Michigan cruised past Charlotte (1-4) to advance to the fifth place game in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday evening. The Wolverines had the 49ers doubled up at halftime, 44-22, and cruised easily to the 102-47 victory. Michigan will face Texas on Friday night (7 p.m., AXSTV).
It was over when
The game was never competitive after Michigan made eight shots in a row to stretch its lead to 22-9, a stretch that was capped by a spinning Moritz Wagner layup with a foul. But the Wolverines put the game to bed once and for all in the first 133 seconds of the second half with a 10-2 run to stretch their lead to 30 points.
Player of the Game: Moritz Wagner
Mortiz Wagner rose from fourth big in the rotation to first big man off the bench by the start of the Battle 43 Atlantis, but he broke out on Thursday night in the Bahamas. Wagner had 15 points in the first half and scored on a variety of moves including a pair of hard drives from the top of the key, drop off passes off of the pick and roll, a putback and even a pick-and-pop triple for good measure. Wagner finished the game with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting in 16 minutes.
Stat of the game: Second half shooting
Michigan shot the lights out in the second half to blow the game open. The Wolverines had a 100% second half effective field goal percentage with just over six minutes to play before emptying their bench. The Wolverines finished the game shooting with a 71% effective field goal percentage thanks to 10 of 15 three-point shooting in the final 20 minutes.
Room for improvement
Time to prove it on the big stage. There wasn’t much that Michigan did wrong in this game, but the Wolverines will have a chance to prove they can win a big game against a high-major foe on Friday against Texas. Texas has size, length and athleticism and is ranked 43rd in the country according to KenPom.
