ANN ARBOR, Mich. — New year, same results.
No. 16 Michigan rang in 2021 in impressive fashion on Sunday night, using a season-high 12 made 3-pointers and a resounding all-around effort to throttle No. 19 Northwestern, 85-66, at Crisler Center.
It was the first time in the all-time series — 175 total meetings — both teams were ranked in the Top 25 when they squared off. But this time, it wasn’t much of a contest.
After relying on the long ball and draining nine 3-pointers in the first half to build a 14-point lead, the Wolverines turned to freshman center Hunter Dickinson to blow the game open. And he wasted little time going to work, scoring 11 of Michigan’s 13 points — a stretch that featured a dunk, two mid-range jumpers and a three-point play — less than four minutes into the second half.
Most of Dickinson’s damage came during the early portion of a 22-7 spurt that senior forward Isaiah Livers capped with a fast-break layup, pull-up 3-pointer and fallaway jumper, giving the Wolverines a comfortable 67-41 cushion with 12:12 to play.
Michigan’s 11th and 12th made 3-pointers, courtesy of junior forward Brandon Johns Jr. and senior guard Eli Brooks, set the new season mark and provided the Wolverines with their largest lead, 77-48, at the 7:37 mark. It also put the game well out of reach, as the Wildcats trailed by at least 20 points until the closing seconds.
Dickinson finished with 19 points — 15 coming in the second half — to lead another balanced attack for Michigan (9-0, 4-0 Big Ten), which shot 50% from the field (32-for-64) and 44.4% from 3-point range (12-for-27) and saw five players finish in double figures.
Sophomore wing Franz Wagner had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, while Brooks and senior guard Chaundee Brown scored 14 apiece and senior forward Isaiah Livers added 10 points.
Robbie Beran scored 14, Miller Kopp 13 and Pete Nance 10 for Northwestern (6-3, 3-2), which was handed its ninth straight defeat in Ann Arbor and hasn’t won at Crisler Center since Jan. 10, 2010.
The Wildcats entered the game as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation, knocking down 42.4% of their shots from beyond the arc and averaging 10 made deep balls per game. But on Sunday, they shot 27.8% from deep (5-for-18) as the Wolverines dominated the long-range battle.
The Wolverines created open long-range shots out of the double-teams, dribble penetration and extra passes, collapsing the Wildcats’ defense to rip off an 18-4 run. Michigan took advantage of the open 3-point looks during the flurry and buried four deep balls to take a 20-12 lead with 9:43 left in the first half.
That was a sign of things to come as the 3-pointers kept falling at a high rate. Brown splashed a 3-pointer — Michigan’s sixth in the first half — and added a steal and fast-break dunk off a turnover from guard Boo Buie to widen the lead to 34-24 at the 4:04 mark. Brown was called for a technical for hanging on the rim and Buie was injured on the play, needing to be helped off the court after staying down for a few minutes.
Michigan continued to make it rain from deep and closed out the half with a flourish. Thanks to a string of defensive stops and crisp ball movement, the Wolverines used a 9-0 run with three combined 3-pointers from Brooks and Wagner to put the Wildcats in a 43-29 halftime hole.
