Michigan
2-1
Xavier
3-0
U-M Suffers Season's First Setback Despite 29 Points from LeVert
11/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
» Senior guard Caris LeVert scored a season-high 29 points.
» Xavier, which closed the first half on a 15-5 run, outrebounded Michigan, 47-29, including an 18-7 advantage in offensive boards.
» Tonight wrapped up a three-game season-opening homestand for U-M, which plays five of the next six on the road.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: Xavier 86, #24 Michigan 70
Records: U-M (2-1), Xavier (3-0)
Attendance: 11,967
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Nov. 25 -- vs. Connecticut - Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, Bahamas), 9:30 p.m. (AXS TV)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 24 AP, No. 25 USA Today) suffered its first setback of the season against the Xavier Musketeers, 86-70, on Friday night (Nov. 20) inside Crisler Center. The win is Xavier's first ever against Michigan, making the all-time series record 3-1 in the Wolverines' favor. Senior guard Caris LeVert led all scorers with a game-high 29 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists.
After trailing by nine points at the half, Michigan began to claw its way back into the game in the second. A pair of buckets by the Musketeers extended the lead to 61-54, but two free throws from senior guard Spike Albrecht and a three-pointer by LeVert got the Wolverines within two again. That was the closest the Wolverines came to retaking the lead, however.
With eight minutes to play, Trevon Bluiett hit a three-pointer for Xavier, then James Farr dunked to extend the lead to 71-62. Edmond Sumner hit a three-pointer with 4:55, making the score 78-63. LeVert answered with a three-pointer of his own, but the Musketeers' relentless attack proved too much.
LeVert was Michigan's only double-figure scorer, finishing the night shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 5-of-8 from behind the arc, junior/sophomore guard Duncan Robinson added nine points on 2-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
The Musketeers' got off to a fast start in the first two minutes of the contest. Jalen Reynolds scored the first basket, driving to the hoop and scoring off the glass. After Reynolds added a pair of free throws, Myles Davis hit a deep three-pointer to cap a quick 7-0 scoring run for Xavier.
The Wolverines missed their first five shots, but began to find a rhythm four minutes into the half. LeVert got Michigan on the board with a mid-range jumper, then junior guard Zak Irvin followed with a bucket of his own. Junior guard Derrick Walton Jr. capped the 6-0 scoring run with a pull-up jumper, bringing the Wolverines back within a point.
Two minutes later, sophomore forward Kameron Chatman made a great hustle play to keep the ball inbounds, collected a return pass from sophomore forward Ricky Doyle and scored with an acrobatic layup to tie the game at 10-10. Xavier made a jumper to take the lead, but Albrecht answered with a three-pointer from the wing, giving Michigan its first lead of the game, 13-12, with 12 minutes remaining in the half.
The first half featured seven ties and six lead changes. Michigan fought to a 26-24 lead with 6:39 remaining, thanks to back-to-back long balls from sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and LeVert.
An Irvin three-pointer gave Michigan a 31-28 advantage with five minutes remaining, but the visitors finished the half on a 15-5 scoring run to take a 45-36 advantage into the break.
The Wolverines shot 13-of-26 (50.0 percent) from the floor in the first half, including 4-of-10 (40.0 percent) from downtown. The Musketeers shot 13-of-30 (43.3) percent from the field and were 4-of-6 from three-point range. Xavier held an advantage from the free throw stripe in the first half, shooting 15-of-18 (88.7), while Michigan was 6-of-9 from the line. LeVert led all scorers at the break with 16 points.
Both offenses came out firing in the first three minutes of the second half. Doyle started the scoring with a strong post move inside, then Bluiett answered with a jumper for the Musketeers. LeVert countered with a three-pointer to make the score 47-41, but Bluiett came right back with another long ball to extend Xavier's advantage back to nine. Later, sophomore guard Aubrey Dawkins buried a three to make the score 52-46, pulling the Wolverines back within six with 16:57 to play.
After a three minute scoring drought, Robinson buried back-to-back three-pointers to get Michigan within two, 56-54, with 12:14 left in the half.
The Wolverines shot 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) from the field, including 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from behind the arc. Xavier finished the game 27-of-66 (40.9 percent) from the floor and 23-of-26 from the foul line. The Musketeers finished with four men in double figures. Remy Abell, Reynolds and Bluiett each contributed 15 points, while Davis chipped in 14. Farr led the way on the glass, pulling in 13 rebounds, five of which were offensive.
Xavier held a huge advantage on the glass, outrebounding Michigan 47-29, including 18-7 in offensive boards. As a result, the Musketeers had 16 second-chance points to the Wolverines' seven. Michigan lost the paint battle, 34-14, but outscored the Xavier bench, 25-18.
The Maize and Blue returns to action on Wednesday (Nov. 25) against Connecticut in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. from Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, in Nassau, Bahamas. Coverage can be found on AXS TV.
Postgame Notes
• Tonight marked the beginning of the annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, an eight-game series between the Big Ten and the Big East.
• The Wolverines came out today in their new pregame warmups "We 100," celebrating the 100th season of U-M basketball. Their new logo matches their hashtag #squad100.
• Caris LeVert led tonight's game with 29 points, just three points away from his career-high 32 in 2014. He also contributed three assists and seven rebounds. This is the third game in a row that LeVert has hit double digits and the second game he has been the lead scorer this season.
• Zak Irvin made his first start of the season after missing most of last season due to injury. He tallied his first three-pointer of the season, along with seven total points and one rebound.
• Aubrey Dawkins set a new career high with six rebounds. His previous career high (five rebounds) was against Illinois in 2014.
• For the second game in a row, 12 players saw playing time, with 10 scoring and 10 contributing rebounds.
