Wolverines keep rolling, move to 11-0 with 81-66 win over West Virginia
12/16/2012NEW YORK — Tim Burke scored a season-best 27 points, Tim Hardaway, Jr., matched his season high with 25 and No. 3 Michigan remained unbeaten with an 81-66 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night at the Barclays Center.
The Wolverines (11-0) were last off to this good a start in 1988-89 — the season they won the school's only national championship.
Burke and Hardaway both had solid all-around games in the backcourt. Burke was 12 of 16 from the field and had eight assists, while Hardaway was 7 of 12 and made half of his eight 3-point attempts.
Freshman Terry Henderson had a season-high 23 points for the Mountaineers (4-5), who lost their second straight after a three-game winning streak.
Michigan led 43-32 at halftime and was able to extend the lead with some efficient shooting. The Wolverines started the second half 9 of 16 from the field, a number that was made a lot better by West Virginia missing 12 of its first 15 shots over the same span.
The Wolverines led 54-36 on a drive by Burke with 17:04 to play. It looked as if Michigan would match its season average of winning every game by an average of 21 points.
West Virginia finally started making some shots and the Mountaineers were able to get within 71-64 on a 3 by Henderson with 4:28 to play.
The rally took its toll on West Virginia and the Wolverines were able to straighten things out and pull away.
West Virginia finished 6 of 21 from behind the arc, 3 of 15 in the second half.
Michigan shot 56 percent from the field (28 of 50) with an almost even split in each half.