INDIANAPOLIS — Tre Donaldson seems to have this March Madness stuff down pat.
The Wolverines guard delivered his second clutch play in two days, this time making the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:54 left to send No. 22 Michigan past No. 18 Wisconsin 59-53 for the Big Ten tournament title Sunday.
Donaldson scored 11 points and had eight assists one day after catching an inbound pass on the run with 5.3 seconds left and driving the length of the floor for the winning layup in a semifinal victory over Maryland, rekindling images from past NCAA tournaments.
Now, Donaldson and his teammates want to stay focused on the future and keep this momentum for three more weeks.
“I know who I am, I knew who my team is,” Donaldson said. “It was just the desire to win. I want to win. It’s just me bringing that energy; I feel that was a big thing. I brought the energy.”
And a penchant for making big-time plays.
The Wolverines (25-9) arrived in Indianapolis trying to snap a three-game losing streak that cost them the regular-season title and claiming the school’s first tournament title since winning it back to back in 2017 and 2018.
There was nothing easy about it for Michigan.
The Wolverines needed three wins in three days, starting against Purdue, which is playing just about an hour from campus. The Wolverines then needed Donaldson’s heroics to reach the title game. So, on a day both teams looked fatigued, the Wolverines outlasted Wisconsin (26-9) playing its fourth game in four days.
Vladislav Goldin also scored 11 points Sunday and was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player.
But nobody was better this weekend than Donaldson,
“I don’t remember the details of what was said at halftime, but I knew we were going to have to dig deep and find a way,” first-year Michigan coach Dusty May said. “Granted, we got a break by not playing four games in four days and we were optimstic their legs might not fare as well as ours.”
Donaldson’s fast pace made sure of it.
Wisconsin shot just 22.1% from the field and only made only 17.9% of its 3-pointers as the game slipped away.
Michigan closed it on an 11-2 run.
John Tonje, the Badgers’ top scorer, was 1-of-14 from the field with nine points. John Blackwell scored 18 for Wisconsin, which still hasn’t won a tournament title since 2015.
“We had some wide-open looks, one on the corner. Blackwell had one wide open up off the slot, up one,” Badgers coach Greg Gard said. “If you’re going to win a championship, you’ve got to make a play, and part of making a play is knocking down a shot in a tight ballgame.”
Michigan and Donaldson did, Wisconsin and Tonje didn’t.
Two days after tying a tourney single-game record with 19 3-pointers, the Badgers were just 15-of-68 from the field.
The Wolverines lost the rebounding battle, but won it late and that proved the difference as they overcame fatigue to grind out a victory.
Donaldson’s 3 with 1:52 left finally gave Michigan the lead and fueled the decisive spurt.
The Badgers and Wolverines will see each other again Thursday in Denver when third-seeded Wisconsin faces 14th-seeded Montana. The fifth-seeded Wolverines take on 12-seed UC San Diego.
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