ANN ARBOR, Mich. _ The challenge was a little too much for Michigan.
Despite leading for more than 38 minutes, the Wolverines couldn't finish against Virginia Tech on Tuesday, losing, 73-70, at Crisler Center in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Trailing by a point with 30 seconds to play, U-M (5-2) got the ball after a Tech offensive foul.
But Zak Irvin, who led the Wolverines with 23 points, couldn't get anything good going to the basket and settled for a fadeaway.
He missed and Michigan's best chance went with him.
The ball went out off the Wolverines, Virginia Tech (6-1) inbounded, hit its foul shots and stole the game.
U-M had a final shot down three with 3.2 seconds to play, but Duncan Robinson's game-tying prayer wasn't answered.
This one hurt because Michigan led the whole game until under two minutes left, up by 15 in the first half and 10 in the second half.
Tech had made pushes through most of the game but couldn't get over the top until Seth Allen blew past the U-M defense for a layup and the 68-67 lead with 1:46 to play.
Then the next trip down, he dropped a 3-pointer from the top and U-M was stunned, down 71-67.
Until that point, it looked like Irvin would be praised for his stellar game but his last basket came with 7:23 to play.
Virginia Tech stayed in the game taking and making foul shots (19-of-21) while Michigan didn't even shoot its first until there was 12:24 remaining.
Yet while Irvin was the offensive force, leading Michigan in scoring for the fourth time this year, he had some help from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (13 points) and Robinson (15.)
Robinson did a little of everything, driving the basket, hitting 3s, even taking multiple charges. But the biggest shot he hit came with 42 seconds left when he hit a 3 to close U-M within one at 71-70.
The problems showed as the Wolverines started the second half with little urgency.
Their nine-point lead vanished quickly as U-M hit just one of its first six shots and Tech climbed within a point at 45-44 with just over 14 minutes to play.
But the found some resolve. An Irvin drive, then Duncan Robinson took a charge and hit a 3 to give some comfort at 50-44.
It showed some life and was one of the rare times this season when U-M was challenged and pushed back.
With a few shot clock hoops from Irvin and Abdur-Rahkman, the lead got back out to 60-50 with 7:44 to play.
Michigan tore through the first half offensively, shooting 55 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and was versatile.
But that defense, well...
Va. Tech shot 53 percent itself and wouldn't let the Wolverines extend the margin. After the Wolverines' 17-4 burst to start the game, Tech showed its up-tempo ability, answering U-M's momentum baskets with race outs at the other end.
U-M led on the boards and forced nine turnovers, but even a nine-point halftime lead at 39-30 didn't seem comfortable given the Hokies' pace.
