It Was Raining Threes for Wolverines in Record-Tying Performance

Michigan, led by five three-pointers from Nimari Burnett, tied the school mark set in 2016 with 19 made from beyond the arc in 112-64 win over Western Kentucky

Photos Courtesy of University of Michigan Photography

Nimari Burnett casts one of seven three-point attempts Sunday night against Western Kentucky. He made a team-high five of them.

Wolverine point guard Tre Donaldson was 2-for-5 on three-point attempts against the Hilltoppers.

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – It was pouring outside all Sunday night, and it was raining threes inside Crisler Center all game long, too.

Michigan (10-3) tied a school record with 19 three-pointers in a 112-64 victory here over Western Kentucky (9-4). It was the most points the Wolverines have scored in a game since beating Indiana by the same score on Feb. 22, 1998, and that total had not been exceeded since Loyola Marymount beat Michigan, 149-115, in the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 1990.

Nimari Burnett led the way, making 5-of-7 treys, while six players each made two from behind the arc. Center Vlad Goldin, who had made just 1-of-2 all season, hit both of his attempts. Others with two apiece were Danny Wolf, Tre Donaldson, Justin Pippen, Sam Walters and Roddy Gayle, Jr. Will Tschetter and L.J. Cason each made one three-pointer.

That equaled the 19 Michigan made in a 97-53 win over Central Arkansas on Dec. 13, 2016 – when Zak Irvin, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and current Miami Heat gunner Duncan Robinson all made four triples in that game.

These Wolverines made 19-of-40 (.475) while Coach John Beilein’s team from eight years ago was 19-of-45 (.422).

Michigan had made 34.7 percent of its trey attempts this season, but two games prior was only 4-for-28 (.143) in a one-point loss to Oklahoma.

Walters said May had players focused last week on their form when shooting behind the arc.

“We worked on sticking our [three-point] shots – which is finishing our shots to make our shots,” said Walters, who matched his season-high of 13 points. “It was a point of emphasis throughout the week. If you didn’t stick the shot by following all the way through, you’d have to run to the top row at the Crisler Center.

“So, you don’t want to have to do that. So, we made sure we were finishing our shots this week in practice.”

May added, “We’ve changed a few things in our warmup drills and things we focused on. But we have really good shooters. If we can take shots in rhythm off penetration or off post kick-outs, or pitch-ins in transition, we’re going to make a good percentage of them. We’re just going to have to generate these kinds of looks.

“We’re doing a better job of screening for each other, and setting screens to get our teammates open. But our guys also spend time in the gym. Our guys are going to make good shots if we generate good looks.”

Wolf, a 7-foot power forward, hit No. 19 behind the middle of the arc and the sellout crowd of 12,707 roared. Only, they had no idea a record had been tied. The maize-and-blue clad fans were thrilled because it put Michigan over the century mark for the 112th time in program history.

That long one from Wolf came with 6:05 remaining, and it seemed inevitable that the record would be broken. But Cason and fellow freshman guard Phat Phat Brooks (with 2:29 remaining) missed the only two treys taken after that. When the reserves poured into the lineup, nobody took a triple, and the Wolverines said they had no idea the triples record had been tied.

“Nobody told us,” said Goldin. “So, we just were shooting, and we were shooting well. Especially me.”

He laughed, saying he’d never taken two or more threes in a game before, and adding. “I’ve been shooting them in practice, and it’s something that I’m not chasing. But if the player guarding me is going to stay behind the free throw line, I’m going to shoot them. I’m just trying to take good shots.”

Walters said his first knowledge of tying the record came when asked about it in the post-game press conference. “I had no idea until now,” Walters said. “One thing [in this game] is that we got good shots by other guys getting to the rim and kicking out and getting wide-open threes. Part of our game plan coming in is that this team over-helps a little bit.”

Burnett and Goldin – both graduate students who have transferred to Michigan -- shared the team-high of 17 points.

Goldin said of Burnett, who was his roommate when their careers began together at Texas Tech: “He did everything! He played great defense. He made shots. He followed the ball. He rebounded the ball. He was unbelievable today. And that’s what he’s able to do. He brings a level of maturity that I feel is important for this young team.”

Of Burnett’s pretty shooting stroke, Goldin smiled and said, “That’s something that we’ve seen before. That’s something we kind of take for granted at times.”

May said: “I thought Nimari played with great space…Nimari from either corner is as good of a shot as we’re going to get if he has enough space. And our guys found him. I thought Nimari, his professionalism, his approach I thought was great. He just played the game at a high level tonight, and continued to get better.”

Michigan riddled the 1-3-1 zone WKU played, and keep in mind that this is a better team than this score indicated. They lost by 19 points earlier this season to No. 10 Kentucky, and May said he expected them to challenge for the Conference USA championship.

May noted: “The less we do against zones, the better we play because we have guys with size that can pass, think and know where to look. Our guys did a nice job of playing together and taking what the game gave them.”

Burnett hit the first of the 19 three-pointers just 1:22 into the game and Michigan made 11 of them in the first half before adding eight more in the first 14 minutes of the second half. So, they made 19 triples in 34 minutes.

It was something to see.

It was raining threes.

Worth noting:

Terry Mills, a star on the 1989 NCAA champions and now the Michigan radio network analyst, shared team-high scoring honors at 23 with point guard Rumeal Robinson in that 1990 NCAA game in which the Wolverines lost, 149-115, to Loyola Marymount – led by 41 from Jeff Fryer and 37 from Bo Kimble.

“But we made more 2-pointers than they did in that game,” said Mills.

And that’s a fact. The Wolverines made 41 two-pointers with just four three-pointers. However, Loyola Marymount had 21 three-pointers to go with 28 two-pointers. Fryer was 11-for-15 behind the arc.

The NCAA men’s record is 28 treys in one game by Troy State (Ala.) in 1994 and Wyoming in 2021.

It’s worth mentioning that Tre Donaldson’s father, Rhodney Donaldson, was a member of that Troy State team. Tre is actually Rhodney Donaldson III.