Perhaps the loudest cheer of the night from the Crisler Center crowd came after a fan in the student section was shown on the video board holding a white board with a reminder: Five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan.
The news broke roughly two hours before tip on Thursday and was all the buzz inside the hoops arena, where the Michigan basketball team also had a game and Dusty May’s squad did enough against an overmatched Tarleton State team in a 72-49 win.
“It’s nice to finish our home stand with a win, another game I feel we learned something about ourselves,” May said. “This was a game we needed. Coach (Billy) Gillespie, he gets his guys to play physical. … For where we’ve been and what we’ve struggled with, it allowed us to really put an emphasis on taking care of the basketball.”
Turnovers have been an issue in the early going for the Wolverines (4-1) and were again early Thursday with seven in the first half, before that was largely cleaned up, with just three after the break. Fortunately for Michigan, which ranks No. 349 in turnover rating per Kenpom, it was playing one of the few teams in the nation which turns it over more: Tarleton State entered play at No. 364 (out of 364 teams).
Michigan forced 24 giveaways on Thursday, which resulted in 28 points, including 13 on the fast break. The Texans also struggle on the glass — they entered Thursday last, allowing opponents to rebound 45.9% of their misses. U-M merely came close, with 13 offensive boards on 31 misses (41.9%), turning those into 13 second-chance points.
And just like the Wolverines’ other games, the scoring was balanced, with four players in double figures. Roddy Gayle Jr. had a team-high 16 points, Tre Donaldson had 13 points and five assists, Sam Walters also had 13 points and Vlad Goldin scored 12.
Michigan had its worst shooting night beyond the arc, making six of 22 (27.2%), and also made just 16 of 23 (69.6%) free throws.
“It was an odd game where we didn’t convert very well around the rim,” May said. “We didn’t make our open rhythm shots, we missed some front ends and for us to still have this margin with all that happening is a testament to our guys.”
U-M appeared headed to an easy win early, scoring the first six points en route to an 11-3 blitz. That’s when the turnovers began, and Tarleton got hot from the floor.
Seven early Michigan giveaways led to 11 transition points in the first half; that included a bad pass from Danny Wolf that led to a runout the other way and gave the Texans a temporary 24-23 lead. Of course, Tarleton State was only in range to take the lead because Bubu Benjamin couldn’t miss early. He hit four 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes of play as Tarleton opened the game 5-for-6 from deep. He finished with a team-high 15 points.
But Michigan would settle down and finish the half on an 11-2 run when Gayle Jr sandwiched a pair of layups around a pair of Walters 3-pointers; the second of which came off an offensive rebound and elicited some emphatic clapping from May.
Tarleton was down just 10 at the break, even though it had as many turnovers (11) as made field goals, but it couldn’t sustain its 71% rate on 3-pointers, or its 50% clip from the floor.
“I think our luck factor has not been great,” May said about opponents’ contested 3s. “We do think long-term, these bumps and bruises and bad fortune will pay dividends, because it always turns. Anyone who’s been to Vegas knows you can’t be on a luck streak like this for a long time.”
After the break Michigan cranked up the heat, implementing an intermittent full-court press, forcing two 10-second violations in the first three minutes of the half. It spurred a 10-0 start, which included four points from Goldin. U-M seemed to make a concerted effort to get him the ball, but he still seemed off; he finished 4-for-8 from the floor and 4-for-7 from the free throw line.
“I thought he played one of his better floor games; as far as not converting around the rim, it’s tough,” May said. “These are shots he normally converts and they’re not dropping. It’s like everything else in sports: You hit a line drive and it’s right at the shortstop. … He wishes he had a couple possessions back, but we aren’t going to spend a lot of time and energy worrying about those shots going in.
“We want to generate those shots again and again and again. … We’re very convinced, when the time is right, he’s going to make a high percentage of those shots.”
But the highlight of the run was a no-look lefty pass from Donaldson to Wolf in transition, celebrated by the point guard throwing up goggles with his hands.
Michigan’s lead grew to 20, 54-34, before it went cold from the floor. May’s group missed seven consecutive shots and went 4 minutes and 50 seconds without a point, which allowed Tarleton to go on a 6-0 run and get back within 14. But once Gayle threw down a slam with 10:13 to go, U-M was back on track.
It didn’t help the visitors that starting point guard Izzy Miles, who scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds, fouled out with 9:22 to play. The Texans got as close as 13, but a quick 9-0 run fueled by five Walters points stretched U-M’s lead to 22.
After the contest, U-M’s players got in a postgame lift — they leave early for the Fort Myers Tip-Off next week and the hotel gym will not be conducive to what the team needs — as they prepare for Monday’s tipoff against Virginia Tech.
“Going to get some Vitamin D,” said May, the former Florida Atlantic head coach, of his impending return to Florida.
