By Mitchell Rans

Sports Capital Journalism Program

INDIANAPOLIS- Michigan! Maryland! March! The Michigan Wolverines and Maryland Terrapins battled in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament on Saturday afternoon. With 5.3 seconds remaining in the game with Maryland ahead 80-79, Michigan junior guard Tre Donaldson inbounded the ball to his big man Vladislav Goldin, who handed it back to Donaldson on the run. Three dribbles later, with his right hand, left and back to the right, Donaldson was forced to his left by a Maryland defender but was able to still get to the rim and finish with his left hand. The basket put the Wolverines up 81-80 with 0.4 seconds left, the difference in Michigan’s victory.

Michigan (24-9) reached the conference championship game for the sixth time. The Wolverines will meet Wisconsin, which defeated top-seeded Michigan State 77-74 in the first semifinal game.

Donaldson would finish the game with 12 points along with three assists. “The play was either to make a play for myself or make it for my teammates,” he said. “When I got down there, they took away my teammates, so it was just about me making a play for the team but for me as well.”

Goldin, a 7-foot-1 graduate student, and Danny Wolf, a 7-foot junior, combined for 46 points and 24 rebounds. Wolf scored 21 points with 14 rebounds, while Goldin had 25 points and 10 rebounds. Nimari Burnett, a 6-foot-5 graduate student, added 10 points for the Wolverines, who will be playing in the sixth Big Ten conference championship in school history. Despite having a lot of new faces on the team this year, there are players in blue and maize jerseys who know how to win.

“We have a lot of guys who are coming from winning programs,” Wolf said. “I know Tre won the SEC Championship last year. Vlad’s been to a Final Four. And other guys in the locker room.”

The Wolverines won the rebound battle in dominating fashion, getting 47 rebounds including 18 offensive rebounds, which tied Maryland’s total rebounds. The Wolverines also had more points in the paint as well, finishing with 44 points to Maryland’s 30. The Wolverines lost the turnover battle to the Terrapins, committing 19 while Maryland only had six.

Maryland freshman sensation Derik Queen finished with a career-high 31 points while Selton Miguel had 16. Julian Reese finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Ja’Kobi Gillespie also added 10 points to go along with nine assists. Queen’s 31 points was also the most points scored by a Maryland freshman since 2015 and the most points scored by a Big Ten freshman since 2008.

Another Big Ten star was able to shine in his game played earlier in the day in that of Wisconsin star John Tonje, who scored 32 points for the Badgers in their victory over Michigan State. Tonje also has seven rebounds for the Badgers. John Blackwell also finished with 14 points and Carter Gilmore finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three blocks for the Badgers. Wisconsin had lost to the Spartans, 71-62, at Michigan State on March 2.

“I think I was just happy to have this opportunity to play basketball today,” Tonje said. “Obviously you learn from your past mistakes, and I think the coaching staff really prepared us and showed us a better game plan for this time around, just things that we could have done better as a team. I think me and the guys really just bought in today and just kind of saw those looks, saw things open up when we were able to execute what the coaches gave us. I just want to give a shout out to them.”

Wisconsin (26-8) and Michigan State (27-6) was went down to the wire as the Spartans got off a half-court shot with a few seconds left. But Tonje was able to knock it out of the hands of Jeremy Fears Jr. as he released it.

“I seen them just bringing the ball up, obviously trying to get a 3-point shot up,” Tonje said about the final play. “I tried to just make a play on the ball. We would give up a foul in that scenario, but he was in the act of shooting. So I’m just glad I was able to get that deflection at the end.”

The Badgers did not let the Spartans get into their transition offense like they did two weekends ago. Wisconsin gave up 20 points in transition in that loss, but allowed just eight fast break points on Saturday. Freshman guard Jase Richardson would lead the Spartans with 21 points and seven rebounds. Fears scored 14 points with six assists and Tre Holloman would also be in double figures for the Spartans scoring 10 points off the bench.