Michigan takes down Wisconsin for first Big Ten Tournament title since 2018

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Michigan Wolverines won the 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday, topping the Wisconsin Badgers 59-53 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. U-M now awaits its draw in the NCAA Tournament, which will be revealed after 6 p.m. ET.

Here’s the recap from Sunday’s showdown in Downtown Indianapolis.

First half

Michigan won the opening tip to start the game. Graduate guard Nimari Burnett got the scoring started at 19:20 with a three-pointer, followed by a triple by Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit at the other end. Junior forward Danny Wolf got on the board with a layup at 18:52 to make the game 5-3 in favor of the Wolverines. Burnett added to that on a layup at 17:40 on an assist from Tre Donaldson, bringing the score to 7-3. The Badgers rattled off four-straight points thanks to a Nolan Winter three and Steven Crowl splitting a pair of free throws, tying the game at 7-all with 14:35 to go in the half.

Michigan answered with a 5-0 run from graduate center Vladislav Goldin, who hit a hook shot in the paint at 12:21 and followed it with a three-pointer at the 11:46 mark, extending the lead to 12-7. Wisconsin got three points back on John Blackwell triple, closing the gap to 12-10 in favor of U-M. Klesmit gave the Badgers their first lead on a triple at the 9:18 mark before a Roddy Gayle Jr. hook shot at the other end, putting U-M back in front 14-13. UW’s John Blackwell hit a mid-range jumper at the 8:31 mark to put Wisconsin back ahead 15-14, which is where the game would be at the under-8 media timeout (7:49).

Blackwell would hit a pair of free throws at the 7:20 mark to put Wisconsin ahead by three at 17-14. Goldin stopped the mini-run with another shot made in the paint to put Michigan within one at 17-16 before a Blackwell layup at the 5:39 mark (19-16, Wisconsin).

Graduate guard Rubin Jones went on a 5-0 run of his own on a made three and layup between the 4:45 and 3:21 marks, putting U-M back ahead 21-19. The Badgers ended the half with its last four points on layups from Winter and Blackwell at 3:16 and 2:34, respectively.

HALFTIME: Wisconsin 23, Michigan 21

Second half

The Badgers started the second half on a 6-0 run on layups from Klesmit (2x) and Blackwell, going up 29-21 with 16:37 to go. The run was stopped by freshman guard LJ Cason, who hit a triple at 16:29 to cut the lead to 29-24. Carter Gilmore hit a three for the Badgers to put them back ahead before Cason matched at the other end, trimming the lead to 32-27. Wisconsin went on a 6-0 run between 15:22 and 13:11 from the free throw line, pushing its lead to a game-high 11 points at 38-27.

Michigan’s counterpunch came over the next few minutes, going on a 7-0 run thanks to a triple from Tschetter, a jumper from Goldin and a pair of made free throws from Cason, cutting the lead to 38-34 with 11:21 to go. Blackwell hit a pair of free throws at 9:25 to stop the run and put the Badgers back up 6 at 40-34. Junior guard Tre Donaldson hit a pair of foul shots at 8:25 to pull Michigan within 4 at 40-36 before Blackwell hit a triple to extend the Badger lead back to 7 at 43-36. Donaldson made two free throws at the 8:02 mark to move the score to 43-38 with 8:02 to go before the under-8 media timeout, which came at the 7:39 mark.

Coming out of the media timeout, Jon Tonje hit a pair of free throws to put Wisconsin back up 7 at 45-38. Tschetter answered on the next position with a triple, narrowing the Wisconsin lead to 45-41 with 7:26 to go. A pair of Wolf layups at 6:26 and 5:50 tied the game, forcing a Wisconsin timeout at the 5:42 mark.

Tonje went on a 3-0 run for the Badgers, splitting a pair of free throws at 5:19 and getting to the lane for a dunk at 4:37, putting Wisconsin back ahead by 3 at 48-45. Burnett countered with a three-pointer from the left corner on the next possession, re-tying the game at 48-all with 4:18 left. Crowl hit a triple for Wisconsin at the 3:55 mark to put his team back ahead 51-48 before Donaldson got to the basket for a layup at the other end, bringing the score to 51-50 Wisconsin with 3:32 to go and the final media timeout.

Donaldson’s late-game heroics in the Big Ten Tournament continued, hitting a go-ahead triple at 1:54 to give Michigan a 53-51 lead. Klesmit re-tied the game with a pair of free throw makes with 1:34 remaining.

Goldin got to the line with 46.6 seconds to go and made both free throws, putting Michigan ahead 55-53. The Wolverines hit four free throws down the stretch thanks to a pair of makes from Donaldson and Wolf each, sealing a victory and a Big Ten title.

FINAL: Michigan 59, Wisconsin 53

Michigan vs. Wisconsin box score