Michigan basketball score: The Wolverines showed new football coach Kyle Whittingham how to dominate, destroying USC on Friday at Crisler Center.
Michigan basketball's shooting was as cold as the frigid Ann Arbor air just outside Crisler Center, but its defense was on par with what new football coach Kyle Whittingham hopes his team will look like come next fall.
Whittingham was introduced in the first half to a thunderous applause and standing ovation, which set the tone for the good vibes that kept on rolling as No. 1 Michigan dominated USC, 96-66, to improve to 13-0 on the season, the best start to a season for the Wolverines since their 17-0 start to open 2018-19.
U-M has now won nine of 10 games by 25 points or more (with the lone exception an 18-point road win over Maryland).
The defense stifled the Trojans, holding USC scoreless for the first 6:40 of the contest. U-M forced six turnovers on the Trojans' first nine possessions and 19 overall, while as USC (12-2, 1-2 Big Ten) shot just 33.9% (20-for-59) from the floor and 20.8% (5-for-24) on 3s.
U-M's shooting wasn't great – it missed its first eight 3-pointers of the game before Yaxel Lendeborg and Elliot Cadeau drilled back-to-back tries midway through the first half – but it did enough well to cruise to yet another victory.
Morez Johnson Jr scored a career-high 29 points and added six rebounds while Trey McKenney, L.J. Cason and Will Tschetter added 10 points apiece.
Lendeborg sat the final 15:55 and had a wrap on his left leg while Nimari Burnett sat the final 16:26 after falling hard on a defensive play in transition; he stayed down for a while holding his head, then left and returned to the court with a bandage.
Next up, the Wolverines (13-0, 3-0) head to Happy Valley to face Penn State (9-4, 0-2) on Tuesday (7 p.m., FS1). The Trojans, meanwhile, remain in Michigan for a Monday matchup with Michigan State in East Lansing.
Energy plays spark the offense
The Wolverines gave the sellout crowd plenty to cheer about, with several highlight plays.
It wasn't just Aday Mara opening the game with two steals, the second of which led to a runaway fastbreak for Lendeborg, who threw down a slam for a 4-0 lead less than a minute in. It wasn't even the no-look pass from L.J. Cason from the top of the key to Roddy Gayle Jr., who lingered underneath the bucket and threw down a slam of his own.
The true highlight came later in the first half, when Elliot Cadeau came away with a steal, then threw an outlet pass to Johnson, who then threw down a slam. Then, 6 seconds later, Johnson turned a steal into a pass to Cadeau, who pushed the ball in transition and threw a one-handed lob to Johnson for the flush – forcing a USC timeout down 43-26 as the Crisler Center crowd rose to its feet.
There were more in the second half, such as when Lendeborg threw a full-court pass to Mara, who then had a touch-pass to Gayle for an alley-oop, but by that point the Wolverines were up by more than 20 and seemingly had it in cruise control.
Michigan, which had scored 100 or more points in six of its past seven games, didn't quite hit that mark thanks to shooting just 6 of 30 (20.0%) from long range, but the energy never wavered on either end.
Morez Johnson mania
Johnson, who has been described as this team's "junkyard dog," had a field day in this one.
His first four buckets all came on layups, including one for a three-point play to make it 28-19 with 5:06 left in the first half. It was the beginning of a 24-12 march to halftime, much of which came via Johnson. He made three straight free throws, then threw down the aforementioned back-to-back transition dunks to go up 17.
Johnson scored the first four out of the break all from the foul line, then, moments later, caught a lob from Gayle and slammed it home for a 57-37 lead with 15:07 to play. Perhaps his best moment of the night ballooned the lead to 24 – a no-hesitation 3 from the top of the key.
Johnson shot 10-for-12 and made eight of 10 free throws.
On another level
Michigan had gone 4-for-22 from long range – and just 22-for-30 from the free throw line – midway through the second half and still led a team on the fringe of the coaches poll by 26 points. Only one Wolverine had scored in double figures at the time, but all nine U-M players who had checked in had at least four points and three shot attempts.
It's the type of balance this team has shown consistently, aided by superb defense.
Michigan forced turnovers in every type of way, boosted by Trojans throwing the ball away frequently. Chad Baker-Mazara threw a two-handed whip pass across the court, wide of his intended target. Kam Woods dribbled it off his foot. Ezra Ausar threw a bounce pass that went out of bounds. Gayle stripped Baker-Mazara, then threw an outlet to McKenney for a layup.
The Trojans, who had six turnovers in less than four minutes, committed 12 in the first half and 21 overall, as Michigan outscored USC off turnovers, 24-7, and on the fastbreak, 26-2.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball obliterates USC, 96-66, for 13th straight win
Category: General Sports
