Penn St. Nittany Lions vs Michigan Wolverines Box Score on Jan 03, 2019

Jordan Poole had 17 points and freshman Ignas Brazdeikis posted 16 points and 11 rebounds as No. 2 Michigan grinded out a 68-55 win over Penn State in a Big Ten matchup on Thursday at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Charles Matthews added 14 points for the Wolverines, Jon Teske had nine points and Zavier Simpson chipped in eight points, five rebounds and five assists.

Mike Watkins led Penn State with 19 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Lamar Stevens supplied 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Michigan (14-0, 3-0 Big Ten) has won 28 of its past 29 games, with the lone loss coming in last year's national championship game against Villanova. The Wolverines are also 28-1 in their past 29 games at the Crisler Center.

The Wolverines played without key reserve Isaiah Livers, who experienced back spasms. Michigan shot 45.5 percent from the field, compared to Penn State's 42.1 percent. However, the visitors missed 13 of 14 attempts from 3-point range.

The Nittany Lions (7-7, 0-3) have lost their past eight meetings with the Wolverines and 15 of their past 16 at Michigan.

The Wolverines led 25-20 at halftime behind Poole's eight points. Both teams struggled with their shooting, as Penn State was held to 36 percent shooting and Michigan shot 35.7 percent. They also combined for 18 turnovers.

Penn State's Josh Reaves made a jumper 10 seconds into the second half, but Michigan responded with an 11-2 spurt. Teske got it going with a layup and a free throw. Brazdeikis followed with a three-point play. After Watkins scored, Poole scored three points and Brazdeikis nailed a jumper for a 36-24 lead.

Teske dunked off a Simpson feed with 12:29 left, giving the Wolverines a 42-27 lead. Simpson soon nudged the lead to 16 with a 3-pointer.

The Nittany Lions' Myles Dread banked in a 3-pointer to make it 50-36 with 9:52 to go. That began an 10-1 Penn State spurt that Stevens finished off with a basket in the lane.

With the margin at eight, Matthews fired in a trey, and then he made a layup. Stevens cut Michigan's advantage to nine with a layup, but Bradzdeikis hit a 3-pointer with 2:01 left to raise the lead back to 12 at 63-51.

--Field Level Media