The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team blew out Saginaw Valley State, 82-51, tonight at Crisler Center in the club's lone exhibition game of the year.
The game was not televised, but we have the complete recap below of how the festivities unfolded tonight in Ann Arbor:
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First Half
Senior center Jon Teske got the Wolverines on the board first tonight with a post up and an easy lay in to make it 2-0 just 20 seconds into the game.
Senior guard Zavier Simpson threw a highlight reel alley-oop from well behind the three-point line to junior forward Isaiah Livers to make it 9-2 at 17:18, before the junior threw down another huge dunk in transition on U-M's ensuing possession to extend the lead to 11-2.
Freshman guard Cole Bajema was the first sub in, checking in for sophomore guard Adrien Nunez at the 16:50 mark.
A three from junior guard Eli Brooks gave Michigan a 14-4 advantage at the under-16 timeout, and the Maize and Blue were shooting a cool 6-of-10 from the field at that point.
Sophomore guard David DeJulius and sophomore forward Brandon Johns were inserted for the first time at 14:17 with U-M holding a 17-6 lead, and Teske found Johns under the basket for an easy lay in at 12:30 to make the score 19-8.
The Maize and Blue were leading 21-8 at the under-12 timeout, and were holding Saginaw Valley State to just 4-of-12 from the floor.
Two Nunez free throws made the score 23-10 at 9:51, but that's when Michigan's offense went cold.
SVSU cut the deficit to 26-19 at 6:02 following eight straight U-M misses, before Livers gave the club some much-needed momentum with a three-pointer at 5:08 to make the score 31-23.
The Cardinals kept chipping away, however, cutting the Wolverines' edge to 31-27 at the under-four media timeout, thanks to a 1-of-13 shooting stretch for the Maize and Blue.
Michigan got some momentum back right before halftime when Johns connected on a key three-pointer at 1:05 to extend the margin back to 36-29, and two free throws from Brooks then made it 38-29.
Simpson ended the half in fashion with a three-pointer of his own to give U-M a 41-29 advantage heading into the locker room.
Second Half
Michigan began the half on a 5-0 run, capping it off with a Livers three-pointer in transition to give the Wolverines their biggest lead at 46-29.
A short base line jumper from Nunez at 15:39 made 49-33, with Simpson picking up the assist on the play.
The onslaught continued when Teske made an easy lay in to extend the score to 51-33, before a short Livers jumper at 13:53 stretched it to 53-33 (the junior had 17 points at that juncture).
SVSU trimmed the deficit to 17 before a corner deep ball from Johns pushed it right back to 20 (58-38) with 11:55 remaining in the game, with Simpson once again picking up the assist.
The junior guard picked up his 11th dime of the night when he found Livers for a corner three with 10:55 left in the game, pushing the Wolverines' edge to 63-38.
The margin widened when Brooks connected on two straight free throws to give his squad a comfortable 67-39 cushion with 9:13 left on the clock.
The score was still 67-39 at the under-eight timeout, with Livers having racked up 20 points at that juncture; no other Wolverine was in double figures.
Brooks cashed in on two free throws with 4:59 remaining to put Michigan up 73-43, and the score stood at 74-45 at the under-four timeout following a redshirt junior center Austin Davis free throw.
Head coach Juwan Howard removed all the starters with 2:52 left in the game and U-M holding a 78-45 lead, with Davis then throwing down a massive one-handed dunk immediately after to increase the margin to 80-45.
A quick 6-0 SVSU run cut it to 80-51, before Rico Ozuna-Harrison concluded the scoring with a short jumper to seal the 82-51 victory.
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