20-0 run propels Wolverines in blowout

12/21/2012

ANN ARBOR — Tim Hardaway, Jr., had 17 points and a career-high seven assists to help No. 2 Michigan rout Eastern Michigan 93-54 on Thursday night.

The Wolverines (12-0) are off to their best start since winning the first 16 games of the 1985-86 season.

The Eagles (6-4) have lost two straight games since they defeated Purdue.

Michigan trailed 6-2 in the opening minutes, then took control with a 20-0 run. The Wolverines led 40-24 at halftime and enjoyed an even bigger cushion for much of the second half.

Eastern Michigan's Daylen Harrison scored 13 points and Glen Bryant had 10.

Michigan's Trey Burke had 11 points and eight assists. Nik Stauskas made three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 16 points, while fellow freshmen Mitch McGary had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double, and Glenn Robinson III added 13 points for the Wolverines.

Burke, the reigning Big Ten player of the week, took the ball from Jalen Ross on the first possession of the game and made a layup.

Ross responded with a 3-pointer and Bryant made another shot from beyond the arc to give the Eagles a four-point lead that proved to be their highlight of the night. Michigan used a balanced offense and aggressive defense to build a 22-6 lead.

The Wolverines then seemed to show some mercy — briefly playing five freshmen, including two that seldom play — and didn't add much to their lead in the first half.

Ross had nine points in the first half but the rest of the Eagles' starters scored just seven points combined. Ross didn't score after halftime.

Jordan Morgan made a low-post shot and a mid-range jumper on Michigan's first two possessions of the second half.

The Wolverines led by 30-plus points with 14 minutes left and coasted to another lopsided victory.

After beating No. 25 North Carolina State by seven points, Michigan won its next five games — against Bradley, Western Michigan, Arkansas, Binghamton, and West Virginia — by an average of 19-plus points to reach its highest ranking since the 1992-93 season, the second year of the Fab Five era.

The Wolverines have one more tuneup — Dec. 29 at home against Central Michigan — before facing Big Ten competition.