The (#24) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them. On Wednesday (02/05/2025), they beat Oregon 80-76 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/08/2025), they beat Indiana 70-67 in Bloomington. Michigan’s record is now 18-5 (10-2 in Big Ten).
What Happened?
As you can see, both of Michigan’s wins this week were very close. In fact, Michigan has now won four games in a row, all by either 3 or 4 points:
- 01/27/2025 – Michigan 76 Penn State 72
- 02/01/2025 – Michigan 66 Rutgers 63
- 02/05/2025 – Michigan 80 Oregon 76
- 02/08/2025 – Michigan 70 Indiana 67
The wins this week were both big: the Oregon game since Oregon had been ranked (#16) the week before, and the Indiana game since any win on the road in the Big Ten is a big deal, but even bigger since Michigan hasn’t won very often in Bloomington.
It’s great that Michigan is winning these close games now, since they lost 4 close games earlier in the season:
- 11/10/2024 – Michigan 70 Wake Forest 72
- 12/10/2024 – Michigan 87 Arkansas 89
- 12/18/2024 – Michigan 86 (#14) Oklahoma 87
- 01/16/2025 – Michigan 81 Minnesota 84 (overtime)
The only frustrating thing about all those losses is that Michigan had comfortable leads in all of them, and let all the leads melt away to make the games close at the end.
Game Flow
The Oregon game was close most of the time. Oregon jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead at the 16:19 mark, but Michigan fought back and finally took the lead (10-9) with 13:07 to go. The lead went back and forth for the next couple minutes, and Oregon was ahead 16-15 with 10:27 left. Michigan went on a quick 11-0 run to go up 26-16 at the 8:25 mark, and they kept the lead in the 7-9 point range for the next 5 minutes. With 3:19 to go in the half, Michigan still led by 7 points (37-30), but Oregon went on a 6-0 run to get within a point, 37-36, with 2:07 to go. Fortunately, Michigan scored the last 4 points of the half, and led 41-36 at halftime.
Michigan started the 2nd half strong, and pushed their lead to 14 points (64-50) at the 12:21 mark. They kept the lead in the 10-12 point range for the next few minutes, and they were up 10 points (70-60) with 8:52 to go. At this point, Oregon made their move. They cut the deficit down to 2 points (74-72) with 2:45 left, and the game was close the rest of the way. Michigan pushed their slim lead to 3 or 4 points a couple times, but Oregon got back within 2 points each time: 76-74 with 49 seconds left, and 78-76 with 15 seconds to go. Michigan made their free throws, and hung on for a 4 point win.
Michigan never trailed in the IU game. There were a few ties in the early going (2-2, 5-5, and 16-16), but once Michigan went ahead 19-16 at the 10:57 mark, they opened up a nice 16 point lead (35-19) with 5:53 to go in the half. Michigan kept the lead in the 14-16 point range for the rest of the half, leading by 16 at halftime, 43-27.
The 2nd half started out OK, with Michigan keeping their lead in the 15-17 point range for the first few minutes. With 17:18 left, Michigan was still up by 17 points, 49-32, and then they just went cold. Over the next 7+ minutes, IU went on a 20-4 run to get within 1 point (53-52) at the 9:30 mark. The rest of the game was a nail-biter. Michigan built up a small lead again (59-52) with 6:56 to go, but IU went on a 7-0 run to tie it up, 59-59, with 4:08 left. Michigan went ahead again, 66-61, at the 1:25 mark, but IU got back within 2 points (66-64) with 12 seconds left. Michigan made their free throws, and got the stop they needed, to build up an insurmountable 70-64 lead with 2 seconds left, so it didn’t matter that IU hit a 70-foot shot at the buzzer to make it a 3 point game. Only the gamblers cared about that.
Stats
The stats for the Oregon game were just OK. Michigan shot decently overall (27-for-63 = 42.9%), they shot 3-pointers decently (9-for-27 = 33.3%), and they shot free throws well (17-for-21 = 81.0%). They tied in the rebounding battle (38-38), and lost the turnover battle (15-12). For the 2nd game in a row, they won this game at the free throw line. They scored 17 points at the free throw line vs. 9 (for 11) for Oregon.
The stats for the Indiana game were mediocre. Michigan shot decently overall (24-for-54 = 44.4%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (5-for-21 = 23.8%), and they shot free throws very well (17-for-20 = 85.0%). They won the rebounding battle (37-30), but lost the turnover battle (12-7). For the 3rd game in a row, they won this game at the free throw line. They scored 17 points at the free throw line vs. 11 (for 15) for Indiana. A note about the 3-point shooting in this game: Michigan was hot in the 1st half (5-for-12 = 41.7%) and ice cold in the 2nd half (0-for-9), which is why IU was able to come back and make it close.
Who Started?
The starters for the Oregon game were Nimari Burnett, Tre Donaldson, Roddy Gayle Jr., Vladislav Goldin, and Danny Wolf. Rubin Jones started in place of Gayle for the Indiana game. Gayle played in the IU game, but he lost his starting position due to poor production.
Who Looked Good?
Wolf was the 2nd leading scorer in the Oregon game, with 15 points, and the leading scorer in the IU game, with 20 points. He also had 12 rebounds vs. Oregon, for another double-double. He almost had a double-double vs. IU, with 9 rebounds.
Goldin was tied for the 2nd leading scorer in the both games, with 15 and 18 points.
Wait; if Wolf and Goldin were tied for 2nd high scorer in the Oregon game, who was the high scorer? Will Tschetter, with 17 points! He also chipped in 4 points in the Indiana game.
Donaldson had a decent game vs. Oregon (12 points) and was tied with Goldin as the 2nd leading scorer in the IU game, with 18 points. He shot decently in the IU game (7-for-15 overall, 2-for-7 from deep), but not so well in the Oregon game (5-for-14 overall, 2-for-7 from deep).
Burnett had one good game (13 points) vs. Oregon, and one lousy game (3 points) vs. Indiana.
Who Looked Not-So-Good?
Gayle had a decent game vs. Oregon (8 points), but still lost his starting spot. He responded with a terrible game vs. Indiana (2 points). This is not good.
Jones had a terrible game vs. Oregon (0 points), but replaced Gayle in the starting lineup for the IU game. He responded with a terrible game vs. IU (3 points). This is not good. Michigan has a problem at small forward, since both Gayle and Jones are playing poorly.
Who Else Played?
Sam Walters chipped in 0 and 2 points off the bench.
Justin Pippen played in both games. He didn’t attempt a shot vs. Oregon, and he missed his only shot attempt vs. Indiana.
Who Didn’t Play?
Phat Phat Brooks, L.J. Cason, and Jace Howard were the scholarship players who didn’t play.
None of the Scout Team players played: Ian Burns, Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May.
What Does It Mean?
Remember two weeks ago (after Purdue thrashed Michigan) when I said that Michigan could forget about contending for the Big Ten title, and that Michigan State was running away with it? How quickly things can change! MSU went out west and lost to USC and UCLA (both teams that Michigan beat, out there), and suddenly Michigan is in the thick of a pennant race. Purdue is in 1st place at 11-2, and Michigan and Michigan State are tied for 2nd place at 10-2. Everyone else has at least 4 losses. Since Michigan plays Purdue and Michigan State (and Ohio State) in the next 2 weeks, the standings will probably change quite a bit.
At this point, Michigan probably already has enough wins to get into the NCAA Tournament, but they can hold onto a good seed (currently projected at 5 or 6) by continuing to win games. They can also help themselves to a good seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
What’s Next?
This week, Michigan plays two games. On Tuesday (02/11/2025, 7:00 p.m., Peacock), they play (#7) Purdue in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (02/16/2025, 1:00 p.m., CBS), they play at Ohio State.
Purdue is currently 19-5 (11-2 in Big Ten). Michigan last played them on 01/24/2025, and got thrashed 91-64. Since then, Purdue has won 3 games against lower-division teams (Indiana, Iowa, and USC). Michigan can beat Purdue in Crisler, but they will need to play their best game of the season. They certainly can’t let Purdue run out to a 20-point lead in the first 9 minutes like they did last game.
Ohio State is currently 14-10 (6-7 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#19) Texas, (#4) Kentucky, (#11) Purdue, and (#18) Maryland, and unimpressive losses to Pittsburgh, Indiana, and Nebraska. They have one noteworthy player (Bruce Thornton), and a lot of height: one 6’10” player and two 7’1” players. This is going to be a tough game, especially on the road. Michigan can win, but they need to play a solid, clean game.
Check back next week to find out what happened and why.
Go Blue!