led 33-30 after 20 minutes. Michigan led by as many as 11 points.

They were looking to close the game after registering a 71-66 lead with 52 seconds left courtesy of a Jordan Morgan tiebreaking putback with 1:35 left, a layup by teammate Tim Hardaway Jr. with 1:13 left, and Glen Robinson III's free throw.

But the Wolverines were unable to convert at the foul line the rest of the game.

After Zeller made a shot on the ensuing possession with 41 seconds left to cut Michigan's lead to 71-68, Hardaway missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Zeller then connected on two free throws and Burke couldn't convert at the line, missing the front end of another haunting 1-and-1.

Zeller then hit the said winning shot, a double-pump layup, for the 14th lead change in the game. He then altered Burke's layup attempt, that missed.

Morgan had a fairly easy tip-in attempt of Burke's miss that could have won it for Michigan, but the ball rolled off the rim.

Indiana's Christian Watford got to the rebound with 4 seconds left and threw it back in bounds to Zeller.

"I've been saying all year long, he should be the player of the year," Oladipo said about Zeller. "If you don't give it to him, something's wrong with y'all."

The Wolverines got 20 points from Burke on 7-of-20 shooting. Robinson added 13 points, Nik Stauskas had 10 of his 12 points in the first half and Hardaway scored 11. The Wolverines were 7 of 13 at the foul line.

Ohio State, which beat Illinois Sunday, needed an Indiana loss to earn a share of the conference championship. Michigan State was in the same position before defeating Northwestern later in the day.

The Hoosiers had already clinched a share of the title, for the first time since 2002, but needed another victory to finish alone atop the conference for the first time since 1993.

Indiana's 26th victory, and the fact that it withstood test after test in the highly competitive Big Ten, might have earned the Hoosiers a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. They will be the top-seeded team at this week's Big Ten tournament in Chicago.

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Indiana Basketball Coach Tom Crean Apologizes to Michigan assistant