Promotions
• Wear White — All fans are encouraged to wear white as the Wolverines take on the Bruins.
• Wear White Rally Towel Giveaway — First 5,000 fans will receive a white rally towel presented by Coca-Cola.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The second-ranked University of Michigan men’s basketball team (23-1, 13-1 Big Ten) will return to Ann Arbor for a Saturday (Feb. 14) Valentine’s Day matchup and “White Out” at Crisler Center against UCLA (17-7, 9-4 Big Ten). Tipoff is set for 12:45 p.m., with the Big Ten battle televised on CBS with the broadcast crew of Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery.
Notes
• The Bruins, who have not played since Feb. 7, have won five of their last six games. Their lone setback was a 98-97 overtime loss to Indiana at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA is 14-1 at home, but just 3-6 away from Los Angeles.
• The last meeting in Ann Arbor with UCLA was during U-M’s 2017-18 season (Dec. 9, 2017) — eight years, two months and five days (2,989 days). Michigan rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit, tied the game with 10.9 seconds to force overtime, and outscored UCLA, 13-4, in the extra period for a 78-69 win. Moritz Wagner paced the win with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while Charles Matthews added 20 on an 8-for-11 clip. Zavier Simpson chipped in 15 points and four steals to round out the effort.
• Last season, after an 85-74 win at USC, Michigan closed its West Coast trip by knocking off No. 22 UCLA, 94-75, at Pauley Pavilion as Vladislav Goldin poured in a career-high 36 points and Tre Donaldson added 20 with six three-pointers. Donaldson’s back-to-back late triples helped fuel the decisive surge.
• Michigan’s 23-1 record is the best start in program history, surpassing the 20-1 openings by the 2013 (31-8; Final Four) and 2019 (30-7; Sweet 16) teams. With 13 Big Ten wins, U-M has 10+ league victories in 13 of the past 15 seasons.
• Michigan continues to build upon one of its most dominant seasons in program history — totaling 19 wins by 10+ points, 12 by 20+, nine by 30+, seven by 40+ (a Big Ten record) and one by 50+ (102-50; +52 over La Salle).
• After U-M’s 14-0 season start was snapped against Wisconsin, Michigan has responded by winning nine straight games, highlighted by five road victories and back-to-back victories over top-10 opponents.
• Dusty May became the fastest coach in Michigan history to reach 50 wins, accomplishing the feat in his second season and 61st game.
• Michigan’s “Big Three” — Yaxel Lendeborg (14.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg), Morez Johnson Jr. (13.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Aday Mara (11.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg) — account for nearly 45 percent of U-M’s scoring and 56 percent of its rebounding.
• Lendeborg has grabbed 45 rebounds over his last four games (11.2 rpg), highlighted by three double-digit efforts, three double-doubles and a season-high 14 boards at Ohio State.
• Elliot Cadeau has posted six-plus assists in six straight games and leads the Wolverines with 5.5 assists per game. He has 14 games with at least five assists.
• Trey McKenney has embraced his role as Michigan’s “Sixth Man.” With seven straight double-figure games (17 total), he has raised his season average to 10.2 points in 21.0 minutes per game.
• In his last outing, L.J. Cason delivered one of the best performances of his career at Northwestern, scoring a career-high 18 points while adding three assists and four steals in Michigan’s second-half comeback win.
