UCLA gave Michigan basketball a scare for about half of the game, but in the second half, the Wolverines flexed their muscle and looked like a team poised to win the Big Ten championship in an 86-56 win.
Aday Mara only ended up playing 23 minutes. He scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out three assists. Nobody scored more than 17 points. Yaxel Lendeborg drained two 3-pointers early in the second half, and from that point on, it felt like it was game over.
In the first half, UCLA knocked down some 3-pointers. A bucket right before the buzzer cut the deficit to two. Yet, the second half was as strong a half as Michigan has played in weeks.
Michigan basketball outscored the Bruins 46-18 in the second half, and the Bruins were one win from being tied with Wisconsin and Michigan State for fifth place.
Here are gut reactions.
Elite defense: What Michigan did in the second half to the Bruins was the definition of elite defense. UCLA isnt't a super dynamic offense, but 18 points is 18 points. UCLA was held to just 38 percent and just 29 percent from 3-point range, including just one make in the second half. Offensive rebounds were an issue in the first half, but the Bruins finished with just nine total. Michigan had the total rebounding edge 29-21.
2-point domination: Michigan owned the paint offensively. The Wolverines made 77 percent of their 2-point attempts against the Bruins, who don't have a ton of size inside. UCLA, on the other hand, shot 43 percent. We predicted that Michigan basketball would control the 2-point battle, but the final showing was even better than expected.
An ideal offensive effort: Michigan attempted 19 3-pointers. The Wolverines made seven, and outside of a slower pace, that's exactly how U-M should play. Michigan wants to play through its bigs, and it was able to do that. Players just didn't settle for 3-pointers. They took good ones, coming off ball movement, except for Yaxel, who basically buried two dribble-up treys in two minutes. That was pure talent; however, the execution was at a very high level.
A huge step in the Big Ten title race: Michigan is two games up with five to go. There are still tough games with four against the top 8 teams, but the magic number to clinch is four. Three wins will mean at least a co-championship. Michigan should also be ranked No. 1 on Monday.