ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With the calendar flipped to February and the college basketball regular season heading down the final stretch, the grind can begin to show.
Players are nursing injuries, games begin to slow, and effort can sometimes be a rollercoaster to manage.
Dusty May understands that, making Michigan basketball’s latest run — eight straight victories, bookended by Sunday’s 21-point win over arch-rival Ohio State — that much more impressive. The Wolverines are now 22-1, off to the best start in program history, and squarely ranked as the second best team in the country.
“We feel like we’re playing good ball,” May said Monday, with his team lined up to play two more games this week: A Wednesday night tilt at Northwestern (8:30 p.m., BTN) and Saturday afternoon matinee against UCLA. “There was a time a few weeks ago, I don’t know if it was complacency, that time of the year. I mean, our season is six months long.”
May is referring to Michigan’s two-point win over Penn State on Jan. 6, followed by its lone loss this season, 91-88 to Wisconsin just four days later, followed by a series of competitive scares that required a strong finish to dispatch inferior teams.
But the Wolverines seem to have found their mojo in recent weeks, closing strong to beat No. 5 Nebraska, starting fast and finishing strong at No. 10 Michigan State, and now back-to-back dominating performances.
Guard Nimari Burnett recaptured his shot and had a career game against Penn State, while center Aday Mara followed up Sunday against the Buckeyes with a career-high 24 points and pair of made 3-pointers. Stats aside, May has been most impressed with everything that goes into those types of performances. Ball movement. Spacing on the floor. Crashing the boards.
“That’s probably been the biggest jump for us — how well we’re rebounding the ball,” May said. “Yaxel had 14 rebounds yesterday, and six offensive, and six offensive a couple games ago. Those are extra possessions.”
Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May speaks with Peacock hosts after Michigan basketball defeated Nebraska 75-72 at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
May has been particularly effusive with Mara, Michigan’s 7-foot-3 center who has been more active and aggressive around the rim. Sure, the big man knocked down a couple of deep shots Sunday, but his willingness to crash the offensive glass and play more physical has helped open things up offensively for the Wolverines.
“There’s going to be nights where we throw it into the post and play through that because everything else is being taken away,” May said. “That doesn’t mean one-on-one in the post, but I thought Aday got back to playing with more aggression out of the post (on Sunday).
“He’s improving down low. And Morez (Johnson) continues to add to his game. We just continue to have flexibility, variability and be able to win in different ways.”
May says every team goes through a slump. He pointed to the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder as a recent example. Even the best team in basketball at 40-13 has been struggling of late, losers of five of their last eight games, while still maintaining the top spot in the league.
“They went through it,” May said, pointing to injuries and different matchups. “There’s so many variables in our game. We like the way we’re playing now. We like our energy, we love our approach, and most importantly, and I said it yesterday in the locker room, it looks like our guys are having fun playing ball.
“In February, that’s not always the case.”
May is on record as saying that his team hast not yet peaked, even after its impressive late-November run in Las Vegas. Sure, the 40-point blowouts have been few and far between, but Michigan continues to handle its business.
After Wednesday’s game in Evanston, Michigan will begin a gauntlet of a final month that includes four ranked opponents — Purdue, Duke, Illinois and Michigan State — requiring the Wolverines to play some of their best basketball.
“We’re extremely excited to be in position to compete and play in very meaningful games in February,” May said. “It seems like we’re continuing to improve our connectivity, and our chemistry is also improving. That’s a good sign.”