The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Championship Game was a grind from the start, and the tone was set early — not by a dazzling crossover or a thunderous dunk, but by a wedgie.
At the 9:28 mark of the first half, the ball lodged itself between the rim and the backboard, a fitting metaphor for a game that struggled to find its rhythm.
For much of the afternoon in Indianapolis, both the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers seemed stuck in neutral. The Big Ten Conference finalists traded missed shots and defensive stops in a game that felt more like a tug-of-war with a trophy hanging in the balance.
But in the final minutes, the Wolverines found a way to break free, defeating the Badgers 59-53 to claim its first Conference title since 2018.
The victory marked a historic moment for first-year Michigan head coach Dusty May, who became the first coach in NCAA history to win a conference tournament title in his debut season with a program.
“This group has battled like crazy all year,” May said after the win. “Today was no different. It wasn’t how we scripted it, but our guys stayed the course and made plays when it mattered.”
May, who took over a Michigan team that had underperformed in recent years, led the Wolverines to a 25-9 record and their third Big Ten Tournament championship in program history.
The game was a defensive slugfest from the opening tip. It was like watching a basketball game where everyone was wearing blue jeans. Both teams struggled to find any offensive edge, combining for a season-low 44 points in the first half.
Wisconsin led 23-21 at the break, but neither team shot above 28% from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Michigan went the entire first half without attempting a free throw, while Wisconsin’s leading scorer, John Tonje, was held scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting.
“I couldn’t care less how many points I had,” Tonje said on his way to the locker room. “They are playing hard.”
Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit echoed Tonje’s sentiments after the loss.
“I thought we did a great job defensively,” Klesmit said. “We battled hard, but shots just didn’t fall for us today.”
The second half didn’t start any smoother as the blue-collar battle on the hardwood continued. Michigan went nearly seven minutes without a field goal before L.J. Cason broke the drought with back-to-back three-pointers, cutting Wisconsin’s lead to 27-25.
Cason, a freshman, provided a much-needed spark for the Wolverines, finishing with eight points, all of which came in the latter half.
“L.J. got us going,” May said. “He’s never going to be unaggressive. He put the pedal to the metal when we needed it most.”
Wisconsin, however, refused to go away.
John Blackwell, who finished with a game-high 18 points, kept the Badgers afloat with timely baskets and relentless drives in the paint. But Michigan’s defense, led by center Vladislav Goldin and forward Danny Wolf, made life difficult for Wisconsin’s shooters from start to finish.
Tonje, one of the Big Ten’s top scorers, was held to just nine points on 1-of-14 shooting.
“We contested all of his shots,” May said of Tonje. “We made him work on both sides of the ball. That’s what you have to do against great players.”
The game remained tight until the final minutes.
With the score tied at 45-45, Michigan’s Tre Donaldson hit a clutch three-pointer to give the Wolverines a 48-45 lead with 1:45 remaining.
Donaldson, who broke the internet with his coast-to-coast buzzer-beater layup in the Big Ten Semifinals against Maryland one day earlier, struggled throughout the championship game.
“I wanted to win badly,” Donaldson said. “In the second half, I just put pressure on them.”
Michigan’s defense sealed the victory in the closing moments of the Big Ten Championship bout, forcing Wisconsin into tough shots and securing key rebounds.
Goldin, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds, knocked down two critical free throws in the final minute to extend Michigan’s lead to 56-53.
Wolf, who scored 11 points of his own, added two more free throws to put the game out of reach.
For Wisconsin, the loss was a bitter end to an otherwise impressive tournament run. The Badgers, appearing in their second consecutive championship game, won three games in three days to reach the final.
However, fatigue and Michigan’s rugged defense proved too much to overcome.
“We played our hearts out,” Blackwell said. “We gave it everything we’ve got. We just came up short.”
Michigan’s victory capped a remarkable turnaround under May, who took over a program that had missed the NCAA Tournament the previous two seasons.
The Wolverines, entering the contest ranked 22nd in the AP poll, defeated Purdue, Maryland and Wisconsin to claim the title.
“This means the world to me,” Donaldson said. “We came here to win championships, and that’s what we did.”
As the final buzzer of the Big Ten Championship contest sounded, Michigan’s players rushed the court to celebrate their hard-fought victory while Wisconsin made their way to the locker room.
Donaldson commemorated the win with a ‘night night’ celebration, a taunt made popular by Steph Curry.
“This group has sacrificed and fought all season,” May said. “To see them come together and achieve something special like this is incredibly rewarding.”
With the win, the Wolverines secure the No. 5 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament. They take on the No. 5 seed University of California San Diego.
The Badgers locked up the No. 3 seed in the East Region and will do battle with No. 14 seed Montana.
Both games take place March 20 in Denver.
In a game that started with a wedgie and ended with a celebration, Michigan proved that sometimes, it’s not about how you get stuck — it’s about how you break free.
Contact Multi-Media & Senior Sports Reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846. Follow him on X @3Noral. For more March Madness updates, click here.
Noral Parham is the multi-media & senior sports reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest Black publications in the country. Parham has worked with various leagues to provide a diverse perspective in sports, including the Big Ten, Big East, IHSAA, IndyCar, MLB, NHRA, NFL, NBA, WNBA, WWE and the Olympics. Prior to joining the Recorder, Parham served as the community advocate of the MLK Center in Indianapolis and senior copywriter for an e-commerce and marketing firm in Denver.
