Dusty May reveals what he believes to be Michigan's 'cheat code'

in mid November, despite Michigan basketball getting off to a 3-0 start at the time, Wolverines' head coach Dusty May said the team was still in search of their "cheat code."

"Right now, we’re still trying to figure out what our cheat codes are gonna be,” May said at the time. “We’re still figuring out what are gonna be our ways of scoring when the game slows down.”

In other words, Michigan was still searching for ways it could score when teams settle in defensively in half court sets. Last year, for example, when things got tough offensively, May could rely on Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin to operate in the two-man game to find ways to score.

However, after last week's games in Las Vegas where the No. 3 Wolverines won the Players Era Festival in dominant fashion, May believes this team's "cheat code" may have been discovered as the team heads into conference play this weekend.

"I think our cheat code is our unselfishness," May told reporters during his Monday press conference. "That would be it right now. I think each game's going to present some different opportunities for it based on who the other team is, and we do have some unique weapons. But I think right now our unselfishness is our cheat code."

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; TNT Sports reporter Lauren Jbara (left) interviews Michigan Wolverines head coach Dusty May after a 2025 Players Era Festival group play game against the Auburn Tigers at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Michigan's unselfishness on full display in Vegas

There is no doubt that the Wolverines played an incredibly unselfish brand of basketball in blowout victories over San Diego State, Auburn and Gonzaga.

In those three games during the Players Era festival, Michigan has assist numbers of 14, 19 and 29. Overall, Michigan now ranks 7th in the nation in total assists per game on average, as the Wolverines are averaging 20.3 per game.

Point guard Elliot Cadeau leads the team in that category with a 5.4 per game average, while Yaxel Lendeborg is second with 3.3 per game.

But it's really the ball-sharing of the entire team that is leading to the Wolverines being effective and efficient on the offensive end of the floor and looking like a team that can make a deep run in March.

May's team takes the floor again this Saturday against Rutgers for a 4 p.m. EST tip-off at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.

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