Yaxel Lendeborg and Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 17 points apiece and No. 7 Michigan sailed to a 102-72 victory over No. 21 Auburn on Tuesday to reach the championship game of the Players Era men’s tournament in Las Vegas.
Nimari Burnett and Morez Johnson Jr. each added 15 points for the Wolverines (6-0), who earned the spot in the championship game with their second blowout win in two nights.
Michigan steamrolled San Diego State 94-54 on Monday night, and the tournament’s maximum margin of victory toward the standings is 20 points. The Wolverines are at plus-40 after the win over Auburn.
The Wolverines’ opponent in the title game will be determined later Tuesday night.
Tahaad Pettiford scored 16 points and Keyshawn Hall added 15 for the Tigers (5-2), who are 1-1 in the tournament. Filip Jovic put up 13 points and KeShawn Murphy had 12 for Auburn.
Trey McKenney scored 11 points and L.J. Cason added 10 points and three steals for Michigan, which shot 51.5% from the field and 14 of 35 (40%) from 3-point range.
The Wolverines held a 51-35 rebounding advantage and a 29-3 edge in fastbreak points.
The Tigers made 35.5% of their shots and hit 10 of 24 (41.7%) from behind the arc.
Pettiford sank two free throws to open the game before the Wolverines ripped off the next 11 points en route to the dominating win.
The Tigers trailed 28-20 after a dunk by Jovic with 9:29 remaining in the half before Michigan scored eight in a row. Burnett’s putback ended the run and gave the Wolverines a 36-20 advantage with 7:16 left.
Michigan’s lead reached 20 on Lendeborg’s three-point play to make it 44-24 with 4:29 remaining. The lead was 29 late in the half before the Wolverines led 59-31 at the break.
The lead reached 30 for the first time when Gayle drained a 3-pointer to make it 72-42 with 16:19 remaining.
Gayle knocked down another trey to make it 85-52 with 9:26 left.
Winters Grady buried a 3-pointer to give Michigan a 100-65 advantage with 2:39 remaining.
–Field Level Media
