Michigan basketball is chasing history this season. There's a ways to go, but Thursday, Feb. 5, brought something never achieved before in the program's 110 seasons.
The No. 2 Wolverines pounded Penn State, 110-69, at Crisler Center to improve to 21-1 – the best 22-game start in U-M history. Doing so also nudged Michigan back into a tie atop the Big Ten with Illinois at 11-1 in league play.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPenn State is nowhere near the top of the conference, making this a rout almost from the start; Michigan allowed the opening bucket, then ripped off the next 15 points over nearly eight minutes. That sparked the most flawless half U-M has played perhaps all season, but certainly since its torrid streak in Vegas.
Michigan Wolverines guard Nimari Burnett (4) dunks in the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026.ON THE GRIDIRON: Michigan football DL coach Lou Esposito headed to NFL per reports
It was thanks in large part to Nimari Burnett, who put up a career-high 31 points while dominating both inside and out. The sixth-year senior hit 11 of 16 shots – including a career-high seven 3-pointers. He also threw down three dunks in less than two minutes as Michigan turned it into a laugher in the first half.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMichigan had separate runs of 15-0, 10-2, 10-2 and 10-2 to build a 32-point lead at the break. It was simply dominance on both ends of the court, with the Wolverines winning the rebounding battle by an absurd 24-4 margin in the opening half. Over the first 20 minutes, Michigan also led in bench points (19-2), second-chance points (15-0) and assists (14-2).
Overall, it was another hot shooting night, as the Wolverines hit 15 of 29 3-pointers (51.7%). Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, Trey McKenney scored 12 and Aday Mara added 11. No Wolverine played more than 27 minutes.
Wolverines have a dunk party
In addition to 21 points on 3s in the first half, Michigan couldn't be stopped at the rim, going 12-for-14 on dunks and layups. That included a surprising slam-fest from Burnett, who threw down three dunks in rapid succession, all on baseline cuts.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe first was a beauty with McKenney feeding a slashing Will Tschetter, who sidearmed an underhand pass to Burnett. On the next possession, Burnett caught the ball on the right corner, pump-faked, then drove the deck.
Other Wolverines had some nice slams, too. Yaxel Lendeborg drove baseline and threw an over-hand pass to Johnson for the stuff. And Elliot Cadeau handed off to Lendeborg for a dunk of his own.
Michigan basketball Big Ten picture
With the win, Michigan tied idle Illinois atop the Big Ten, 1½ games up on Nebraska and two up on Michigan State, with tiebreakers in hand against each. The No. 2 Wolverines and No. 6 Illini have just one meeting this season, in Champaign, Illinois, on Feb. 27 (8 p.m., Fox).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNimari Burnett continues career night
The second half brought nothing but good vibes – many of which came from Burnett.
After a slashing layup in the first minute of the second gave him a season-high 17 points, he buried a pair of corner 3s. The Chicago native drilled two more 3s, both from the right corner directly in front of his bench, in the first 5:20 of the second half, sending the crowd to its feet.
With less than 13 minutes to play, Oscar Goodman subbed in for the first time since Jan. 2; on his first possession, he slashed from the right wing and caught a lob from Tschetter for a thunderous finish.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith less than 10 minutes to play – just seconds after the Maize Rage finished singing happy birthday to Goodman – he drove from the right corner and threw down another dunk. Later, he added a lefty layup on a nice bounce pass from Lendeborg to finish with a career-high six points.
Tschetter hit a 3 with 2:59 left to give Michigan its first 100-point game in 2026, and freshman Malick Kordel got in on the good times with two dunks in the final two minutes.
Roddy Gayle Jr. did not play despite not being listed on the availability report. In the first half, he wore his jersey but by the second half, he had changed into U-M's pink warm-up worn as part of Thursday's breast cancer awareness night.
Next up for the Wolverines
Michigan now heads south to Columbus, Ohio, for a reunion with Ohio State on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS). U-M and OSU played a mostly tight game last month in Ann Arbor before the Wolverines pulled away behind a big game from Cadeau – wearing No. 3 – on the night U-M raised Trey Burke’s No. 3 to the Crisler rafters. The Buckeyes entered Thursday’s late game against Maryland looking to rediscover their winning ways after falling to Wisconsin on Saturday to drop to 6-5 in league play, sitting ninth in the standings.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball reaches historic summit with rout of Penn State
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