Morez Johnson Jr. scored a career-high 29 points and second-ranked Michigan pounced on 24th-ranked Southern California early to roll to a 96-66 win Friday in a Big Ten Conference matchup in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Leading wire-to-wire, the Wolverines (13-0, 3-0) faced little consternation after an initial flurry, the only exception being when standout forward Yaxel Lendeborg left for the locker room late in the first half.
Any concerns of serious injury were quickly assuaged, however, when Lendeborg rejoined the lineup to start the second half. He finished with a muted offensive stat line, scoring all eight of his points early and shooting just 3 of 10 from the floor, but it did little to hinder Michigan.
USC (12-2, 1-2) went scoreless for the game’s first 6:41, digging itself an 11-0 hole before Ezra Ausar finally got the Trojans on the board converting a successful and-one.
USC recovered briefly to cut the deficit to five points with 12 minutes left in the half but that was as close as the Trojans came. Their first-half struggles compounded seconds before intermission when, after he committed a turnover on the offensive end, Chad Baker-Mazara fouled Nimari Burnett on the ensuing Michigan fast break to garner his fourth personal.
The sequence sent Michigan into halftime ahead by 18 points and contributed to Baker-Mazara scoring just 12 points, almost 10 fewer than his season average coming into Friday’s contest.
Michigan shot just 6 of 30 from 3-point range on the night, but USC was unable to capitalize against a stingy Michigan defense. The Wolverines held the Trojans to just 20 of 58 shooting from the floor while forcing USC into 21 turnovers.
Michigan’s defensive dominance included three blocked shots from Lendeborg, three steals from Aday Mara, and two steals each from Elliot Cadeau and Johnson.
Cadeau also helped fuel the balanced Wolverines offense that featured five players scoring in double figures, dishing a game-high seven assists and grabbing six rebounds to match Johnson and Mara for the team lead.
Jaden Brownell came off the bench to lead USC with 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out. Ausar scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds.
–Field Level Media
