Bielfeldt's Career Night Powers U-M Past Bucknell
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2014
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Event: Legends Classic
Score: #24 Michigan 77, Bucknell 53
Records: U-M (2-0), BU (1-1)
Attendance: 12,181
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Nov. 20 -- vs. Detroit (Crisler Center), 6 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 24 AP, No. 22 ESPN/USA Today) defeated Bucknell, 77-53, on Monday night (Nov. 17) in its first game of the Progressive Legends Classic inside Crisler Center. The Wolverines were led by the play of senior forward Max Bielfeldt, who scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Sophomore guard/forward Zak Irvin led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while his classmate Derrick Walton Jr. added 15 points, a game-high eight rebounds and two steals.
The Maize and Blue scored the first 10 points of the game, highlighted by an old-fashioned three-point play by Irvin and a triple by Bielfeldt. The Bison stopped the run, but Bielfeldt answered with another three and a dunk off a great feed from junior guard Spike Albrecht to give U-M a 19-7 lead and force Bucknell to call timeout at the 12:22 mark.
Michigan used a 7-0 run to take a 23-point lead after a layup by freshman forward Mark Donnal, an Irvin three, and two Walton free throws made the score 36-13 with 6:10 left before halftime. Minutes later, the Maize and Blue scored nine unanswered points before two Bucknell free throws made the score 48-19 going into the break.
U-M shot 18-of-33 (54.5 percent) from the floor in the first half, and went 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) on three-point attempts. The Bison struggled in the first frame, going 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from the floor, including 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) on triples. Irvin led with 16 first-half points, while Bielfeldt was right behind with 13 points of his own.
Both teams traded baskets for the first part of the second half, and a jumper by junior guard Caris LeVert with 11:45 left put Michigan up 62-31. Chris Hass hit consecutive three-pointers and followed with another long jumper to cut U-M's lead to 67-43 and force a timeout with 5:19 to play. Hass hit two more triples in the next minute, but the Wolverines' lead was too large, and they held on for the 77-53 victory.
Michigan shot 29-of-63 (46 percent) on the night, and made 8 of its 18 attempts (44.4 percent) from long distance. Bucknell finished the night shooting 19-of-48 (39.6 percent), and went 6-of-20 (30 percent) on three-point attempts.
U-M won the rebounding battle, 37-29, and only turned the ball over 6 times. Hass led the Bison with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three. Albrecht and LeVert each finished with six assists.
The Wolverines face off against Detroit for their second game of the Progressive Legends Classic on Thursday night (Nov. 20) inside Crisler Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network. [ Tickets ]
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot, Chad Shepard (734) 763-4423
