Five players scored in double figures Sunday and No. 2 Michigan cruised to its 11th straight win to start the season, routing visiting La Salle 102-50 in Ann Arbor.
Freshman Trey McKinney came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points, canning three of the Wolverines’ 14 3-pointers. Aday Mara had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Eliot Cadeau also had 14 points, while L.J. Cason tallied 13 points and Morez Johnson Jr. contributed 10 points.
Michigan, which hasn’t been pushed in most of its games, simply buried the Explorers with its variety of strengths. It converted 54.8 % of its field goal attempts, including 14 of 29 3-pointers, and drew 25 assists on 34 made buckets.
Defensively, the Wolverines guarded a guardable team well, limiting La Salla (4-9) to 17 of 61 shooting (27.9%) from the field and 2 of 21 from the 3-point line. They also forced 19 turnovers that they cashed in for 28 points.
Jaeden Marshall led the Explorers with 15 points, going 10 of 11 at the foul line. La Salle did manage to outrebound Michigan 19-13 in the first half, although the Wolverines ended the day with a 40-35 advantage.
The storyline coming into the game was if Michigan would overlook a lightly-regarded Atlantic 10 opponent in its final contest before Christmas. After a relatively slow start that saw it trail 10-9 just over five minutes into the game, the Wolverines completely dominated the game’s remainder.
Beginning with Cason’s 3-pointer at the 14:07 mark, Michigan rattled off 11 straight points and never looked back. The margin stayed in double figures for the last 31:49, climbing to 54-33 at the half when Roddy Gayle Jr. made a foul shot with two seconds left.
The Wolverines’ depth and clear physical advantages made the second half even longer for La Salle. The margin increased as high as 56 points when Howard Eisley Jr. drilled a 3-pointer with 1:28 left for a 102-46 advantage.
It marked the sixth time in 11 games that Michigan scored at least 100 points.
–Field Level Media
