Michigan's Big Ten title hopes take big hit with loss to Maryland; MSU clinches share

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Mar 5, 2025

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wolverines entered the final week of the regular season with their sights set on earning at least a share of the Big Ten championship.

Those banner dreams took a big blow in Wednesday’s home finale at Crisler Center.

No. 17 Michigan made a second-half charge but couldn’t complete a comeback in a 71-65 loss to No. 13 Maryland that left its title hopes hanging by a thread.

The only way the Wolverines (22-8, 14-5 Big Ten) can capture a piece of the conference crown is if Michigan State loses its last two games – Thursday at Iowa and Sunday in the rivalry rematch with Michigan in East Lansing. The Spartans, who hold a 1.5-game lead in the standings, earned at least a share of the title with UM's loss and can win it outright with one win.

Michigan put itself in this position by dropping back-to-back games for the first time since December and losing at home for the third time in 13 days.

Vlad Goldin had 20 points and 15 rebounds and Danny Wolf scored 20 for Michigan, which trailed the entire second half and turned it over 16 times.

Following a rough first half that ended with an 11-point deficit, the Wolverines got off to a poor start out of the break. They turned the ball over four times in five possessions, all on bad passes. Wolf committed three of those, with one leading to a runout layup by Selton Miguel and another ending with Derick Queen splitting free throws after being fouled to make it 38-26.

Michigan turned to Goldin to chip away at the deficit. He scored three times at the rim and made two free throws after being fouled on an offensive board. Tre Donaldson (10 points) turned a steal into to a fast-break layup for LJ Cason to make it 44-39 and force a Maryland timeout with 13:05 to play.

On the ensuing out-of-bounds play, Ja’kobi Gillespie buried a momentum-killing 3-pointer. A turnover on Michigan’s ensuing possession preceded another deep ball by Maryland. And in the blink of an eye, the Terrapins pushed the margin back to double digits, 50-39.

The Wolverines fought back. Donaldson canned a deep 3-pointer after coming away with another steal. Wolf threw down one-handed jam on a fast break. The crowd roared to life as another fast-break dunk, this by Roddy Gayle Jr., capped a 13-4 run and cut Maryland’s lead to 54-52 with 9:03 to go.

The Terrapins kept the Wolverines at bay. After Wolf hit a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game with 6:51 left, Michigan squandered numerous opportunities to pull even, with missed free throws and a couple back-breaking turnovers.

Maryland widened the margin to 65-57 with 2:33 to play, as Michigan went over five minutes without scoring and never got closer than four the rest of the way.

With the loss, the Wolverines finished 13-3 at home but are still in line for a top-four seed and double-bye in next week’s Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.

Rodney Rice scored 19, and Selton Miguel and Queen added 17 each for Maryland (23-7, 13-6). The Terrapins outscored Michigan 38-18 in points off turnovers and second-chance opportunities.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the top-20 matchup. Maryland’s lone bucket in the first five-plus minutes came on a second-chance 3-pointer on its first possession. Michigan missed nine of its first 11 shots, including an airballed 3-pointer, a floater that missed everything and a couple shots that were blocked at the rim.

The Wolverines were the first to find any sort of a groove. They made four consecutive shots and ripped off a 10-0 burst in a little over a minute. Wolf scored on a layup in transition and knocked down a step-back 3-pointer. Nimari Burnett drained a deep ball from the corner. Goldin hit a hook shot to cap the spurt and double up Maryland, 14-7, with 11:26 left in the first half.

The good vibes didn’t last long. Maryland countered with a 21-4 flurry over a seven-minute stretch and Miguel made Michigan pay for its mistakes throughout the run. He scooped up an offensive rebound on a missed 3-pointer that no Wolverine went after and immediately scored. A pass by Rubin Jones was intercepted by Miguel and led to a fast-break layup. The Terrapins scored nine unanswered points to pull ahead, 16-14, at the 8:24 mark.

Goldin briefly stopped the bleeding with a bucket in the paint, but that was the only offense Michigan could muster over a six-minute stretch. Miguel canned 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, the second coming after an offensive rebound. Queen bullied his way to the rim and took advantage of mismatches. Jordan Geronimo provided the exclamation point with a posterizing dunk over Goldin, as Maryland took a 28-18 lead.

The Wolverines struggled to get anything easy on offense. When they did, they couldn’t get the shot to drop. Over the final 11 minutes of the half, Michigan could only produce eight points on four made baskets and entered halftime facing a 33-22 deficit.

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