ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Northwestern kept pace with Michigan for a half by shooting 55 percent, but a cold spell in the second doomed it to its third straight conference loss.
Turns out, it wasn’t really close.
The Wolverines shot 76 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes but couldn’t shake the Wildcats on Wednesday at Crisler Arena. In the next 20 minutes, however, Michigan (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) tightened its defense and ran away with a convincing 68-51 win.
The Cats (9-7, 2-3) took more than 13 minutes to score 10 points in the second half. In that span, the Wolverines outscored them by 15 points.
“For the first half, neither team could be stopped,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “In the second half, they scored and didn’t turn it over, and we couldn’t score and kept turning the ball over.”
The Wolverines exploited the NU defense all game, finding open shots in NU’s 2-3 matchup zone and 1-3-1 zone. They missed just five field goal attempts in the first half and shot 65 percent for the game.
“In practice we worked on penetrating hard and finding the open shot,” said Michigan junior guard Dion Harris, who scored 15 points. “I think it paid off.”
Harris and junior wingman Lester Abram combined for 35 points on 15-of-24 shooting.
Michigan used its hot start to build a 10-point lead with 7:02 remaining in the first half. NU cut into the lead with three 3-pointers on its next four possessions, including a turnaround 3 from senior forward Vedran Vukusic as the shot clock was winding down.
But turnovers plagued the Cats in the final two minutes of the half. Two NU miscues led to two dunks by Michigan junior forward Brent Petway – the last a thunderous finish off an alley-oop.
“That play may have affected the younger guys,” Vukusic said. “I don’t know how many guys they’ve seen jump out of the gym like that.”
Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said Petway’s dunks gave his team a lift heading into halftime.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Michigan added to its seven-point halftime advantage with a 7-0 run, which was capped off by a 3-pointer from Harris.
As Michigan continued its impressive offensive display, NU struggled on its end of the floor, missing several wild shots.
“We were inept,” Carmody said. “Their defense had something to do with it this game, if you can even call it a game.”
NU shot 29 percent from the field and hit just one 3-pointer in the second half. Vukusic, who had 13 points in the first half, shot 1 for 10 for two points in the second.
“We pretty much went cold for the entire half, and I’ll take most of the blame for that,” Vukusic said. “We can’t win too many games shooting like that.”
NU senior guard Mohamed Hachad led the Cats with 17 points.
With No. 7 Illinois coming to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday, Vukusic said NU must correct its shooting woes and fix its defensive problems.
“We just didn’t come out and put a hand in their face,” Vukusic said. “Most of (Michigan’s) shots were wide-open shots. They were penetrating and kicking it out for open shots. Illinois does a lot of that too, so we are going to have to prepare for that.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
