ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines return home to Crisler Center to host the Minnesota Golden Gophers after falling to newly No. 1-ranked Duke over the weekend in Washington, D.C.
Michigan fell two spots in the AP Poll, now the No. 3-ranked team in the nation, as it will host Minnesota on Tuesday (Feb. 24) inside Crisler Arena at 8:30 p.m.
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Head coach Dusty May said the Wolverines are focused on returning home to face Minnesota and competing for a Big Ten championship.
“We’re extremely excited to get back home and continue competing for a Big 10 championship and taking the lessons that we learned from our last game, moving forward, and see where it takes us,” said May.
With their attention back to the Big Ten, a victory on Tuesday will get them at least a share of the Big Ten championship since the Illinois Fighting Illini (22-6, 13-4) got upset by the UCLA Bruins, giving Michigan (25-2, 15-1) a three-game lead with four to play in the regular season.
“It’s not done. So, we are so consumed now with playing well against Minnesota. They’re going to play desperate. They’re short-handed. They have five or six guys that are playing significant minutes, and those five guys can all play. And so, we’re not really thinking that big OF a picture now as opposed to just taking care of business. And we know if we get this one, we at least at worst case scenario clench a share. But I don’t think anyone in our locker room wants to share anything. And so, we’ve just got to continue playing one possession at a time and get back to playing good ball.” May said.
May warned that Minnesota’s offense could present unique challenges, especially from deep and with precise cutting.
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s any secret. Teams that really shoot the ball well from deep, it can present problems for us at times. Not overall, just that’s, you know, that’s how Wisconsin beat us, and Duke used a different model. But yeah, they can spread us out. They can shoot it. They run a great offense. Their cutting is probably as effective as any team in our league. They cut with great space, purpose. They set you up for the next thing. So, just a well-coached team and uh it’s going to be a challenge.” May said.
Asked about the offense Minnesota runs and its origin, May tied the system to long-standing principles and said a lack of frequent exposure can make it hard to defend.
“It’s the speed, it’s the cutting, it’s the skill level, it’s the connectivity. They’re all working in unison to create a good shot for the team. But the speed, the spacing, you know, it’s an offense that was built to combat ball denial, things like that, when you go back to the original Pete Carril, the methodology of it all. So, it’s something we don’t see much. You don’t, you know, you see pieces of it, but you don’t see it a lot. And so, anytime you don’t have the reps going against it, it can, it can present challenges.” May said.
On the loss to Duke, May declined to detail internal adjustments but said the game provided schematic lessons and underscored how winning plays decided the outcome.
“I don’t want really want to divulge what what we learn internally I can go big picture um that as of February whatever the date was we weren’t ready to to beat the one of the top programs teams in the country and so we didn’t have to be ready in mid February hopefully we have a chance to see them again because they’re going to be playing late in March and and possibly April. So, it’d be awesome to have another opportunity. That means we’re taking care of business. But, you know, they Duke, they made winning plays. I mean, it wasn’t after the first six or eight minutes; the game was a slugfest from both teams. And it’s rare that our group doesn’t outperform the other team in the last three to four minutes of a game in a tight situation. And we weren’t able to do that. And so, credit them.” May said.
May praised Duke’s use of Cam Boozer in the matchup, noting his screening, passing, and effort on loose balls.
“Credit Duke, they used Boozer really really well to leverage us in so many leverage our defense in so many different ways, and the intangible plays that he made were more impressive than his reputation, than his winning percentage, whatever the case. He’s just a great screener. He played if they put two on the ball, he passed it. Just kept the game very, very simple offensively. And then he made his desire to go get 50-50 basketballs, and rebounding was as good as I can remember in recent memory. His drive to win is incredibly impressive.” May said.
NCAA tournament site preference
May would not commit to a choice on future NCAA tournament site preferences and said his staff and administration will evaluate what is best for the team.
“That decision hasn’t been made. I mean we haven’t even submitted we don’t have we haven’t even hit that deadline yet. So, with any decision, is that something that someone prefers? I don’t know. I don’t know. I didn’t make that decision. I’m not sure where it came from, to be honest. Is that our final decision? No, because we were not at the point where we have to make that final decision. We’ll gather all the information from our administration from years past and figure out what’s best for our team going forward, and that’s what we’ll do.” May said.
Elliot Cadeau
On Elliot Cadeau, who left the game with cramps and returned, May said he was “a full go” and practiced the following day.
“Yeah, he came in after that and banged in a big shot after, you know, when we needed it. So I took that as a full go. He practiced yesterday.” May said.
Aday Mara
May was candid about a substitution decision regarding Aday Mara in the first half of the Duke matchup, after Aday Mara picked up his third foul. He later questioned after the Duke game, framing it as a teachable moment for the player.
“It was a bad move. It was a bad decision. No, if we’re resulting, it was obvious he could’ve picked up his third foul, and it didn’t allow him to play aggressively. Yeah, I wish in hindsight we wouldn’t have done that. It’ll be a good learning experience for him because the thing with his fouls, his first one was a missed blockout, and so it was legit, and then the second one, I think we all, you know, other than Boozer, we probably all feel everyone on the planet feels the same way about that call.” May said.
Morez Johnson Jr. echoed the same sentiment about Mara’s presence as Michigan got destroyed on the glass, with him being on the bench for long stretches of the game.
“Missing him on the floor was a really big hit on us,” Johnson Jr. said.
Yaxel Lendeborg chimed in following the loss to Duke about Mara’s absence.
“Aday draws so much attention,” Lendeborg said. It makes it so much easier for me, Morez, and Roddy Gayle Jr. to go in and get a rebound, so missing him on the floor was a really big hit for us.”
February neutral site
May said he supports the February neutral-site, NCAA-like matchup that drew national attention and called it a useful simulation for the postseason.
“100%. We have a responsibility to do what’s best for the enterprise of College basketball, to do what’s best for the University of Michigan, for the Big Ten conference, and I can’t imagine I mean, I can’t wait to see what the the ratings were to see what but the buzz, the um all the attention around the game was was very NCAA tournament-like." May said.
May also defended his team’s depth and the balance between guards and bigs as assets for postseason success.
“I mean, I think you look at last year’s national champion, Florida had good guards. They had good bigs. Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, when we went to the Final Four, we had good guards. UConn, which won it all that year. They had a lot of everything. So, I’d prefer to have good guards and bigs and take my chances, but I like our guards. I think we have a very good backcourt. I think we have a very good front court. And yeah, I like having both good on both ends.” May said.
The Wolverines need to win two out of their last four games to win the Big Ten regular season championship outright, and their first step begins on Tuesday against Minnesota.
May said he did not know how he would feel tomorrow if Michigan clinched a share of the Big Ten title, and that his focus would quickly shift to the next games on the schedule.
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow. You know, we even talked about all the different scenarios. I don’t even like talking about this stuff because you have ball to play, but you have to. It’s nature of the beast. But if we do win tomorrow, we clinch a share, and then after that, you know, I think I’ll just be thinking next thing. We have a big game Friday, May said.
May continued, “Second biggest game of the year coming up. The Illinois game Friday night. First, the biggest game of the year is obviously Minnesota. Second biggest game is Illinois. And then the third biggest game of the year is Iowa.” May said.
May recalled how the program celebrated clinching a share previously, calling it a special moment for players, families and fans.
“So I don’t think I will. Now, I will say this that out of that the year we broke through at FAU when we clinched at home, we clinched a share at home and we still had two more games on the road to go play and the university wanted to do it the thing on the court with the nets and all this stuff and and I was against it, but I did feel like our players deserved it, our fans, and that was probably the coolest moment because you have the court marked off with the the ropes and inside the court you have your players, their families, the coaches, their families. And so you just have this area of everyone who poured into this experience.” May said.
May continued: “Ideally, we will celebrate later on, after more work has been done, but we’re just happy to be in position to be playing meaningful games in February, and this game tomorrow is incredibly meaningful.”