Michigan junior guard Tre Donaldson’s 7-0 individual run propelled the Wolverines to a come-from-behind Big Ten win against Penn State on Monday.
Donaldson scored 16 of his career-high 21 points in the second half, including a three with 24 seconds left to give Michigan a 74-72 lead.
Donaldson also hit a jumper and two free throws during his scoring surge as the Wolverines won 76-72.
Michigan (15-5, 7-2 in Big Ten) trailed Penn State (13-8, 3-7 in Big Ten) by five, 72-67, with 2:08 remaining but scored the game’s last nine points to continue their impressive turnaround in head coach Dusty May’s first season.
The Wolverines went 8-24 last season, including 3-17 against Big Ten. Their .150 conference win percentage was their lowest since 1966-67 (.143).
May spent the past six seasons at Florida Atlantic, where he put the Owls on the map with an improbable Final Four run as a 9-seed in 2023.
He’s quickly made Michigan a factor in the Big Ten again, thanks largely to transfer portal additions such as Donaldson, who played at Auburn the past two seasons.
Donaldson entered Monday second on the team in scoring (12.5 points per game), trailing forward Vladislav Goldin (16.3 points), who followed May from Florida Atlantic.
Per On3, the Wolverines ranked ninth out of 80 programs in transfer portal team recruiting rankings this offseason.
In Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology update for ESPN, he has Michigan as a four-seed, which would be its highest since entering the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a one-seed.
