The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Three Best Players 1. Graduate center Vladislav Goldin: Michigan stubbed its toe down the stretch in the regular season, but it wasn't because of the 7-foot-1, 250-pound Russian. He scored 20 points in four straight games from Feb. 27 to March 9 and was named the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstand- ing Player. While leading the Wolverines to a championship in Indianapolis, Goldin scored 15, 25 and 11 points in wins over Purdue, Maryland and Wisconsin, respectively, adding a total of 22 rebounds across the three appearances. Goldin was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media and second team by the coaches after a dominant regular season. He was a force down low during the Big Ten campaign, drawing 6.8 fouls per 40 minutes (first in the conference) and shooting 73.9 percent from the free throw line and 66.3 percent from inside the arc (third). 2. Junior forward/center Danny Wolf: The second-team All-Big Ten selection (coaches and media) had an up-and-down end to the regular season, but that's relative to how much the Wol- verines rely on his services, which is a lot. Wolf showed out with 11 points and 8 assists in a loss to Michigan State Feb. 21, before scoring 10 or fewer in three straight contests. He picked up his output at the end of the year, though, averaging 17 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in his last five outings. Wolf had a monster 18-point, 11-rebound, 6-assist performance in the Big Ten Tournament victory over Purdue March 14. 3. Junior guard Tre Donaldson: The Auburn transfer scored in double figures in 21 of his first 25 games, but did so only once in a five-contest span from Feb. 16 to March 2. After a stellar start to the Big Ten season, Donaldson had fizzled out. But he broke out of his rough patch in In- dianapolis, providing plenty of optimism for the point guard heading into the NCAA Tournament. Donaldson averaged 12 points and 7.3 assists in three Big Ten Tournament contests, hitting clutch shots throughout, including the game-winner versus Maryland in the semifinal. Best Highlight Michigan trailed Rutgers by one point, 82-81, when head coach Dusty May called timeout with 3.6 seconds to go, his team unorganized while setting up for one last shot. May and Co. didn't know what defense Rutgers would be in, and they went zone. Junior forward/center Danny Wolf was the recipient of the inbound pass, got off balance with two defenders around him and got it to his back-side outlet — Burnett, who has tremendous range. The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder was open from 30 feet, and the shot was pure. The Wolverines survived because Wolf knew Burnett would be there, and that's a shot the fifth-year senior makes. Burnett, one of the few holdovers from last year's team, ran around the court, mobbed by his teammates in a feel-good moment to cap off his 20-point performance in the 84-82 win Feb. 27. Key Moment Graduate guard Rubin Jones was called for his fifth personal foul, disqualifying him from the Big Ten semifinal with 5.3 seconds left. That allowed the Wolverines, who didn't have any timeouts left, to hold a brief huddle by the bench as they subbed for Jones. Maryland center Derik Queen was headed to the line, where he made 2 free throws to give the Terrapins an 80-79 lead. Junior guard Tre Donaldson inbounded the ball to gradu- ate center Vladislav Goldin, who pitched it back to his point guard. With a full head of steam, Donald- son drove the length of the floor in three dribbles before finishing a contested left-handed layup while falling down, giving Michigan the game-win- ner with 0.4 seconds on the clock. The Wolverines took down the Terrapins, 81-80, to advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game, where they beat Wisconsin for the championship. Bold Prediction No. 12 seed UC San Diego, the Big West cham- pion, is a trendy upset pick over No. 5 seed Michi- gan, but the Wolverines will have a significant size advantage and have beaten five mid-major opponents by an average margin of 35.4 points per game. We predict Michigan will end the Tri- tons' 15-game winning streak — the nation's longest — before ending the season of either No. 13 seed Yale or No. 4 seed Texas A&M in round two. The Wolverines have made the Sweet 16 in their last five tournament appearances, and we'll say they get there again. — Clayton Sayfie Superlatives For U-M's Nine Games From Feb. 21 To March 16 Tre Donaldson (3) celebrates while Danny Wolf (1) dribbles out the clock in Michigan's 59-53 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament championship game March 16. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS