Michigan basketball controls the second half, beats Virginia Tech 75-63 behind 20 points from Roddy Gayle Jr.

Michigan Wolverines basketball trailed by 11 points in the first half but came back, led most of the second stanza and won comfortably over Virginia Tech. The Wolverines outscored the Hokies 41-30 in the second half to win 75-63 in the opening round of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

Michigan will face the winner of Xavier and South Carolina Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET at Suncoast Arena for the championship.

The Maize and Blue were led by junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr., who posted a season-high 20 points. The Wolverines shot 40 percent from the field, and made 10 threes on 34 attempts. They turned the ball over 11 times in the first half but only 4 in the second.

Here’s how the game unfolded:

First half

Gayle got the Wolverines going in transition early in the game. He found graduate guard Nimari Burnett for a right-wing three to go up 3-0, and shortly thereafter he was the recipient of a baseball-style pass from graduate Vladislav Goldin for an easy fast-break bucket to make it 5-2 at the 17:46 mark.

Michigan and Virginia Tech were tied at 5-5 at the under-16 media timeout. Michigan made 2 of its first 4 field goal attempts but went cold with 4-straight misses.

The Maize and Blue fell in love with jump shots early on, with 12 of their first 15 field goal attempts coming from long range. They made only 2 of the 12 and saw Virginia Tech go on a 14-3 run to take a 16-8 advantage at the under-12 media timeout. Michigan didn’t score for a period of over four minutes, until redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter made a wide open three from the left corner at the 12:53 juncture.

The Hokies saw 10 of their points come from two-pointers and 6 at the free throw line. Goldin picked up his second foul at the 13:37 mark.

Michigan got some momentum with a 7-0 spurt, fueled by a layup from Gayle, a threre from Burnett and a nifty one-handed two by Tschetter. Virginia Tech answered with five-straight points, though, to take a 26-17 lead at the 7:57 media timeout.

Virginia Tech was hot from the field, making 6 of its last 7 shots. Center Mylyjael Poteat started out strong with 7 points in the first 12 minutes of action.

Gayle continued to be active in the first half. He helped Michigan go on a 6-0 surge with four-straight points, then nailed a three at the 4:57 mark to cut the deficit to two, 28-26, at the 3:58 mark. Michigan was getting after it on the offensive glass, with 9 offensive rebounds, but only got 2 second-chance points out of those opportunities.

Burnett made his third three-pointer of the first half to cap off Michigan’s 12-2 run that gave the Wolverines a 29-28 edge just out of the media timeout, after they trailed for over 10 minutes.

Goldin came back in and played with two fouls, and he added a boost. The Wolverines posted him up, and he drew a double team. He got the ball out of it with a reversal, and graduate guard Rubin Jones hit a right-corner three to put Michigan up 32-30. Goldin drew a charge on the other end of the floor on the next possession.

The Wolverines carried a 34-33 lead into the halftime locker room. They shot 37 percent from the field and turned the ball over 11 times, but got 11 offensive boards and held Virginia Tech to 40 percent shooting. Gayle led Michigan with 11 points, while Tschetter chipped in with 9.

Second half

Michigan started the second half cold, making only 1 of its first 7 field goal attempts before junior guard Tre Donaldson nailed a right-wing three on the assist from junior forward Danny Wolf. The Wolverines had missed 4 layups in the first five minutes of the second half, getting to the rim more but not finishing. Goldin missed 2 but did have a dunk.

Virginia Tech forward Tobi Lawal was a tough cover. He hit a three just before the Donaldson triple and made a pair of free throws after a drive to the rim for the first points of the half.

Donaldson and freshman guard L.J. Cason were heating up for Michigan. Donaldson made another three to tie the game at 46-46, then took it all the way to the rim off of a ball screen a few possessions later. Michigan was dodwn 49-48 at that point, but Cason scored a layup on a strong take and then a quick-trigger three. The Wolverines were on a 7-0 run and led 53-49 at the 11:49 media timeout.

Michigan’s defense really picked up. At the 7:01 mark, Virginia Tech hadn’t scored in 3:52, and it had missed 11 of its last 12 field goal attempts at that point. The Hokies were 6-of-21 from the field in the first 13 minutes of the second half.

Michigan was on a 6-0 run at that juncture. Gayle was aggressive with 4-straight free throw makes, and Goldin finished a dunk with the nifty assist to Donaldson.

Virginia Tech went on a stretch of over six minutes without making a field goal, with Michigan’s defense stepping up but the Hokies also not being able to buy a bucket. guard Brandon Rechsteiner finally ended that droubt with a two-pointer at the 5:20 mark, pulling VT within eight points (63-55).

Michigan benefitted off of getting in the bonus, with Goldin and Wolf each hitting 2 foul shots to give Michigan a 67-55 edge at the under-4 media timeout.

Jones drove into traffic and drew an and-one, making the free throw to give Michigan its largest lead of the game, 70-57, with just over three minutes remaining.

Michigan got a steal and pushed in transition, with Gayle hitting a right-wing three to put the Wolverines up 73-57. Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young called timeout with 2:29 to go, following Gayle’s dagger that just about ended the Hokies’ chances of coming back.

Michigan closed out the game with little drama, winning 75-63.

Michigan vs. Virginia Tech box score