Michigan's second-half surge sinks Tarleton State

Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 16 points to lead Michigan to a 72-49 win over Tarleton State in Ann Arbor on Thursday.

Sam Walters and Tre Donaldson each scored 13 and Vlad Goldin added 12 for Michigan (4-1). Donaldson dished out a game-high five assists.

Bubu Benjamin scored 15 and Ronnie Harrison Jr. chipped in 14 for Tarleton State (1-5).

Michigan struggled from 3-point range, going 6 of 22 (27.3 percent). But the Wolverines finished 19-of-34 shooting (55.9 percent) on 2-pointers and scored 32 points off 24 Tarleton State turnovers.

The Wolverines also took better care of the basketball, turning it over 11 times after averaging nearly 18 turnovers a game this season.

Tarleton State went 6 of 12 from 3-point range and shot 41.5 percent (17 of 41) overall.

Michigan held a 40-30 halftime lead, then started the second half on a 10-0 run to build a 20-point cushion with 16:21 remaining.

Tarleton State was able to cut Michigan's lead to 54-40 with 11:20 left after a pair of free throws by Harrison, who finished with a game-high four steals. The Wolverines went nearly five minutes without scoring before a Gayle dunk made it 56-40 with 10:13 to play.

The Texans cut their deficit to 13 at 57-44 with 7:37 to go, but Michigan scored nine straight to take a 66-44 lead with 4:25 remaining.

Leading 29-28 with 3:56 left in the first half, Michigan went on a 10-0 run, holding Tarleton State scoreless for three minutes to take a 39-28 lead with 47 seconds remaining until the break.

Michigan led 23-16 with 8:27 left, but Tarleton State went on an 8-0 run to take a 24-23 lead at the 6:54 mark.

--Field Level Media