LAS VEGAS — Dusty May felt his Michigan basketball team, upon arrival in Las Vegas this week, was better than its stats suggested. He sensed an impending breakthrough. But this? Three straight nights of blowout victories — two by 40, one by a mere 30 — against quality opponents? Did he expect that?
“Not unless we were scheduling non-(Division I teams),” he said.
What the Wolverines just accomplished can’t be overstated. They beat No. 12 Gonzaga in the Players Era Championship title game Wednesday night 101-61. They beat No. 21 Auburn 102-72 the night before and San Diego State 94-54 the night before that.
Per ESPN, Michigan is the first team in the AP Poll era, which extends to 1948, with consecutive wins by at least 30 points against ranked teams. Wednesday’s win was Michigan’s most lopsided over an AP-ranked team ever. Gonzaga hadn’t lost by that much since 1990, nine years before its current coach, Mark Few, took over.
“I’ve never been involved with anything like that,” Few said.
The singers, dancers, and magicians up and down the Las Vegas strip had nothing on Michigan’s performances this week. At times it was a high-flying act that rivaled Cirque Du Soleil, with championship MVP Yaxel Lendeborg serving as the headliner with his show-stopping dunks.
Michigan shot it well from long range too, making 38 3-pointers in three games. The defense was elite. Michigan has not let teams do much of anything inside the arc this season. For opponents, the closer the shot, the less likely it is to go in.
“It’s a length, it’s a size, it’s a strength thing,” Few said.
Gonzaga was No. 1 in the kenpom rankings entering the game; Michigan claimed that spot once Wednesday’s game data was entered.
“Today was just putting the world on notice that we’re here to be the best team in the nation,” Lendeborg said.
A new AP Poll will come out Monday. Maybe Purdue, undefeated with a cupcake game Friday, keeps that spot. Michigan, currently No. 7, did all it could to convince voters otherwise.
The Wolverines did win a tournament championship this week, not to mention an extra $1 million on top of the $1 million for participating, but they have different prizes in mind.
“While we will celebrate this moment and these times together, we still have a lot ahead of us and a lot to accomplish and a lot of our goals that we haven’t accomplished yet,” starting guard Nimari Burnett said. “So we’ll continue to stay composed as a team and continue to grow.”
That’s music to May’s ears. “I never would have dreamed this would happen in a million years, but it happened,” he said of Michigan’s Players Era run. He’ll try to keep the Wolverines from regressing.
“As of today we’re a really good team,” he said. “But we’re not anywhere near where we need to be if we want to reach our goals.”
Michigan playing better than this? Even for a city known for its excess, that would be something.
