It's officially win or go home season. You either win the next game, or you literally head home to Ann Arbor, if you're Michigan basketball.

U-M limped to the finish line in the regular season, losing three of the last four games. It's time to take things up a notch, sophomore guard David DeJulius told Brian Boesch and Terry Mills on the Inside Michigan Basketball radio show Monday night. It all starts Thursday in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament, when the Wolverines attempt to beat Rutgers for the third time this season.

"They’re a tough team, a well-coached team, as well," DeJulius said of Rutgers. "They’ve got a lot of guys that are, as you would say, junkyard dogs. It’s always hard to beat a team three times, so, we can’t go into the mindset that we have to do what we did in the first two times. We have to elevate our play, because they’re going to elevate their play because they’re a good team."

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The process of ramping things up for the postseason started early for DeJulius. The 7.0 points per game scorer dropped 20 in U-M's loss to Maryland in the regular season finale. His shot-making kept the Wolverines in the game for much of the first half.

"You can just kind of feel your juices flowing early," he said. "I just wanted to come in and be aggressive on both ends of the floor, and when I get in the game just try to elevate the play that’s already out there on the floor."

It may take a performance like that in a tournament setting to keep U-M's season alive, but DeJulius is willing to do whatever it takes to see the Wolverines be successful. Mid-way through the Big Ten slate, DeJulius, on a phone call with head coach Juwan Howard, made it clear that he was "all in" for the team.

"I just wanted to let him know that whatever’s asked of me, I’ll get it done — whether that’s go out there and play 10 minutes, or go out there and play 40 minutes," he said. "Whatever role that you want me to do out there, I’m going to run through a brick wall for this team."

DeJulius noted that the Wolverines understand the recent history of the success in both the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, and they're looking to carry it on.

"We know that we’re going to have to connect and rally behind one another," DeJulius said. "We understand the history that we have on neutral sites and in the tournament. So, we plan on continuing the greatness.

"We understand that the stakes are high at this point in the season. We've got guys like [senior center] Jon Teske, [senior guard] Zavier Simpson, [junior forward] Isaiah Livers and a couple other guys that have been in the national championship game and made that deep run. So, those guys have the experience. We, the younger guys, have watched that run, so we’re itching to get back to that point."

Freshman guard Franz Wagner, who was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, is one of those young guys looking to make an impact in helping this U-M team create postseason history of its own.

"Man, I’m so excited," Wagner told Boesch and Mills. "I can’t wait for Thursday and for the next couple weeks.

"March Madness, that’s what I always watched as a kid growing up. We don’t have anything like this in Europe, so it’s going to be definitely the most fun time that I’ve had so far. I’m really looking forward to it."

Wagner's season is the perfect example of continually elevating his game. He struggled early on and at different points, but now feels like he's much more comfortable playing the college game.

"I think I’ve improved defensively, moving my feet," Wagner said. "Over here, they want to go at you when you’re out there, so I think that definitely helped me every day in practice.

"I think my body improved a little bit. I got a little bit stronger. Just overall, my consistency throughout the season has improved a lot. Just being able to play high minutes every night and to be able to perform, I think that was something that was new to me, because I didn’t play as much last year with the pro team. I think that helps me for the future, that I can go out there and have that mindset every time, that I’m ready to go."

On top of the high stakes and the excitement of postseason play, Wagner is excited to play in front of his family again, looking to "redeem himself" after Sunday's loss to Maryland. His older brother Moe, a former Wolverine and current Washington Wizards forward, along with their parents and grandparents, were at the game Sunday. His parents will also make the trip to the Big Ten Tournament, something they did in 2017 and 2018, when Moe and the Wolverines won back-to-back tournament titles.

"That was great," Wagner said. "My grandparents were there [at Maryland], my parents were there, [Moe's] girlfriend was there. That was great for me to see everybody, to just feel at home a little bit. I think they had a great time watching the game. Obviously, I would've liked to get the win, but that was definitely really good for me to have that support from my family, that they’re here and they came all the way."

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