Hunter Dickinson scored 19 points and Michigan never trailed in its Big Ten Conference opener while defeating Minnesota 90-75 on Thursday night at Minneapolis.
Michigan’s Dug McDaniel had 15 points and seven assists in his first career start. The freshman replaced Jaelin Llewellyn, who was declared out for the season on Wednesday due to a knee injury.
Kobe Bufkin also contributed 15 points and Jett Howard tossed in 14 for Michigan (6-3, 1-0 Big Ten).
Ta’lon Cooper’s 16 points and five assists led Minnesota (4-5, 0-2), which has lost four straight. Pharrel Payne had 15 points, Dawson Garcia put up 13 and Jamison Battle and Joseph Ola-Joseph added 11 apiece.
The Wolverines shot 52.4 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers. The Gophers hit 49.1 percent from the floor.
Already up 15-9 six minutes into the contest, the Wolverines reeled off nine unanswered points to gain a 15-point advantage. Dickinson got the run going with a layup, and Howard followed with a 3-pointer.
After Joey Baker made one of two free throws, Howard knocked down another 3-pointer.
The Wolverines soon increased the lead to 19 points when Bufkin and Tarris Reed Jr. made layups on back-to-back possessions.
A Terrance Williams II jumper with nine minutes left in the half pumped the lead to 34-13. When Dickinson scored in the lane with 7:42 left in the half, Michigan was up by 24 points.
The Golden Gophers then showed some signs of life, going on a 15-3 run to cut the Wolverines’ lead in half. Cooper was the catalyst, scoring nine points during that stretch.
Michigan nudged the advantage to 47-31 by halftime. Dickinson finished the half with 13 points, while Cooper led the Gophers with 12.
McDaniel scored five points in the first two minutes of the second half to stretch the lead to 54-33. The advantage ballooned to 76-47 with a 10-0 Wolverines run. Bufkin capped that sequence with a jump shot.
Michigan had its biggest lead at 81-49 with 8:24 left.
–Field Level Media
