Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Nov. 8, 2013) – Senior G Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass.) gave a stellar effort with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists, but it was not enough as UMass Lowell suffered a 69-42 loss at No. 7/9 Michigan Friday night in the River Hawks' Division I college basketball opener at the Crisler Center.

UMass Lowell enters Wednesday's clash at Boston University with a 0-1 record while Michigan (1-0) hosts South Carolina State Tuesday at 7:00.

Freshman F Tyler Livingston (Hudson, Mass.) added 10 points and nine rebounds in his college debut. Sophomore G DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wisc.) chipped in six points – hitting all six of his free throws – and four rebounds.

Sophomore G Caris LeVert led the Wolverines with 17 points on 6-11 field goal shooting while sophomore F Glenn Robinson III added 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman G Zak Irvin chipped in 10 points.

Tied at the break, 23-23, Michigan opened the second half with a 21-2 run from which UMass Lowell was unable to recover. Irvin led the run with five points while junior F Jon Horford added four points.

"I liked the way we were able to stay in the game by playing really good half-court defense and eliminating transition baskets," said Head Coach Pat Duquette. "I think Michigan came out and played really hard in the second half, and we were getting really tired at that point in the game. And that led to a lot of easy transition baskets."

Michigan struggled from the floor in the first half, shooting .261 (6-23) opposed to UMass Lowell's .333 (8-24). The Wolverines, however, found their collective touch in the second half, shooting .467 (14-30) to the River Hawks' .240 (6-25).

Michigan also forced UMass Lowell into 15 turnovers (10 in the second half) while committing only seven, leading to a 10-5 edge on steals.

In the first half, Michigan opened the game with an 8-0 run, but UMass Lowell maintained its composure and used a 13-5 spurt to knot the score at 13-13 with 6:33 to play. Williams led the run with six points while junior G Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) meshed a key trey to knot the score.

The River Hawks did well to slow the pace in the first half, limiting Michigan's transition and forcing it into a half-court game. A tip-in by Livingston with 23 seconds left knotted the score 23-23 entering the break.

"I thought it was a great experience for our team and the program," Duquette said. "The kids were real excited to play. And they did a great job of staying competitive in the first half."