Wolverines Beat Pine Bluff, 63-50
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) - A 19-0 run by the Wolverines in the first half helped Michigan beat Arkansas Pine Bluff 63 -50 on Tuesday.
As heard on the Michigan Flagship station WWJ 950 - The Wolverines were actually down 6-5 before moving into overdrive aided by freshman Trey Burke's 15 points.
Evan Smotrycz added 16 points for the Wolverines (8-2) and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored eight. Lazabian Jackson scored 23 points for the Golden Lions (1-6).
UAPB doesn't have a home game scheduled this season until Jan. 14.
Jackson made two 3-pointers to give the Golden Lions a 6-5 lead, but Michigan responded with its 19-0 run and wasn't threatened again. A 3-pointer by Stu Douglass put the Wolverines ahead 32-8, and it was 37-17 at halftime.
UAPB made four 3-pointers in the first half but was 1 of 18 from inside the arc.
The only anxious moment for Michigan came late in the first half when Hardaway, the team's leading scorer, came down hard after jumping up on a shot fake. Hardaway stayed down on his stomach for a bit as the crowd became quiet, then he headed toward the sideline. He came back in the second half.
Matt Vogrich, who was 1 of 13 from 3-point range entering the game, made three shots from long distance in the second half. He finished with 11 points.
UAPB had no balance to speak of on offense. Jackson showed impressive range, going 6 of 11 from 3-point territory, but the rest of the Golden Lions struggled. At one point early in the second half, Jackson had 17 of his team's 20 points.
He got more help after that, but it wasn't enough. Jackson had to be helped off the court with 11.7 seconds left after going down near midcourt with what appeared to be pain in his left leg.
UAPB will play at Akron on Thursday night. The long stretch without a home game is fairly common for the Southwestern Athletic Conference school. A couple seasons ago - at the end of a similar stretch away from home - UAPB's athletic director estimated the school had earned about $800,000 by playing all those road games, about one-fourth of the athletic department's total revenue.
Burke had seven assists and six rebounds for Michigan, and Smotrycz contributed eight rebounds. Although the Wolverines were comfortably ahead after the opening minutes, coach John Beilein didn't go too deep into his bench until he finally put Carlton Brundidge and Colton Christian into the game with 1:04 remaining.
Even then, starters Burke and Jordan Morgan remained on the court.
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