Dusty May credits Michigan's poise in Big Ten Tournament

No. 22 Michigan might not have been one of the favorites to make Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship game. But as it prepares to face fifth-seeded Wisconsin at 3:30 pm ET Sunday on CBS, the first-year Wolverines head coach knows his squad has the poise to make things happen when it needs to.

“We have a veteran group, … (and) even though they haven’t been together a long time, they’ve been in a lot of meaningful games. Anyone that’s followed us closely, we’ve been in too many of these one- or two-possession games throughout the season,” May said in the postgame press conference following Saturday’s 81-80 win over No. 11 Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

“A lot like tonight, we’ve found ways to overcome our turnover issues. Some nights it’s on the glass, some nights its banging in shots, some nights it’s getting it inside. It’s been different every night. Hopefully that bodes well as you continue to play in one-and-done situations, scenarios where you just have confidence. We don’t know what it’s going to look like exactly, but we do have a lot of belief that if we just stay the course.”

Michigan (24-9, 14-6 B10) advanced to Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship game thanks to star guard Tre Donaldson‘s line-to-line drive and layup with 0.4 seconds remaining to secure the one-point win over the second-seeded Terrapins (25-8, 14-6 B10).

As May mentioned, a big part of the Wolverines’ success Saturday came on the boards, as Michigan outrebouned Maryland 47-18 thanks to a pair of double-double performances from veteran 7-footers Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf. Goldin led the way with a team-high 25 points and 10 boards, while Wolf added 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, nearly outrebounding the Terrapins all by himself.

The dominating rebounding effort was especially key given the game-high 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting from Maryland freshman center Derik Queen, who was held to just three boards on the day — well below his 9 rebound-per-game average.

“When you’re playing a team like Maryland, you’ve got so many weapons. If you drop your head when they make a big time play, it’s going to be a long night,” May added. “Our message was we have to respond and try to beat them down the floor because we have to respond and expect them to make the plays they made because they’re a really good team.”

Tre Donaldson breaks down game-winning play vs. Maryland

Donaldson‘s game-winning play vs. Maryland was a testament to never stopping until the final whistle, as the junior guard punched Michigan‘s ticket to the Big Ten championship game in the final second.

“Yes, the play was either to make a play for myself or make it for my teammates,” Donaldson said. “When I got down there, they took away my teammates, so it was just about me making a play for the team but for me as well.”

Donaldson once again tipped the cap to his teammates and May. Now, the Wolverines are one win away from being crowned Big Ten champions.

“You asked us through that question, but it takes an entire team and it takes a staff that believes in guys,” Donaldson said. “When Coach came in recruiting me, he said he wanted to put the right guys together, and I feel like he did a great job of that. As a team, we came together. Like he said, he’s a winner, he’s a winner, I’m a winner, he’s a winner. It’s the resume itself can we come together and can we win together? I feel like we’ve embodied that as a team and we’ve just go to continue to play the right way and continue to win.”

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.