Armed with stellar shooting and the best game of Vlad Goldin’s career, the Michigan men’s basketball team scored its biggest win of the season Tuesday night, and sent a statement to the rest of the Big Ten with a 94-75 win.

Goldin beat his previous career-high by 10 points with a 36-point effort, and the Wolverines made 15 of 28 3-point attempts around him to score 16 more points than anyone else has scored on the 22nd-ranked Bruins this season.

Despite the lopsided final score, Michigan (4-0 Big Ten, 12-3 overall) did blow an 18-point halftime lead as UCLA (2-2, 11-4) went on a 28-6 run in the final few minutes of the first half, and opening minutes of the second half. Nonetheless, Tre Donaldson added 20 points, and Michigan overcame a 16-turnover night by outscoring the Bruins, 45-6 from beyond the arc.

See how it all shook out below, including our MVP, key stat, main takeaway and more.

First half

Playing at the Pauley Pavilion for the first time since 2016 and entering the night 1-6 all-time in the venue, Michigan looked right at home early on. Even without starting guard Roddy Gayle Jr., the Wolverines got seven early points from Vlad Goldin, while Danny Wolf and Tre Donaldson hit early 3s to give Michigan a 13-2 lead five minutes not the game.

UCLA settled in after scoring on just one of its first nine possessions, but Michigan was hot shooting the ball early. After the Bruins made it an 18-12 game, the Wolverines ripped off 12 made field goals on their next 14 attempts, including a 6-for-7 showing from beyond the arc and 14 more points from Goldin, who scored 21 first-half points on 9-for-11 shooting.

The shooting barrage was enough that UCLA found itself in a 37-19 hole with 5:31 to go in the first half, then a 45-27 lead with 3:11 to go.

The Bruins, importantly, closed the half better than they started. Facing the possibility of getting run out of their own building, UCLA scored on eight straight possessions, drawing free throws and getting paint buckets they were missing earlier in the game.

On the other end of the court, Michigan went cold shooting, finishing the half 0-for-3 from the field with three turnovers. The result was the Bruins ending the half on a 10-2 run, pulling the game to within 10, 47-37, as Michigan reeled with 10 turnovers and some light foul trouble.

Second half

Michigan’s turnovers, foul trouble and cold shooting spilled into the second half, while UCLA began to feel itself in its own building. The Bruins opened the second half on an 18-4 run, taking a stunning 55-51 lead with 14:12 to go. Along the way, the Wolverines committed three more turnovers, and struggled with foul trouble, including sending Danny Wolf to the bench.

Even with Wolf on the sidelines and Gayle out for the game, though, Tre Donaldson stepped up for Michigan. Minutes after an air-balled 3-point attempt that UCLA fans let him hear plenty about, Donaldson hit two 3s and assisted on another in a three-possession, giving Michigan a 60-59 lead with 12:21 to go.

The Wolverines kept shooting lights-out the rest of the way, and though there was some tension with Wolf and Goldin both sitting due to foul trouble, Michigan not only didn’t trail in the game’s final 10:10 of game action, but posted a 34-14 run to close the game out.

Michigan made 10 of 16 field-goal attempts, 4-of-7 3s and committed just one turnover in the final quarter of the game. UCLA, meanwhile closed the game on a 4-for-17 shooting skid, and even missed 11 free throws.

Despite some drama midway through the second half, Michigan was able to coast to a lopsided win.

MVP

It was a game for the ages for Goldin, who bested his previous career scoring high by 10 points with a 36-point, 7-rebound effort that included 21 points in the first 15 minutes of the game. Though it’s not surprising that Goldin took on a bigger role with Gayle out and Wolf limited to 12 points in 27 minutes, the fact that Goldin made 13 of 18 field-goal attempts and 9 of 11 free throws kept Michigan clicking at a high speed, even when turnovers, missed 3s and foul issues loomed large.

Key stat

Michigan more or less shot its way to a win Tuesday, as it posted a staggering 76.0-percent effective field-goal percentage, which is weighted to give 3-pointers 50-percent more value than 2-pointers. That 76.0-percent clip is Michigan’s fourth-highest of the 21st century, per KenPom, and is the Wolverines’ highest against either another high-major opponent or away from Crisler Center since KenPom began tracking the stat in the 1996-97 season.

Michigan now leads the nation with a 60.1-percent eFG%, which would trail only 2020-21 Gonzaga for the highest such figure posted in a season in the last 20 years.

Don’t overlook

This isn’t meant to be a diss toward Danny Wolf, but Michigan outscored UCLA by four points in Wolf’s 13 minutes on the bench. That isn’t a huge margin, but the timing of Wolf’s third and fourth fouls tested Michigan’s ability to sustain its lead, especially with Gayle already out. But especially with a 28-20 margin in the second half, Michigan showed that it can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the Big Ten, even if its best player has to sit with fouls from time to time.

Main takeaway

Tuesday felt like an extreme of what Michigan’s season has been. The Wolverines blew an 18-point first half lead with mental mistakes, turnovers and fouls, but also shot the ball extremely well and looked like a Big Ten title contender. In the end, the finish meant more because UCLA provided pushback, and Michigan leaves Los Angeles likely the Big Ten favorite and potentially a top-10 team in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

The shots won’t always fall for the Wolverines like they did Tuesday, especially against ranked teams on the road. But Michigan is now 4-0 in the Big Ten and 3-0 in Big Ten road games, so clearly the formula is coming together in a meaningful way.

Up next

Michigan’s longest road trips of the season are done, and the Wolverines return home to host Washington (1-3 Big Ten, 10-5 overall) on Sunday. Five of Michigan’s next six games are projected to be Quadrant-II games, which means the Wolverines have a chance to stack up some wins and hone their shortcomings (turnovers, bench shooting, guard defense), but also don’t have margin for error if they want to push for a league title or top-two seed.