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Michigan uses strong second half to beat Oakland

Dec 11, 2011 - 1:50 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points and Trey Burke chipped in 20 points and nine assists as No. 20 Michigan pulled away from Oakland in the second half for a 90-80 win.

Evan Smotrycz netted 20 points and grabbed nine boards for the Wolverines (7-2), who connected on 10-of-16 from beyond the arc in the second half.

The Wolverines knocked down 15-of-28 overall from three and shot 57 percent from the field.

Reggie Hamilton led all scorers with 28 points for Oakland (6-4), which has dropped two straight.

The Wolverines hit six of their first 10 shots, and after Smotrycz connected on a three-pointer from the right wing, Michigan held a 15-4 advantage seven minutes into the contest.

But Oakland hung in the game and continued to chip away at the Wolverines' lead. Travis Bader's three-pointer from the left wing made it a 29-24 game with 2:48 to go in the half.

Using the backdoor play, Drew Valentine found a cutting Laval Lucas-Perry on the left baseline. Fouled on the play, Lucas-Perry hung in the air for an eternity before acrobatically finishing on the other side of the basket with a reverse high off the window. He made the free throw to cap the three-point play as Oakland pulled within 31-27 with 1:32 left in the half.

Bader's three-pointer at the first-half buzzer knotted the game at 32 as the Golden Grizzlies used a 21-7 run to end the stanza.

With Michigan holding a one-point lead, 52-51, the Wolverines used the three- point shot to give themselves some breathing room. Hardaway Jr. hit a pair of straightaway three-pointers, Stu Douglas made a layup in transition and Burke nailed a three from the left wing to cap an 11-2 run to give the Wolverines a 63-53 advantage with 9:08 left in regulation.

"I was really happy the way we handled the adversity. The end of the first half where we didn't really play Michigan basketball," Michigan head coach John Beilein said. "We played Michigan basketball in the second half."

A pair of Hamilton free throws made it a 73-67 game with 4:38 to go, but it was the closest that Oakland got the rest of the way.

The Golden Grizzlies never led in the game although the contest was tied on five occasions.

Game Notes

Oakland knocked down 8-of-21 from three-point range...Douglas scored 13 points...Michigan has won seven of its last eight games against Oakland...Michigan's largest lead was 15.