Michigan basketball has 2 realities with Big Ten title on the line

Posted by author March 4, 2025 Basketball

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There are six days left in the regular season and two teams have a chance to win the Big Ten men’s basketball title.

One of them is Michigan basketball (22-7, 14-4 Big Ten). Given where the Wolverines were at this time last year, just days away from capping the worst season in program history at 8-24, this season has been an overwhelming success.

But still, it’s hard to shake that feeling the Wolverines are slipping and could be missing a chance to capitalize on one of the truly special seasons in more than 100 years of the program’s existence. It’s a strange position to be in — playing for so much, yet at the same time knowing the team hasn’t been at its best for more than a month — which is why there are two schools of thought at the final week of the regular season.

“We know what March is,” head coach Dusty May said Monday. “It’s what everyone points to. It is why CBS feels so different on a Sunday in early March. We’ve had, I think, bigger things to talk about.”

Glass half full

Michigan has locked itself into a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament, meaning it will be no worse than a top-four seed in the 18-team league. It’s well ahead of where U-M was picked heading into the season, yet is not a coincidence considering May brought players from winning programs.

Tre Donaldson won an SEC title at Auburn, Danny Wolf won the Ivy League at Yale, Rubin Jones is the winningest player in North Texas history and Vlad Goldin was an anchor in FAU’s run to the 2023 Final Four.

“We’re certainly leaning on that,” May said. “We have some guys in our locker room that have been in different roles. There are a few guys that, the ones at a high level that really didn’t play much, or played minimal minutes and had minimal production. But they at least know what it looks like and they saw the guys doing it, what it looked like.”

The Wolverines have already hit a high level this season: They were one of the most effective offenses in the nation the first half of the season, at one point leading the country in 2-point shooting.

They had five players averaging double figures, with a unique 7-foot duo as the catalyst for a high-efficiency offense that took what the defense gave them and hit open shots.

“We have the evidence that it’s happened,” May said. “But we have to eliminate a lot of these mistakes. We don’t have the margin, we just don’t have the margin to make a lot of errors, not make shots and then turn the ball over.”

Glass half empty

Michigan has been making errors and missing shots lately.

The Wolverines struggled all year protecting the ball, however they were able to make up for their 19.3% turnover rate in league play early on by making shots. U-M has fallen all the way to No. 16 in the league behind the arc (31.6%).

“The level of confidence and belief,” May said of what has changed most.

Several players have been off. Wolf is 3-for-16 on 3s over the past five games, Donaldson is 4 of 19 in that span and Roddy Gayle Jr. has made just one out of 26 from 3 this calendar year, and has 16 straight misses.

It hasn’t helped 3-point specialist Sam Walters has missed five straight games (back) and Jones has barely played the last week as he has battled illness. L.J. Cason is 4 for 19 in Big Ten play (2 for 12 last week), Justin Pippen is 1-for-8 since February and Goldin has also missed his eight straight attempts over the past 12 games (he was 6 of 12 in the four games prior). Will Tschetter, making 39% of 3s this season, is 12 of 34 (35.2%) over the past 12 games.

That’s the entire playing rotation outside of Nimari Burnett, who has shot 40% or better on 3s in six of the past seven games, and is at a career best 41.4% mark on the season.

Despite those dwindling numbers, U-M remains in control of its destiny. The Wolverines still have three championships — Big Ten regular season, Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament — within their grasp.

That’s what those inside Crisler Center will continue to remind themselves in this pivotal week.

“Are we playing our best basketball? Absolutely not,” May said. “We’ve got to make some shots, got to finish better, got to defend better, got to rebound better, got to coach better, we’ve got to do everything better, but I love the fact that we’ve responded in these situations in the past.”

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.