Michigan prevails despite turnovers

TOP 25 MEN NO. 2 MICHIGAN 68, PENN ST. 55 ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Iggy Brazdeikis had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 2 Michigan returned to Big Ten play with a 68-55 victory over Penn State on Thursday night. The unbeaten Wolverines (14-0, 3-0) weren’t always that dominant while playing lesser competition in December, and the first half against Penn State (7-7, 0-3) wasn’t all that great either from an aesthetic standpoint. The teams combined for 18 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and Michigan led 25-20. The Nittany Lions scored the first two points of the second, but the Wolverines responded with a 13-3 run. Jordan Poole led Michigan with 17 points and has reached double figures in nine consecutive games. Charles Matthews added 14 points for the Wolverines. Mike Watkins scored 19 points for Penn State, and Lamar Stevens added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Penn State shot 1 of 14 from three-point range. Defense is the calling card for this Penn State team. The Nittany Lions have held 12 of their 14 opponents below their scoring average coming into the game. Michigan came reasonably close to its average of 73.2 points, and Penn State couldn’t overcome its 18 turnovers.

NO. 18 NO. CAROLINA ST. 87, MIAMI 82

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Reserve Markell Johnson scored 20 points in 23 minutes and No. 18 North Carolina State shot 57 percent in the second half to rally past Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. The Wolfpack (13-1) won their seventh game in a row and are off to their best start since the 1973-74 team that won the national championship. The Hurricanes built their biggest lead at 74-64 with 10 minutes left, but the Wolfpack responded by scoring 13 consecutive points, and Daniels’ driving layup put them ahead to stay with 6 1/2 minutes to go. Miami went nearly five minutes without a point and missed eight shots in a row.

NO. 21 INDIANA 73, ILLINOIS 65

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Romeo Langford scored a career-high 28 points, Juwan Morgan added 14 points and 10 rebounds and No. 21 Indiana defeated Illinois in a Big Ten matchup. Langford shot 8 for 13 from the field and 11 of 15 from the line for Indiana (12-2, 3-0). Samson Oladimeji scored 20 points and Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 18 for Illinois (4-10, 0-3).

PURDUE 86, NO. 25 IOWA 70

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Carsen Edwards scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half and Purdue beat 25thranked Iowa. Matt Haarms had 14 points and Aaron Wheeler added 10 for the Boilermakers (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten), who have won three consecutive for the first time since starting the season 4-0. Tyler Cook had 24 points, Isaiah Moss scored 13 and Ryan Kriener finished with 10 for the Hawkeyes (11-3, 0-3), still searching for their first conference victory this season.

SUN BELT MEN ARKANSAS STATE 94, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 83

Arkansas State University (7-7, 1-0 Sun Belt Conference) used a 14-0 run over a 2½-minute span late in the first half and early in the second to pull away from Louisiana-Lafayette (9-5, 0-1) on Thursday in Lafayette, La. The game was tied 34-34 with 1:47 left in the first half after two free throws by Louisiana-Lafayette’s Jakeenan Gant. Grantham Gillard hit a three-pointer with 1:16 left in the half to take a 37-34 lead, but Gant responded with a three-pointer of his own with 55 seconds remaining. Gillard and Marquis Eaton hit three-pointers to end the half, giving the Red Wolves a 43-37 halftime lead. Gillard opened the second half with a three-pointer and a layup, and Eaton added another three-pointer to give ASU a 51-37 lead 1:34 into the second half to end the run. The lead was cut to four with 2:39 remaining when a Marcus Stroman layup made it 85-81, but a quick 6-0 run took the ASU lead to 91-81 with 1:21 remaining. The Red Wolves shot 50 percent (31 of 62) from the floor and 79 percent (22 of 28) from the free-throw line. Eaton led ASU with 24 points and Gillard poured in 20. Ty Cockfield scored 18 points and Salif Boudie finished with 12. Stroman led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 25 points.

LOUISIANA-MONROE 97, UALR 84

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock had four players score 10 or more points Thursday, but it wasn’t enough as Louisiana-Monroe used an early first half run to get a victory in Monroe, La. The Trojans (5-9, 0-1 Sun Belt) took an early 6-0 lead on three-pointers by Markquis Nowell and Rayjon Tucker, but the Warhawks (8-5, 1-0) responded with 14 unanswered points over a 5½-minute span to take a 14-6 lead. Tucker ended the run by hitting 1 of 2 free throws with 12:15 left in the first half, cutting the lead in half at 14-7. The lead grew to 16 points with 4:43 remaining on a Tyree White layup, but UALR managed to cut the lead to nine on a Tucker layup with 29 seconds left and trailed 40-31 at halftime. ULM’s lead was 19 points on two separate occasions in the second half, but a Kamani Johnson layup with 4:44 left cut the lead to 80-72. The Warhawks soon rebuilt a double-digit lead and maintained it for the rest of the game. Both teams shot well from the floor — UALR shot 62 percent (31 of 50), including 12 three-pointers, while Louisiana-Monroe shot 56 percent (35 of 63) with 17 three-pointers. Ryan Pippins led UALR with 19 points, Nowell scored 18, Tucker added 16 and Nikola Maric finished with 12. Daishon Smith had 42 points, including 10 three-pointers, to lead Louisiana-Monroe. Michael Ertel had 16 points and J.D. Williams chipped in with 13.