Heading into the Big Ten Conference schedule , both of the teams Michigan had lost to were ranked ( Duke was 7th and 5th in the AP and Coaches ' polls and Virginia was 23rd and 24th ) . On December 29 , Michigan won its first Big Ten Conference opener since 2006 – 07 , beating Penn State as Smotrycz extended his double @-@ double streak to three games . On January 2 , Burke earned his first Big Ten Conference Player of the Week honor and his third Freshman of the Week honor for his 40 points in Michigan 's first two conference games . On December 29 against Penn State he posted 13 points , seven assists , five rebounds and no turnovers . On January 1 , 2012 , he added a career @-@ high 27 points on 8 @-@ for @-@ 11 shooting with three rebounds and three assists against Minnesota to earn Big Ten Conference Player of the Week the following day .