Michigan's Vlad Goldin achieves feat not seen in men's college basketball for 25 years

In the biggest games, the Wolverines' seven-foot center has met the moment...

Jan 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Michigan Wolverines center Vladislav Goldin (50) and forward Will Tschetter (42) react against the UCLA Bruins in the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Vlad Goldin terrorized UCLA defenders during Michigan men's basketball's 94-75 win over the Bruins on Tuesday night, and continued a trend of playing his best basketball against the Wolverines' toughest opponents.

Goldin is averaging 26 points per game on a ridiculous 70.9% shooting in four games against Associated Press Top 25 opponents this season. According to OptaSTATS, no other Division I player in the last 25 years has averaged 25.0 PPG on 70.0% shooting over a 4-game span against ranked foes.

Vladislav Goldin in 4 games against AP Top 25 opponents this season:

26.0 PPG
70.9 FG%

No other Division I player in the last 25 years has averaged 25.0+ PPG on 70.0% shooting over a 4-game span against ranked foes. pic.twitter.com/y8EOBJfS6t

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 8, 2025

In addition to those numbers, Goldin is also averaging seven rebounds and 2.25 blocks per game for Michigan against ranked opponents. The Wolverines, currently ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll, are 3-1 against in ranked matchups this season, with wins over Xavier, Wisconsin and UCLA and a one-point loss to Oklahoma.

Goldin got off to a slow start in the 2024-25 season, reaching double-digit scoring just once and averaging 7.6 PPG in Michigan's first six games. However, the 7-footer has been on a monster run since, reaching double-digits in every game while averaging 20.2 PGG over the Wolverines' last nine games.

If the transfer from Florida Atlantic continues to play like this, Michigan could have two contenders for Big Ten Player of the Year in its frontcourt between Goldin and Yale transfer Danny Wolf.

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More Michigan News:

• Michigan Basketball: HC Dusty May praises Vlad Goldin, Tre Donaldson after win over UCLA

• Michigan Football misses on 3rd transfer portal wide receiver target

• UCLA's Mick Cronin rips his players, assistant coaches after blowout loss to Michigan

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