Game recap: Michigan beats Jackson State in pre-Thanksgiving tilt

Michigan basketball moved to 5-1 on the season with a 78-68 win over Jackson State on Wednesday night in Ann Arbor. It was a bit of sleepy start to the night, but a workmanlike effort on an evening where the effort was good on both ends of the floor until the final minutes of the game.

Freshman wing Jett Howard led all scorers with 19 points, while junior forward Terrance Williams had 11 points on the evening. The team shot 42% from the floor (25-for-59) on a night where junior center Hunter Dickinson was a bit limited after a lower body injury in the first half. He would finish with 9 points and 12 rebounds.

First half

Things started slow for Michigan to start this contest. The team could only muster a single bucket at the under-16 timeout and started the game 1-for-7 from the floor on a 3-pointer from graduate point guard Jaelin Llewellyn. Jackson State would lead 6-3 at the 15:11 media timeout.

Sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin came out of the media timeout with a 3-pointer, tying the game at 6-6. JSU would answer at the other end of the floor before two Dickinson free throws, tying the game at 8-8. Dickinson came out of the game after that, grimacing and being looked at on the bench by a trainer. He would jog to the locker room during the under-12 timeout with the game tied 13-13 following a 3-pointer from freshman Dug McDaniel.

The bench unit, headlined by McDaniel, Joey Baker, Jace Howard and Youssef Khayat gave the Wolverines a lift and helped lead them to an 18-17 lead at the under-8 media timeout. Dickinson returned from the locker room and was stretching out on the sideline and checked back in with the starters with just under 7 minutes to go in the first half. Dickinson tied the game on a baseline jumper with just over 6 minutes to play in the half to tie the game at 22-22. A bucket from Terrance Williams gave Michigan a 24-22 lead before a Jackson State timeout at the 5:16 mark. Michigan would hold a 28-27 lead at the under-4 media timeout after a JSU 3-pointer.

The Wolverines used a 9-0 run to close out the half to take a 37-27 lead into the locker room. They shot 41% from the field in the opening half and shot 5-for-16 from 3-point range (31%).

Second half

Michigan got the scoring started in the 2nd half thanks to a bucket from Williams. An and-1 opportunity was wasted on a missed free throw, but the lead was 39-27 in the opening moments of the half. The Wolverines would stretch their lead to 47-34 at the under-16 media timeout. Williams rattled off a quick 7 points to lead U-M in scoring through 25.5 minutes of basketball.

Michigan would hold a 51-39 lead at the 11:59 mark and under-12 media timeout. A 3-pointer from graduate Joey Baker out of the media timeout would stretch the lead to 54-39 with 11:31 remaining before adding another on the next trip down the floor, putting things at 57-39. A 3-pointer from Jett Howard shortly after helped the Wolverines to a 60-43 lead with 9:38 remaining in the game. McDaniel’s jumper and a layup from Howard helped extend the lead to 64-43 with 8:49 to go.

A small 10-5 run from Jackson State had the score at 69-53 in favor of Michigan at the final media timeout. With about 5 minutes to go, the starting lineup was put back into the game in an attempt to close out the victory. JSU got the lead down to 69-55 with under 3 minutes to play, but Jett Howard’s 3 extended it back to 72-55 with 2:21 to go. A 3-pointer at the other end from JSU’s Gabe Watson had the score at 72-58 with 2:03 to go before a U-M timeout.

Another Watson 3 narrowed the deficit to 72-61 with 1:45 remaining. JSU’s Trace Young dunked with under a minute to go to get things to 72-63. Bufkin would turn the ball over that led to a JSU layup with 27 seconds left to narrow the deficit to 72-65.

Llewellyn made a pair of free throws to stretch it back to 74-65 before a 3-pointer at the other end for JSU. Jackson State had to found down 74-68, which led to another pair of Llewellyn makes at the other end to go back up 76-68. Llewellyn was fouled with 11.7 to go and made both attempts at the line again, helping secure a 78-68 victory.

Next up for Michigan is a showdown with Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night in Ann Arbor. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Michigan vs. Jackson State: Full box score, statistics