Juwan Howard returned to Michigan’s bench as head coach and the Wolverines shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range to roll past visiting Eastern Michigan 83-66 on Saturday in a nonconference game in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Assistant coach Phil Martelli had led Michigan for 10 games as Howard recovered from mid-September heart surgery.
Michigan (6-5) won its second straight after a string of three losses. Eastern Michigan (5-5) never led in the game and took its third loss in four games.
Power forward Olivier Nkamhoua led the Wolverines with 17 points and nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
Shooting guard Nimari Burnett was 3-of-5 on 3-pointers and scored 14 for Michigan, which also got 13 points apiece from Terrance Williams II (3-of-7 from 3-point range) and Tarris Reed Jr. Dug McDaniel, Michigan’s leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, added 11 and made 3 of 6 3-point attempts.
The Wolverines nearly hit their scoring average of 82.1 points per game.
Reed came off the bench and was a force inside for Michigan after scoring a career-high 19 against Iowa on Sunday.
Tyson Acuff, who entered averaging 22.2 points, led all scorers with 24 for Eastern Michigan, who got 16 off the bench from Orlando Lovejoy.
The Eagles went on a six-point run to cut the lead to 59-49 with 10 minutes remaining, but couldn’t shoot their way back into the game, hitting only 13.3 percent (2-of-15) on 3-pointers.
The Wolverines shot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range and 58.6 percent from the field as they raced out to a 49-32 halftime lead, paced by Williams’ 13 points.
The Big Ten’s Michigan leads 29-3 in the local rivalry over Eastern Michigan. The schools eight miles apart in Washtenaw County.
–Field Level Media
