Michigan started slowly in a 90-58 win over Northwood, but was never threatened and opened it up in the second half for a runaway win.
The Wolverines started by taking it outside but missed their first two triples, a wide open corner three from Jordan Poole and a triple by freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis, who started at the four.
Michigan would miss its first seven triples, in fact, but was good enough inside and defensively to create distance. Redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews forced the action a bit and turned it over twice early, but Brazdeikis was as good as advertised taking it to the rim. He scored 11 first half points, getting to the rim and finishing with both hands.
Northwood hung around and cut it to 10, 35-25, but sophomore point guard Eli Brooks (five points, four assists) hit Michigan’s first triple to extend the lead, one that stood 41-26 at the break.
Matthews had eight points and Poole six to complement Brazdeikis’ output.
SECOND HALF
Michigan came out sluggish, and Northwood opened the scoring with an accidental banked triple to cut the deficit to 41-29.
Brazdeikis then went to the bench with his third foul to add to the Timberwolves’ momentum.
Northwood stayed within a dozen for the first few minutes of the half, but Simpson’s drive and finish, and one, pushed the lead back to 48-33 at 15:40. Simpson’s steal and dish to Livers in traffic gave U-M its biggest lead, 50-33 at 15:00.
A three-point play inside by Brooks and an alley-oop dish in transition from Simpson to Livers opened it up, 55-33 at 14:21.
Northwood ended the run with a bucket inside, but Matthews made only U-M’s second triple to push the lead back to 23. Teske got into the three-point run with one of his own from the top, and he looked good doing it. His triple made it 69-39 at 10:20.
The Wolverines got sloppy and were outscored by 6-0, but Poole’s spinning baseline jumper capped a Michigan run that pushed the lead back to 30, 77-47 at 5:45.
Head coach John Beilein emptied the bench at the 4:00 mark. Freshman big man Colin Castleton immediately scored inside on a left-handed putback, and the Wolverines finished out a 32-point win.
Brazdeikis and Matthews each scored 13 to lead U-M, while Livers and Poole added 12. Simpson notched 11, and he and Poole each registered seven assists.
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