Michigan
6-1
UC Riverside
2-3
Wolverines Dominate UC Riverside in Wire-to-Wire Win
11/26/2017 7:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» The Wolverines beat the UC Riverside Highlanders by a margin of 45 points, the largest of the season.
» Michigan had two players record double-doubles for the for the first time since 2013 -- Moritz Wagner (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Charles Matthews (17 points, 12 assists).
» All 16 Wolverines on the roster saw action in the win, with nine of them recording points.
» The Wolverines recorded a season-high seven blocks in addition to committing a season-low six fouls.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: Michigan 87, UC Riverside 42
Records: U-M (6-1), UCR (2-3)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Nov. 29 -- at North Carolina -- B1G/ACC Challenge (Chapel Hill, NC.), 7:30 p.m., ESPN
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team dominated UC Riverside, 87-42, on Sunday (Nov. 26) inside Crisler Center. The 45-point margin was the largest of the season and helped the Wolverines remain a perfect 4-0 at home.
All 16 Wolverines on the roster earned playing time, with nine players scoring in the win. Senior Moritz Wagner (21), junior Charles Matthews (17), senior Duncan Robinson (13) and freshman Jordan Poole (11) all scored in double-digits.
Two Wolverines recorded a double-double in the win for the first time since Jan. 6, 2013, when Glenn Robinson III scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Trey Burke added 19 points and 12 assists. Wagner recorded his third double-double of the season, and fourth of his career, with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Matthews recorded his second career double-double with 17 points and 12 assists, in addition to four rebounds and two steals. He set a new career high for assists in the first seven and a half minutes of the game when he dished his fifth assist to freshman Isaiah Livers at the 12:29 mark. Matthews had 11 points in the first half and dished out his 10th assist just 4:30 into the second half.
The Wolverines jumped out to a quick lead in the first half, 17-7, to draw a Highlander timeout. Wagner went 3-for-3 to start the game, scoring U-M's first seven points. Freshman Eli Brooks added five points within 30 seconds, with a triple and fast-break layup, before a UC Riverside timeout to give the Wolverines the 10-point edge at 14:08.
At the 10:10 mark, the Wolverines used a Matthews triple and a dunk from Livers 30 seconds later to give U-M a 26-10 lead and force a second UC Riverside timeout. The Maize and Blue then went on a 20-2 scoring run over the next 7:16, and held the Highlanders scoreless for 7:31, which gave Michigan its largest lead of the half at 41-12 with 2:54 remaining. UC Riverside added five points before halftime to make it 41-17 at the break.
Just as he had the first half, Wagner scored the first points for the Wolverines, starting the second half with two free throws and a triple, giving U-M a 46-17 lead at 18:59. U-M then used an 8-0 run over 1:21 to put Michigan ahead 56-21, capped by Brooks' second triple of the night.
With the Wolverines leading, 66-32, Poole hit his first three of the night, before adding an additional eight points in the half, to give him a career-high 11. The freshman tallied a career-high three triples, two of which were separated by an impressive block that got the Crisler Center crowd on its feet. Michigan's largest lead of the night came at the 2:15 mark, 85-35.
You all, this Jordan Poole guy is going to be special for @umichbball. pic.twitter.com/1LaEgUTfEv
— Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) November 26, 2017
The Wolverines held the Highlanders to 30 percent shooting from the field the entire game (18-for-60) and 10 percent from beyond the arc in the second half (1-for-10). Michigan also recorded a season-high seven blocks in the win, in addition to committing a season-low six fouls. The Wolverines assisted on 70 percent of their made field goals (24-of-34).
Next up, Michigan will face its first ranked opponent of the 2017-18 season when it travels to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to face the ninth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in its Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup on Wednesday night (Nov. 29). The game can be seen live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m.
