The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530730
JANUARY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Three Best Players 1. Junior forward/center Danny Wolf The 7-foot, 250-pounder has been sensational all season long, racking up KenPom MVP honors in four of 10 games, including three of the last eight. He's been the ultimate playmaker offen- sively for the Maize and Blue. Not only does he average 12.3 points per game, but he has a team-high 22.6-percent assist rate. That's the best mark in the Big Ten among players taller than 6-foot-8. Wolf has been unstoppable offensively for stretches of play, and he's really come on in the last four games, averaging 16.8 points and 4.5 assists per contest. Most recently, he put up 13 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists in an 89-87 loss to Arkansas Dec. 10. 2. Graduate center Vlad Goldin Goldin made 17 of 32 shots (53.1 percent) from the field in his first six games, but is 29 of 44 (65.9) since. He's really come on after a slow start with issues finishing around the rim. Golden has scored 17 or more points in each of the last four games, including registering a double-double with 20 and 11 boards in an 85-83 win over Iowa Dec. 7. 3. Junior guard Tre Donaldson Donaldson and Michigan's guards have been quiet in recent games, but the Auburn trans- fer has been quite the distributor and scorer. Over the last eight games, he's scored in double figures five times, highlighted by his 18-point performance with 5 assists in the win over Iowa. He's averaging 3.2 assists per contest, and his performance as a shooter stands out. Donaldson is shooting 44.4 percent (16 of 36 attempts) from three-point range. Key Play Michigan drew up a play for junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. to get downhill with big men Goldin and Wolf crashing for the offensive rebound coming out of a timeout with 16 seconds remaining and the game tied 83-83 against Iowa Dec. 7. Gayle got to the tin, laid it up and Iowa was called for goaltending, giving the Wolverines a two-point lead with 4.6 seconds to go. Iowa rushed up the floor and called timeout with just over a second left, designing a cor- ner three opportunity for Pryce Sandfort, whose jumper fell short at the buzzer. Michigan escaped and improved to 2-0 in Big Ten play. Best Highlight Midway through the first half of Michigan's 67-64 win over No. 11 Wisconsin Dec. 3, Goldin had the ball on the left wing, looking like he was going to hand it off to a curling graduate guard Nimari Burnett. Instead, though, Goldin turned and found a clear path to the rim until Wisconsin forward Carter Gilmore tried to wall up at the rim. Goldin went right over him and threw down a monstrous dunk. "Look out! He caught a body inside!" Peacock commentator Noah Eagle exclaimed. Bold Prediction In addition to final exams, Michigan will have more time to practice in the coming weeks, with at least a week between two of the next three games. The Maize and Blue have a dismal 21.4-percent turnover rate, and we'll say some of the ball security woes will be cleaned up come January, when U-M travels to Los Angeles to take on USC (Jan. 4) and UCLA (Jan. 7). They'll turn it over on less than 19 percent of their possessions in each of those games — and even that improvement would give the team a boost. — Clayton Sayfie Superlatives For U-M's Eight Games From Nov. 15 To Dec. 10 Junior forward/center Danny Wolf averaged 16.8 points and 4.5 assists over a four-game stretch through mid-December. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL