UCLA was doing exactly what it needed to do to hang around with Michigan basketball on Saturday, but unfortunately, for the Bruins, they could only keep it up for a half.
UCLA trailed by just two at the break. The game was competitive early in the second half, but after two Yaxel Lendeborg 3-pointers, the lead ballooned to 15, and before long, it was a blowout.
Michigan basketball just suffocated UCLA in the second half. The Bruins only made seven field goals. After five 3-pointers in the first half, UCLA made just one in the second, and was limited on the offensive glass after rebounding 55 percent of its misses in the first half.
The Wolverines simply wore down the Bruins. Michigan's size will get to you eventually. Or a deep bench, or a front court that is probably the best in college basketball. Looking back on the 86-56 win, here are three things we learned.
The most talented and dominant team in college basketball
Beating a team by 30 isn't something that's supposed to happen often in Big Ten games. Yet, four of the Wolverines' 14 conference wins have come by at least 30 points (UCLA, USC, Penn State, and Maryland). Michigan basketball also beat Ohio State by 21 points.
In the 15 Big Ten games Michigan has played, only three have been decided by single digits -- the Wisconsin loss, plus the wins over Nebraska and Penn State, the first time around.
U-M has beaten 1/3 of its Big Ten by at least 20 points. And for the record, only one road game has been within a single-digit margin. Michigan won at Michigan State and Ohio State by an average of 16.5 points.
When you add that to the blowout wins over Gonzaga, Auburn, San Diego State, and Villanova, it's no wonder the Wolverines will be ranked No. 1 on Monday. They deserve it.
And UCLA head coach Mick Cronin was right when he said Michigan had the most talent of any team in college basketball. It's just a wild statement to make two years after the program won eight games.
L.J. Cason is breaking out
Trey McKenney started breaking out earlier this month, scoring in double figures in six consecutive games. Now, it's L.J. Cason's turn.
During the past four games, Cason has scored in double figures three times. His 18 points, three assists and four steals were critical in the comeback against Northwestern.
On Saturday, Cason was stellar again. He buried two 3-pointers in the first half, made 5-of-8 shots from the field, dished out two assists, and finished with 13 points in 18 minutes.
Over the past four games, Cason has averaged 12.75 points, is shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 46.6 percent from 3-point range (7/15), and dishing 3.5 assists, plus a steal per game. Cason is averaging 2.5 turnovers per game, which could be cleaned up.
Yet, his explosiveness is hard for defenses to deal with. Now that he's become a reliable 3-point shooter on top of it, he's tough to guard, and looking at the back court, it's suddenly four deep, as in McKenney and Cason could be starting for just about any team in the Big Ten.
Michigan looked like a Big Ten champion
Coming back from 16 down to win by 12 at Northwestern earlier this week, then following it up with a 30-point win over UCLA, which was in sixth place in the league going into this game, is exactly what you would expect from a team poised to take the No. 1 ranking.
It's also what you'd expect to see from a Big Ten champion. Michigan will play Duke next Saturday, in Washington, D.C., in what could be a top-three matchup. However, the most important game of the week will be on Tuesday in West Lafayette.
The Wolverines have a two-game lead in the Big Ten race, ahead of Purdue, Nebraska, and Illinois. Nobody is going to catch U-M. A win over Purdue would make a championship feel inevitable.
The Wolverines would have a two-game lead at that point with four to go. There is another road game, at Illinois, but if Michigan beats Purdue, it could lose that game and still win the title outright.
Essentially, the Wolverines need to split those games, or a co-championship becomes a realistic possibility. Three of the next four games will be against top-10 teams, and none of those games are in Ann Arbor.
Michigan looked like a national championship team on Saturday, but we will learn a lot about the Wolverines in the coming weeks, starting on Tuesday night.