Desperate Michigan basketball protects home court, beats Maryland 83-64

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines basketball protected home court and ended its three-game losing skid with a 83-64 win over Maryland at Crisler Center Tuesday night. U-M scored 32 seconds in and led for the entirety of the game.

Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson returned to the starting lineup after missing Friday’s game at Illinois due to “conditioning and stamina concerns.” Senior forward Brandon Johns Jr. missed his third consecutive game due to medical concerns.

Here is a recap of how the game unfolded.

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First Half

Dickinson started with a bang, nailing a short jump shot from the left side to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead on the game’s opening possession. He assisted on a freshman wing Caleb Houstan three-pointer the next trip down, with Michigan taking a 5-0 edge.

Dickinson’s early activity sparked a 9-4 start in the first four minutes for the Maize and Blue. Four different Wolverines made the team’s first four buckets, with fifth-year senior guard DeVante’ Jones and freshman forward Moussa Diabate also getting in on the scoring action.

Maryland battled back to make it 11-9, before Houstan came alive, with back-to-back layups, including an and-one and made free throw, to make it 16-9 at the 11:53 mark.

A dunk from Diabate at 10:59 gave Michigan a 20-9 advantage, its largest lead to that point. The Wolverines then held a 22-11 lead at the under-eight media timeout with 7:55 remaining. At that point, Houstan (eight points) and Diabate (six) combined for 14 of Michigan’s 22.

Jones hit a top-of-the-key triple, which was followed up by a stop and a rare three-point make from Dickinson, his sixth of the season, to open up a 28-14 lead with 5:37 to go. Fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks took it to the rack in transition following a Dickinson steal, got fouled, made both free throws and put Michigan ahead 30-14 on the next play.

Brooks found a rolling Diabate for an easy dunk at the 3:49 mark. Michigan led, 32-14, forcing Maryland head coach Danny Manning to call a timeout. At that point, the Terrapins hadn’t scored in 3:20, and made just one of their last seven shots.

Michigan got a stop right out of the timeout, and Jones drilled his second three-pointer of the contest to open up a 21-point lead (35-14), capping off a 13-0 spurt.

Maryland junior forward Donta Scott stopped the bleeding by getting fouled and making a pair of free throws to make it 35-16 at the 2:56 mark.

Michigan led by a score of 39-19 at the half, behind 55-percent shooting and four made threes on 10 attempts. Jones, Diabate and Houstan each had 10 points to pace the Maize and Blue.

Second Half

Michigan opened up a 46-21 second-half lead, before Maryland’s Eric Ayala hit a run-stopping lead with 17:31 to play. Scott cut into the lead even further, making two-straight layups underneath, cutting the Terps’ deficit to 48-30 at the 16:04 mark. Michigan head man Juwan Howard called timeout following Scott’s second make.

At that point, Maryland had scored 11 second-half points and made all five of its shots in the first four minutes out of the break.

Brooks nailed a left-corner triple out of the timeout, but Ayala answered with one of his own from the same spot on the other end of the floor to make it 51-33 with 15:30 to play.

Scott drove and got an and-one in transition, with a made foul shot, to further trim the Michigan lead to 57-41 at the 11:57 mark. Terrapin freshman forward Julian Reese made a three to make it 57-44 with 11:12 remaining.

Maryland fifth-year senior guard Fatts Russell missed a layup in transition, allowing the Wolverines to go the other way. Brooks led the break, and lobbed it to a diving freshman guard Frankie Collins, who got enough of the ball to lay in the alley oop. That play sparked a quick 6-0 run to extend the Wolverines’ lead to give Michigan a 63-44 edge with nine minutes to go.

Diabate was called for an off-ball offensive foul at the 4:48 mark, and Howard took exception to the call. He was issued a technical foul after exchanging words with the official. Ayala went to the line and made one of his two free throws. The Wolverines led, 71-49, following the play.

Howard emptied the bench with three minutes remaining. Sophomore guard Jace Howard saw his first taste of playing time, and walk-on fifth-year senior Jaron Faulds, who made a layup with two minutes to go, reentered the game to close things out and give Dickinson a break.

Dickinson paced Michigan with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists, while three other Wolverines — Jones, Diabate and Houstan — also scored in double figures.

The Wolverines beat Maryland for the fourth-straight time in the series by a final score of 83-64.