The reigning conference champs bested the Fighting Irish 1-0 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten title game.

Junior forward Isaac Howard scored the game's lone goal just 19 seconds into the third period to give Michigan State a 1-0 win over Notre Dame.

With some heroics just before the buzzer, No. 22 Michigan posted an 81-80 victory over No. 11 Maryland in the Big Ten tournament semifinals Saturday in Indianapolis, giving the Wolverines 24 wins and a date with No.

Maryland almost broke through to the final for the first time, but the Wolverines’ Tre Donaldson refused to let it happen. The blindingly fast guard inbounded the ball to teammate Vlad Goldin with 5.3 seconds left, got it back and raced 80 feet for a left-handed layup in heavy traffic that won it 81-80 at the buzzer.

But as the Wolverines have done all year long, somehow, some way, they found a way to win. This time, it was Tre Donaldson saving the day, scoring a coast-to-coast basket with less than a second left to give the Wolverines a win after they were trailing with less than five seconds to play.

Area 51 has popularized Michigan basketball's rebuild but, as important as the 7-footers are, it's a former SEC champion who played hero against Maryland.