After scoring the first two points of the night, Michigan basketball swiftly jumped out to a 15-2 lead and the game was already out of hand. The Wolverines went on to score 50 plus for the ninth time in the first half and added to their own record of scoring over 100 points for the eighth time this season.
The Michigan State win and the narrow escape of Happy Valley in January reignited the fire in this team to leapfrog Illinois to the top of the heap in the Big Ten. Here are three takeaways from the hangoverless win.
Michigan men's and women's basketball have the most wins in the Big Ten combined
Michigan's historic start isn't just about the men only. The women also have 20 wins and are on a path to a projected two seed in the big dance. Only UConn's dual sport duo has a better record combined then both programs. Two of the women's losses have come by three points or less, while the men should be 22-0 if not for 15 made trifectas by Wisconsin, which is the same number that the men stroked from deep in the 41 point woodshed beating of Penn State.
Michigan's point differential was 39 points more then the first meeting
Michigan basketball only plays a home and home with Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State in the regular season. In the January loss, Penn State held Michigan to eight triples. On Thursday Michigan made 13 more three pointers then the Nittany Lions and it turned out to be the difference in the stat column. The Nittany Lions shot 20% from three land in both losses to Michigan, while the Wolverines rang in three more threes then Penn State's shooting percentage from deep.
Michigan scored 1.54 points per possession vs. Penn State — the Wolverines' most in a Big Ten game in the KenPom era (since 1996-97).
— Clayton Sayfie (@CSayf23) February 6, 2026
Five takeaways from a 110-69 victory: https://t.co/R3MkVsEuCQ pic.twitter.com/OAm5ga0aNL
Nimari Burnett went scoreless 12 times in his career, but went for a career high on Thursday night
Coming off of the biggest win that he's ever been apart of at Michigan, Burnett went from a doughnut performance in East Lansing to a career high in points (31). He converted on a season-high from beyond the arc in just 21 minutes. Altogether, five Wolverines outscored Penn State's bench. Rim protector Aday Mara blocked six shots, which is one more then Penn State's leading shot blocker has all season. In fact Mara has more blocks then every team in the conference has respectively.