Tre Donaldson on clutch performance against Penn State, playing through injury, more

Michigan men’s basketball point guard Tre Donaldson showed up when he was needed most Monday night against Penn State. The Wolverines were down 72-71 with under a minute left in the game, and Donaldson drained a three to take the lead as the Crisler Center erupted. He went on to score seven straight points to edge out the win. 

Notable Tre Donaldson postgame quotes

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Penn State guard Ace Baldwin Jr. finished second on his team with 15 points, and he had a chance to give his team the lead from behind the arc with five seconds left. After he missed, Donaldson went up, got the rebound, got fouled and closed the game at the free throw line.

“The rebound was big,” Donaldson said. “My foot’s still bothering me a little bit so for me to just go up there and jump and go get it, that was big for me.”

Donaldson led all players with 21 points and seven assists. His zero turnovers is even more encouraging, given his season-high of six turnovers against Purdue last Friday. Donaldson said protecting the ball was a focus of his going into the Penn State matchup.

“Turnovers really aggravate me, like I don’t like turning the ball over,” Donaldson said. “I try not to express it in the games, but it really bothers me. The Purdue game really bothered me, so it’s just something that I was harping on.”

If Michigan turned the ball over less, there’s no telling how many more wins it could have.

On bouncing back after loss at Purdue

Michigan got hammered on the road against the Boilermakers, and its 64 points was a season-low. Donaldson said this season is still alive and well.

“We went into Purdue and got beat – got beat bad – I mean it’s just part of it. We know who we are,” Donaldson said. “That was out of character obviously. They got to come and play us again, so I mean, we’re looking forward to that, but it was just all about response. 

“… I feel like (if) we just continue to protect our home court (and) continue to steal some games on the road we still got a chance at this.”

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