Against the best opponent they’ve faced in over a month, Michigan got off to a fast start and managed to keep Indiana at arm’s length for a comfortable win. The Wolverines scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions and managed to draw two fouls on each of Indiana’s stars within the first four minutes of the game. Michigan led 9-6 when Juwan Morgan and Romeo Langford each committed their second fouls on the same possession, and went on a 23-7 run from there. While Indiana managed to briefly cut the deficit to seven in the second half, the game was never really close.

Charles Matthews set the tone for Michigan. The senior wing faced a head-to-head matchup with Langford, a projected NBA lottery pick, and seemed to relish the opportunity. On Indiana’s first possession, Indiana ran a horns set for Langford, and Matthews stole it from him — forcing Langford to give a transition foul. Matthews drove and forced a tripping foul on Morgan. He hit a three after Langford helped off him in the corner. He rejected a side ball screen, drove baseline, and then dunked on Langford for an and-one. He made all of those plays before the first TV timeout.

Archie Miller subbed Morgan and Langford out, and Matthews continued to dominate. He harassed Zach McRoberts into a travel, then scored after steals in short succession — he swiped the ball from Al Durham and made an acrobatic layup over three defenders in transition, then he swiped a pass and threw down a big two-handed dunk. Matthews made highlight plays on both ends throughout the first half, totaling 16 points, two made threes, and three steals. Langford would wind up scoring 17 points (and Matthews finished with 18), but the latter decisively won the matchup with his impact early in the game.

He and Jordan Poole paced a Michigan offense that scored 1.42 points per possession and only turned it over twice in the first half. Poole hit threes on back to back possessions to start Michigan’s big run, he operated the pick-and-roll well, and finished with 12 points in the half. Miller subbed Morgan and Langford back in an attempt to stave off that run, but the Wolverines stayed hot. An Eli Brooks pocket pass to Brandon Johns — who contributed solid minutes for the first time this season — produced a layup and a 32-13 Michigan lead with 8:30 left in the first half. The Hoosiers only managed to cut it to 15 by halftime.

[Campredon]

After the half, Morgan began to drag Indiana back into the game. He was very active in the first half — scoring 10 points on 13 shot equivalents — against Jon Teske in the post, and stepped out and hit a pick-and-pop three late in the half. After the break, Indiana gave him the ball on their first three possessions: he scored a tough bucket over Teske, and then drew the second and third fouls on Michigan’s starting center. Johns fared better than Austin Davis in relief of Teske, as the latter committed a handful of fouls on Morgan in the second half. Neither were able to slow Morgan down though, and he finished with a game-high 25 points.

Michigan led by 16 with 14:30 left in the game when Indiana went on a quick 7-0 run, capped by a Devonte Green three-pointer on a botched switch. Johns capped off a long possession with a put-back dunk to stem the bleeding, but then Langford scored on back-to-back trips, the second of which came off a Morgan offensive rebound. The lead was down to seven with over ten minutes left in the game, and the Hoosiers were threatening. Zavier Simpson scored a big basket, getting into the lane and scoring with his sweeping hook, to stop the run, then he dished an assist to Matthews underneath.

Ignas Brazdeikis, who had a relatively quiet game by his standards, was fouled by Morgan on a jumper off a side ball-screen; it was Morgan’s fourth — and many of the others had been similarly senseless. Simpson had a few more assists with passes to Johns on the pick-and-roll (one of which he dunked) and the game was on ice. Michigan was able to outpace Indiana in a more offensively-oriented contest, which never was that competitive. Matthews and Poole were effective, particularly as Michigan built its lead, and Johns provided a nice lift off the bench with Livers out again.

Michigan’s now 15-0 and 4-0 in Big Ten play — tied with Michigan State atop the conference. The Wolverines and Hoosiers each had players out due to injury, and the early fouls on Morgan and Langford put Indiana in too deep of a hole to dig out of on the road against a top five team. The Wolverines will test their undefeated record on the road against Illinois (possibly the worst team in the league) on Thursday night.

[Box score after the JUMP]