Michigan catches fire from 3, smokes Western Kentucky to close nonconference

ANN ARBOR — In a performance resembling a video game, Michigan caught fire from 3, tying a program record on Sunday night in a blowout win over visiting Western Kentucky.

Final: Michigan 112, Western Kentucky 64

Record: 10-3 (2-0)

MVP: Nimari Burnett

Unsung hero: Vladislav Goldin

Arch nemesis: Michigan’s 17 turnovers? Not setting the program record for 3s?

Top highlight: Midway through the first half, Roddy Gayle Jr. hits Vladislav Goldin, cutting through the heart of Western Kentucky’s zone defense, for a long-range alley-oop.

Rhyme time: Post-holiday break but no rust to shake // A dub to close the year, as easy as cake

Michigan made 19 3-pointers against the Hilltoppers at Crisler Center (on 40 attempts), tying the high mark set in 2016. Michigan shot 52 percent from the field in the blowout. All nine Wolverines who saw significant time connected from deep in their last game of 2024. Michigan hadn’t scored that many points in a quarter-century.

There was no holiday hangover for the Wolverines, who wrapped the nonconference portion of their schedule without any bad losses. They protected home court and easily handled lesser foes. Next up: a resumption of Big Ten play, starting with a trip to Los Angeles to face USC on Saturday and UCLA three days later. The Wolverines will do so with two league wins from early December in their back pocket.

Sunday’s game was put to bed well before the final buzzer. Michigan led by 12 before the first media timeout and pulled away before the next one, eventually building a 28-point halftime edge.

Michigan stayed hot and never let Western Kentucky (9-4) even think about chipping away.

The Wolverines’ 17 turnovers was the only box-score blemish. When they got off a shot it usually went in — or was rebounded for another chance.

Burnett (17 points) made five 3s. Goldin matched him with 17 points, missing just once. Tre Donaldson (12 points, 11 rebounds) Danny Wolf (12 and 10) both notched double-doubles. The Hilltoppers’ zone defense was a disaster, and they shot just 37 percent at the other end, including just 2 of 12 from deep.

Michigan, which hadn’t played since a blowout win last Sunday, was locked in from the opening tip. Roddy Gayle Jr. (11 points) sent his defender tumbling to the floor with a jab step before burying a 3. Goldin tried a rare 3 and made it. Donaldson became the fourth Wolverine to hit a triple, giving Michigan a 16-4 lead with 16:17 left in the half.

Will Tschetter’s 3 with 12:24 left in the half pushed Michigan’s advantage to 10, and the rout was on.

Justin Pippen became the seventh Wolverine to connect from deep, then did it again on the next possession make it 45-25 with 6:08 left in the half. He saw serious run after a season-best 10 points last weekend.

Sam Walters’ corner 3 in the final seconds of the half sat on the rim for a moment and fell off, so Michigan made only 11 3s and shot 58 percent to lead 59-31 at halftime.

Michigan picked up where it left off coming out of halftime, with Burnett canning a 3 on the opening possession. Goldin hit his second 3 of the night to triple his career output as Michigan went up by 35 a little more than a minute into the second half. Wolf connected from deep and Walters (13 points) did the same, becoming the ninth Wolverine to do so.

Wolf’s high-arcing trey with 6:05 left gave him a double-double, put Michigan up by 50, and tied the program high for 3s.

The final score was identical to Michigan’s 112-64 win over Indiana on Feb. 22, 1998. Michigan hasn’t scored more than that since dropping 115 in a loss to Loyola Marymount in 1990.

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