No. 2 Michigan still unbeaten on the road with win over Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill.— Many have tried but nobody has been able to knock off the Michigan Wolverines in any game they’ve played away from home.

Add the Northwestern Wildcats to that growing list.

Behind a furious second-half rally, No. 2 Michigan overcame a 16-point deficit to keep its unbeaten road record intact and created some separation atop the Big Ten standings by dropping Northwestern, 87-75, at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday.

L.J. Cason scored 18 and Yaxel Lendeborg had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Michigan (23-1, 13-1 Big Ten), which has built a two-game lead in the race for the conference regular-season title.

The Wolverines improved to 12-0 in games not played in Ann Arbor, Mich., and 7-0 on the road in league play. They’ve also won nine straight overall, a stretch that includes five Big Ten road wins by a double-digit margin. But this one didn’t come easy.

Down nine at the break following a forgettable first half that was riddled with defensive lapses, poor shooting and unforced errors, Michigan needed to muster a response at the start of the second half. Instead, it fell into a deeper hole.

A live-ball turnover by Aday Mara led to a fast-break layup the other way. A missed open 3-pointer by Nimari Burnett preceded a basket in the paint. A lazy pass by Elliot Cadeau was swiped and taken the other way for a layup. That gave Northwestern a 54-41 lead and forced a Michigan timeout with 15:29 remaining.

Things didn’t get much better after the timeout. Michigan couldn’t buy a bucket and missed nine of its first 11 shots, including six in a row at one point. The Wildcats capped off an 8-1 spurt with a possession where they scored after grabbing two offensive rebounds to make it 58-42 at the 14:22 mark.

Michigan started to mount a comeback when it finally strung together shots and stops. Roddy Gayle Jr. threw down a baseline dunk. Morez Johnson Jr. scored on a spin and finish at the rim. The Wolverines clawed back with a 16-2 flurry.

The run ended with a string of 11 unanswered points. After a hook-and-hold flagrant was called on Northwestern after a video review, Lendeborg scored on a driving layup. Trey McKenney followed with a corner 3-pointer. A steal and blocked shot by Johnson on back-to-back possessions led to more points, including an alley-oop slam from Johnson on a fast break that pulled Michigan within 60-58 with 9:38 to go.

Northwestern snapped the run when Mara was called for a flagrant foul on Nick Martinelli after a review. That led to a four-point possession where Martinelli made both free throws and Arrinten Page (11 points) scored inside to make it a six-point game.

Michigan kept pushing and eventually took the lead with a game-changing 23-4 run. Cason and McKenney each drained a 3-pointer during a string of eight unanswered points that gave the Wolverines a 68-67 edge at the 7:14 mark.

After Northwestern regained the lead briefly, Lendeborg put Michigan back in front for good with a driving layup at the 5:51 mark before Mara capped a string of seven unanswered points with an alley-oop slam off a pass from Cason.

By the time the Wolverines put the finishing touches on the flurry with a string of dunks from Johnson, Mara and Lendeborg, they led 83-71 with 2:01 to go. Northwestern never got closer than eight the rest of the way as Michigan made four free throws in the final 56 seconds to seal it.

Mara finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, Johnson added 12 points and nine rebounds, and McKenney scored 12 for Michigan, which shot 55.2% from the field during its 52-point second half.

Jayden Reid scored 20 and Martinelli, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 22.7 points per game, finished with 18 points on 22 shots for Northwestern (10-15, 2-12), which shot 40% for the game and 30.8% during a 31-point second half.

The point guards got the ball rolling for both sides. Cadeau had a hand in Michigan’s first 10 points, with a pair of 3-pointers and two alley-oop feeds to Mara and Johnson.

Reid countered Cadeau and was responsible for Northwestern’s first 11 points. Reid made his first three shots, including two deep balls, had an assist and scored eight straight for Northwestern in the opening four minutes. Reid’s second 3-pointer keyed a 7-0 spurt that put the Wildcats in front, 15-10, with 15:19 left in the first half.

After Cadeau delivered a pocket pass to Lendeborg for an and-1 layup, Cason came in and provided a boost. Cason hit an and-1 jumper that drew Reid’s second foul at the 14:34 mark. Cason then forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions when Michigan was pressing, including intercepting a pass that he took the other way for a layup to tie it at 17.

Things quickly went sideways for the Wolverines after that as Northwestern took control. They hit a brutal stretch where they turned it over four times, missed nine consecutive shots and went scoreless for more than five minutes. The Wildcats, who made 10 of their first 16 shots, took advantage with a 12-0 burst and pulled ahead, 29-17, at the 10:05 mark.

After Cadeau connected with Lendeborg on an alley-oop dunk to end the scoreless drought, Michigan continued to look out of sorts. Cadeau had errant passes for turnovers on back-to-back possessions. Johnson picked up his second foul battling for an offensive rebound. Northwestern kept knocking down jumpers. Michigan struggled to make anything inside or outside the arc.

The Wolverines could only trim the deficit to six before one of their worst halves of the season ended with them trailing 44-35 at the break.

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