Michigan basketball's Tre Donaldson saves day with buzzer-beater to take down Maryland
INDIANAPOLIS — The old adage maintains that basketball is a game of runs, and certainly enough, in the second Big Ten tournament semifinal Saturday, Michigan basketball offered the latest evidence.
The third-seeded Wolverines took command with an 18-0 spurt covering just over five minutes of game time surrounding halftime, then held on — boosted by a go-ahead Tre Donaldson layup with 0.4 of a second — to beat second-seeded Maryland, 81-80, and grab the final spot in the Big Ten title game.
Of course, U-M is looking for the biggest run of all — from worst in the conference last season to tourney champs under Dusty May. The first-year head coach has his Wolverines (24-9) playing for their first Big Ten tournament title since 2018 (and their fourth overall); U-M will face Wisconsin in Sunday afternoon’s final (3:30 p.m., CBS).
Vlad Goldin led the Wolverines with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow 7-footer Danny Wolf added 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Charging out of halftime
Goldin and Wolf, aka U-M’s “Area 51” duo, put the game out of reach early in the second half, combining for 11 straight points: a layup and a dunk by Goldin, a layup by Wolf, another layup by Goldin and, finally, a 3-pointer from Wolf to stretch the Wolverines’ lead to 15 ponts with just over 17 minutes to go.
Maryland answered with a 10-0 run, but Donaldson’s jumper with 15:12 left stopped the momentum, and the Wolverines pushed their lead back to double digits soon enough.
Back and forth in the first half
The Wolverines received balanced production in the first half from their starters, with four of the five scoring at least five points and pulling down two rebounds. The effort was led by Danny Wolf, who had eight points and eight rebounds, and Nimari Burnett, who hit halftime with 10 points (on 3-for-5 shooting) and three rebounds. Burnett’s first half included a personal 5-0 run — on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws — about 4 ½ minutes into the half that gave U-M a slim 12-10 lead.
Maryland appeared to have taken control after that, with a 13-4 run, but Burnett triggered another run with a 3-pointer and a layup bookending a 9-0 Michigan run that giave it a four-point lead with 4:41 left in the half. But the Terps answered with a 9-2 run to reclaim the lead. That was, of course, followed by a 7-0 U-M run as Roddy Gayle Jr. had a 3 and a dunk sandwiched around a Vlad Goldin dunk to make it a four-point game in U-M’s favor at the break.
Next up for Michigan basketball
U-M will face fifth-seeded Wisconsin in the Big Ten final; the Wolverines upset the Badgers, 67-64, in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 3, behind 44 combined points from Goldin and Wolf. Michigan is looking for its fourth Big Ten tourney title (counting a vacated title in 1998), and its first since 2018, while Wisconsin seeks its fourth title, and its first since 2015.
Michigan basketball bracketology
After that, U-M will have to wait for Sunday’s selection show (6 p.m., CBS) to find out the rest of its March Madness plans, though regardless of the result, it’s certain to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2022. The Wolverines entered Saturday widely projected as a 5-seed, according to the averages compiled by Bracket Matrix.
This story will be updated shortly.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball score: U-M beats Maryland, makes Big Ten title game
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