The Wolverine

February 2025

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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❱ IN FAST START TO 2025, HOOPSTERS SWEEP LOS ANGELES BIG TEN SLATE Dusty May's first team in Ann Arbor showed plenty of promise in the first two months of the season, but the expedited path back to Big Ten title contention took a major step forward when the calendar flipped to 2025. Then No. 24-ranked Michigan entered its two-game trip to Los Angeles for games against USC and UCLA at 2-0 in Big Ten play after wins at Wisconsin and at home against Iowa in December. It doubled its win total in conference games, taking down the Trojans, 85-74, on Jan. 4 and blowing out No. 22 UCLA, 94-75, in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 7. After a subsequent 91-75 home win against Washington on Jan. 12, Michigan improved its record to 13-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Graduate guard Nimari Burnett was one of many Wolverine standouts on the LA road trip. He totaled 33 points (including 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range), 7 rebounds and 4 assists in the two away games. Burnett also played a season-high 37 minutes against the Bruins. "We do think we were gifted a fortuitous balance with the scheduling, having the LA trip during Christmas break," May said on Dec. 30. "Our players are all in, they're in the classroom, so they don't have online classes. This would have been a tough road swing if it wasn't during break. So, it's good timing. We feel like we're grow- ing as a team. It gives us a chance to spend even more quality time together and see how far, see how much we can improve and how far we can take this thing." The win at UCLA catapulted Michigan to KenPom's No. 10 ranking and further established its standing as the team to beat in the Big Ten, both on the site's analytics and in Vegas (+250 on FanDuel). — Anthony Broome PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS THE BIG PICTURE

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