'Toughness drills' helped Michigan basketball surge in postseason: 'We came out with a fire'

Michigan Wolverines basketball struggled at the end of the 2024-25 regular season, losing three-straight and four of six games to finish off. But the Maize and Blue regained their mojo and won the Big Ten Tournament with wins over Purdue, Maryland and Wisconsin and made a run to the second weekend of the Big Dance.

Michigan’s offense lacked efficiency late in the year. Its defensive rebounding issues popped up again, especially against Illinois, which came to Crisler Center and hauled in 19 offensive boards in a 20-point victory. Michigan was playing at a form nowhere near the one that saw it win big road games at USC and UCLA in January or seven-straight conference contests from late-January to mid-February.

Michigan earned a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament and, instead of giving his players extra rest, head coach Dusty May decided to work them hard in the days leading up to the trip to Indianapolis. The Wolverines held some of their most physically demanding practices that week, and it paid off.

“We started doing toughness drills before every practice,” redshirt senior forward Will Tschetter said on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast with host Brian Boesch. “I’m not gonna say it was by popular demand, but we started doing toughness drills, and honestly that clicked. Every team has something that makes it click, and we started doing toughness drills.”

Michigan dominated Purdue, 86-68, through great ball movement (25 assists!) and defense, out-rebounded Maryland 47-18 — unheard of — in a 81-80 victory and toughed out a gritty 59-53 win over Wisconsin to win the Big Ten title.

“We got our toughness back and our grittiness back, and we started winning those close games again,” the Michigan forward continued. “Obviously, that Purdue game, we came out with a fire, and those intangibles to the rubber met the road, and I feel like that kinda just gave us a boost like, ‘We’re back. We can do this.’ It just kinda carried from there.”

Tschetter was asked to describe “toughness drills.”

“A lot of pads. A lot of no foul calls. A lot of swearing,” he said. “A lot of bloody noses. But it was just the typical stuff where you work through it. The games aren’t easy.

“You look at Illinois — we got punked on our home court in rebounding. So, we got the pads out, and you gotta go rebound over four or five managers looking to beat the crap out of you. It’s just things like that to just kind of [reinforce that] you can do it. Your body may not like it, but if you put your mind to it, it’s gonna hurt for a second and then you’re gonna be just fine.”

Less than an hour after beating Wisconsin, taking a confetti shower and being presented the Big Ten Tournament championship trophy, Michigan had its draw for the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines were in a pod with first-round opponent UC San Diego and a potential second-round game with Texas A&M or Yale. The preparation began soon thereafter, especially for the staff.

“It was really tough, because we got like 30 minutes, and then we were in that back room seeing the slate of games that we were gonna have to play,” Tschetter said. “Obviously, our road was tough. All roads are essentially tough when you make it to that tournament.

“It’s so hard with the bracket already being set even before we win our game. Like, what, they’re gonna switch it 30 minutes before? That was obviously a little bit like, ‘What the hell?’

I think after the season ended, those next couple days it finally kinda sunk in like, man, we have a lot to be proud of. To go from eight wins to 27, like, come on. It’s a great season.”

Michigan’s year-over-year turnaround from eight to 27 wins was remarkable, but the Wolverines still had goals they didn’t accomplish, such as winning the Big Ten regular-season crown or the national championship. Tschetter pointed to some lessons learned from last season that can be applied for next year.

“Consistency,” he said. “If our consistency stays straight this year, like you take away that Minnesota loss and we get one of those wins against either Illinois or Maryland at home — I mean, they’re both great teams. We’re probably up to chance. If one of those teams gets hot, we probably lose, but I think we could’ve maybe eliminated one of those losses, we’re sitting at the top of the Big Ten, either tied or winning.

“That’s just the difference between us winning two Big Ten championships in a year and just one. That’s one thing that next year guys who are coming back — [senior guard] Roddy [Gayle Jr.], myself, [graduate guard] Nimari [Burnett] — need to bring to the table.”