The Michigan Wolverines picked up a seventh straight win, destroying the Penn State Nittany Lions, 110-69, behind Nimari Burnett’s career-high 31 points. Dusty May’s team moved to 21-1 overall and 11-1 in Big Ten play, which is now the best start to a single season in school history.
Here’s the recap, highlights and stats.
FIRST HALF
Michigan jumped out to a quick start, taking an 11-2 advantage into the first media timeout. The Wolverines knocked down three straight shots during the run and held Penn State scoreless for nearly seven minutes.
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Following the timeout, Michigan extended the lead to 21-8, as L.J. Cason and Elliot Cadeau hit consecutive three-pointers. Cason later grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a put-back layup to put Michigan up 23-10 with 10:13 left in the half.
The Wolverines continued to pour it on as Burnett drilled a three-pointer. Cadeau then used a sweet crossover to get into the lane and finish a layup, extending the lead to 31-12 and forcing the Nittany Lions to call a timeout.
Michigan seemingly got whatever shot it wanted on offense, making 7-of-8 shots during a 15-2 run, including three straight dunks by Burnett to extend the lead to 44-18. After a timeout, Burnett hit a three-pointer to push his total at the time to 15 points.
The Wolverines led 56-24 at halftime after recording massive advantages in rebounds (24-4), points in the paint (28-12) and second-chance points (15-0). Michigan also shot a scorching 7-for-13 from beyond the arc.
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HALFTIME: MICHIGAN 56, PENN STATE 24
SECOND HALF
The Wolverines started the second half in style, as Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg threw down dunks while Burnett scored 11 points in less than five minutes to eclipse his career-high. Mara also had back-to-back blocks to get the crowd fired up.
Michigan took out most of the starters with about 12 minutes left and an insurmountable lead, but the highlights didn’t stop there. Oscar Goodman threw down an alley-oop dunk on his first possession after coming off the bench.
After barely avoiding an upset at Penn State last month, the Wolverines wanted to make a statement and they did just that by putting together one of their most complete performances of the season with a 110-69 win over the Nittany Lions.
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Michigan was far superior in every facet of the game, compiling advantages in rebounds (44-21), paint points (50-36), second-chance points (22-6), assists (31-7) and blocks (8-3) while holding Penn State to 2-for-20 from three-point range.
FINAL SCORE: MICHIGAN 110, PENN STATE 69
MICHIGAN STAT LEADERS
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G Nimari Burnett: 31 points (career-high), 5 rebounds, 2 steals
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F Morez Johnson Jr: 12 points, 8 rebounds
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G L.J. Cason: 12 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds
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G Trey McKenney: 12 points, 4 rebounds
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C Aday Mara: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 6 blocks
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F Yaxel Lendeborg: 6 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds
PENN STATE STAT LEADERS
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G Freddie Dilione V: 19 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds
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F Josh Reed: 15 points, 4 rebounds
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G Melih Tunca: 15 points, 3 assists
UP NEXT
The Wolverines will take a seven-game win streak into a road matchup at Ohio State on Sunday at 1 p.m on CBS.
