Michigan Basketball: Defense dominates in win over Air Force

Michigan basketball didn’t have a great game on the offensive end against Air Force, but the defense more than made up for it in UM’s 12th win of the season.

For the third straight Saturday, the Michigan basketball got off to a slow start offensively. But unlike the previous games against Western Michigan and South Carolina, the defense showed up right from the start.

While Air Force still kept the game closer than some expected against the fourth-ranked Wolverines, Michigan basketball still cruised to a 71-50 win, improving its record to 12-0 on the season.

Ignas Brazdeikis rebounded from a tough game against Western Michigan and connected on 7-of-13 shots from the field on his way to a game-high 19 points. Iggy knocked down three 3-pointers and also grabbed five rebounds.

Yet early on, Air Force seemed determined to hang around. The Falcons scored 10 of the first 15 points to go ahead 10-5, but then Michigan started attacking the basket and got four easy buckets inside from Eli Brooks, Jordan Poole, Charles Matthews and Jon Teske. That made it 13-10. Poole then knocked down a shot from beyond the arc to make it 16-10.

Air Force still kept things within striking distance and trailed just 28-21 at the half. In the second stanza, Air Force crept within six before a trey by Poole and a dunk by Iggy pushed the advantage back to 39-28.

Later in the half, 3-pointers by Livers and another by Iggy effectively put the game out of reach as Michigan basketball led by 14 after Brazdeikis’ third triple. Livers made another soon after, pushing the UM advantage to 52-35.

From that point, Michigan cruised to the 21-point win. While the freshman forward was the leading scorer for the Wolverines, Matthews was close behind with 17. Poole and Livers, two sophomores, each added 11 points.

The Wolverines held Air Force to 50 points on the defensive end and did so in large part thanks to 20 forced turnovers. The Falcons shot 46 percent from the field but made just two 3-pointers and got just five offensive boards.

All in all, a 21-point victory is about what you would expect. Air Force ranks outside the top 250 in the Kenpom rankings, so the Falcons weren’t expected to provide much resistance. At times, Michigan looked less interested than it should have but with Christmas right around the corner and against another inferior opponent, it’s hard to blame them.

Now, only Binghamton lies between the Wolverines and a perfect record in non-conference play.