The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines are on an absolute roll right now winning their last four games by a combined 151 points. The latest victory was a 101-60 shellacking of Big Ten foe Rutgers in the first conference game of the season. Michigan started fast and never looked back.

First Half Recap

The first half went well for the Wolverines as they took a 25-point lead into the break, up 50-25. This team is so sound that even when the performance looks good not great, it actually is great. Michigan only turned the ball over four times and shot 58% from the floor in the first half and obviously got out to a sizable lead quickly, but nothing really felt spectacular. However, the stat sheet said otherwise as the Wolverines were efficient and up big.

Morez Johnson Jr. led the way for U-M scoring 15 first-half points, which even included a three-pointer. He was all over the court adding three rebounds, two steals and a block. He also showed off the physicality and athleticism that makes him a real problem for most bigs by running the floor and finishing through contact at the rim.

If there was one somewhat disappointing development in the first half it's that center Aday Mara didn't score until there was 1:15 remaining in the half. He got an easy dunk after running the floor on a fastbreak and added two free throws to finish with four points on just 1-of-2 shooting over the first 20 minutes. He contributed on defense, as always, recording two blocks and altering several other shots.

Standout forward Yaxel Lendeborg finished the first half with a modest eight points but also snagged six rebounds and dished out an assist while finishing a team high +27 in another team high 17 minutes of action.

Second Half Recap

Michigan started the second half with a few stops on defense, but couldn't get anything going on the offensive end. The Wolverines didn't score a point until the 17:48 mark when Johnson Jr. hit his second three-pointer of the game.

At the 15:00-minute mark, Michigan's lead had grown by just three, but Johnson Jr. found himself at the line. He knocked in both free throws making the score 65-35 and pushing the gap to 30. With 14:58 to play, Johnson Jr. now had a game-high 20 points. Johnson checked out of the game at the 14:15 mark to get a breather for all of his hard work.

From the 15-minute mark down to the 12-minute mark, reserve guard LJ Cason caught fire. The 6-2, 195-pounder knocked down three treys in a matter of minutes giving him nine points and pushing U-M's lead out to 37. With the score sitting at 77-40, Rutgers called a timeout as Cason was mobbed by his teammates. The shifty guard usually makes an impact by getting into the lane and finishing around the rim or kicking out to open teammates, but tonight he was hot from the outside.

With three quarters of the game in the books, Michigan was up big over Rutgers, 79-43. Cason, Elliot Cadeau, Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter and Aday Mara were on the court with the 36-point lead. before Lendeborg and Roddy Gayle checked into the game. As the Wolverines prepared for the home stretch, they were up big, not in any sort of foul trouble and quite fresh as head coach Dusty May kept minutes low for every member of his nine-man rotation.

Over the final ten minutes of the game there weren't many noteworthy developments. Freshman sharpshooter Winters Grady got some run and knocked in a couple of three-pointers. It's not surprising either as Grady was on fire during his pregame warmup. Fellow freshman Oscar Goodman electrified the crowd with another big dunk just about 30 second later. The versatile redhead is quickly becoming a fan favorite because of his energy and power at the rim for a youngster.

Not long after that, there was a bit of a dust-up between Grady and a Rutgers player that resulted in a double technical call. But that didn't bother the home crowd. As a matter of fact, the Maize Rage and everyone else in the stands broke into a "down by 40" chant just to remind the Scarlet Knights about the scoreboard.

Once the double techs were sorted out at the 4:33 mark, May started to empty his bench by inserting 7-2, 275-pound German freshman Malick Kordel. The big fella immediately got a block and then a dunk on the other end to put the Wolverines up 41, which blew the top off of Crisler. At that juncture, the Wolverines were up 97-56. 

Even with freshmen and bench players in the game to close it out, the Wolverines were able to win by a whopping 41 points. Dusty May's crew controlled the game from start to finish and coasted to a 101-60 victory. The final box score is below.