Michigan basketball's Dusty May reveals key to Wolverines' late-game heroics
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Michigan basketball head coach Dusty May revealed one of the keys to the Wolverines’ huge turnaround this season. No. 22 Michigan had an electric 81-80 Big Ten Tournament semifinal win over No. 11 Maryland. Junior guard Tre Donaldson’s buzzer beater clinched a spot in the conference championship game as the Wolverines continued their stellar season.
In the postgame interview with Tracy Wolfson, May broke down one of the Wolverines’ biggest strengths, which hasn’t been the case in the recent past.
“We’ve been really good in these close, late games. Because we just stay the course when we play ball. I don't think we were consumed by what's on the scoreboard, but at the end of the day, these guys made the plays."
Dusty May has Michigan basketball trending up again
May’s words rang true after another ranked win for Michigan basketball. In five seasons under previous head coach Juwan Howard, the Wolverines were 2-14 in one-possession games, the worst record in Division I. In contrast, Michigan is 9-4 in those games this season, which is the most wins of this kind in the country and the most all-time by a Big Ten team.
The dynamic big man duo of Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin continued their phenomenal form, combining for 46 points and 24 rebounds. The two 7-footers have been matchup nightmares throughout the season. Heading into the NCAA Tournament against teams that have never played the Wolverines before gives Wolf and Goldin even more of an advantage. And Goldin already knows what it’s like to be successful in March, having been a key player on the Florida Atlantic team that made the Final Four two years ago.
Michigan basketball is currently 24-9 overall as it faces No. 18 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game tournament. ESPN currently projects Dusty May’s team as a No. 5 seed. It’s ultimately unclear how far this team can rise should it win tomorrow’s game. Still, a win would put an exclamation point on a remarkable rebuild that May has already accomplished with this program.
While Juwan Howard got off to a terrific start at Michigan, the program really started to deteriorate at the end of his tenure. This led to May inheriting a program that was coming off an 8-24 year. Michigan basketball is now back toward the top of the Big Ten and looks to be trending up for the foreseeable future. But this team has many more goals over the next few weeks. And the work toward those goals continues.
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