The first 15 points of the night for the victorious maize and blue came from triple land. 5-5 to be exact. USC hung around though and trimmed the deficit to four by halftime. Michigan basketball sprinted out to a 13-0 run by extending the lead to 15 in the second, but once again the Trojans would not go silent into the night. They regained the advantage by a deuce with seven and a half to go, until the Wolverines went on one last spurt to close the deal.
Here’s three of the takeaways from the determined Michigan basketball win win in Los Angeles.
1. Danny Wolf encompassed the stat sheet
For Michigan’s first trip to USC in the revamped Big Ten since 1981, Wolf poured in 8 out of 11 points to stretch the second half lead to 15. He finished with a game-high in points, rebounds and tallied the most blocks since Epke Udoh did it 17 years ago. The Big Ten Network tweeted that he is just the third player to record those numbers in over two decades. The Trojans couldn’t contain him and everyone is praising him for his rare performance.
Surprisingly Wolf is not showing up in the first round of mock drafts, but that won’t last long. He is flourishing under Dusty May and the pairing with Vlad Goldin has been practically indefensible.
All five starters were in double figures for the Wolverines. Tre Donaldson nailed all four of his threes in the first half. For the Trojans, Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates notched 19 a piece. Claude fouled out and Yates tabbed 11 more then his season average. It tied his season’s best output. While Kevin Patton Jr. provided a big spark for USC with a season-high off the bench.
