INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan outlasted Wisconsin 59-53 in the championship game of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
As usual, it was the last college basketball game before the Selection Sunday show and the revelation of the NCAA Tournament bracket. And with Michigan (25-9) playing for the third day in a row and Wisconsin (27-8) for the fourth, there was a combination of tired legs and awful shooting not uncommon in a conference final.
The first-half shooting was painfully bad, with the Wolverines going 28.1% from the field and the Badgers even worse than that, 21.6%. Combined, the teams were 7-for-41 (17.1%) from the three-point line.
Wisconsin opened an 11-point lead early in the second half but appeared to run on fumes at the offensive end after that, leaving most shots well short. Michigan eventually found a mini-spurt, making six of seven shots and taking a 53-51 lead on Tre Donaldson’s three with 1:54 left, and closed the game on an 11-2 run.
Donaldson went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating layup to beat Maryland in the semifinals. He scored 11 in the final, tied for the team lead with tournament MVP Vlad Goldin.
The Badgers’ John Blackwell led all scorers with 18 and was the only player in an ugly game to make more than four field goals.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Wolverines coach Dusty May said.