The Michigan men's basketball team continues its march toward a Big Ten tournament championship today at 1 p.m. EST vs Minnesota.
The semifinal matchup at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. is on CBS. Jim Nance is calling the game with Bill Raftery and Grant Hill.
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Michigan is favored by 3.5 points over the Gophers. The winner plays the winner of Wisconsin vs Northwestern (3:30 p.m. EST | Game preview) for the Big Ten tourney title on Sunday.
RELATED: Bracket Challenge: Can you beat our Local 4 News Today morning team?
Game Preview
Eighth-seeded Michigan looks to continue its resilient run in the Big Ten tournament when it takes on No. 4 seed Minnesota in Saturday's semifinals. The Wolverines cruised past ninth-seeded Illinois 75-55 in the second round despite arriving in Washington, D.C., only hours prior to tipoff Thursday as their charter plane skidded off the runway during takeoff Wednesday before knocking off No. 1 seed Purdue 74-70 in overtime in Friday's quarterfinal.
Michigan eliminated the top seed in the conference tournament for the second time in as many years and hopes to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2014. Minnesota advanced to the semifinals for the first time in seven years following a hard-fought 63-58 victory against fifth-seeded Michigan State on Friday. The Golden Gophers have won nine of their last 10 games and turn their attention to beating Michigan for the second time this season after an 83-78 overtime victory in Minneapolis on Feb. 19. "I'm really proud of our mental toughness as well as our physical toughness," Minnesota coach Richard Pitino told reporters. "We played a really tough game at our place in overtime and they're a terrific team as John Beilein does a terrific job."
ABOUT MICHIGAN (22-11): D.J. Wilson led the way with 26 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots to lift the Wolverines past Purdue for the second time in two weeks. Zak Irvin added 13 points and seven rebounds, including the game-tying basket with 4.2 seconds left to send the game to overtime, while Derrick Walton Jr., the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, scored 12 points and dished out four assists. Moritz Wagner, who was held to five points in 17 minutes, sat out the overtime period with an apparent lower-body injury and his status for Saturday's semifinal is unknown.
ABOUT MINNESOTA (24-8): Reggie Lynch, who was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year earlier in the week, scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and blocked five shots against Michigan State. Amir Coffey added 13 points and Jordan Murphy produced 10 points and 13 rebounds to notch his third double-double in the last four games. Nate Mason, who earned all-Big Ten First Team honors Monday, tallied 10 points despite a 2-of-14 performance from the field while Akeem Springs' status is up in the air after leaving the game with a leg injury.
TIP-INS
1. Murphy posted 12 double-doubles in 2016-17.
2. Michigan has won nine of the last 10 meetings.
3. Lynch blocked at least five shots in four consecutive games.
Stathead's guide to the game here.