Maryland’s defensive game plan against Michigan — and specifically Vlad Goldin — could spell trouble for the Wolverines moving forward. Here’s what Dusty May and others had to say about that, as well as Sunday’s game against MSU:
For the first time since mid-December, the Michigan Wolverines have lost two games in a row, falling to Illinois and Maryland in the span of four days. The Wolverines are not playing their best basketball in what is the most important month on the college basketball calendar.
The Maryland loss wasn’t nearly as ugly as the Illinois loss, however. As center Vlad Goldin pointed out, the Wolverines did a better job playing out of chaos against the Terrapins.
“I give credit to Maryland, they played well, they made tough shots,” Goldin said. “Compared to the game before, we played better when things went wrong. We should have been better not to let it go that way, but I do think we responded better than we have before, so it’s the right steps.”
In Wednesday night’s loss, Goldin scored 20 points, but it took him 17 shots to get there. Maryland’s big men — Julian Reese and Derik Queen — played good interior defense on him all night long. Goldin assessed on the game plan Maryland had against him, possibly showcasing a blueprint for how to slow down Michigan’s leading scorer come tournament time.
“I struggled in the first half because they didn’t play the defense that most teams play, Goldin said. “They played more team defense than 1-on-1. It kind of threw me off for a while, I had to take some time to understand how they play.”
Head coach Dusty May expanded on that defensive strategy, complimenting how Goldin was able to get more comfortable as the game went along, aside from a costly turnover in the final minutes.
This was the play of the game right here by Julian Reese with about 3.5 minutes to go. Great team defensive effort again tonight by the Terps. pic.twitter.com/JzaAnrEGgd
— Steve Gorgei (@GorgOnSports) March 6, 2025
“Sometimes they came right away, and other times they came late,” May said of Maryland defending Goldin. “They were really just choosing different guys to come off of, it wasn’t as if they were coming off the pass or coming off the opposite big. He didn’t really know when and where they were coming from, so when he got deep position or when we got it to him at the elbow and Danny dove, it generated some good looks.”
While Michigan’s offense has been struggling the past few weeks, the sky is not falling, as certain parts of the fanbase would tell you on social media. Michigan is still a projected 4-seed with plenty of chances to improve its resume.
Struggles this late in the season are not uncommon, even for successful teams, as May touched on after the loss.
“All of us that have been in that locker room, every championship caliber team we’ve been on, we’ve went through stretches like this,” May said. “The best ones, they fight through it, become closer and fight with more unity, and then all the others point splinter and point fingers and blame, so this is a big test for us. This is the most adversity we’ve faced, and we’ll learn a lot about ourselves the next few weeks.”
All the players have past experiences they can draw from to help Michigan through this rough patch. Danny Wolf, who scored 20 points against Maryland but also posted five turnovers, shared an anecdote from last season at Yale.
“Obviously you could say it’s happening at the wrong time of year,” Wolf said of Michigan’s recent slide. “Last year at Yale, we lost on a buzzer-beater to Brown to lose the regular season, and we had a decision to make as a team.
“We came together as a team and said, ‘Everything we still want is ahead of us.’ We actually beat Cornell and then in the championship, we played Brown again, and we were down six with 26 seconds left. Seemed like the game was over but we hit a buzzer-beater to go to March Madness and won a March Madness game as a mid-major team … I’m excited to see what we can do these next few weeks.”
Shifting gears to MSU
All hope is not lost when it comes to a regular season title for the Wolverines. Michigan no longer controls its own destiny, but can still clinch a share of it with No. 8 Michigan State if:
- Iowa beats Michigan State Thursday night
- Michigan beats Michigan State on Sunday
“Obviously we’re big, big Hawkeye fans in the meantime,” May said. “But more importantly, we need to get back to playing team basketball and stay connected.”
Wolf, who grew up a Michigan fan, knows how important this rivalry game is. With potentially heightened implications, this matchup is potentially even more exciting.
“I don’t think we want to look too far into the future,” Wolf said. “Just go into the Michigan State game knowing that whether or not it has Big Ten regular season implications, doesn’t matter. We just got to go into it as if it’s the biggest game of the year, because it is.”
Beating Michigan State on the road — a tall task after the 13-point home loss last month — would do wonders for this team, whether it’s for a Big Ten title or not. Not only would May pick up his first win in the rivalry, but winning that game can help Michigan get its swagger back while adding a Quad 1 win to its resume.
This month brings out the best in teams, even when they stumble at the start of it like Michigan has. But momentum is crucial in college basketball, and the Wolverines have another chance to grasp it.
“The last couple (of games) we haven’t performed at the level we like, and this is part of it,” May said. “Obviously we’d love to be riding the wave of success right now, but we have to figure some things out. There’s a lot of meaningful, heightened basketball for us in the near future, and personally, I’m excited for the opportunity and the challenge to get this thing going in the right direction as we head into the postseason.”