Today will go down as one of the greatest Big Ten Conference Tournament matchups since 2020. By the absolute plaque of their teeth, Michigan squeezed out what was essentially a walk-off victory over Maryland with an 81-80 finish, and earned a birth to the Big Ten Tournament Championship in the process.
Maryland cracked the score column to start on a Reese free throw followed by two Queen baskets. On the defensive end the intensity was apparent from the jump with two Danny Wolf turnovers in the first three and a half minutes. Michigan however had rhythm early, making four of their first eight baskets from the floor. The early stages of Saturday afternoon were fast paced, leading to a 10-10 tie into the first media timeout at the 15:12 mark in the first half.
The tightly contested first ten minutes of the half was led, on the Terps end, by an aggressive Derik Queen, who scored nine of Maryland's first 16 points to get the ball rolling. The Wolverines were able to sustain long possessions early, but four turnovers in the first eight minutes made it difficult for consistency to be established for Dusty May’s squad.
The saving grace for Michigan however was the early dominance on the glass, with an 11-4 rebound advantage at the 11:55 mark. Even with the early rebounding issues, Maryland held a narrow 16-14 lead up through the second media timeout.
The second media timeout was exactly what Maryland needed. A 7-0 run sparked by a Selton Miguel wing-three, extending the lead to 23-16. Wolf silenced the run with a finish at the rim, as he was the only answer offensively for the Wolverines with 10 points in the first 12 minutes of play. Very similar to Maryland’s first matchup with Michigan this season, Wolf was a problem from Maryland defensively.
The troubles on the boards continued well through the first half for Maryland, being outrebounded 18-6 through the first 14 minutes of play. Combined with Michigan forcing stops on the defensive end, we had a tie on our hands with 5:52 left in the first half at 25-25. The tie came courtesy of a 9-2 Michigan run following Maryland’s 7-0 run prior.
Moments later, Nimari Burnett finished a contested layup following two Goldin free throws, giving Michigan a four-point lead at 29-25. Willard called an immediate timeout, but the Wolverines at this point had all the momentum heading into the final five minutes of the half.
But just as Michigan responded with a 13-2 run, Maryland quickly out of the timeout had yet another run of their own, scoring seven straight to reclaim the lead at 32-29. Through the final media timeout of the first half, the answer to who would hit the locker room with a halftime lead seemed to be who would sustain the final first half run.
The final three minutes and 34 seconds in the first half was a battle between two incredibly hungry teams eager for a conference championship game bid. The difference was yet another scoreless run, this time in the Wolverines favor to close out the half. May’s squad concocted a 7-0 run to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Queen led the way with 11 first half points for Maryland, followed closely by eight from Julian Reese. The Terps struggled from the field in half number one, shooting just under 38% from the floor to go along with a 3-12 clip from beyond the arc.
The second half started with a Michigan onslaught. What was once a four point lead grew in a matter of seconds with an 8-0 run to start the final half that gave Michigan a 46-34 lead, their biggest lead of the entire day. For the first time in a long time, Maryland on both ends of the floor looked completely lost and had just over 18 minutes to figure it out.
Once again, another run progressed, with the Terps finally starting to figure things out on offense in the second half. Maryland brought the deficit down to eight with 15:56 remaining, and then a Miguel three added to the 10-0 run that brought the lead down to five.
The Michigan attack continued to provide problems for the Terps, but to Maryland’s credit, they continued to fight and keep it competitive. They trailed 61-50 with 11:23 remaining, and the clock kept ticking without any answer for Maryland offensively.
Finally, a run insinuated for the Terps. The once 61-50 lead immediately was squashed by a 10-0 run Maryland to bring the score to a one point lead for Michigan, and then a capitalized with a Queen finish, Maryland took their first lead in the second half at 62-61. Dusty May called a timeout to follow, and the air was evaporated for Wolverines, but filled with fire for Terps nation with 8:19 remaining on the heels of the biggest run of the entire season for the Terps.
Something in the locker room awoke a beast in Queen. By the end of the 12-0 run to give Maryland a narrow lead, he had 23 points including 12 points solely in the second half on five of eight shooting.
The trouble on the boards continued to plague the Terps in a devastating manner. Michigan, with seven and half minutes remaining, had a 41-15 rebound advantage. Wolf alone had eight rebounds in the second half by this point, and 13 for the game.
The final six minutes of the game were nerve-racking for both sides. Maryland, with 5:05 remaining, held a two-point lead at 69-67, but given the flow of this game, that meant absolutely nothing. The game was tied at 71 all, but Goldin hit a huge 3 that gave Michigan a 74-71 lead with just under four minutes left. There was absolutely no way of knowing how the final four minutes would go, but both sides were almost out of breath by this point.
Reese made one of the two from the line after a foul call to bring the deficit to two, at 74-72, and then two more free throws to tie from Miguel. 74-74, championship bid on the line.
The storybook matchup came down to a story book sequence, Goldin got a bucket on a give-and-go from Wolf to give Michigan a 76-74 lead. With one minute remaining, Michigan only needed another 60 seconds of great defense.
What seemed like instants later, Queen tied the game up with a move down low. Then Michigan got a chance, and Tre Donaldnson, who had an awful game against Maryland earlier in the season, made arguably the biggest shot his entire career with a three point basket that gave Michigan a 79-76 lead with just under 28 seconds left.
Reese got a good look down low and converted making it a one point game. From there, a foul-off insinuated that sent Wolf to the line. To the surprise of almost every college basketball fan alive, he missed. Shock filled the arena, and with under 10 seconds remaining, Maryland had one last chance to pull out the victory.
What transpired following this point was something no one could predict. Queen was fouled on an inbounds pass that sent him to the line. He converted two of two to give Maryland a one point lead at 80-79 with under six seconds left. Then, out of absolutely the abyss, Donaldson drove down the length of the court, through all five Terps, and finished the contested layup to give Michigan a one point lead with 0.4 remaining. Spoiler, Maryand could make wine out of water, and Michigan advanced.
The final rebound advantage for Michigan ended at 47-18 for the game. The display of pure dominance on the boards was something of note for Michigan fans, and something of great concern for Willard and all of Terps Nation. Despite the brutal loss, Willard as a result of previous responses to despair by his squad isn’t worried how the loss will affect his squad in the tournament.
“It's a learning lesson. That's the way I talk to them. That's the way we're going to look at it. We did a lot of things right to get to that spot. We just did one thing wrong. It's disappointing, but every time we've had one of these losses -- and we've had four of them now -- these guys have learned what we've done wrong, and we've actually bounced back and come back.”
Queen finished with a game-high 31 points, but with tonight’s outcome, a much different ending would have far surpassed the individual numbers for the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Queen in the press conference noted that tonight can be used as motivation for his teammates going forward into march.
“Just make smarter decisions on the defensive end, no fouls, but just contain and stay in front of them. Hopefully we're never in that position again to even do that.”
The loss now makes it four losses for the Terps by way of a shot and/or buzzer beater within the final second of a game. The good news is that no matter the result of today, a seed in March Madness is imminent. Maryland now turns their attention to the dance, and Michigan to the championship game, where the Wolverines will test their will against the Badgers of Wisconsin, tomorrow afternoon.
By: Oliver Schaack
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