Michigan scores 56 points in second half, surges past Maryland to win 101-83

Michigan Wolverines basketball was down five at halftime, 50-45, but put up 56 points in the second half to run away from Maryland in U-M’s second road victory over the season to improve to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Here’s a recap of how the 101-83 victory unfolded.

First half

Maryland guard David Coit came out on fire, making his first three shots from beyond the arc to put the Terrapins 10-5. The Wolverines were down 10-7 at the under-16 media timeout, at which point Maryland was shooting 0-of-3 from two-point range. Michigan sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. got some good looks down low but missed all three early on, hindering the offense, and there were also 2 turnovers by junior point guard Elliot Cadeau.

Maryland’s three-point barrage continued, beginning 5-of-9 from deep and holding a 22-21 lead at the 11:32 media timeout. Michigan was also stroking it from long range, going 4-of-5, but had 3 turnovers and a 4-of-10 mark from two-point distance.

Michigan junior center Aday Mara took over for a stretch, scoring six-straight points for the Maize and Blue. The other two bigs — Johnson and graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg — then chipped in with a pair of layups to go up 31-25 at the 8:35 mark.

Maryland guard Myles Rice found the iron kind with a three bouncing in to cut Michigan’s lead to 31-30 with just over seven minutes left, the Terrapins’ seventh triple of the game, and Rice drilled another at the 6:28 mark and then was fouled and made both free throws to give his team a 35-31 edge at 5:57.

Maryland big man Pharrel Payne went down with a tough looking right leg injury at the 4:35 mark, and didn’t return the rest of the game. He finished with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 15 hard-fought minutes. The Terrapins hung in there for the rest of the half with a five-out offense, and continued to shoot the three ball with accuracy.

Coit hit back-to-back threes to put Maryland up 45-41, and it was 45-43 after a Johnson layup at the 2:09 mark. Michigan started hedging on ball screens with Coit, and Johnson got too aggressive doing so the next time down. Coit was fouled and made both free throws in the single bonus to make it 47-43.

Maryland’s Isaiah Adams finished a three-point play on an and-one with a questionable foul call on Lendeborg to put the Terrapins ahead, 50-45, with two seconds to go in the half, and that was the score at the break.

Maryland knocked down 10 of its 18 attempts from three-point range in the first half. Michigan, meanwhile, shot 9-of-19 on layups/dunks, with that lack of efficiency being uncharacteristic and costly early on.

Second half

Maryland kept its hot three-point shooting up to start the second half, with Coit and Elijah Saunders hitting consecutive triples to give Maryland its largest lead, 56-47. Solomon Washington, though, was T’d up for the second time, earning an ejection, after the Saunders make, and Michigan made both free throws. The Wolverines went on an 8-0 run — all from Lendeborg, who had all 10 of U-M’s points in the half when they trailed 56-55 at the 16:55 mark. Maryland head coach Buzz Williams called a timeout at that point.

Maryland led 60-57 at the under-16 media timeout, after a flagrant foul on George Turkson Jr. that resulted in a pair of made free throws by Mara.

Michigan had an extended 25-9 run that put it ahead 72-65 when Lendeborg drilled a three-pointer at the 11:23 mark. He had 29 points at that juncture, playing extremely efficient basketball with only 11 field goal attempts.

Michigan continued to steadily increase the lead, up 82-73 at the under-8 media timeout. The Wolverines’ offense was cooking in the second half, shooting 12-of-15 from the field at that point. Sophomore guard L.J. Cason was on fire with a couple threes in the span of a minute and a half, and Mara had an insane alley-oop dunk from Lendeborg where he was facing away from the rim and two-hand slammed it from behind.

Michigan’s lead got up to 15 points — 94-79 — with a pair of free throws by graduate guard Nimari Burnett. The Terrapins hung around, however, and were down 94-81 at the 2:52 timeout, before U-M pulled away.

Michigan consistently held the ball at the start of its offensive possessions but kept on scoring with a Cadeau layup with 19 seconds to go putting the Wolverines over the century mark in the 101-83 victory.

Michigan vs. Maryland box score