TO CLOSE

John Beilein summarizes Michigan's convincing victory against North Carolina 84-67 on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, at the Crisler Center.
Nick Baumgardner, press

What statement.

In the largest no-conference home match in recent history, the No. 7 Michigan was beaten on Wednesday by No. 11 North Carolina, 84-67, at the ACC / Big Ten Challenge at Crisler Center.

The Wolverines quickly caught up to 10 points in the first half and went into the break with a four-point lead.

The second half was all Michigan. The Wolverines opened a two-digit lead. Then they pushed that lead to 20.

North Carolina took an 11-0 advantage and found a deficit of 11 points. And then Michigan responded, with a quick push of seven points.

Ignas Brazdeikis scored the highest point of the match with 24 points, and Charles Matthew added 21 for the Wolverines.

Three takeaway victories from Michigan's Ann Arbor win:

The score of the box

Brazdeikis ignition candle

First-year striker Brazdeikis introduced about two dozen scouts in the NBA.

Brazdeikis committed an early mistake and sat on the bench.

When he was reinstated in the game, Michigan lost eight points. The offensive needed life. And that's exactly what Brazdeikis has provided.

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The stopwatch being in neutral, he entered and scored while being defiled. Then he hit a 3 on the next possession.

He paced Michigan in the first half with 13 points and finished with 24 of 9 shots at 13.

Brazdeikis has already played a big game on a national stage, when he scored 18 goals against Villanova. If people did not already know his name after that, they should now.

The defense adjusts

North Carolina is one of the fastest teams in the country. The Tar Heels opened their lead by qualifying for the Michigan defense.

Wolverines adjusted.

And North Carolina had no answer.

After reaching 21 points and a 10-point lead with 12:47 to go in the first half, North Carolina scored 14 the rest of the period.

When the second half started, the Tar Heels struggled to find a shot. The Wolverines did not allow them to go out in transition and suffocated the attack from a half court in North Carolina.

Michigan's defense has been the best of the country so far this season. He has just added another hack to the belt by dismantling one of the most explosive and talented teams in the country.

Poole lights it

Detective guard Jordan Poole did not have the best start to the season. He did not have a good start Wednesday night either.

Poole scored 3 points on 1 out of 5 shots in the first period. He missed a lay-up. He had a 3 reels around the rim and come back. He missed the start of a one and one.

The second half? A completely different story.

In the last 20 minutes, Poole lit him scoring 15 points to finish with 18 for the game. He made 4 attempts on 5, including one in the left corner after a nice shot. It was an impressive rebound after a cold first half.

Contact Orion Sang: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang.

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