Tre Donaldson comes up clutch, Michigan basketball outlasts Maryland in Big Ten Tournament semifinal

Michigan Wolverines basketball beat Maryland, 81-80, in Saturday’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal. The Maize and Blue will face Wisconsin for the championship Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

First half

Michigan graduate center Vladislav Goldin picked up his first foul of the game on defense underneath the rim, sending him to the bench soon thereafter at the 17:47 mark. The Wolverines started sloppy with 3 early turnovers but started to make some shots, with junior guard Tre Donaldson and graduate guard Nimari Burnett both hitting threes.

Maryland got going on the inside early on, with freshman center Derik Queen making 2 shots around the rim and senior forward Julian Reese making a hook shot and a free throw.

Michigan and Maryland were tied up at 10-10 with 15:12 remaining, before Burnett drilled 2 free throws to put U-M up 12-10 out of the first media timeout.

Queen made his third three of the season to give Maryland a 14-12 lead, but Goldin responded with a two at the other end, tying things up.

Queen (9) and Reese (3) combined for 12 of Maryland’s first 16 points, with the Terrapins holding a 16-14 edge at the 11:55 media timeout. Michigan was 3-of-7 on layups at that point, missing a few from point blank range.

Wolf began taking over the game, part of a stellar start. At the under-8 media timeout, he had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist. The 7-foot-0 Yale transfer’s put-back layup got Michigan back within three, 23-20.

Maryland, meanwhile, got some contributions from guard Selton Miguel, who hit a mid-range pull-up jumper and then a three in transition.

Junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. had a nice sequence, driving baseline and kicking it to Burnett for his second triple of the game. Moments later, Gayle got himself a layup to tie the game at 25-25.

Michigan took the lead with a pair of Goldin free throws (27-25), making a 7-0 spurt by the Wolverines at the 5:04 mark.

Michigan made it 9-0 with a nifty save on the rebound by junior point guard Tre Donaldson and transition layup by Burnett (29-25), who led all scorers with 10 points at that juncture. Maryland head coach Kevin Willard called timeout after the bucket, and his team was on a 3:06 scoring drought.

Reese ended the drought with an and-one and made free throw, and that sparked a 7-0 Terrapin run that also included a layup by Miguel and pull-up jumper by Queen. The Terrapins led 32-29 at the 3:34 media timeout. Turnovers were killing Michigan, which gave the ball away 9 times (30 percent of possessions) in the first 16-and-a-half minutes.

Gayle made his first three-pointer since Jan. 24 at Purdue, tying the game at 34-34, before Michigan strung together stops and Wolf found Goldin for a monstrous slam to make it 36-34 at the 58-second mark. Michigan dialed up Gayle for an alley-oop slam out of the timeout, giving the Wolverines a 38-34 halftime edge.

Michigan shot 44 percent from the field to Maryland’s 38 but turned the ball over 9 times to the Terrapins’ three. Still, the Maize and Blue had a four-point advantage at the break.

Second half

Whereas Goldin started the first half by picking up an early personal foul that sent him to the bench, he began the second stanza by bringing the boom. He scored twice inside, rejected Reese on a dunk attempt and had a nice running layup. Wolf also scored a two as part of the Wolverines’ extended 15-0 run and 8-0 start to the half.

When Willard called timeout with 17:56 remaining, his team hadn’t scored since the two-minute mark of the first half.

Michigan made it an 18-0 extended push when Wolf hit a deep three from the left wing, but Maryland slowed the bleeding with point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie connecting on a three to make it 49-37.

Maryland’s pressure defense sped Michigan up, with Burnett stepping out of bounds and Wolf traveling for the Wolverines’ 10th and 11th turnovers of the evening. The Terrapins were on a 7-0 run at the under-16 media timeout, with Michigan leading 49-41.

Maryland got it down to 49-44 with a Miguel triple, before Donaldson answered with a floater off the glass (51-44).

The two teams went back and forth, including with Michigan going on a 6-0 run. The Wolverines continued to turn the ball over but kept getting elite looks at the rim, and Gayle made a layup and flexed to put his team back up 11 — 61-50 — at the 11:23 mark.

Maryland went on a huge run that gave it a 62-61 edge at the 8:19 juncture, when Michigan head coach Dusty May called timeout. Queen scored 8 of Maryland’s 12-consecutive points, going from down 61-50 to up 62-61. He hit his second three of the game and fourth of the season.

Michigan missed 6-straight field goal attempts and turned the ball over 3 times during the 12-0 Maryland run.

Michigan and Maryland went back and forth, with the Wolverines notably making all of their free throws, led by Goldin. The 7-foot-1, 250-pound Russian then nailed a three to put Michigan ahead 74-71 at the 3:56 mark, when U-M called timeout. Wolf had checked out a few seconds earlier, clearly gassed after a long period of time without a timeout.

With the game tied 74-74, Wolf found a diving Goldin for a layup, and Maryland called timeout after advancing the ball into the front court with 1:35 remaining.

Wolf was called for a charge with a minute to go, and Queen tied the game at 76-76 with a layup on the other end. Michigan came down and Tre Donaldson splashed a three from the right wing to make it 79-76 with 27.9 on the clock. Michigan called its final timeout to set up the defense.

Reese scored at the rim, putting Maryland down one point. Wolf was immediately fouled after Michigan got the ball in bounds, and he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Maryland grabbed the rebound, raced into the front court and called its final timeout with 7.5 seconds remaining.

Graduate guard Rubin Jones was guarding Queen after Maryland got the ball in bound, and he was called for a foul on the ball right at the three-point line. Queen made both free throws to put Maryland up a point, before Donaldson raced up the middle of the floor to make a layup with 0.4 seconds to go.

Maryland’s long inbound pass was batted down, and Michigan came out on top. The Wolverines will play Wisconsin Sunday night for the championship.

Michigan vs. Maryland box score