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Michigan basketball’s West Coast sweep was an interesting one.
On the one hand, the Wolverines picked up two Big Ten wins on the road – a respectable result for any team. On the other hand, U-M clearly isn’t clicking as it once was. Michigan was unable to pull away from a Washington team in the bottom third of the league on Wednesday, Jan. 14 and got outhustled early by shorthanded Oregon in the first half Saturday in a game in which it was favored by nearly 20.
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Now, No. 2 Michigan (16-1, 6-1 Big Ten) returns to Crisler Center for three in a row – and doesn’t leave the state for three weeks – as it looks to play a bit sharper on Tuesday (7 p.m., Peacock) against Indiana (12-6, 3-4) – which probably doesn’t want to pivot to hoops after its football team defeated Miami (Florida) in Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship game.
Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr. (11) makes a layup against Wisconsin during the second half at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026.
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Veteran guard Nimari Burnett liked what he saw in the second half against Oregon, though, calling the energy “night and day” from the first half.
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“I’m very excited for this group,” Burnett said in Eugene. “Once we really hit that standard, then we’ll get back to, you know, what we were doing just a month ago.”
The first task for U-M: Find a way to get Yaxel Lendeborg going again. The star forward has been held to 10 points or fewer in four of seven games, and hasn’t shot better than 50% in any of them – a far cry from his first 10 games of the season, in which he scored less than 12 points only twice and made more than half his shots eight times.
After U-M’s win over Washington, he detailed just how much his calf is bothering him, saying he’s lacking the explosion he’s used to. An ultrasound, though, confirmed there were no blood clots, just severe swelling. He’s not planning to take…
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Publish date : 2026-01-20 10:09:00
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