No. 20 Michigan Pulls Away To Beat Bradley 77-66
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Evan Smotrycz had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added a soaring dunk during a decisive run in the second half to lead No. 20 Michigan to a 77-66 win over Bradley on Thursday night.
The Wolverines (10-2) overcame uncharacteristically poor shooting in the first half. The game was tied at 45 in the second when Smotrycz made a 3-pointer to put Michigan ahead to stay. Bradley (5-7) still trailed by one at 50-49 when the Wolverines went on a 21-7 run.
Hardaway dunked off an alley-oop pass from Stu Douglass in transition. Hardaway added a layup immediately after that to make it 65-54.
The game was a family reunion of sorts. Michigan coach John Beilein's son Patrick is Bradley's director of basketball operations.
Hardaway scored 16 points, and Jordan Morgan scored 13 of his 15 in the second half. Morgan's inside presence ensured that Michigan wouldn't have to rely on its surprisingly erratic outside shooting.
Trey Burke added 12 points for the Wolverines, and Zack Novak scored 11.
Taylor Brown led the Braves with 17 points, including a 3-pointer from about 35 feet on the final shot of the first half that tied the game at 33.
Bradley had the first half's other highlight too, a dunk by Shayok Shayok that the Bradley freshman celebrated a little too exuberantly. Shayok was called for a technical foul.
All 10 starters finished in double figures, but neither team's bench contributed much scoring. A 3-pointer by Douglass in the first half accounted for all of Michigan's scoring by non-starters.
Bradley's bench was scoreless until Jake Eastman made a 3-pointer late in the second half to make it 75-66.
Walt Lemon Jr. scored 16 points for the Braves, and Shayok, Jordan Prosser and Dyricus Simms-Edwards added 10 each.
The Wolverines shot only 35 percent from the field in the first half of their final tuneup before starting Big Ten play next week against Penn State.
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