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Michigan hosted Elon University on Friday night in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis college basketball tournament.
After a slow start the game, the Wolverines settled in to cruise to a 70-50 victory to improve to 3-0 on the young season. Juwan Howard is off to a strong start in his first stint as a head coach, though far bigger tests await than Michigan’s opening three games against Appalachian State, Creighton and Elon. The Wolverines will potentially play North Carolina later in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, and have future out of conference games against No. 4 Louisville and No. 14 Oregon coming in December.
Below are five takeaways from Friday’s victory for the Wolverines:
1. RESPONDING TO A SLOW START
Michigan opened the game sluggish and uninterested. Through the first ten minutes of play, the Wolverines shot 3-of-12 from the floor — including 1-of-7 from three-point range — and turned the ball over five times. Michigan finished the first half strong however to take a 31-22 into halftime, and carried that into the second half. The Wolverines finished the game 28-of-58 from the field (48 percent) and had just 5 turnovers in the final 30 minutes of play.
2. TESKE DOMINATES THE PAINT
Jon Teske’s game mirrored the Wolverines’ in that he responded after a slow start of his own. The 7-foot center was easily the biggest guy on the floor Friday night, and started to play like it around the midway mark of the first half. Teske finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals to help the Wolverines pull away. The big man also help Michigan dominate the Elon in the paint, as the Wolverines outscored the Pheonix 34-16 down low.
3. DAVID DEJULIUS CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
The Wolverines needed a spark after the slow start on Friday night, and that spark came in the form of sophomore David DeJulius. In the first half, the combo-guard had 8 points and a team-leading 8 rebounds for Michigan despite being the shortest player on the floor for the Wolverines. DeJulius finished with 10 points but did not add to his rebounding total in the second half.
4. SHARE THE WEALTH
Michigan finished the game with four players (Teske, DeJulius, Zavier Simpson, Eli Brooks) scoring in the double digits, and junior Isaiah Livers was close to double figures with 9 points. The Wolverines moved the ball well offensively, and got multiple people involved once they settled into the game. Michigan finished the game with 12 assists — Simpson led the Wolverines with 7 assists.
5. REBOUNDING STILL A CONCERN
Michigan has struggled to rebound in the early goings this season, and that continued to some degree in this contest. The Wolverines out-rebounded Elon 38-31, but edging the oversized Pheonix by only seven is disappointing. This has become a trend for Michigan this season. The Wolverines were out-rebounded 38-27 against Creighton, after giving up an ugly 18 offensive rebounds to the Bluejays earlier this week. Michigan also struggled to out-rebound lowly Appalachian State in the opener (34-33).