Michigan
7-0
Gonzaga
8-1
Wolverines Crowned Battle 4 Atlantis Champs with Win over No. 8 Zags
11/29/2019 4:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Michigan won the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis, defeating No. 8 Gonzaga in the title game.
» Jon Teske had a double-double with 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
» Zavier Simpson (13 points, 13 assists) had his third double-double of the season.
» The Wolverines shot 54 percent from the floor (34-of-63).
Site: Paradise Island, Bahamas (Imperial Ballroom)
Event: Battle 4 Atlantis (Championship Game)
Score: Michigan 82, #8 Gonzaga 64
Records: U-M (7-0), Gonzaga (8-1)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Dec. 3 -- at Louisville (Louisville, Ky.), 7:30 p.m. (TV: ESPN)
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team was crowned the champion of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, defeating No. 8 Gonzaga, 82-64, in the championship game Friday (Nov. 29) at the Imperial Ballroom.
Michigan used a few large runs to capture its second straight win over a team ranked in the top 10 and was impressive from deep, pouring in 12 threes on 23 attempts.
Senior Jon Teske produced a career afternoon, scoring 19 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds, while Isaiah Livers had his third 20-point performance of the season with 21 points, making a career-best five three-pointers for the Maize and Blue.
Senior Zavier Simpson notched his third double-double of the 2019-20 season, scoring 13 points and tying his own tournament record with 13 assists, and freshman Franz Wagner had his first double-digit scoring contest, going 4-for-8 from the field and scoring 10 points. Simpson's 13 assists tied his Battle 4 Atlantis record set Wednesday (Nov. 27) against Iowa State.
Simpson pulled down six rebounds and Eli Brooks had five, while Teske tied a season high with four blocks against the Zags. The Michigan defense was effective at taking away the basketball in Friday's game, forcing 13 Gonzaga turnovers while committing 11. Those takeaways turned into 13 points on the other end of the floor. Wagner led the way individually for the Wolverines with two steals.
Trailing 12-7 six and a half minutes into the game, Michigan used a 10-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer from Livers, to take over the lead, 17-12, with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half. Livers continued to power the offense, taking the ball up the court and driving down the left lane for a layup to give Michigan a 23-16 advantage and force a Gonzaga timeout at the 9:00 mark.
Offense slowed down on both sides of the court as the Bulldogs went on a 5:12 drought and Michigan saw a three-minute span in which it did not score toward the end of the first half.
Teske closed out the first half with four straight points, including a tip-in in the final second to put Michigan up by 11, 36-25, at halftime. The senior center had a team-best 13 points in the first half and added three blocks and five rebounds, while Livers had 10 points with two triples for the Maize and Blue.
An 11-2 Gonzaga run to open the second half trimmed the U-M lead to two, 38-36, but Michigan responded with a 12-2 run featuring three-pointers from Simpson and Livers to regain a double-digit advantage, 50-38, heading into the second media timeout of the half. The Wolverines continued to run the floor and pick up the tempo offensively, taking a 19-point advantage, 59-40, with 11:07 left to play.
The Zags whittled the deficit down to 11 points, 65-54, but a dunk from Teske off a Simpson feed followed by a three-pointer from Brooks and back-to-back triples from Livers gave the Wolverines a 76-57 edge with 4:23 to play and put the game out of reach.
Michigan will continue its road stretch Tuesday (Dec. 3) when it heads to Louisville for a 7:30 p.m. ACC/Big Ten Challenge game that will be featured on ESPN.
