Jan 6, 2019 4 min read

Michigan got Indiana’s best players in foul trouble in the opening minutes and took full advantage, building a cushion it used to stay undefeated.

Charles Matthew scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half to help the second-ranked Wolverines build a double-digit lead and they went on to beat the 21st-ranked Hoosiers 74-63 victory Sunday.

Michigan’s Jordan Poole finished with 18 points, Zavier Simpson scored 12 and freshman reserve Brandon Johns had eight points and eight rebounds.

The Wolverines (15-0, 4-0 Big Ten) are a win away from matching their best start in school history.

“We’re just worried about getting better,” Poole said. “We rarely talk about our record.”

Michigan joined No. 8 Michigan State as the two teams without a Big Ten loss four games into the 20-game conference schedule.

The Hoosiers (12-3, 3-1) had won seven straight since losing at Duke and their chances to extend the streak were hurt because their stars were forced to sit a lot.

Indiana’s Juwan Morgan scored 25 points on 9-of-22 shooting and Romero Langford added 17 points while limited by foul trouble.

“When those two guys aren’t on the floor, we’re a different team offensively and defensively,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said.

When Morgan and Langford went to the bench with two fouls early in the first half, the Wolverines went on a 12-3 run in less than 3 minutes before the pair returned to the floor.

“We set the tone and we got their two big guys in foul trouble,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “They’re tremendous. They’re really tough to stop and they both sat about 20 minutes.”

Michigan led 44-29 at halftime and didn’t have much trouble keeping a comfortable cushion after halftime in part because Morgan picked up his third and fourth fouls.

“We kind of took them out of their flow,” Poole said.

Miller lamented his team getting off to another poor start.

“The beginning of the game, we’re not tough enough,” Miller said. “We take a punch, maybe a few too many and then get up off the ground.”

Langford agreed.

“We’ve been coming back and winning close games,” he said. “Now that’s not going to work for us down the road.”

Iowa 93, Nebraska 84: Jordan Bohannon scored a season-high 25 points, Tyler Cook had 16 and 25th-ranked Iowa beat No. 24 Nebraska 93-84, snapping a three-game losing streak to open Big Ten play. Junior Ryan Kriener finished with 14 points in his first career start for the Hawkeyes (12-3, 1-3).

St. Louis 60, Rhode Island 53: Javon Bess scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and Saint Louis held off Rhode Island 60-53 in an Atlantic-10 Conference opener. Bess made 8 of 13 shots, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and added four rebounds and three steals for the Billikens (10-4), who improved to 9-0 at home this season.

George Mason 68, St. Bonaventure 53: Justin Kier scored 15 points with 14 rebounds, Otis Livingston II scored 13 and George Mason beat St. Bonaventure 68-53 for its first 2-0 start in Atlantic 10 play. Livingston became the fourth-leading scorer in George Mason history, moving past Robert Dykes with 1,647 career points.

Marquette 70, Xavier 52: Markus Howard scored 26 points, Sacar Anim had 20 and No. 16 Marquette remained unbeaten at home with a 70-52 victory over Xavier. The Golden Eagles bounced back from an 89-69 loss at St. John’s in their Big East opener on New Year’s Day. They improved to 11-0 at the new Fiserv Forum. Naji Marshall had 21 points for Xavier, and Paul Scruggs finished with 17.