COLLEGE PARK — Down at halftime for just the second time this year, the No. 2 Michigan men’s basketball team needed an answer Saturday against Maryland. They got one answer from graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who put up 16 points in the second half on perfect shooting to lead a Wolverines comeback.
But that wasn’t the only area in which Michigan elevated its play in the second half. From defensive adjustments to personnel changes to a bench revival, the Wolverines completely switched gears in order to turn a five-point halftime deficit into an 18-point win.
Michigan’s turn of fortune, although not fully realized into the second half, had its roots in the late first half. Going for a rebound, Lendeborg fell backward onto Terrapins forward Pharrel Payne and Payne went down clutching his knee. Maryland’s leading scorer and rebounder, Payne had already recorded seven points, four rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes before his injury. But just like that, his night was done.
“When you take Payne off their team, their rim protection and their physicality aren’t going to be the same,” Wolverines coach Dusty May said. “I thought in the first half, he jumped a couple times and even landed but he shows his hands so well. He’s so physical with his chest.”
With Payne gone for the rest of the game, the Terrapins lost not only one of their top offensive weapons but a premier rim protector as well. Michigan’s frontcourt was able to take advantage from there, scoring 24 points in the paint in the second half. 7-foot-3 junior center Aday Mara exploited an otherwise undersized Maryland interior to the tune of 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
Even if the Wolverines no longer had to worry about Payne, though, they had other problems. Terrapins guard David Coit was lights out in the first half, going into the break with six 3-point makes. Guard Myles Rice, too, was creating his own offense with 12 points in the first half.
Maryland was attacking Michigan’s switch-heavy defense. The Terrapins used screens to force the Wolverines’ forwards and centers to chase their guards around on the perimeter, and it was working. So Michigan had to adjust.
“Our assistant coaches huddled at halftime and talked about a couple different coverages and a couple different matchups,” May said. “I thought the players were able to carry that onto the court and execute it. But it started with us challenging more catches. Our ball pressure got better.”
The Wolverines began to hedge ball screens more aggressively and provide more help defense to mismatched defenders on the perimeter. And by making it harder for Coit and Rice to catch the ball in the first place, Michigan suppressed the duo’s impact in the second half.
While Coit was utterly inescapable in the game’s opening, he gradually faded into the background as it progressed: 13 first-half shot attempts waned to seven in the second. Coit and Rice had combined for 34 points by halftime and only added 12 more to that by the game’s end.
And as the Wolverines began to wrap their heads around the Terrapins’ offense, they gained offensive contributors of their own to support their dominant second half. Michigan’s bench players were virtually scoreless in the first half, but stepped up in the second. 19 of the Wolverines’ 25 bench points came in the second half.
Sophomore guard L.J. Cason knocked down two threes, and senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. chipped in six points and grabbed three rebounds in the second. Michigan’s bench wasn’t leading its scoring runs, but it was providing key support.
“At halftime I go, ‘This was probably the least production we’ve gotten out of our bench this year,’ ” May said. “Then the second half, those guys came in and (freshman guard Trey) McKenney … I thought he was all about winning and same thing with (graduate forward) Will Tschetter, Will Tschetter’s screens.”
Facing adversity they haven’t faced at all in the last several weeks, the Wolverines responded by outscoring Maryland 56-33 in the second half. Lendeborg’s star power certainly helped the comeback efforts, but it was other in-game adjustments that spurred the change.
