LOS ANGELES — Between the combination of students on winter break, a 5 p.m. local tipoff featuring ever-challenging Los Angeles traffic and a large contingent of Michigan basketball fans based in Southern California, Saturday’s clash with USC at the Galen Center arrived with a less-than-normal level of hostility for a Big Ten road game.
The Wolverines were happy to take advantage and enjoy what, at times, felt like Ann Arbor West, complete with “Let’s go, Blue!” chants to the “DE-FENSE!” rally cry when the home team was on offense, as Dusty May’s squad finished off a 85-74 win Saturday night to stay undefeated in Big Ten play.
The Wolverines, who stayed overnight next door at the USC hotel and simply walked two minutes down the road to go through their security entrance, made themselves at home to start. They drained their first five 3-pointers for an early nine-point lead, and it felt as though a rout could be in the offing.
BEFORE THE GAME: Michigan basketball’s Big Ten title quest begins with Los Angeles double dip; USC up first
Instead, the Trojans rallied to make it a one-point game less than five minutes later and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the first half. After the break, it looked again as if Michigan would pull away as Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin combined for 13 straight to put U-M up by 15.
Again the Trojans came back, this time taking the lead with 7:33 to play. But U-M finally contained the Trojans, with separate 9-0 and 10-0 runs in the final eight minutes to pull away.
Five Wolverines scored in double figures, led by a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double from Wolf, 16 points each from Nimari Burnett and Tre Donaldson, 11 points from Vlad Goldin and 12 from Roddy Gayle Jr.
The Wolverines (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) will stay in Southern California on Sunday and Monday before playing the second of two games against the Big Ten’s Golden State members, taking on UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Tuesday (10 p.m., Peacock).
Red hot shooting starts it
Donaldson opened the game with a 3 from the right wing, then dribbled into his next 3-pointer from the top of the arc.
After Burnett drilled a deep 3-pointer with time winding down, Wolf hit a step-back from the right wing and Burnett added another 3 — this one from the right corner — to put Michigan up 15-6 less than four minutes in on 5-for-5 shooting.
U-M missed its next four attempts but heated up to make five of its final seven of the half, with the last two changin the complexion of the game. USC led by two when U-M came up with not one, not two, but three loose balls on one possession — one which was run down on the other side of the court by hometown kid Justin Pippen — and ended with a Will Tschetter 3.
After Donaldson forced a turnover on defense, he nailed a transition 3 with no defender in front of him to give U-M a 42-38 lead, with the Wolverines making 10 of 17 3s.
Area 51 powers it home
After a pair of early turnovers, Michigan forced some USC giveaways to mount a quick 7-0 run.
All three scores came on passes between Wolf and Goldin: First, Goldin found Wolf on a back-door reverse layup, then Wolf, from the top of the key, found Goldin who finished a lefty layup as part of a three-point play. Finally, Goldin caught an inbounds pass and tipped it to Wolf who finished the layup and forced a Trojan timeout.
The play of the game came soon after.
Wolf corralled a loose ball, threw a no-look pass upcourt to Donaldson, who caught it and immediately lofted a lob to Goldin for the slam, a 13-0 run (all by Goldin and Wolf) and a 55-40 lead with 16:02 to play.
The Trojans didn’t go quietly, though.
After a free throw, Saint Thomas hit a 3-pointer and Desmond Claude hit a layup for a three-point play to get within eight just a few minutes later.
The USC barrage continued when Goldin picked up his fourth foul with 10:42 to play; moments later, Chibuzo Agbo barely had the ball before tossing up a prayer at the end of the shot clock. Off it went off the glass, in the basket, and soon enough USC had tied the game at 63 with a 13-2 run in less than three minutes.
After the Trojans took their first lead since the first half, U-M went on a 9-0 run as Gayle hit consecutive layups and a pair of free throws, Wolf added a free throw and Burnett made a spinning put-back in a three-point play to go up 73-65 with 5:09 to play.
USC got within two on a 6-0 run, thanks to consecutive U-M turnovers, but with 3:12 left, Goldin hit a pair of free throws, Donaldson added a step-thru floater and Wolf found Goldin on a one-handed feed inside as the Wolverines pulled away for good.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball bigs lead Wolverines over USC, 85-74
