INDIANAPOLIS − Michigan basketball looks to have dodged a bullet for its backcourt.

Roddy Gayle Jr., U-M’s sixth man and primary two-guard, missed a 3-pointer from the right wing late in the first half of Sunday afternoon’s Big Ten tournament championship game vs. Wisconsin and as he went back down the court appeared to grab at his left hamstring.

Moments later, Wisconsin was fouled which stopped the game for a media timeout with 2:34 left in the first half and the Badgers leading 23-21. That’s when Gayle immediately untucked his jersey and walked around the bench and up the tunnel with associate athletic trainer Chris Williams.

CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson said after the half that Gayle spent halftime on the bike trying to stay lose, but his left hamstring is wrapped up and he is questionable to return.

However, with just over 16 minutes left in the second half, Gayle checked back into the game and is going to give it a go.

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It’s hard to say what that means long-term, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a bad sign.

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Gayle provides depth at the guard spot that simply doesn’t exist without him. Yes, Gayle has struggled mightily shooting this year, making just 1 of 26 3-pointers since the calendar turned to 2025, but he started to get his confidence back this week, including Saturday’s semifinal vs. Maryland when he hit a long ball from the right wing to snap an 0 for 18 skid.

Gayle scored 11 points in the quarterfinal against Purdue, then added nine against the Terps and also had what Dusty May called the play of the game when he wrestled an offensive rebound away from Julian Reese in a critical juncture.

Gayle is averaging 9.6 points on 43.2% shooting to go with 3.2 rebounds per game.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.