Elliot Cadeau had 17 points and five assists as No. 4 Michigan defeated Oregon 81-71 in Eugene on Saturday afternoon.
Nimari Burnett contributed 15 points, while Aday Mara supplied 12 and blocked three shots for Michigan (16-1, 6-1 Big Ten). Yaxel Lendeborg added six points with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Sean Stewart led Oregon (8-10, 1-6) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Kwame Evans Jr. had 18 points with seven rebounds. Takai Simpkins tossed in 12 points and Wei Lin added 11 with four assists. Oregon was held to 42.2% shooting from the field.
The Ducks have lost four straight but were much more competitive than their last outing, when they were blown out 90-55 by Nebraska.
They trailed most of the first half but emerged with a 41-40 lead.
Michigan took its biggest lead of the half at 21-10 on a Lendeborg layup. A 6-0 Oregon spurt later in the half, including two Simpkins baskets, cut the Wolverines’ lead to two. Simpkins gave the Ducks their first lead at 38-37 with another layup.
After a few Mara free throws, Lin hit a 3-pointer to give Oregon the halftime lead.
A 7-0 Wolverines spurt, including five points from Mara, gave them a 53-47 lead. Michigan soon nudged the lead to nine on a Cadeau 3-pointer.
Morez Johnson’s layup with 9:12 remaining gave the Wolverines a 65-55 advantage. A putback dunk by Johnson with 7:50 to go pushed the lead to 12.
A Stewart layup with 3:38 left pulled the Ducks within six points. Johnson’s layup off a Lendeborg steal pushed the lead to 10 again with 2:11 remaining.
Neither side scored again until Dezdrick Lindsay hit a 3-pointer to make it a seven-point spread with 40 seconds left. Cadeau closed out the Wolverines victory with free throws.
–Field Level Media
