With a commanding second-half performance, the No. 2 Michigan men’s basketball team (24-1 overall, 14-1 Big Ten) dismantled UCLA (17-8, 9-5) by a final score of 86-56.
Michigan had control for almost the entire first half, and unlike its previous game against Northwestern, it started the game with ample energy. The Wolverines’ defense looked quite solid, and UCLA was having a hard time finding open, or even lightly-contested looks. As a result, Michigan opened up an early 14-5 lead.
With the Bruins reeling and the Wolverines feeling good, the contest was at a crucial juncture: Either Michigan would pull away and force UCLA into panic mode, or the Bruins would compose themselves and stay in the game. UCLA forced the latter.
The Wolverines weren’t shooting poorly, but they weren’t hitting at an unstoppable clip. So, the Bruins took advantage and kept the deficit manageable. Michigan’s defense was still hounding, but UCLA found a work-around. It crashed the offensive glass hard and manufactured easier second-chance opportunities. This was enough to limit the Wolverines’ advantage to no more than 11 at any point in the half.
Sophomore guard L.J. Cason parlayed his impressive second-half performance from Thursday into a nice first half against UCLA. In his nine minutes off of the bench, he scored eight points on two 3-pointers and a tough layup to keep the Bruins at an arm’s length.
Michigan had an 11-point, 39-28 lead with just under three minutes left in the period, but UCLA ripped off a 10-1 run to end the half. Despite having control for almost the entire game to that point, it only manifested a 40-38 lead entering halftime.
Separated by a 15-minute breather in the locker room, the Wolverines responded to the Bruins’ half-ending run with a half-starting run of their own. Graduate guard Nimari Burnett and junior guard Elliot Cadeau both cashed in two buckets, and Michigan pushed the lead back to 51-42 on the back of an 11-4 run.
Graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who had been massively struggling with his 3-point stroke, finally found his shot. UCLA left him wide open on a miscommunicated screen, and Lendeborg had no choice but to let it fly. He hit nothing but net. A couple of possessions later, Lendeborg had the ball in the same spot, and he confidently pulled up off of the dribble and sank a second one to give the Wolverines a 59-45 lead with just over 12 minutes to play.
Things fell apart for UCLA from there. Michigan was on a stretch of 12 makes on 13 shots, while the Bruins had made just one of its last nine. Cason was still playing with confidence, sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. was dominating inside, and the defense was suffocating. In the blink of an eye, the Wolverines had a 68-47 lead with 8:13 to play.
The stretch of dominance in the second half was reminiscent of Michigan’s second-half performance against Northwestern, except this time it didn’t have to overcome a 16-point deficit.
The Bruins had nothing left in them, and the Wolverines coasted to the final buzzer with very little resistance — it’s hard to find a way to lose when shooting 18-for-23 in the second half.
As the buzzer sounded on Michigan’s 86-56 win, its end-of-year gauntlet had just begun. Luckily for the Wolverines’, they’ll have quite a bit of momentum moving forward.
Eli Trese
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