Notebook: Dusty May on Duke lessons, Minnesota stakes and staying in the moment

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The Michigan men’s basketball team is in a position to win a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with a win on Tuesday night over Minnesota. After splitting a week against two of the top teams in the country, Purdue and Duke, the Wolverines and Dusty May feel as though the program has learned a lot about how it needs to play to compete in March.

But the Wolverines’ mindset isn’t wavering from their next-game mentality, despite using the game against the Blue Devils as a great learning opportunity and the game against the Golden Gophers as a potential championship-clinching game.

Here’s what May had to say about the past, present, and future with just two weeks left in the regular season.

Duke loss providing learning moment

Despite suffering its second loss of the season, Michigan and May feel as though the Duke game still served as a confidence booster because it proved the Wolverines can still compete against one of the top teams in the country on an off night.

“When I went back and watched the film again last night, possession by possession, I was surprised at how many errors we made that we don’t typically make,” May said. “And for us to still be in position to win is, it gives us confidence that we can have an off night and still be able to compete. You got to make the plays to get over the hump. … Probably us not playing our best has a lot to do with them and their size and length and physicality. I was really impressed with how physical they are.

“Duke, they made winning plays. … It’s rare that our group doesn’t outperform the other team in the last three, four minutes of a game in a tight situation, and we weren’t able to do that, and so credit them.”

Led by forward Cameron Boozer’s 18-point, 10-rebound double-double and the physical efforts he and the Blue Devils put up in the last four minutes of the game — scoring on every possession — Michigan proved it’s still learning. For a team that prides itself on finding ways to win in different situations, the loss serves as both a reminder and wake-up call that there’s still work to be done.

In terms of tangible changes for May and his team, foul trouble and losing the front-court battle are things to keep in mind when facing the physicality of a front court like Duke. Notably, May’s decision to put junior center Aday Mara back in the game so quickly after picking up his second foul didn’t work out.

“In hindsight, we wouldn’t have done that (based on the result),” May said. “But when you sit down and you say, ‘All right, can we really go the next 15 minutes without Aday? And can he play well in the second half if he sits for these next 15 minutes?’ And so we trust him. We trust our guys.”