Last time Michigan basketball entered the top 20 in the rankings, he lost consecutive matches.
The Wolverines will look to have better luck this time around, as they moved up five spots to 19th last year. USA TODAY Coaches Poll ranking after yet another week without defeat.
Dusty May’s group, winners of five straight games, just took down two old Pac-12 foes this week, first traveling to historic Pauley Pavilion and hammer UCLA 94-75 in historic fashionthen returning home and beating Washington in what May described as a “choppy” match, 91-75, to remain undefeated and atop the Big Ten.
“I feel like we’re getting better week by week,” May said Monday before the rankings were released. “There is a human nature component. But we have emphasized maturity and we have focused on how we play the game, not just the results.
“Now that we’re going to get more attention, more love – and that’s good, good for the sport, good for the university, good for our team and their individual careers and so on – but we can’t don’t believe the hype… our mindset, our abilities and what we need to work on are much more important.
THE FIFTH YEAR IS THE CHARM: Michigan basketball’s Nimari Burnett has finally found her ideal role.
UM continued its winning streak in various ways last week. First, it was Vladislav Goldin and Tre Donaldson leading a duo. Goldin scored a career-high 36 points against the Bruins while Donaldson set a career-high with 20 points and six 3-pointers to go with seven assists and six rebounds.
On Sunday, UM returned to its balanced formula with five players scoring between 11 and 19 points, highlighted by a flawless afternoon from Nimari Burnett, who scored 16 points without missing a single shot from the floor (6 for 6).
Michigan (13-3, 5-0 Big Ten) is one of five Big Ten teams in the top 25 this week, joined by No. 12 Michigan State, No. 14 Oregon, No. 15 Purdue and No. 20 Illinois. while Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland and UCLA all received votes to be ranked.
The Wolverines have two games left this week and they are heavily favored in both. First up is Minnesota at “The Barn” in Minneapolis on Thursday, where the Gophers are still looking for their first win in Big Ten play. Next up, Northwestern comes to Crisler Center next Sunday.
With another pair of wins, UM would be 7-0 in league play, either tied or leading the conference on its own, and would almost certainly rank in the top 10 nationally before the end of January.
“We emphasized maturity and focused on how we play,” May said. “They continue to go to the hot hand, continue to run things together, continue to appreciate each other’s talents and strengths.
“Once it becomes this they want and they want it for themselves rather than for the team, then we will start losing. But up until now, early January, they were playing really, really healthy, smart basketball every night. »
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on @RealTonyGarcia.
This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Michigan and MSU basketball continue to rise in latest rankings
