Michigan
12-3 (1-1)
Jacksonville
5-11 (0-0)
Abdur-Rahkman's Season High Leads U-M over Jacksonville
12/30/2017 8:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Michigan finished non-conference play with an 11-2 record and improved to 8-0 in Crisler Center in 2017-18.
» Senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored a season-high 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting.
» Junior forward Moritz Wagner returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with a right ankle injury.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: Michigan 76, Jacksonville 51
Records:Â U-M (12-3), Jacksonville (5-11)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Jan. 2 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 6 p.m. CST (TV: ESPN2)
• Watch: Coach Beilein's Postgame Press Conference
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team returned from its holiday break to close out its non-conference season with a 76-51 victory over Jacksonville on Saturday (Dec. 30) at Crisler Center.
Michigan had a trio of starters score in double figures as it improved to 8-0 at home and 12-3 overall. The Wolverines finished the non-conference portion of the season with an 11-2 mark. Â
Senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman posted a season-high 20 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting. Junior Charles Matthews followed up his 31-point performance against Alabama A&M nine days ago with 18 points and seven rebounds, while senior Duncan Robinson added 12 points and six rebounds.
The Wolverines' defense carried them in the first half as they held Jacksonville to just 18 points. The Dolphins were scoreless for the first 4:33 minutes and did not reach double digits until over 15 minutes had gone by. Michigan has limited three opponents to under 20 points in the first half of games this season, as UC Riverside scored just 17 on Nov. 26 and Detroit Mercy had 19 on Dec. 16.
Offensively, the Wolverines had an uncharacteristic 10 turnovers in the first half but shot 48 percent from the field and led by as many as 17 points, at the 5:30 mark. Michigan held a 14-point lead (32-18) at the break.
U-M cut down on its turnovers in the second half to finish with 14 overall. Meanwhile, the offense clicked on all cylinders as the team shot 63.3 percent from the field and had 11 assists on 19 made field goals. Michigan also held a strong rebounding advantage over Jacksonville in the game, 41-23.
Junior forward Moritz Wagner returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with a right ankle injury to contribute seven points and six rebounds.
Michigan will return to conference play on Tuesday (Jan. 2) when it travels to Iowa City to face Iowa at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN2.
