The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/106890
men's basketball seeing his efforts at West Virginia? Dakich: "He fit these pieces [at West Virginia] around what he had always done. It's no surprise what he's doing at Michigan. It's no surprise that he's doing it in a way that people who are Michigan fans are absolutely proud of how the thing is going." — John Borton Basketball Notebook • Junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr. notched a career-high seven assists in Michigan's 93-54 romp past Eastern Michigan Dec. 20 at Crisler Center. Sophomore guard Trey Burke led the Wolverines with eight assists, and U-M set a season high with 26 as a team in the contest. • Michigan enjoyed a season-best 10 steals in the victory over EMU, paced by three from freshman forward Mitch McGary. The Wolverines also forced Eastern into 18 turnovers, tying a season high by a U-M opponent. • Michigan's 88-73 win over Central Michigan Dec. 29 wrapped up a 13-0 nonconference season — the second-best start in U-M basketball history and the ninth perfect record ever in the pre-Big Ten campaign. The Wolverines hadn't gotten to Big Ten play undefeated since the Big Ten championship season of 1985-86, when they also started 13-0. • Hardaway did not play against CMU due to an ankle injury, marking the first game he'd ever missed in a Michigan uniform. This absence broke his string of consecutive starts, which had grown to 81. • Freshman guard Caris LeVert stepped in for his first career start in the win over Central, replacing Hardaway in the lineup. LeVert scored nine points, dished out five assists and grabbed two rebounds on the night. • The Wolverines managed a season-low three turnovers in the win over the Chippewas. Meanwhile, Burke tied a career high with 11 assists. • Freshman wing Nik Stauskas tied a career high with five three-point field goals in the game. He also notched five triples in the win over Eastern Michigan. Stauskas also hit the glass, setting a career best with seven rebounds. • Two other freshman Wolverines set career marks in the win over the Chippewas, LeVert with five assists and McGary with a pair of blocked shots. • Michigan moved to 61-35 all time in Big Ten openers with a resounding 9466 win at Northwestern Jan. 3. The game featured Hardaway's return from an ankle injury, and the Wolverines scoring on its first eight possessions to take full control from the opening tip. • U-M scored 51 points in the first half against Northwestern, its season high for an opening 20 minutes. Michigan's 94 points marked the first time the Wol-