No. 24 Michigan Overcomes Howard, Detroit 71-62
NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Caris LeVert had 21 points and nine rebounds, and No. 24 Michigan scored 11 straight points late in the second half to hold off upset-minded Detroit 71-62 on Thursday night.
Juwan Howard Jr. — whose father was a star for Michigan's Fab Five — had 24 points and eight rebounds for Detroit, keeping the visiting Titans (1-2) in the game until the final minutes. After a three-point play by Howard tied it at 52, Michigan (3-0) slowly took control again with LeVert, Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton leading the decisive run.
The Titans have lost their last 14 meetings with Michigan. Detroit's most recent victory in the series was in 1981.
Irvin scored 18 points and Walton added 16 for Michigan. Nobody else had more than six points for the Wolverines.
With Michigan up 52-46, Howard made a 3-pointer, then added a three-point play to tie it with 5:39 remaining. The Wolverines scored the next 11 points — all by their impressive trio of LeVert, Irvin and Walton. Irvin made two 3s during the run, the second of which put Michigan up 63-52.
Michigan trailed 28-27 at halftime and was down 34-30 early in the second half before scoring 13 straight points. LeVert scored the last 10 points of that run.
Brandan Kearney scored 14 points and Paris Bass had 12 for the Titans.
TIP-INS
Detroit: Carlton Brundidge, who played at Michigan in 2011-12 before transferring, played 11 minutes for the Titans but did not score.
Michigan: The Wolverines shot only 34 percent in the first half, although they helped themselves with eight offensive rebounds. Michigan managed only one more offensive rebound in the second half. ... Walton, Irvin and LeVert each played at least 38 points. The Wolverines can expect a lot from that trio, but nobody else made more than two field goals Thursday. Spike Albrecht had six points, four assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes.
UP NEXT
Detroit: Hosts South Alabama on Thursday.
Michigan: Against Oregon at the Barclays Center in New York on Monday night.
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