Dusty Mai admits fear of Penn State

The Michigan Wolverines’ No. 2 running back from State College with an unblemished undefeated recordbut the head coach Dusty Mai he later made it clear that the narrow 74-72 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions was far from a performance he was proud of.

Speaking candidly in his postgame press conference, May credited the Nittany Lions with out-playing Michigan in several key areas, specifically in terms of physicality and preparation.

“I want to give it an edge. A lot of times coaches get up here in a game like this and talk about what they didn’t do. Penn State was more physical than us,” May said in a postgame press conference. “Their game plan was better than ours, they were beating us on every ball 50-50. It came down to two teams really fighting, and unfortunately, the last shot was bad…but they played well. I thought Jurić was extremely effective. He was physical. I thought they played a smart, disciplined game, and they took advantage of the mistakes we made. So, we really like to get out of the league. to find a way to win here.”

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Michigan entered the matchup with one of the most dominant frontcourts in college basketball. The trio of Adai Mara, Morez Johnson Jr. and Yakel Landeborg has led the Wolverines to a historic start, anchoring an elite interior defense while combining for efficient scoring and rebounding.

On paper, the matchup heavily favored Michigan. Penn State struggled on the glass and they defended inside all season, but the Nittany Lions flipped the script. Seven-foot forward Ivan Juric consistently won physical battles against Mara, scoring 20 points while stretching Michigan’s defense with perimeter shooting.

Penn State’s edge on the offensive glass proved particularly damaging. The Lions grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and turned them into 22 second-chance points, effectively erasing Michigan’s size advantage and keeping the game within reach deep into the second half.

Johnson, fresh off receiving Big Ten Player of the Week honors, was limited by foul trouble and finished with just three points. With Mara tiring late on, May were forced to cut back, relying on Landeborg at center and Roddy Gayle Jr at forward in crunch time.

The win moves Michigan to 14-0 and 4-0 in Big Ten play, but May’s comments drove home a clear message — the margin for error in conference play is slim. As the Wolverines return home to face the Wisconsin Badgers, a close call in State College serves as a reminder that dominance it has to be earned every night, especially in the Big Ten.