Michigan men’s basketball remains unbeaten in Big Ten play with 91-75 win over Washington

The Wolverines took down Washington on Sunday, 91-75, to move to 13-3 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play. Vlad Goldin followed up his career-high 36-point performance with 19 points and eight rebounds to fuel a fifth straight win:

The Michigan Wolverines took down the Washington Huskies 91-75 to move to 13-3 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play. Against the Huskies, big man Vlad Goldin followed up his career-high 36-point performance with 19 points and eight rebounds to fuel a fifth straight win.

Dusty May’s team was hoping to keep momentum going following an impressive West Coast trip , and the Wolverines did just that, leading from wire to wire and racking up 34 points in the paint to go with 24 bench points against Washington.

In addition to Goldin dominating at the rim, guard Nimari Burnett posted 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting clip. Michigan was also fueled by guard Roddy Gayle Jr. and forward Danny Wolf combining for 26 points and 12 rebounds.

FIRST HALF

Michigan took a 13-7 lead into the first media timeout, as Washington struggled to contain dribble penetration early on. The Wolverines continued to attack off the dribble en route to scoring 10 points in the paint in the opening five minutes.

Washington stayed within striking distance for most of the first half, but Michigan finally started to find a rhythm in the final minutes. Burnett knocked down three straight three-pointers to build a 48-38 lead at the break.

Burnett shot the lights out in the opening half, racking up 13 points on 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point territory. Goldin added eight points and four rebounds at halftime, highlighted by a half-court alley-oop from guard Tre Donaldson.

SECOND HALF

Washington eventually cut the deficit to 57-49 in the second half, but Michigan responded as forward Will Tschetter connected on a three-pointer from the corner. That was followed up by Goldin scoring back to back buckets to put the Wolverines up 64-51.

Michigan continued to extend the double-figure lead as forward Sam Walters hit a pair of three-pointers . Just moments later, Wolf seemingly put the game out of reach with a triple of his own to give the Wolverines a 17-point lead.

It certainly wasn’t a perfect performance, but Michigan did more than enough to extend the recent winning streak and remain undefeated in conference play. The Wolverines turned the ball over just 11 times — a handful less than their season average per game — and scored 85+ points for an eighth consecutive game.

UP NEXT

The Wolverines will hit the road to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday before hosting the Northwestern Wildcats at Crisler Center on Sunday. It’s difficult not to look ahead to more intriguing matchups, but Michigan must remain focused to avoid an upset this week.

Minnesota is considered the worst team in the Big Ten this season, currently sitting at 8-8 overall and 0-5 in conference play. The Golden Gophers are No. 112 on KenPom , which is by far the lowest in the Big Ten.

Meanwhile, Northwestern suffered a third straight loss to fall to 10-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats should be a more challenging matchup compared to Minnesota, but Michigan will likely be favored by a sizable margin in both games.