On this day: Chris Webber called the timeout Michigan basketball didn’t have vs. UNC

On this day 27 years ago, Chris Webber took a timeout Michigan basketball didn’t have and gave North Carolina the national title.

Michigan basketball’s famed Fab Five was influential, as they would form an all-freshman starting five for coach Steve Fisher and push on-court fashion toward long, baggy shorts. Three of the five, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose, went go on to have long NBA careers.

Led by the Fab Five, Michigan went to the Final Four in 1992 and 1993. They lost to Duke in the 1992 national title game. They reached the title game again the following year and matched up against another ACC squad, the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Webber led the Wolverines in scoring with 23 points, along with a team-high 11 rebounds as the backcourt of Rose and Jimmy King combined for 27 points. But a mistake Webber made late in the game, set up by a blatant missed call if we’re being honest, became the most memorable moment from the game.

Webber grabbed his 11th rebound off a missed free throw with 20 seconds to go in the game, and Michigan trailing 73-71. As he starts to bring the ball up, and he turned down a pass to Rose that would have been closely contested, Webber clearly travels along the side of the lane.

From there’s it’s better sailing until Webber goes toward the right frontcourt corner and gets trapped. Then, he called a timeout the Wolverines did not have.

The resulting technical foul allowed North Carolina to ice what would become a 77-71 victory.

The loss to North Carolina was Webber’s last college game. He declared for the 1993 NBA Draft and was drafted No. 1 overall and was the 1994 NBA Rookie of the Year with the Golden State Warriors. He averaged 20.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game with five All-Star selections over 15 NBA seasons.

But on April 5, 1993, Webber’s mistake on the biggest college basketball stage brought a bitter end to the Fab Five era but he remains hopeful of a reunion with Michigan after the on-and-off-court turmoil stained his legacy.

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