Unfortunately this will be regrettably brief and bereft of analysis (so, hey, not too much of a departure from the usual!), as I don't have BTN Plus and didn't get to watch this game. With that said, it is nice to see a basketball box score of any kind, even if this game technically didn't count for anything.
Regardless, the Wolverines took the court against an overmatched Wayne State squad, looking to get some shots up before next week's Legends Classic Ann Arbor Regional (and, presumably, continuation of the Classic over in Brooklyn against potential opponents like Oregon, VCU and Villanova.
Wayne State tied the game at 2-2 95 seconds into the game, but Michigan answered with a Caris LeVert layup 12 seconds later, assisted by freshman Kameron Chatman. Another LeVert layup and a Zak Irvin dunk later, and the Wolverines were up 6-2, eventually cruising to a 5-of-7 start from the field.
By the half, the score stood at 40-24. Less than six minutes into the second frame, the Wolverines upped their lead to 27, en route to the final score of 86-43.
LeVert led the Wolverines with a game-high 30 minutes and 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, plus a game-high six assists. He is Michigan's best player, but you already knew that; after all, he even looked like Michigan's best player at points last year, and I don't think any of you need reminding that last year's squad had three NBA draft picks.
Irvin wasn't quite on his game tonight, but still pitched in 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting (1-of-4 from beyond the arc). He also snagged five boards, but did turn it over a couple of times. Walton also had an off night from downtown (1-of-4, 2-of-6 overall), but dished four assists to zero turnovers.
Chatman logged the most minutes of any freshman with 25. While he shot just 2-of-6 from the field, he reeled in a team-high six boards and dropped four dimes, too. In general, I would much rather see the freshmen grab rebounds and find their elder teammates for easy buckets than have them shooting well and not doing the other things. In that sense, it was a successful outing for the freshman forward. Another plus? He was a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Freshman forward D.J. Wilson also pitched in 9 points on 4-of-8 shooting in 15 minutes. Off the bench, Spike Albrecht played 20 minutes, going 2-of-3 from the field and picking up two assists to one turnover.
Late in the game, Austin Hatch buried a free throw to give the Wolverines a 43-point lead; no such free throw in the history of Michigan basketball has been so imbued with pathos and triumph as this one.
Who says this didn't mean anything?