INDIANAPOLIS — When push came to shove, Michigan finally figured something out.

They didn’t like it.

And if there was a lesson learned by the Wolverines in the aftermath of another rivalry loss to end their regular season last weekend, that was probably it.

“We got tired of getting punked,” forward Roddy Gayle said.

So they decided to do something about it. And after Saturday’s thrilling 81-80 upset win over No. 2 seed Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, the statement they’ve made in the days since getting routed again at Michigan State is pretty clear.

“We want to be the hammer,” forward Will Tschetter said, "not the nail."

If so, they’re building a pretty good case for themselves here this week in Indianapolis, following up Friday night’s teardown of Purdue by physically dominating a Maryland team that’s as talented as any in the league.

It took a last-second layup from Tre Donaldson to seal this latest victory, sending Michigan into the Big Ten Tourney final against Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon. But the real story Saturday was that Michigan outrebounded Maryland by a whopping 47-18 margin, grabbing as many offensive boards (18) as the Terps did at either end of the floor. The result was lopsided enough — it’s the biggest rebounding margin in at least 20 years in this tournament — that Maryland coach Kevin Willard was asking his players at halftime whether they even wanted to be here or not.

“Impressive” was the word Michigan’s Dusty May used to describe his team’s effort. But imperative would be another, and as Tschetter explained in a crowded postgame locker room, that’s how the week began. After that blowout loss in East Lansing, which was punctuated by a territorial shove from the Spartans’ Tre Holloman — protecting his team’s home court and its tradition — the Wolverines headed back to Ann Arbor to work on themselves.

“As a program, we walked out of there and just said our culture's not there yet,” May said. “We pride ourselves on being humble and learning something from every opponent. And the way that Spartan team competes, it showed us what championship-level competitive spirit looks like.”

What practice looked like this week showed the players what May meant by that, too.

“We started every practice with toughness drills, something that we didn't really do a whole lot this year,” Tschetter said.

Three in a row like that, as the Wolverines finally had a chance to regroup and try to rebound after a brutal finishing stretch to the regular season. And Saturday afternoon, whether it was Vlad Goldin (25 points, 10 rebounds and Danny Wolf (21 points, 14 rebounds) posting dueling double-doubles, or Michigan’s guards taking turns crashing the glass as well, they certainly nailed that part of the gameplan. The Wolverines outscored Maryland by 14 in the paint (44-30) and finished with 18 second-chance points to four.

“When you're getting some good defensive stops, and you're giving up offensive rebound after offensive rebound,” Willard said, “it gets a little disheartening.”

May pointed to one other sequence that made his heart sing as a coach, though. It came with just over two minutes left in the game, with the score knotted at 74-all. Maryland’s freshman star, Derik Queen, missed a step-back 3-pointer but his frontcourt mate, Julian Reese, came down with the offensive rebound. Or at least he thought he did, right up until Michigan’s Roddy Gayle and Nimari Burnett both “went in and ripped it out,” May said.

“It looked like a rugby scrum and we came out with the ball,” he added. “I thought that was just a pivotal play, where you just — you give your fans belief, your team belief that we're going to make the toughest plays we need to win, and we did.”

They did, of course, in dramatic fashion, as Wolf’s missed free throw — he’d gone 6 for 6 before missing the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds left — left the door open for the Terrapins. Queen’s free throws at the other end put Maryland up, 80-79, with five seconds remaining. And May took advantage of some extra time on the sideline after Rubin Jones’ fifth foul in that sequence to draw up the winning play.

Like every team, Michigan practices those end-of-game scenarios.

“Down one, full court, zero timeouts,” Tschetter said. “Get the ball in your playmaker’s hands. Take it to the rim. Don't settle.”

They felt like they'd settled in an overtime loss at Minnesota back in mid-January, when the Wolverines had a chance to win it in regulation. But they’ve had plenty of practice in live-game situations since then, and Michigan has now won 10 straight games decided by four points or less.

“Anyone that's followed us closely, we've been in too many of these one- or two-possession games throughout the season,” May said.

Yet what once felt like an indictment to many now feels more like a badge of honor for these Wolverines, who keep finding ways to win, often in spite of themselves. Take Saturday, for example, as they returned to their frustrating habits on offense with 19 turnovers, yet still managed to overcome that against a quality opponent.

“Some nights it's on the glass, some nights it's banging in shots, some nights it's getting it inside,” May said. “It's been different every night. Hopefully, that bodes well as you continue to play in one-and-done situations. … We don't know what it's going to look like exactly, but we do have a lot of belief.”

____

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.