ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May made a comment after a big win over Purdue Tuesday night that he’s been trending toward saying for a while: “All summer, I underestimated the physicality of the Big Ten.”

“We didn’t work the way we needed to all summer, all fall,” May said. “And credit to our guys. They’ve adjusted, they’ve adapted.”

Michigan certainly has adjusted and made incremental improvement with its physicality, after a few wake-up calls. The Wolverines were roughed up and shot only 42.5 percent from inside the arc in a loss at Minnesota and were overwhelmed in every aspect in a 27-point blowout at Purdue. Even in some close wins, like against Northwestern, Michigan had struggles on the interior or in rebounding.

Michigan’s loss at Purdue Jan. 24 was a brutal setback at the time, but the lessons learned have helped the Wolverines grow.

“Understanding that these road environments in the Big Ten are as elite as any,” Michigan assistant coach Justin Joyner said of what the group took from the loss. “Just being able to compartmentalize the things that are important and the thing that win games.

“A lot of people like to talk about, how do you shoot the ball, and your turnovers and your assists and all the things that go into winning. But understanding that the hard things win games — your ability to be really tough and your ability to have great composure, your ability to rebound the ball and do the things that, from a scouting report perspective, help you win games.

“Just a maturity level after that game, for sure, has kinda seeped into our locker room, and guys are taking it to heart.”

The Wolverines have won their last five games and are back to their ways of dominating on the inside. They’ve shot 50-plus percent from inside the arc and have been much better on the boards during the win streak.

Michigan has worked on its physicality and focusing on those finer details that can determine the outcome of games in recent weeks. At the same time, the Wolverines often have multiple games in stretches of only a few days, so they have to balance their time between improving themselves and preparing for the next opponent.

Michigan will have five days between the last Purdue game and Sunday’s tilt at Ohio State and then another five between that and the next contest against Michigan State. But a stretch of five games in 13 days is coming right around the corner.

“It’s hard,” Joyner said of that balance. “You gotta be mindful of the fact that a lot of times you’re playing three games in seven days, so saving your guys’ bodies. But at the same time, making an emphasis in how you structure your practice on a day-to-day basis, certainly your film sessions. We’ve done a mixture of both: teaching through film, teaching through live reps.”

The games also help, and Michigan is getting more comfortable.

“But ultimately, it’s gotta get through to your players the physicality that’s needed to win games in the Big Ten — certainly on the road,” Joyner continued. “Our players going through the wars — we’ve played 13 wars in the Big Ten now — they’ve felt it first hand, and they’ve adjusted in a great way.”

Joyner was previously an assistant coach at Saint Mary’s and, just like most of the rest of the staff, had never coached in the Big Ten. However, he did see Indiana in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, with his Gaels beating them 82-53 in the round of 32. He understood what it took to win games like that, but didn’t realize how much of a grind it is on a game-to-game basis.

“I knew how physical it was,” Joyner said. “We actually played Indiana in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. We beat ‘em pretty good. But going into that game, we knew they’re coming from a Big Ten league, it’s big boy ball over here. Just understanding the physicality of the league.

“Obviously, you don’t necessarily know it until you see it every night. But again, it is what it is. At Saint Mary’s, we were going to usually be the most physical team in our league and probably even on the West Coast. It’s going to be hard to find teams that are more physical than us. But here, it really is every night. Every night, you’re going against men, you’re going against teams that pride themselves on physicality.

“And the other piece is just how the game is officiated. There’s a lot more physicality that’s tolerated, so just adjusting to that as a staff and certainly our players. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it.”