Wolverines wrap up amazing run
WASHINGTON — The Michigan men’s basketball team crammed a lifetime worth of memories into one magical week and received a treasured souvenir as a keepsake.
After defeating 24th-ranked Wisconsin 71-56 Sunday afternoon to win the Big Ten tournament, the eighth-seeded Wolverines held high the hardware that accompanied the feat.
Before helping cut down the nets, Michigan coach John Beilein gathered his players to deliver an emotional message.
“What I told them is, ‘You’re going to come back 20 years from now, and that trophy is going to sit there and you’re going to tell your grandkids about those five days and what happened. You’ll love it forever,’” he said.
The Wolverines (24-11) began their journey with a scary skid off the airport runway in Michigan. They ended it by overwhelming the second-seeded Badgers, who had won three straight — including the regular-season finale against Minnesota — by a total of 55 points.
Between the aborted flight and their final unexpected victory, Michigan beat Illinois, eliminated topseed Purdue and sent home No. 4 seed Minnesota.
“It means so much to all of us,” senior guard Zak Irvin said. “All of the adversity that we’ve been to throughout the whole tournament, we stuck together as a family and got the job done.”
And so, the first Big Ten tourney in the nation’s capital ended with a surprise champion at Verizon Center. Michigan won the title in 1998 but had it vacated due to NCAA sanctions, making this the program’s new first.
Tournament MVP Derrick Walton Jr. scored 22 points, D.J. Wilson added 17 and Irvin had 15 for Michigan, which had lost 17 of its previous 20 games against Wisconsin. The Wolverines shot 56 percent and were 10-for-23 from beyond the arc.
As a reward, Michigan will be the No. 7 seed in the Midwest and open the NCAA tournament against Oklahoma State.
“We overcame a lot,” Walton said. “Had a lot of trials and tribulations. All I can say is God is good. We’re here for a reason.”
Bronson Koenig scored 15 points, and Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ had 14 apiece for the Badgers (25-9), who shot 39 percent from the field and scored only 24 points after halftime.
The Badgers looked so good during their winning streak — and so ordinary in this game.
“We were playing really well for the past three games or so,” Koenig said. “We just kind of went away from what was working a little bit.”
Wisconsin will enter the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the East Region and will first face Virginia Tech.
› Duke 75, Notre Dame 69: In New York, continuing a season that has been anything but routine, the Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament as it had never been done before.
Jayson Tatum took over in the final three minutes, making key plays all over the floor, and fifth-seeded, 14th-ranked Duke (27-8) became the first team to win the league’s postseason title with four victories in four days by rallying past third-seeded, 22nd-ranked Notre Dame late Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
“We’re extremely tough, and we never say die,” Tatum said. “Especially this last week, we’ve found that out.”
The freshman forward finished a spectacular week with 19 points and eight rebounds for the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-8), who won their first ACC tournament title since 2011 and 20th overall, most in conference history. It was the 14th under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“We’ve won a lot of these, but this one is so different,” the 70-year-old Krzyzewski said. “I’ve been on a lot of good journeys, but this was such a good one.”
Bonzie Colson was a beast for third-seeded Notre Dame (25-9), with 29 points and nine rebounds.
Luke Kennard had 16 points for Duke and was selected tournament MVP, but it was really Tatum’s time in New York. He averaged 22 points and 7.5 rebounds in four games.
› Arizona 83, Oregon 80: In Las Vegas, Allonzo Trier scored 23 points and hit four free throws in the final 17 seconds, helping seventh-ranked, second-seeded Arizona outlast fifth-ranked, top-seeded Oregon late Saturday night in the Pac-12 tournament championship game.
Arizona (30-4) lost a lopsided game at Oregon earlier this season on a barrage of 3-pointers by the Ducks, but the Wildcats were better defensively while building a 14-point lead and shot 58 percent to hold off Oregon’s second-half charge.
Oregon (29-5) got bad news before tipoff, learning senior forward Chris Boucher is out for the season with a torn ACL sustained in the semifinals against California.
The Ducks struggled in the first half before rallying in a dazzling second half by both teams. Dillon Brooks carried Oregon through the early struggles and finished with 25 points. Tyler Dorsey added 23.