Michigan Basketball Delivers Unforgettable Blowout to Gonzaga, Redefining the Players Era Forever

If you caught Wednesday night’s showdown, you know Michigan basketball didn’t just win—they absolutely stamped their authority all over the tournament, and maybe the entire college hoops landscape this season. Following some serious blowout victories against San Diego State and Auburn, the Wolverines tore through No. 12 Gonzaga with a staggering 101-61 win, clinching the championship in style. What’s truly striking here is Michigan’s ruthless dominance across three games, outscoring elite opponents by 110 points combined—an extraordinary feat that’s shaken up college basketball history. Led by the sensational play of UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg and a balanced attack, Dusty May’s squad rewrote the record books by winning back-to-back games against AP top 25 teams by at least 25 points, something no team has done before. This isn’t just a hot streak—it’s a statement, echoing far beyond the Players Era Festival or Feast Week’s new spotlight event, marking Michigan as a juggernaut to watch as the season unfolds. LEARN MORE

The post Michigan basketball makes CBB history with Players Era rout of Gonzaga appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Players Era Festival is coming to a close, and Feast Week’s new showcase event delivered when it comes to the basketball. While there was some criticism about the environments in Las Vegas, Michigan, Gonzaga and many of the other top teams in the nation delivered the goods on the floor.

On Wednesday night, the Wolverines established themselves as the class of the tournament, and maybe even the country. After earning a spot in the championship game with blowout wins over San Diego State and Auburn, Michigan basketball dominated the 12th-ranked Zags 101-61 to secure the trophy.

In three games, Michigan outscored three very quality opponents by a combined 110 points in one of the most dominant runs in regular season history. With Wednesday night’s win, Dusty May’s group became the first team in college basketball history to play back-to-back games against AP top 25 teams and win them both by 25 or more points, according to Jared Berson.

This was also just the second time since 2000 that a team beat a ranked team by 40 or more points in a non-conference game, and the first in the regular season after Villanova beat Oklahoma by 44 in the 2016 Final Four.

Michigan jumped all over Gonzaga right from the opening tip in this game, just like it did on Monday and Tuesday. The depth of the Wolverines was on full display, but UAB transfer Yaxel Lendeborg stole the show once again.

The star big man finished with 20 points on just nine shots to go with 11 rebounds. He was a walking highlight reel in the second half with a pair of monster dunks that electrified the Michigan bench.

Four other Michigan players, in addition to Lendeborg, finished in double figures fugues, and May got to empty the bench for the final few minutes. Elliot Cadeau was not one of the double-digit scorers, but he added 13 assists in the win.

This was still a very encouraging week for Gonzaga, which beat Alabama and Maryland to get to the title game. However, this loss will hurt as the Bulldogs turn to the rest of their non-conference schedule before getting into WCC play.

Michigan is now 7-0 and may be ranked No. 1 in the country coming out of Thanksgiving. Its next game will be its first in Big Ten play, against Rutgers on Dec. 6, before it finishes out the non-conference slate.