Michigan got off to a slow start in a Friday night game with Elon, scoring only four points before he first TV timeout. The Wolverines turned it over three times in that stretch and couldn’t gain any separation, but they'd pick it up to win going away, 70-50.

Junior shooting guard Eli Brooks was a bright spot in the early going. He scored five of the Wolverines’ first seven points on a pull-up jumper and a triple on his way to 10 points.

The Phoenix took an 8-7 lead at the 13-minute mark on a runner by Marcus Sheffield. He led Elon with six early points, and the Phoenix took an 11-7 lead while the Wolverines continued to miss. Michigan made only three of its first 12 shots and turned it over five times in the first 10 minutes, got outrebounded 12-6 (giving up four on the offensive glass) and played sloppy basketball.

Sophomore guard David DeJulius finally got Michigan out of its funk with a triple from the corner at the 9:45 mark, ending a four-minute scoring drought. His turnaround jumper at 9:27 gave the Wolverine the lead back, and senior Jon Teske’s three-point play opened up a 15-11 lead.

Sophomore Brandon Johns added a three-point play of his own, and just like that it was 18-11 Wolverines, a 10-0 run.

Elon wouldn’t go away. Sheffield continued to hit pull-up jumpers to keep the Phoenix close. It was a four-point game until DeJulius tripled to put the Wolverines up 26-19 following a pair of finishes from senior point guard Zavier Simpson, but Sheffield countered with a three.

Michigan sophomore shooting guard Adrien Nunez notched a three of his own in transition to push the lead to 29-22, and Teske’s two free throws made it 31-22 at the break.

DeJulius led Michigan scorers with eight points and he also grabbed eight rebounds. Teske and Simpson added six points apiece.

SECOND HALF

Michigan’s offense heated up early in the second half after a poor, 11-for-27 shooting (4-for-14 from long range) in the first half. Nunez hit a jumper off a screen and Simpson his first tripe in four attempts. Livers’ short bank shot gave the Wolverines their biggest lead, 39-26, at the 17:15 mark.

Four points in the block from Teske pushed the margin to 45-28 at 15:14, forcing an Elon timeout. Sheffield finally ended the U-M run with another pull-up jumper.

The Wolverines started settling for long jumpers without passes, and Elon chipped away. Sheffield’s triple cut it to 11, and that’s where it stood at 10:10 before Brooks tripled from the corner. The Wolverines went into the second TV timeout up 56-42 at 9:50.

Elon kept pace and cut the lead back to 11 after the Wolverines started jacking shots early in the clock, but U-M responded. A Livers triple, followed by a DeJulius runner at 6:25, pushed the lead back to 63-44, and U-M was in coast mode.

Teske added the exclamation point with a three-point play that pushed the lead to 66-56 with three minutes to play.

Teske led Michigan scorers with 16 points, Simpson added 11 with seven assists and Brooks and DeJulius notched 10 each. The Wolverines improved to 3-0 for the season.

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