Michigan basketball begins Dusty May era in style, destroying Cleveland State 101-53

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines basketball tipped off the Dusty May era in style, thrashing Cleveland State 101-53 Monday night at Crisler Center. The Maize and Blue shot 68 percent from the field and held Cleveland State to 30 percent.

Michigan was without graduate guard Rubin Jones. The team’s starters were junior guard Tre Donaldson, junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr., graduate guard Nimari Burnett, junior forward/center Danny Wolf and graduate center Vladislav Goldin.

Here’s a recap of how the game unfolded.

First half

Michigan junior guard Tre Donaldson scored the first points of the May era, after getting fouled in transition after a steal by junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. Donaldson, an Auburn transfer, had six of the team’s first eight, in fact, with the Wolverines jumping out to an 8-2 start with six of those points coming in transition. Gayle had 2 early steals and hit a long two-pointer, as well.

Cleveland State grabbed 4 offensive boards in the first five minutes, resulting in 4 second-chance points.

Michigan got into the bonus at the 11:57 mark of the first half, running and playing aggressively in getting the ball down hill. The Wolverines scored 10 of their first 21 points from fast breaks. Redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter added a spark off the bench, hitting a three and making a layup for a personal 5-0 run. He finished the half with 9 points.

The Maize and Blue held a 21-13 advantage at the under-12 media timeout, starting 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

A three-pointer by sophomore forward Sam Walters to put Michigan up 35-21 with 7:34 to go in the first half prompted a timeout by Cleveland State head coach Daniyal Robinson. That was the Wolverines’ second three and 12th made field goal of the game.

Michigan got into the double bonus at the 8:52 mark, with Donaldson drawing another foul. Freshman guard Phat Phat Brooks made the first appearance of his career and had an immediate impact, drawing a foul going for a rebound and then making 1 of 2 free throws with 8:35 on the clock. That was part of a 6-0 surge for the Maize and Blue.

Michigan went on a 14-2 and 9-0 run, with some exciting play. Over that span, Cleveland State missed 9 of 10 field goals. At the 3:47 media timeout, the Vikings were on a 3:57 scoring drought. Michigan was shooting 68 percent from the field with 9 points added from the three throw line, a stellar offensive performance.

Michigan finished on an extended 26-7 run, with the crowd coming alive at the end of the half. Just before the buzzer, Gayle sliced into the paint and made Michigan’s 15th shot at the rim.

That put him into double figures, one of three Wolverines with 10-plus points at the break, joining junior forward Danny Wolf (14) and Donaldson (10).

Wolf had a sensational half, posting the aforementioned 14 points with a team-high 8 rebounds. He was loose with the ball several times, though, committing 3 turnovers. He played 16 minutes in the front court.

Michigan scored a whopping 1.5 points per possession in the first half, despite only making 3 three-pointers. The Wolverines had 15 layups/dunks and 11 made free throws. Cleveland State shot only 29 percent from the field, but it did force 7 turnovers and grab 11 offensive rebounds. The Vikings crashed the glass hard, but that only helped Michigan push the tempo, scoring 18 fast-break points.

Second half

Michigan substituted Gayle out of the game just 23 seconds into the half, replacing him with freshman guard L.J. Cason. After scoring 4 points in the first half, he exploded for 8 in the first five minutes of the second stanza, making a pair of threes and a layup with a strong finish at the goal.

Michigan held a 66-33 edge at the media timeout with 15:01 remaining. The Wolverines began the half shooting 5-of-7 from the field.

Michigan continued to roll and had another flurry of scoring. There was a particularly impressive sequence where Tschetter hit Cason on a long pass up the floor for a transition layup, graduate center Vladislav Goldin drew a charge and then Wolf hit a triple from the top of the key. That three put Michigan up 74-38, which was its lead at the under-12 media timeout.

Michigan was on a 17-2 and 10-0 run, leading 86-40 at the under-8 media timeout with 7:34 on the clock. Amazingly, it took until there was 8:09 left for Goldin to score his first points as a Michigan player — to put the Wolverines up 44 points. That was on a dunk with the assist to graduate guard Nimari Burnett. Michigan led 86-40 at the media break.

An emphatic transition dunk by Tschetter brought the house down at Crisler Center, putting Michigan up 95-45 with over four minutes to go. He followed it up with a layup the next time down, giving him 15 points on the night.

Michigan emptied the bench and hit 100 points with walk-on Harrison Hochberg making a layup with under a minute to go, putting the Wolverines up 101-51.

The final score was 101-53. Michigan shot 68 percent from the field, with 10 made threes on 18 tries. Wolf led all scorers with 19 points, and posted a double-double with 13 rebounds. He was joined by Donaldson (16), Tschetter (15), Cason (14) and Gayle (13) as players scoring in double figures.

Michigan vs. Cleveland State box score