Over the past few seasons, I have been slowly attending games at the Big Ten football stadiums and basketball arenas. With a wide-open Sunday and Northwestern traveling to play Michigan at Crisler Arena (a Big Ten arena I had not attended a game at yet), I decided to road trip to the Northwestern men’s basketball game in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The game time was perfect for the road trip. A 2:30 pm ET (1:30 pm CT) start time allowed me to make the drive each way at a reasonable hour – I needed to leave our house in Chicago at 9 am and would be back home around 7 pm

Parking and Obtaining Tickets
Parking in the main lot by the arena is for parking passes (read season ticket holders) only. Thus, I parked in the lot across the street from the arena for $10.

There were some scalpers selling tickets around the arena, but the lowest price at the box office was $10. Rather than hassle with scalpers, I bought a ticket at the box office for $10 and sat in the upper level of the arena where the tickets cost $15.

The Game
In a game Northwestern desperately needed to win (after losing their first two in conference play), the Wildcats came back from a 17 point deficit to defeat Michigan 68-62.

Freshman Drew Crawford single handedly got Northwestern back in the game. Michigan had a 31-14 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first half, when Crawford went on a personal 11-0 run – draining a trio of three pointers and two free throws to get Northwestern to within six points.

In the second half, the game seesawed back and forth as Northwestern took a 10 point lead (59-49) only to see that lead disappear with 1:28 left in the game as Michigan took a 62-61 lead. Northwestern eventually eked out the much needed victory.