Michigan
24-1,14-1Big Ten
UCLA
17-8,9-5Big Ten
White Out, Lights Out: U-M Rolls UCLA After Half
2/14/2026 4:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The second-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (24-1, 14-1 Big Ten) erupted in the second half to defeat UCLA, 86-56, on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 14) at Crisler Center, stringing together nine consecutive baskets and outscoring the Bruins (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) by 28 in the final 20 minutes. It is U-M's fourth conference victory by thirty or more points, all of which have come at home.
Leaders and Best
Yaxel Lendeborg led all scoring with 17 points. He made seven free throws in the first half and two three-pointers early in the second half, accompanied by eight rebounds and two blocks. Morez Johnson Jr. scored 15 points, including a perfect six-for-six from the field and three steals. L.J. Cason added 13 points off the bench with two triples and a pair of assists. Nimari Burnett rounded out the double-digit scoring and poured in 12 points off five makes.
Turning Point
Michigan turned a narrow two-point halftime edge into a runaway early in the second half, going on a 19-7 scoring run over the initial seven minutes and 30 seconds. Lendeborg hit consecutive three-pointers during that span, pushing the lead into double figures -- a margin the Wolverines never surrendered. Michigan shot 78.3 percent from the field in the second half.
Second Half
Up only two points after intermission, Aday Mara found Burnett for a three-pointer from the left wing to get the scoring started. Elliot Cadeau then scored two straight buckets for the Wolverines in 35 seconds, followed by a coast-to-coast layup from Lendeborg off a UCLA turnover. Burnett scored again on a fast-break layup, with three Wolverines combining for the 11 points scored before a UCLA timeout with 15:25 to play.
Following the timeout, Trey McKenney kept the momentum rolling, extending Michigan's streak to eight straight made field goals. Roddy Gayle Jr. pushed it to nine consecutive makes, as the Wolverines went more than seven minutes without a miss and stretched their lead to 14. Meanwhile, the Bruins went cold, missing seven straight shots and 12 of their first 15 attempts of the second half. Crisler Center's White Out crowd erupted when Cason finished a coast-to-coast layup after a Lendeborg block, giving Michigan its first 20-point lead of the night.
Will Tschetter got on the scoreboard with a layup assisted by Gayle with 2:15 remaining. He was also the next to score from either team, finishing off a crafty layup with just 18 seconds left. Tschetter's basket capped a dominant 30-point victory, as UCLA managed only two points over the final six and a half minutes.
First Half
Michigan opened the game strong, with Mara finding Johnson for the first basket and Johnson scoring again after a brief scoreless stretch. Gayle and Cason hit consecutive threes, and Cason added a layup and an assist to Johnson to push the lead into double digits. Lendeborg and Mara extended the advantage from the free-throw line, and Burnett added two baskets and a feed to Mara. A late UCLA 7-0 run cut the lead, but Michigan held a narrow 40-38 edge at halftime, committing their first turnover only with 1:33 remaining.
What's Next
The Wolverines will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face off against the Purdue Boilermakers on Tuesday night (Feb. 17). The 6:30 p.m. game in Mackey Arena will air on Peacock. Purdue will be the sixth-ranked opponent for U-M so far this season. Michigan currently holds a perfect 5-0 record against ranked opponents.
Notes
• This was Michigan's first home contest against UCLA since the 2017-18 season, 2,989 days ago on Dec. 9, 2017. U-M won that game by nine points in overtime after trailing by as many as 15.
• No. 2 is the highest Michigan has been ranked and won against UCLA in nearly 66 years of competition.
• The 30-point victory against UCLA marks the largest margin of victory against the Bruins in program history. The previous high was set last season on the road in a top-25 matchup, with a 19-point Wolverines victory (Jan. 7, 2025).
• Michigan's win over UCLA extends the Wolverines' streak to 10 consecutive victories. This season marks the first time since the 1992-93 national runner-up team—led by the Fab Five—that Michigan has recorded multiple double-digit win streaks in a single season. That 1992-93 squad began 12-1 with an 11-game streak in conference play, added 12 more wins leading up to the national championship game, and finished 31-5.
• Michigan leads the Big Ten in margin of victory in conference games and now sits at an average margin of victory of +16.9. This average jumps to +21 in home conference games.
• Dating back to the ranked win at home against Nebraska (Jan. 27), five different Wolverines have led the team in scoring in the last six games.
• With three blocks today against his former team, Mara has now had three or more blocks in eight of his last ten games and remains atop the Big Ten in blocks per game (2.76).
• UCLA was held to 18 points in the second half -- the lowest-point total scored in a half by any conference opponent and the second-lowest of all opponents (17 points versus La Salle on Dec. 21) so far this season.
• Johnson now holds the longest active streak of consecutive double-digit scoring performances at seven games. He is also tied with Lendeborg for most double-digit performances for the Wolverines this season (19), failing to score double-digits in just five games.
• After 17 points today against UCLA, Lendeborg is just three points away from achieving the feat of 1,500 Division I points.
