Michigan led for more than 38 minutes in Wednesday night's 78-53 win over No. 22 Xavier. The Wolverines were led by Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin, who both played their best games of the season.
With the win, Michigan improves to 6-1 on the season. Here are three takeaways from the impressive showing from Dusty May's Wolverines.
Danny Wolf takes over
Just two days after having a very quiet four-point performance against Virginia Tech, Danny Wolf erupted with one of the best single-game performances by a Michigan big man arguably since Hunter Dickinson graced the streets of Ann Arbor
Wolf was absolutely unstoppable on Wednesday night, going off for 16 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. The 7-footer also hauled in eight rebounds in the first half and dished out two assists.
Wolf finished the game with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from distance. He grabbed 14 rebounds and tallied two steals as he led Michigan to the Fort Myers Tip-Off championship.
His 20-point performance tied Roddy Gayle Jr.'s 20-point night on Monday for the team's highest-scoring performance so far this season.
Michigan puts together a masterful defensive performance
As electric as Michigan's offense was at times, the team-wide defensive performance deserves some credit for keeping Xavier at bay in the second half. The Wolverines took an 11-point lead into the second half, and the Musketeers never came closer than eight points in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Xavier finished the night shooting just 34.5 percent from the floor. It committed 19 turnovers in the blowout loss. Michigan recorded 10 steals, two of which came from Wolf.
There were at least three occasions in Wednesday's game when Michigan stifled the Xavier offense, and the Musketeers made a miracle shot at the end of the shot clock.
It was the best all-around showing from the Wolverines all season.
Big Ten play up next
Michigan basketball will now enjoy its Thanksgiving weekend before gearing up for early Big Ten play, which is set to begin on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The Wolverines will have five days off between the win over Xavier and the Big Ten opener.
Wisconsin is currently unranked in the AP Poll, but the Badgers did knock off Arizona, 103-88, in mid-November. Following the Big Ten opener against Wisconsin, Michigan will host Iowa on Dec. 7 at Crisler Center.
Those two Big Ten games will be the only conference matchups for Michigan in the early Big Ten window, and the Wolverines will finish off the calendar year with games against Arkansas, Oklahoma, Purdue Fort Wayne and Western Kentucky.
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