Michigan
USC
Maize and Blue to Start 2025, Big Ten Play With USC to Kick Off West Coast Swing
12/31/2024 4:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) restarts Big Ten play heading to the West Coast to square off with new conference foe USC (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) on Saturday (Jan. 4) at 5 p.m. PST inside Galen Center. The game will broadcast live on Fox.
Notes
• Michigan starts 2025 with a week-long trip to Los Angeles to visit new Big Ten members USC (Jan. 4) and No. 15-ranked UCLA (Jan. 7). The Wolverines are making their first-ever trip to the Galen Center and eighth to Pauley Pavilion.
• After a pair of non-conference home wins, Michigan stands 10-3 heading back into Big Ten play. The Wolverines won two early December conference games -- at No. 11 Wisconsin (67-64) and Iowa (85-83).
• Michigan has lost its three games by a total of five points. U-M fell to Wake Forest by two (72-70) on Nov. 10, Arkansas by two (89-87) on Dec. 10, and No. 14 Oklahoma by one (87-86) on Dec. 18. U-M has won its 10 games with a 17.4 margin.
• U-M faces USC for the first time in 44 years. In two prior meetings, the Wolverines fell 77-63 on Dec. 27, 1981, in the Holiday Classic at the L.A. Sports Arena and won 51-38 in Ann Arbor on Dec. 22, 1947.
• Michigan's game with USC was set to be a reunion with Terrance Williams II, who used his COVID-19 year to transfer to USC as a graduate student. However, Williams injured his wrist and underwent surgery and is out. He spent four seasons in Ann Arbor, helping the Wolverines to the 2021 Big Ten championship and two trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 (2021 and 2022). He earned his sport management degree from U-M's School of Kinesiology.
• Michigan has used the same starting five in all 13 games -- Tre Donaldson, Nimari Burnett, Roddy Gayle Jr., Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin. U-M has continued to use a 9-10 player rotation, with Will Tschetter establishing himself as the sixth man for a second straight season.
• Michigan is shooting 51.2 percent from the field. Five Wolverines are shooting better than 50 percent, led by Goldin's 68.3 percent. Nearly 31 percent of Michigan's offense comes from long range (121 three-point field goals of 393 overall field goals). Six Wolverines have made at least 10 three-pointers, led by Burnett's 25.
• The Wolverines have made 29 three-pointers in their last two games (47.5 percent). In the four games prior, U-M made just 22, shooting 24.1 percent. U-M has seven games with 10-plus three-pointers, including the recent program-record-tying 19 against Western Kentucky.
• Michigan has back-to-back 21-assist games, helping increase the season total to four games with 20 assists or more. U-M is assisting on nearly 58 percent of its baskets.
