Michigan basketball defied the odds to claim the Big Ten Championship! Just a year after hitting rock bottom, the Wolverines completed a record-setting turnaround under first-year head coach Dusty May:
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Michigan claims Big Ten Tournament championship
Three hundred sixty-nine days ago, Michigan basketball was left for dead. The Wolverines had ended the regular season losing eight games in a row (seven by double digits) and were set to face Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament .
To some, last year’s Big Ten Tournament offered one last chance at redemption. Juwan Howard had defied expectations in the past, and maybe he had some magic left (“We gonna shock the world!”). But to those of us not partaking in darkness retreats while tripping off ayahuasca, we knew what was coming. And the nine-point loss to the sub-.500 Nittany Lions was the fitting end to a miserable season for a team that never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
The loss solidified the worst season in program history. Howard was fired shortly thereafter and the mass exodus of players entering the transfer portal began. Athletic Director Warde Manuel needed to act fast. Fortunately, Northwestern beat Florida Atlantic in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and FAU head coach Dusty May was hired to take over in Ann Arbor shortly after.
Quick aside: It is a fascinating what-if scenario if FAU beats Northwestern. Does Manuel hire someone else, or is he cool waiting a few more days since FAU was highly unlikely to upset eventual national champion UConn ? But what if FAU upset UConn? Who wins the national title? Who does Michigan hire instead of May? Where is May coaching? Would Michigan State’s mid-game Senior Day tradition be untarnished? The list goes on.
Expectations varied for May’s first season, but progress was the minimum. After all, it took the legend himself, John Beilein, two years to get his footing, and he was inheriting a program that was coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons. May simply needed to breathe life back into the eight-win corpse Howard left behind.
No one — NO ONE — expected this.
Michigan’s 17-win improvement from last year is a conference record and May just became the first head coach to win the Big Ten Tournament in his first season. Furthermore, May won as many Big Ten games over the weekend as Howard did all of last season, with each win offering a glimpse into a team tapping into something special.
First up was Purdue. A team Michigan had struggled with mightily both times this season. Losers of three straight, Michigan limped into the contest. Despite the higher seeding, the Wolverines were the underdog. Then the ball was tipped.
Michigan led for more than 37 minutes, set a new season-high with 25 assists on 30 made field goals, set a new season-low with only six turnovers, and ran through Purdue faster than bad Indian food, 86-68. For their efforts, the Wolverines were rewarded with Maryland in the semifinals.
The Terps were winners of 12 of their last 14 games and were two shots away from a 14-game winning streak. Maryland’s “Crab Five” had just beaten Michigan in Ann Arbor last week, so it was no surprise to see the Wolverines as underdogs once again.
Michigan’s turnover issues reemerged (19), but these were largely neutralized by the absurd 47-18 rebounding advantage they held. Michigan and Maryland traded blows for nearly two hours, and with 5.8 seconds left, it appeared the Terps had landed a knockout shot after taking a one-point lead at the charity stripe.
With no timeouts, Tre Donaldson inbounded the ball to Vlad Goldin and received the return hand-off almost immediately at his own foul line. At full speed, Donaldson weaved down the middle of the court through the Maryland defense as if he were avoiding tacklers in the open field. Four seconds, three seconds… the clock was paradoxically expiring at the speed of light while also trickling in slow motion. Three Maryland defenders were near the paint but Donaldson would not be deterred. His path to the basket had created the smallest of lanes and he was not hitting the breaks. Two seconds, one… “DONALDSON AT THE BUZZER !”
Donaldson’s full-court game-winning lay-up is an all-time moment. Right up there with Jordan Poole’s game-winning three-pointer against Houston. An iconic moment for a player who has developed a flair for the dramatic. The elation was palpable and also a little worrisome for a team that would need to regroup and prepare to face Wisconsin the next day.
Following upset wins over UCLA and Michigan State, the Badgers were favored to beat Michigan. Despite the Wolverines winning in Madison earlier in the season, most chalked that up to a fluke victory and defended Wisconsin as being a “different team” from the one that lost. That was never the case on Sunday, however, early on, the adverse effects of the emotional Maryland win were evident.
Michigan — and Wisconsin, for that matter — looked tired. Shots were flat and front-rimming and the flow of the game was stained in fatigue. Players trudged back and forth before jacking up bad threes. The Badgers held a two-point advantage at recess and seemed to be pulling away in the second half, but Michigan freshman L.J. Cason was making that difficult. With back-to-back three-pointers and a charge taken splitting the two shots, Cason was single-handedly trying to will the Wolverines back into this one.
Despite Cason’s best efforts, Michigan’s deficit still grew to 11 and most felt that this one was over. Nothing to be ashamed of, just one of those days after playing three hard games in three days against elite competition. Similar to what we saw when this team wore down over the brutal four-games-in-16-days stretch to close the season. But then Will Tschetter hit a three. And then Goldin scored. And the Wolverines were suddenly getting to the free-throw line. Little by little, Michigan was hanging around and closing the gap.
After nearly 11 minutes of scratching and clawing, the Wolverines took their first lead of the second half with 1:54 remaining after Donaldson (who else?) rattled home a three-pointer. The Wolverines would never trail again as they secured their first conference tournament crown in seven years.
Michigan’s run over the weekend featured wins over two eventual NCAA Tournament 4-seeds (Purdue, Maryland) and one eventual 3-seed (Wisconsin) in three days. A harder stretch (a stretch that is also somehow only worthy of a 5-seed even when combined with 25 wins) than what is now required to reach the Elite Eight and set up a possible colossal showdown with Michigan State.
Just over a year ago, none of this was remotely imaginable. Hell, last week, a conference tournament title felt beyond rational reach. Last weekend has made this season nothing short of magical, and the only question remaining for this team is, does it have enough magic left to shock the world?
With one more win, May will join Beilein and Steve Fisher as the only Michigan coaches with more than 25 wins in a single season since 1990. Thank God Northwestern beat FAU last season.