Dusty May not satisfied with Michigan growth: 'They're not giving out championship trophies on February 12'

Dusty May’s first season as the head coach of Michigan men’s basketball has been widely viewed as a success. After all, the Wolverines are currently in first place in the Big Ten Conference standings, and have a 19-5 record with seven games left in the regular season.

After defeating Purdue 75-73 on Tuesday night, May was blunt about whether or not he was allowing himself be proud of what his team has accomplished so far this year.

“Absolutely not. I’m proud of the way our guys are battling and staying the course. And it looks like they’re still enjoying each other. They’re enjoying this, this process of competing and not knowing what’s in front of us, but just putting one foot in front of the other,” May said. “But as far as our record, where we are and I would, you know, they’re not giving out championship trophies, February 12th or whatever it is tomorrow. But yeah, I’m proud that our guys are still improving collectively and individually.”

May would likely point toward the last time Michigan battled Purdue, which produced a completely different outcome than what happened on Tuesday night. The Boilermakers dispatched of the Wolverines 91-64 on Jan. 24. However, Michigan hasn’t lost since.

“When things like that happen, you usually go one of two different directions,” May explained. “And, and even after that, we didn’t play our best, but we weren’t discouraged. We weren’t, we weren’t blaming each other. I thought we had great personal accountability and we just kept fighting.”

Michigan has won each of their five games since losing to Purdue by four points or less, including three of those at home where they remain undefeated. However, May’s warning comes at a time when there are seven games left in Michigan’s regular season. Anything can happen.

While May will dismiss the praise his team receives to this point in the season, the Wolverines have already surpassed their win total in each of the last two seasons under former head coach Juwan Howard. Poised to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2021-22 season, fans are excited for what May’s team can do come march.

For now, they’re set to take on Ohio State on the road this Sunday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS. It is the first and only time these two rivals will meet during the regular season.