The Michigan Wolverines rolled past the William & Mary Tribe in a 123-79 blowout win at the Crisler Center on Sunday. Michigan was powered by eight players scoring in double figures to help improve to 3-1 with a second consecutive win.
Here’s the recap, highlights and stats.
FIRST HALF
The opening stages of the game were owned by Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr, who caught fire with nine points in the first four minutes to help take a 12-5 lead. Gayle scored an and-one layup, and knocked down a pair of three-pointers
early on.
Gayle wasn’t the only Michigan guard that made his presence felt, though, as Elliot Cadeau lost his defender with a nasty crossover and finished a layup, before finding forward Quinn Costello for a three-pointer to extend the lead to 23-18.
William & Mary continued to find success from beyond the arc, remaining within striking distance throughout the half. Michigan grabbed a 29-21 lead as Gayle threw down a fastbreak alley-oop dunk, but the Tribe answered with a 9-4 run.
The Wolverines had a response of their own, knocking down three straight three-pointers from Trey McKenney, Cadeau and Costello to extend the lead to 44-35. During the run, Michigan held William & Mary scoreless for nearly three minutes.
Michigan took a 48-43 lead into halftime after forcing 14 turnovers and scoring 23 points off turnovers in the first half. The Wolverines had a 14-2 edge in fastbreak points, but William & Mary shot 7-for-14 from three-point range to keep it close.
HALFTIME: Michigan 48, William & Mary 43
SECOND HALF
Michigan came out of the locker room with a boost in energy and intensity, going on a 15-4 run to start the half. McKenney and Cadeau got into the paint and finished and-one layups, and Estrella scored a putback to take a 63-47 lead.
The Wolverines continued to pour it on as center Moustapha Thiam threw down a dunk and Cadeau connected from beyond the arc to take a 70-53 lead. Estrella also had back to back dunks to help the lead balloon to 76-58 with 13:19 left.
Michigan wasn’t done quite yet though as guard Ricky Liburd came through with the highlight of the day, snatching a steal in the open court and throwing down a ferocious poster dunk to get the crowd on its feet and push the lead to 92-66.
With most of the starters out of the game, Michigan’s bench came in and got into the action. Costello continued his hot start to the season with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, followed by forward Jalen Reed scoring back-to-back buckets.
The Wolverines eventually cruised to a runaway 123-79 win after outscoring William & Mary, 75-36 in the second half. Costello and Thiam led the charge with a game-high 16 points each as Michigan finished with a season-best 123 points.
FINAL SCORE: Michigan 123, William & Mary 79
MICHIGAN STAT LEADERS
- C Moustapha Thiam: 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks
- F Quinn Costello: 16 points, 3 rebounds
- F JP Estrella: 15 points, 7 rebounds
- G Trey McKenney: 14 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds
- G Roddy Gayle Jr: 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
- G Elliot Cadeau: 11 points, 11 assists, 3 steals
- F Oscar Goodman: 11 points, 8 rebounds
- G Kenny Noland: 11 points, 3 assists
WILLIAM & MARY STAT LEADERS
- F Stas Sivka: 13 points, 6 rebounds
- F Brian Carter Jr: 10 points, 2 rebounds
- G Ethan Connery: 8 points, 3 assists
UP NEXT
Michigan will hit the road for a marquee matchup at the Villanova Wildcats on Saturday (7:00 PM on FOX).
